[GNC] Problems organizing accounts to process reimbursement of expenses

[Michael or Penny Novack]

Just a periodic reminder about questions like this. We may be able to 
help you BUT this is not a question about gnucash, not a question "how 
do I do this in gnucash" but how do I set up these accounts/transactions 
using ANY method of doing double entry bookkeeping, even the old 
fashioned way of pen and ink on lined accounting paper < how it was when 
I learned 60+ years ago >

What you are missing --- an expense for which the business reimburses 
you is not YOUR expense. You say only a portion is reimbursed> For the 
purpose of this example I will assume 1/2  (you use whatever is right 
for you). Let's say there is an expense item for share of home office 
electric bill and that the home office was assigned 1/8 of the total 
electric bill.

You pay an electric bill of $160. You would enter this as a split 
transaction:

debits: rest of house electric $140
              home office electric           $10
              reimbursable expenses $10      (this is an asset account; 
owed to you by employer -- not YOUR expense)
  credits: checking account    check #xxxxx
      description: paid march electric bill
<< note: I have shown this as would appear in an old fashioned journal 
--- a gnucash question might be how do I do it in a virtual journal 
system like gnucash, how do I do a split transaction, etc. >>

The company reimburses you for its share of home office expense:
  debit: checking account $10
credit: reimbursable expenses     $10
       description: deposit of reimbursement check

When both of these transactions have completed, the balance in 
reimbursable expenses will be zero (had a debit for $10 and a credit for 
$10).

I'm sorry, but while gnucash makes the process of entering transactions 
easier and MUCH less prone to error than the old fashioned way and makes 
producing reports easier it does NOT mean you can skip learning basic 
bookkeeping.

Michael D Novack



On 12/15/2019 2:33 AM, Daffy Duck wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm trying to set up an account scheme that adequately tracks expenses
> that the business reimburses me for due to using a home office.  This
> is separate from using a business credit card, because only a portion
> is reimbursable.
>
> The relevant accounts in my personal book are:
>
> Checking account - account type bank
>
> Expense debt - account type asset (since it's owed to me)
>
> Business expense paid personally - Expense
>
> Credit card - credit card
>
> ---
>
>
> Whenever I pay certain bills, I annotate in Business expense paid
> personally, and it's transferred from expense debt account(expense debt
> decreases as expenses increase)
>
> This was working fine, but when I was reimbursed for my expenses to my
> checking account, I had it transfer between expense debt, so it would
> decrease the amount that the business owes me.
>
> The problem is, it's already in the negative as its listed as an
> asset(expense debt), so the reimbursement payment just increases the
> amount of that, going the opposite way I'm trying to go.
>
> Instead of the business debt being $437 and I get reimbursed for $437
> and make it 0, it's listed as -$437 and after the reimbursement hits,
> it's -$874.
>
> What am I doing wrong here?
>
> Thank you,
>
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There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality of the grave.