Sorry to necro the thread, but I want to thank you for helping out with this. I went with the contra expense account and have been very happy with it.
Thanks, Scott On Wed, Jul 3, 2019 at 3:30 PM Pranesh Prakash <[email protected]> wrote: > > The way I see it, you have two options to account for what your company > provides you via their debit card: (1) Income; (2) Contra-Expense. Since you > don't want it to be "income", make it a contra expense account. > > For the first case (2019-03-01), the "What:Is:This:Account?" the contra > expense account could be: "Expenses:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard", or even > "Expenses:Travel:PublicTransit:HooliDebitCard". If you opt for the latter, > then when you query the balance in "Expenses:Travel", it will show you the > balance of your personal travel expenses (since it will deduct the > "Expenses:Travel:PublicTransit:HooliDebitCard" expenses as those are negative > rather than positive). > > For the second case (2019-03-10), you can simply continue to use > "Expenses:Travel:PublicTransit" (or "Assets:US:MetroCard", when you're > loading money into the metro card). Whether you account for the debit card > you receive from your company for your commute as "Income" or "Contra > Expense", the money you spend towards the commute itself would remain an > expense. > > If I'm missing something, please do correct me. > > On Thu, 4 Jul 2019 at 00:01, Scott Colby <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Dear Pranesh et al., >> >> I feel like a concept just clicked! Of course if I'm booking receiving the >> money as Income then spending it would be at my Expense. I don't think that >> I want to actually count this benefit as income then, especially since it is >> also non-taxable to me. >> >> If I do swap to an asset/receivable approach, I think my transactions would >> look like this: >> >> 2019-03-01 * "Commuter Debit Card" "load of value" >> Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard 100.00 USD >> What:Is:This:Account? >> >> >> 2019-03-10 * "Public Transit Authority" "bought weekly pass" >> Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard -15.00 USD >> What:Is:This:Account? >> >> >> In the first transaction, I have to create value in an Asset with no clear >> (to me) source and then in the second I then spend that value. Should those >> two legs be on the same account so once I've spent all my commuter money >> both Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard and the other account are back at 0? >> >> Thanks, >> Scott >> >> On Tuesday, July 2, 2019 at 2:12:38 PM UTC-4, [email protected] wrote: >>> >>> Dear Scott, >>> What you are doing currently is correct. From your perspective, it *is* an >>> expense, since you're recording the money you get from your company >>> ("Income:US:Hooli:Reimbursements:CommuterBenefit") as an income. >>> >>> This recording of income makes this a case of "spending using company >>> resources", rather than "spending on behalf of the company" (which gets >>> recorded as a receivable asset, since you'll get reimbursed). If you want, >>> you can mark such expenses separately as, >>> "Expenses:Hooli:Travel:PublicTransit", so that you can distinguish between >>> your personal expenses, and expenses using company resources. (FWIW, I >>> also track the value on my transit card.) >>> >>> I hope that helps. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Pranesh >>> >>> On Monday, 1 July 2019 07:17:40 UTC+5:30, Scott Colby wrote: >>>> >>>> I am able to be reimbursed for the costs of public transit through my >>>> company. This is done in two manners, either by direct reimbursement in my >>>> paycheck or a pre-loaded debit card. I utilized the former option for the >>>> first couple months until the debit card was issued to me. >>>> >>>> What kind of account should I use for the "expense" leg of the public >>>> transit purchases? I've previously booked public transit costs under >>>> `Expenses:Travel:PublicTransit`, but in this case this isn't my expense, >>>> it's my company's. >>>> >>>> Below is an example of my beancount file. The two legs marked with `<--` >>>> are those I have questions about. >>>> >>>> 2019-01-01 open Income:US:Hooli:Reimbursements:CommuterBenefit USD ; >>>> started work on New Years? >>>> >>>> 2019-01-01 open Assets:AccountsReceivable:Hooli USD >>>> 2019-03-01 open Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard USD ; finally got the >>>> debit card in March >>>> >>>> 2019-01-03 open Assets:US:MetroCardEsqueStoredValue USD ; got my stored >>>> value card a soon after starting work >>>> >>>> ; the process of using a receivable for the reimbursement makes sense >>>> >>>> 2019-01-03 * "Public Transit Authority" "card purchase and add value" >>>> ^commute-benefit-jan-19 >>>> Assets:AccountsReceivable:Hooli 1.00 USD ; the card cost $1 >>>> Assets:US:MetroCardEsqueStoredValue 20.00 USD ; and I added $20 to it >>>> Liabilities:MyCreditCard >>>> >>>> 2019-01-11 * "Public Transit Authority" "bus fare 2019-01-03 -- >>>> 2019-01-11" ^commute-benefit-jan-19 >>>> Assets:US:MetroCardEsqueStoredValue -20.00 USD >>>> Assets:AccountsReceivable:Hooli >>>> >>>> 2019-01-20 * "Hooli Payroll" ^commute-benefit-jan-19 >>>> Assets:US:MyBank:Checking 21.00 USD >>>> Assets:AccountsReceivable:Hooli >>>> ; etc. >>>> >>>> ; ... >>>> >>>> ; however the process for using the debit card does not make sense to me >>>> at the moment >>>> >>>> 2019-03-01 * "Commuter Debit Card" "load of value" ^commute-benefit-mar-19 >>>> Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard 100.00 USD >>>> Income:US:Hooli:Reimbursements:CommuterBenefit >>>> >>>> 2019-03-01 * "Public Transit Authority" "add value" ^commute-benefit-mar-19 >>>> Assets:US:MetroCardEsqueStoredValue 20.00 USD >>>> Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard >>>> >>>> 2019-03-08 * "Public Transit Authority" "bus fare 2019-03-01 -- >>>> 2019-03-08" ^commute-benefit-mar-19 >>>> Assets:US:MetroCardEsqueStoredValue -20.00 USD >>>> Expenses:Travel:PublicTransit ; <-- this is my question >>>> >>>> 2019-03-10 * "Public Transit Authority" "bought weekly pass" >>>> ^commute-benefit-mar-19 >>>> Assets:US:Hooli:CommuterDebitCard -15.00 USD >>>> Expenses:Travel:PublicTransit ; <-- same question >>>> >>>> (I realize tracking the exact value on my transit card is a bit...pedantic >>>> and, to be honest, I'm considering ignoring it entirely but now that I'm >>>> wrestling with the problem of how to book these I'm interested in finding >>>> out how to do so.) >>>> >>>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >> Google Groups "Beancount" group. >> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/beancount/M5FvJQoJl3Y/unsubscribe. >> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >> [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beancount/11b9de93-b8b7-4a1d-b655-bb7bdecc26c5%40googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google > Groups "Beancount" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/beancount/M5FvJQoJl3Y/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beancount/CAPD_o%2B9q2d9j0u58bTg31A6pQ6fAwLhZi9kWg_PLVVFRu6V6dA%40mail.gmail.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Beancount" group. 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