> Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2018 11:24:58 -0700 (PDT) > From: Johann Höchtl <[email protected]> > > Suppose I buy sthg. but delivery takes time. So I have to make a > "pre-payment" ? / is this the same as a deposit? How would I structure that > in ledger? > > Instead of > > 2018-01-04 * TV set pre-paymant > Expenses:Electronics $800 > Assets:Banking > > 2018-02-04 * TV set delivery > Expenses:Electronics $250 > Assets:Banking
This is reasonable for cash-based accounting when you're recording only where the funds physically are, but wrong for accrual-based accounting because you're really committing to your ownership of the television set once yet there are two separate expense transactions. > My idea would instead be: > > 2018-01-04 * TV set pre-payment > Deposit:Electronics $800 > Assets:Banking > > 2018-02-04 * TV set delivery > Deposit:Electronics $250 > Assets:Banking -$250 > Expenses:Electronics > Deposit:Electronics = $0 > > Does this make sense? Are there better ways to represent pre-payments for > expected goods not yet delivered? This is reasonable for accrual-based accounting, though I would put Deposits under Assets, Assets:Deposits:Electronics (or even a more detailed Assets:Deposits:ACME Vendor, Inc.:20180104 to separate it from other deposits), since presumably if you don't make the second payment then the vendor is obligated to return the funds, so they count toward your assets until you commit with the second payment. The other alternative is if the `prepayment' is a _down payment_ with a loan, if the purchase of the television set actually happens in the first transaction, as is usually the case for (e.g.) car and house ownership in the United States. In that case, it would be better written as 2018-01-04 TV set purchase Expenses:Electroncs $1050 Liabilities:TV set loan $-800 Assets:Banking $-250 2018-02-04 TV set loan payment Liabilities:TV set loan $800 = $0 Assets:Banking But your case sounds more like a deposit than a down payment. -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ledger" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
