How to account for "returns" ?

I kinda new to Money (2005) and would appreciate help with the
following:

1. I bought something for $100 charged on credit card account C,
categorized
as "leisure"

2. I returned the merchandise, entered the item again in C but this
time
as credit instead of charge.

3. However, when I do analyze expenses by category; I see the
merchandise
credit is not accounted for in "leisure" category (i.e) it shows my
original expense without considering the subsequent credit ?

What is the correct way to handle returns ?

Thanks
- Sam

Richard
Sun May 22 15:54:04 CDT 2005

Instead of entering the credit as a credit, enter it as a negative charge
(i.e., -100.00). Depending on your settings, Money will ask if you're sure
you want to do this, but this is not a problem.

--

<sknk@myway.com> wrote in message
news:1116794156.208724.282090@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> I kinda new to Money (2005) and would appreciate help with the
> following:
>
> 1. I bought something for $100 charged on credit card account C,
> categorized
> as "leisure"
>
> 2. I returned the merchandise, entered the item again in C but this
> time
> as credit instead of charge.
>
> 3. However, when I do analyze expenses by category; I see the
> merchandise
> credit is not accounted for in "leisure" category (i.e) it shows my
> original expense without considering the subsequent credit ?
>
> What is the correct way to handle returns ?
>
> Thanks
> - Sam
>

johnbusc
Sun May 22 18:06:57 CDT 2005

Sam,

Further to Richard's earlier reply, one can turn off Money's warning of
"income characterized as expense". Check under Options settings but
with M05 its harder to find than earlier versions. Help anyone....(is
this question an UFAQ yet - it should be?).

Regards,
JB

sknk@myway.com wrote:
> I kinda new to Money (2005) and would appreciate help with the
> following:
>
> 1. I bought something for $100 charged on credit card account C,
> categorized
> as "leisure"
>
> 2. I returned the merchandise, entered the item again in C but this
> time
> as credit instead of charge.
>
> 3. However, when I do analyze expenses by category; I see the
> merchandise
> credit is not accounted for in "leisure" category (i.e) it shows
my
> original expense without considering the subsequent credit ?
>
> What is the correct way to handle returns ?
>
> Thanks
> - Sam

Dick
Sun May 22 20:01:39 CDT 2005

Good point. This question's not in the UFAQ but it probably should be. I
haven't done any FAQ maintenance in several months due to higher priority
commitments among other things. I'll add this to the queue. But I'm not sure
the problems of the last several month will ease until late summer, so it
may be a while.

The setting for this in M05 is at Tools|Settings|Categories|Require the
correct type of category for each transaction.

But to the point of the OPs question: I'm guessing he's entered the
transaction correctly (Richard Bollar's description winds you up with the
$100 in the credit box, not ($100) in the debit box, I'm thinking.) I'm
suspecting that the OP needs to check the report customization settings (I'm
assuming a Spending by Category report) to make sure that the Details|Type
includes all types, not just payments.

<johnbusc@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1116803217.155428.257260@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Help anyone....(is
> this question an UFAQ yet - it should be?).

sknk
Mon May 23 00:31:42 CDT 2005

Thanks for all your replies.

- entering -100 is same as entering in $100 in the credit column as
Dick pointed out

- I changed the customized setting per Dick's reply and it now
correctly accounts for the credit.

Thank you very much
- Sam

johnbusc
Mon May 23 05:42:30 CDT 2005

Dick,

Thanks for all your efforts on the UFAQ! Since the answer to the OP's
question is also valid in other contexts, please include "funds
received as reimbursement for all or part of a purchase made for
others" in the UFAQ question. Thanks again.

Regards,
John Buschman

Dick Watson wrote:
> Good point. This question's not in the UFAQ but it probably should
be. I
> haven't done any FAQ maintenance in several months due to higher
priority
> commitments among other things. I'll add this to the queue. But I'm
not sure
> the problems of the last several month will ease until late summer,
so it
> may be a while.
>
> The setting for this in M05 is at Tools|Settings|Categories|Require
the
> correct type of category for each transaction.
>
> But to the point of the OPs question: I'm guessing he's entered the
> transaction correctly (Richard Bollar's description winds you up with
the
> $100 in the credit box, not ($100) in the debit box, I'm thinking.)
I'm
> suspecting that the OP needs to check the report customization
settings (I'm
> assuming a Spending by Category report) to make sure that the
Details|Type
> includes all types, not just payments.
>
> <johnbusc@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1116803217.155428.257260@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> > Help anyone....(is
> > this question an UFAQ yet - it should be?).