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, the.so...@gmail.com 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 the Google Groups "Beancount" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to beancount+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to beancount@googlegroups.com. 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.