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Define "overpaid". Going step-by-step: 1. Liability -> Expense (e.g. you are billed for $50) 2. Bank -> Liability (e.g. you over-pay $75) .. At this point, the Liability should say that they owe you! 3. Liability -> Bank (e.g. They refund you $50) .. At this point, the Liability should be $0 Of course, your situation might be different. -derek On Tue, March 18, 2025 2:51 pm, Griffin wrote: > I overpaid, so the liability is showing I owe. They send me a cheque to > zero out the balance, and send me a cheque that I bank. > > On March 18, 2025 11:22:34 a.m. MDT, Derek Atkins <de...@ihtfp.com> wrote: >>Hi, >>You are doing something wrong. So let me ask you a question: >> >>How does the refund work in real-life? >> >>My guess is that the refund is actually a "reduction of expense" -- >>because it's coming from the Vendor directly. It should probably not hit >>the liability account at all, unless the goal is the reduce the amount >> you >>owe to the vendor. So either it is: >> >> Expense -> Liability (reducing how much you owe) >>or >> Expense -> Bank (they sent you a check and you deposited it). >> >>-derek >> >>On Tue, March 18, 2025 1:12 pm, griffin wrote: >>> Sorry, but I'm still having an issue with this process. >>> >>> Setting the bill value as a transfer from the expense account to the >>> liability account is working fine, as is paying off the liability from >>> the chequing account. >>> >>> However, dealing with a refund is still causing a problem. >>> >>> 1.) If I make a deposit into the chequing account from the liability >>> account, Gnucash makes the balance of the liability account go up, not >>> down towards zero. Making the value a negative number, only results in >>> the value moving to the other column (see the second point). >>> >>> 2.) If I make the transfer from the liability account in the decrease >>> column, setting the balance to zero, the transaction appears in the >>> chequing account as a withdrawal. >>> >>> This is all controlled by GnuCash. Am I doing something, or is GnuCash >>> doing something of which I'm not aware. >>> >>> >>> >>> On 2025-03-17 12:01 p.m., griffin wrote: >>>> I have been trying this, and I've hit a small issue. >>>> >>>> I made an over payment to my phone bill, and then moved to another >>>> carrier, so I was over paid in the liability account. >>>> >>>> When I tried to "refund" this overpayment to my chequing account >>>> GnuCash either doubles the liability, or withdraws the refund from the >>>> chequing account. >>>> >>>> (...and yes, I feed my dog Dog Foof!!!😳) >>>> >>>> I don't seem to be able to reduce the liability to zero, and increase >>>> the chequing account balance. >>>> >>>> What have I done wrong? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 2025-03-17 10:56 a.m., R Losey wrote: >>>>> On Sun, Mar 16, 2025 at 11:56 AM Michael or Penny Novack via >>>>> gnucash-user < >>>>> gnucash-user@gnucash.org> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On 3/16/2025 12:13 AM, R Losey wrote: >>>>>>> Hi. I'd just set such accounts up as sub-accounts under >>>>>>> Liabilities. >>>>>> Using >>>>>>> your example (electricity) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> 1) Create an "Electricity" account under "Liabilites" >>>>>>> (alternatively, you >>>>>>> could use the provider as the name of the account >>>>>>> 2) Using your $120 bill as an example, when you pay $60 and owe >>>>>>> them $60, >>>>>>> you'd create a three-way split >>>>>>> Checking: decrease (credit) $60 >>>>>>> Expenses->Utilities->Electricity: increase (debit) $120 >>>>>>> Liabilities->Electricity: increase (credit) $60 >>>>>> You COULD do it that way. Splits when paying the bill. >>>>>> >>>>>> But I suggested entering the expense/liability when the bill arrives >>>>>> with an effective date the due date of the bill. Then when you pay >>>>>> all >>>>>> or part of the bill, the transaction just liability/bank account. No >>>>>> split transactions involved. (well MAYBE no splits -- besides being >>>>>> billed for electricity might also have late fees and/or interest >>>>>> charges. You MIGHT just bundle those into electricity expense but >>>>>> also >>>>>> might instead might want to see how much you are being hit with late >>>>>> fees and interest on all your bills). >>>>>> >>>>>> Michael D Novack >>>>>> >>>>>> Your suggestion is even better and simpler (no splits); I was trying >>>>>> to >>>>> think of how to do it the way you suggest, but somehow confused >>>>> myself and >>>>> couldn't figure out what the two transactions would look like. (I >>>>> don't >>>>> know what I was thinking; it's perfectly obvious today). >>>>> >>>>> >>> -- >>> If you need end-to-end encryption, I have a PGP Key >>> >>> >>> -- >>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. >>> www.avast.com >>> _______________________________________________ >>> gnucash-user mailing list >>> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>> ----- >>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>> >> >> >>-- >> Derek Atkins 617-623-3745 >> de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com >> Computer and Internet Security Consultant >> > -- Derek Atkins 617-623-3745 de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com Computer and Internet Security Consultant _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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