Categorizing here and there...

ksrothschild

I do not know if this has been discussed, but here it goes...

I own/manage a property in another state [and it has its own account on QUICKEN] - and I do not have a credit card for any of that property transactions, but have a checking account for that property.

When I have a transaction that belongs to the property, such as a house repair or the like, they require immediate payment. I make the payment with a credit card, VENMO, or CASH app.

And, then I write a check from that property's checking account to reimburse me or the credit card bill.

How do I properly enter the transactions.

Right now, supposedly, I have a handyman bill for $100.00, I pay the handyman $100.00 with my personal credit card. The $100.00 will show up on the credit card as a charge so I categorize it against the property. But, when I pay the $100.00 to the credit card company, it is a $100.00 payment, it zeroes out the category in question. This is not what I want because I want the $100.00 to be retained as a property expenses - and I do not want my personal account to show that I am "missing" the $100.00.

I do not want to mumble or ramble longer, but I hope you get the gist and tell me how or the best method to properly do this transaction on QUICKEN.

Thank you!!!

volvogirl

The payment should not affect the category.  It is just a transfer from your checking (or whatever account) to the credit card account.  That doesn't affect the individual charges in the credit card account.  

Do you have the credit card account setup the right way?  Just in case you are doing it the wrong way,

The proper way is to set up a credit card ACCOUNT and enter the charges into it when the purchase is made and assigning it to a category. Then when you pay the bill you TRANSFER the payment from your checking account to the credit card account. Then when you download the payment from the bank you match it to the one you already entered.

When you enter the payment in your checking account you put the credit card account name in for the category using square brackets around the name to indicate it is a transfer...like this… [credit card] or newer versions have a Transfer column.

volvogirl

The payment should not affect the category.  It is just a transfer from your checking (or whatever account) to the credit card account.  That doesn't affect the individual charges in the credit card account.  

Do you have the credit card account setup the right way?  Just in case you are doing it the wrong way,

The proper way is to set up a credit card ACCOUNT and enter the charges into it when the purchase is made and assigning it to a category. Then when you pay the bill you TRANSFER the payment from your checking account to the credit card account. Then when you download the payment from the bank you match it to the one you already entered.

When you enter the payment in your checking account you put the credit card account name in for the category using square brackets around the name to indicate it is a transfer...like this… [credit card] or newer versions have a Transfer column.

q_lurker

My approach would be:
In my personal Quicken file, I would record the CC payment as to "Tim Allen, Handyman" similar to any other CC transaction.  I would make the category "Out-of-State Property" (see footnote)
There would be no special handling of the CC being paid.
When the OOS Property paid the bill, I'd take the check in as Payable to me with the memo line clarifying that it was for Tim Allen's Invoice 1234-567.

In the OOS Property Quicken file, It would simply be a check payable to you, or maybe something like "My Name / Tim Allen Handyman" or maybe "My Name {Time Allen, Handyman}".  The memo line clarifies.  The category is whatever applies for the work the handyman did.  The brackets {} are a special treatment within Quicken checks; I'm not sure how they might impact various sorts, searches, and filters. 

Footnote:  You have the choice as to how you handle this property in your personal Quicken file.  You might just carry along an expense category, as I alluded to in the write-up above.  Expenses you paid personally and reimbursements you receive would be expected to balance out (net to $0) over time.  Your other option would be to have an asset or investment account for that property such that the total value of that account would contribute to your overall net worth.  In that case, you might categorize the CC payment to that account "[OOS Property]" and likewise your reimbursement from that property.  As above, the two would still balance each other.  A third option might be to treat it as you personally loaning the money to "OOS Property"; there would be a loan account in your personal file with you as the lender.  Most of the time a $0 balance on the loan.     

Sherlock

I would be tracking the specific property expenses in the property's Quicken file using a spending account created for the purpose.  The check drawn on the checking account would transfer to spending account.  In my personal Quicken file, I would use a reimbursable property expense category created for the purpose when entering the property's expenses and the check. 

Frankx

Hi @ksrothschild,

You said..
"Right now, supposedly, I have a handyman bill for $100.00, I pay the handyman $100.00 with my personal credit card. The $100.00 will show up on the credit card as a charge so I categorize it against the property. But, when I pay the $100.00 to the credit card company, it is a $100.00 payment, it zeroes out the category in question. This is not what I want because I want the $100.00 to be retained as a property expenses - and I do not want my personal account to show that I am "missing" the $100.00."

The first part of your above statement - where you pay the handyman and you categorize the credit card payment "against the property" is correct.  The problem originates when the credit card payment "zeroes out the category in question"..  How or why does that happen?  It is likely that when you make the "credit card payment" you are posting it to some other category.

Please give us more information on what happens with the credit card payment so that we can help determine where the problem lies.

Frankx

ksrothschild

Thank you volvogirl, q_lurker, Sherlock, and Frankx for your responses... Allow me to digest your responses and see if I can understand the concept. I'll get back to you all when I get the gist.

In response to Frankx's question about "zeroes out the category", I would like for the bottom line to show that the $100.00 is shown only as only the property expense, not a credit card charge or elsewhere.

volvogirl

Right.  That's only where it should show, as the expense.  Paying your credit card has nothing to do with the actual charges on the credit card.  The credit card payment from checking is a separate transaction even if it is for the same amount.