Struggling how to enter a transaction made at an Apple Store

shredmund

This seems so simple, but I'm confounded (and been using Quicken since the last 90's).

I rarely use credit cards—only my debit card when making most purchases. However, I just purchased a MacBook Pro at an Apple Store for (argument’s sake) 2,500.00, and used my Apple Card for the purchase (they charge 0% interest for installment payments over 12 months). The sales guy told me the one thing I’d need to be charged for up-front, is the tax (argument’s sake again)... $200.

So the receipt (basically) reads as follows:

MacBook Pro: $2500.00
Tax: $ 200.00
___________
Total: $2700.00

I’m only making installment payments on the $2500, because I paid the tax ($200.) up-front. But I can’t figure out how to enter this transaction into my “Apple Card” register, because they put the tax *onto* the same card (I somehow thought when he said I’d be paying that up-front, that it would hit my debit card).

When I download the .QFX file from Apple’s site and import it into Quicken (into the “Apple Card” register), it’s coming in as a debit -- because they said I’d be paying it up-front (i.e., like a deposit).

I hope isn’t isn’t too IN-articulate. I struggled to explain it verbally as well (to the reps at Apple) for clarification on how to do this.

Thanks in advance for any help!

MontanaKarl

I'm confused about what is confusing you?  You created a Credit Card account within Quicken for your Apple Card, correct?  In that card's register, you entered the initial transaction, which sounds like it is around $400 = $200 tax pre-paid, and $200 monthly payment?  That was entered as a split between sales tax and some expense category (or asset account)?  Subsequent payments on the laptop won't need to be split, but would just go against your expense category.

The download will of course not know about the split of the sales tax... you have to do that yourself manually.

volvogirl

I assume your Apple Card is set up as a credit card account?  Then how are you making the payments?  I would enter the full amount 2700 as the initial charge and split it to sales tax and computer expense.  Or actually I would just include the sales tax in the purchase price to the computer Exp (or wherever you put the Exp) and not break it out.

Then each monthly payment will reduce what you owe.  I wouldn't want to have a bunch of small monthly payments showing up in the computer expense.  I want to see the whole amount for the item.  The actual charge is when you bought it. 

jacobs

Let me try to add to the two replies above…

One way to record it in Quicken is to simply record what you've been charged as the charges come, as explained by @MontanaKarl. I'd consider the sales tax part of the purchase of the computer (unless you itemize deductions and incur huge sales taxes, which very few taxpayers do).

So you could record the $200 charge for the sales tax in your Apple Card account to whatever category you use, such as Computer Expense or Computer Equipment. In the memo field, note that this is the sales tax on the $2,500 installment purchase of the computer. When you get charged for the first monthly installment, record it the same way using the same category. Again , you can use the memo field to document that this is an installment payment on your August 2022 MacBook Pro, and if you want, make is installment payment #1 of 12, #2 of 12, etc.

But as @volvogirl points out, that approach won't show the total cost of the computer, just all the installment payments. So your alternative is to create a liability account to record the purchase on credit — a loan, fundamentally — of a $2,700 MacBook Pro, categorized as Computer Expense. Then record the sales tax and monthly installment charges to your Apple card as transfers to the liability account. After 12 months, the liability account will be zero.