Enter refund but report shows the amount as Income!

Frankvet

Hey guys,

I purchased a computer on my credit card (Accounting: Credit card, $1000 / Computer Expense $1000). Income statement shows the Computer expense of $1000.

I sent it back and got a refund on my credit card. The Credit card balance was reduced by $1000, and the Computer Expense is listed as INCOME on my transaction report!?!?!

Not sure how to enter a refund from a purchase show up in the expense category, e.g., Computer expense total WAS $2000, but after the refund, the Computer expense should show $1000, NOT as INCOME?

Thoughts?

jacobs

When you got the refund, it should be recorded as a positive amount in the credit card account, using the same Computer expense category as you used for the original purchase? If so, I'd think your expense should total zero, not $2,000. Unless you purchased another computer for $1,000? So I'm a little confused by your description.

But let me jump ahead to reporting, because whether something shows as income or expense can depend on what report you use. If you use the old "Category Summary" report, it shows "Money In" for any category which has a net inflow — so your computer refund can flip the account into the "Money In" section. This is one of several known problems with this old report. I strongly recommend not using the Category Summary report.

Most of the reports in Quicken Mac use the modern reports engine which was developed a few years ago — and they don't have this problem. So if you go to Reports and create a Summary or Transaction report, you won't have a problem with a category flopping from expense to income based on the value. Expense categories are normally negative amounts but if a refund pushes an expense category to a positive number, it won't move out of the Expense section of the report.

MauryJ

I agree with Jacobs… I always enter the category of the original expense when I get a credit for returning something. That way it shows up as a net $0 (or whatever the delta is) for that line item, and it doesn't over or under weight a given expense category

UKR

Please take the transaction dates into consideration:
If you purchased something in June for $1000
and received a full refund in the next month, July for ($1000) …
If the date range of the report is for this month only you will see an Income
If the date range includes June and July (e.g., YTD), you will see a correct $0.00 amount for the category.

jacobs

If you purchased something in June for $1000 and received a full refund in the next month, July for ($1000) … If the date range of the report is for this month only you will see an Income

But the point I was making above is that it shouldn't be income, it should be a positive (contra-)expense (where regular expenses are normally negative). It is done that way in any of the modern reports; it isn't in the old, original Category Summary report.