Can I Link Reimbursements to Expenses?

Dstone001

I'm using Quicken for Mac.

When I get a reimbursement check, whether from work, a retail store, etc. is there a way to link it to the original expense? For example, I've got a lot of business expenses in my checking account. Almost all have been reimbursed, but if I run an expense report, I only see the expenses. I guess I can create a separate income category for the corresponding reimbursements, but it seems like it would be much easier to just link the reimbursement to the expense.

volvogirl

I think you better leave the expenses paid (and reimbursed) alone. I was going to say to categorize the reimbursement to the same expense category but changed my mind. In your case for business items you should set up a new income category. The reimbursements might be included on any 1099NEC you get. So for your tax return you will need to report it as income and then report all the expenses which will offset the income.

For non business items like refunds you should categorize it to the same expense category to clear out the expense.

rjbaumgart

Personally, I just use the same category ‘Work Reimbursement’ & when I receive the expense check it just brings the balance back to zero (assuming you haven’t incurred more reimbursable expenses). I haven’t found a way to link, it would be nice like how QuickBooks lets you link a check to certain bills. You could just put in the expense memo what the transaction was for & then in the check memo or notes, write down what they paid. That could be cumbersome though if you have a lot of transactions on each reimbursement.

jacobs

Since you have a lot of business expenses and reimbursements, you might want to track this in a separate Quicken account.

I have one I've called "Exchange" which I use for any money owed to me (by work, by friends for ticket or meal purchases) or prepayments/deposits. When I purchase something for work, I record the transaction as a Transfer to the Exchange account. When I make a deposit in my bank account for a reimbursement I've received, that is also a Transfer to the Exchange account. When the charges and reimbursements completely offset, the Exchange account has a $0 balance. I use the Memo field extensively to document the purchases and reimbursements so I can be clear on what's been reimbursed and what I'm still owed. When I'm reimbursed for a particular expense, I click the Cleared (blue) checkbox for both the purchase and reimbursement; this makes it easy to see which items are still pending reimbursement.

Chris_QPW

I'm not sure if Quicken Windows Business has a way to link such expenses (I'm actually pretty sure they do, because it would be done with accounts similar to what @jacobs suggested), but I have never used it, and I'm sure Quicken Mac doesn't have that kind of thing yet.

Personally, what I have done is using different categories, but having the right tax line for them. That way they net out on a tax report. For the tax reporting you really don't have to link an expense to the refund. You are only reporting the amount that didn't get reimbursed.