On 2005-02-13, schwabg <schwabg[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
- quote -

I don't know about M05. I use M04. In M04, I make a "fake"
A/R account. It's not really an A/R account, but it works well
enough to accomplish the same thing.

Basically, I created a cash account that's "in budget". When I
submit the rebate, I create a deposit into that account for
the amount and paid by the company that I sent the rebate to.
I also assign the same category as the thing that I bought. When I
receive the rebate, I deposit it into my checking account, then I
make a transfer from my fake A/R account to the checking account.
I mark the transfer and the original transfer Reconciled.

Any unreconciled transaction in the account is a rebate that I have
not yet received.

I appreciate all the great responses about how to track/enter rebates. My
very simple question is how do I set up an A/R account in Money 2005 Deluxe.
It seems like something beyond the basic stuff I've been using the program
for.

Thanks!

Greg

"Gary Townsend" wrote:

- quote -

I like the idea of a scheduled transaction. I had not thought of this.
I would schedule it 6 to 8 weeks in the future (or the time they
indicate that the rebate should process by) into my bank account and
offset the original category. This would trigger me to follow up on it
after an appropriate amount of time. Thanks for the ideas!

You can enter a transaction without a date. Can you do this in 2005.


- quote -

On 2005-02-10, Dick Watson <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote:
- quote -

Oh. You're doing something differently than I was suggesting.
That's not a bad way to do it either. What I was saying was that
I simply enter the transaction into my checking register without
a date. That way it's always in the future. I like your way better
than my old way. I like my new way best of all, though.

I'm glad that there isn't a law against rebates. But there ought
to be an easier way to enforce existing fraud laws for unfufilled
rebates.

I date the scheduled transaction for the "allow so many eons" date. That way
I know when to call them and remind them that I haven't forgotten. Some
companies (CompUSA comes to mind) seem as though they will not send them if
you don't do this.

I try to avoid having that many rebates outstanding at any one time. What
vile things. There should be a law.

"Mark Horn" <mark[at]hornclan.com> wrote in message
news:slrnd0ncn7.fg7.mark[at]home.hornclan.com...
- quote -

On 2005-02-10, Dick Watson <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote:
- quote -

You can also enter the one-time deposit without a date. That will
cause the transaction to always be in the future. I used to do
it that way, but transitioned to the "quasi" accounts receivable
method because this way Money does the math and tells me how much
is outstanding.

In order to track the rebates I should receive, I schedule one-time deposits
and note in the memo the rebate and date submitted. The asset account is
another way.

"Joseph Meehan" <sligojoe_Spamno[at]hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:kWIOd.259$Cs5.14[at]fe2.columbus.rr.com...
- quote -

schwabg wrote:
- quote -

There are three ways to do this depending on the version of Money you
have and how "correct" you want to be.

Dick suggested the way I have been doing it.

Gary suggested the way I really should have been doing it using the
Standard Money version.

Tagman suggested the proper way of doing it with the Business version of
Money.

Both Gary and Tagman not only track the rebates you receive, but they
also track the rebates you should be receiving.

Since I bought the Business this year due to other needs, and now that I
have been reminded that I should be doing it the correct way, rather than
sticking a post-a-Note on my monitor to remind me. I will set it up when I
next send in for a rebate.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

schwabg wrote:
- quote -

I'm sure other folks will have some many ways of doing this, but I have
set up an asset account called "Rebates Receivable". When I purchase
something for $100 that has a $20 rebate, I transfer $20 to the Rebates
Receivable account and put $80 in the appropriate category. When I
receive the rebate I deposit the check to my checking account and
transfer the amount to the Rebate Receivable account. I manually mark
the two transactions as Reconciled in the asset account after I receive
the rebate.

This way, at any given time I can see what rebates I am waiting to
receive (the unreconciled amounts equal the rebates I haven't yet
received), and approximately how long I've been waiting (since I
generally send them in within a few days). This way if one is getting
old I know I need to follow up on it.

If one gets denied and I've exhausted all possibilities of collecting
it, I make an entry in the rebate account transferring the balance I
won't receive back to the appropriate category and then mark the two
transactions in the Rebates Receivable account reconciled.

Regards,

Gary

--
Gary Townsend
For email, replace "nospam" with "adelphia"
AIM: gtownsend
ICQ: 36261155
http://users.adelphia.net/~gtownsend/
----
There are 10 types of people in the world:
Those that understand binary, and those that don't.

I account for it at the time of purchase...

Split $100 charge on credit card - $80 expense and $20 transfer to A/R ledger.

5 months later when I receive the check, I post it in the A/R ledger (reducing it to zero) and transfer the deposit to my checking account.

This permits me the opportunity to follow-up on any late checks by checking my ledger for open items.

(also keeps my networth accurate - sometimes those rebates accumulate quite a bit!)


"schwabg" <schwabg[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:AF40E75F-9DB6-412F-8A31-ECB43118B501[at]microsoft.com...
I was wondering how the rest of the members on here enter rebates that they
receive for previously purchase products. Do you go back to the original
purchase transaction and back out the purchase price for the amount of the
rebate? Do you create a separate category? Thanks in advance for the advice.

I enter a new transaction crediting the original category. Money may
complain about an income against an expense category. Tell it that you
really do want it this way.

"schwabg" <schwabg[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AF40E75F-9DB6-412F-8A31-ECB43118B501[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

I was wondering how the rest of the members on here enter rebates that they
receive for previously purchase products. Do you go back to the original
purchase transaction and back out the purchase price for the amount of the
rebate? Do you create a separate category? Thanks in advance for the advice.