Q. I often use cashback when I go shopping. How can I record that in Goodbudget?
Getting “cashback” is like mixing an ATM withdrawal with a purchase. When you make a purchase with your debit card, let the cashier know how much you’d like to receive in cashback. The amount will be added to the transaction cost and given to you as cash. How you record these transactions in Goodbudget depends on whether or not you have the Accounts feature turned on – and, whether you are using just one Account, or multiple.
If you are not using the Accounts feature in Goodbudget
If you are using Goodbudget with the Accounts turned off, it’s best just to record the purchase portion of your transactions. For example, say you go to the grocery store and buy $30 worth of groceries and take $20 in cashback. Later, you spend the $20 in cash buying gas for your car. You would record this in Goodbudget by doing the following.
- When you go to the grocery store, record the $30 you spent on groceries as a $30 expense to your Groceries Envelope.
- Do not record the $20 you received in cashback. Because you did not spend any money, only transferred it from your bank account to cash in your hand, there is no need to record anything in Goodbudget.
- Later, when you spend the $20 in cash on gas, record that as an expense of $20 to your Gas Envelope.
If you are using only one Account in Goodbudget
If you have one Account, consider whether or not you reconcile that Account. If you don’t use the reconcile Accounts feature, when you make a purchase and ask for cashback, you’ll only record the amount of the actual purchase into its corresponding Envelope. Then, when you make a purchase using the cashback you received, you’ll enter that as a separate transaction in Goodbudget.
If you do reconcile, you’ll record the purchase plus the cashback amount into Goodbudget. Then, when you use the cash you received, you won’t record that in Goodbudget at all.
If you are using multiple Accounts in Goodbudget
When using multiple Accounts in Goodbudget, you can use a Cash Account to better track the cash back you receive.
