Accounting for coupons- Q 2007

Posted by jo on October 20, 2008, 2:33 pm

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I'd like to track how much money I save using coupons.
Logically it is an offset to the expense, but frequently I use a
coupon that spans several items because it a store coupon, rather than
an item coupon, so I can't just reduce a single item's cost.

I'd like to put the items in at their regular cost and enter the
coupon amount in a separate category, but I can't figure out how to do
it (I think I've had best success entering a negative amount in the
split of the transaction). Is this the right/best way to handle
it? I should end up with a negative total in my personal "P & L"
report expense section, which looks a little odd, but I don't know any
other way to do this.

Any ideas?

jo

Posted by Oilcan on October 20, 2008, 3:48 pm

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I use Class/Tags for this. For example,

Clothing/Shoes $50.00
Clothing/Shoes Coupon $-15.00
Transaction Amount $35.00

If I have more than one category, I would need to split the Coupon
(Discount) between them, for example:

Clothing/Shoes $25.00
Personal Care $25.00
Clothing/Shoes Coupon $-7.50
Personal Care Coupon $-7.50
Transaction Amount $35.00

Oilcan
-----Original Message-----
From: jo [mailto:phillysleuth@verizon.net]
Posted At: Monday, October 20, 2008 11:33 AM
Posted To: alt.comp.software.financial.quicken
Conversation: Accounting for coupons- Q 2007
Subject: Accounting for coupons- Q 2007

I'd like to track how much money I save using coupons.
Logically it is an offset to the expense, but frequently I use a
coupon that spans several items because it a store coupon, rather than
an item coupon, so I can't just reduce a single item's cost.

I'd like to put the items in at their regular cost and enter the
coupon amount in a separate category, but I can't figure out how to do
it (I think I've had best success entering a negative amount in the
split of the transaction). Is this the right/best way to handle
it? I should end up with a negative total in my personal "P & L"
report expense section, which looks a little odd, but I don't know any
other way to do this.

Any ideas?

jo

Posted by jo on October 21, 2008, 1:47 pm

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> I use Class/Tags for this. =A0For example,

> Clothing/Shoes $50.00

> Clothing/Shoes Coupon $-15.00

> Transaction Amount $35.00

> If I have more than one category, I would need to split the Coupon

> (Discount) between them, for example:

> Clothing/Shoes $25.00

> Personal Care =A0$25.00

> Clothing/Shoes Coupon $-7.50

> Personal Care Coupon =A0$-7.50

> Transaction Amount $35.00

> Oilcan

> -----Original Message-----

> From: jo [mailto:phillysle...@verizon.net]

> Posted At: Monday, October 20, 2008 11:33 AM

> Posted To: alt.comp.software.financial.quicken

> Conversation: Accounting for coupons- Q 2007

> Subject: Accounting for coupons- Q 2007

> I'd like to track how much money I save using coupons.

> Logically it is an offset to the expense, but frequently I use a

> coupon that spans several items because it a store coupon, rather than

> an item coupon, so I can't just reduce a single item's cost.

> I'd like to put the items in at their regular cost and enter the

> coupon amount in a separate category, but I can't figure out how to do

> it (I think I've had best success entering a negative amount in the

> split of the transaction). =A0 =A0 Is this the right/best way to handle

> it? =A0 =A0 I should end up with a negative total in my personal "P & L"

> report expense section, which looks a little odd, but I don't know any

> other way to do this.

> Any ideas?

> jo- Hide quoted text -

> - Show quoted text -

This gets time consuming when it's just small coupon amounts that I
get from CVS that apply to a variety of purchases. The individual
item's prices can be miniscule, and apportioning a discount that can
range from $1- $8 (their Extra Bucks) to each such item takes more
time than I want to give it. Isn't there a standard accounting
method that I could use to record the items at their original prices,
as the register receipt does, and put the entire coupon amount as an
offset somewhere else?

Posted by Charlie K on October 21, 2008, 2:28 pm

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> > I use Class/Tags for this. =A0For example,

> > Clothing/Shoes $50.00

> > Clothing/Shoes Coupon $-15.00

> > Transaction Amount $35.00

> > If I have more than one category, I would need to split the Coupon

> > (Discount) between them, for example:

> > Clothing/Shoes $25.00

> > Personal Care =A0$25.00

> > Clothing/Shoes Coupon $-7.50

> > Personal Care Coupon =A0$-7.50

> > Transaction Amount $35.00

> > Oilcan

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: jo [mailto:phillysle...@verizon.net]

> > Posted At: Monday, October 20, 2008 11:33 AM

> > Posted To: alt.comp.software.financial.quicken

> > Conversation: Accounting for coupons- Q 2007

> > Subject: Accounting for coupons- Q 2007

> > I'd like to track how much money I save using coupons.

> > Logically it is an offset to the expense, but frequently I use a

> > coupon that spans several items because it a store coupon, rather than

> > an item coupon, so I can't just reduce a single item's cost.

> > I'd like to put the items in at their regular cost and enter the

> > coupon amount in a separate category, but I can't figure out how to do

> > it (I think I've had best success entering a negative amount in the

> > split of the transaction). =A0 =A0 Is this the right/best way to handle

> > it? =A0 =A0 I should end up with a negative total in my personal "P & L=

> > report expense section, which looks a little odd, but I don't know any

> > other way to do this.

> > Any ideas?

> > jo- Hide quoted text -

> > - Show quoted text -

> This gets time consuming when it's just small coupon amounts that I

> get from CVS that apply to a variety of purchases. =A0 The individual

> item's prices can be miniscule, and apportioning a discount that can

> range from $1- $8 (their Extra Bucks) to each such item takes more

> time than I want to give it. =A0 Isn't there a standard accounting

> method that I could use to record the items at their original prices,

> as the register receipt does, and put the entire coupon amount as an

> offset somewhere else?- Hide quoted text -

> - Show quoted text -

Standard accounting is to record the cost net of discount, that's what
the IRS allows as a deduction for business. That said, what I use is
an income account "Discounts & Coupons" where I record the coupon
amount and the pre-discount cost gets recorded as the expense. I just
make sure that I don't do that with a tac deduction.

Posted by Gil Faver on October 21, 2008, 3:07 pm

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