Author Topic: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?  (Read 3291 times)

WaffleIronMaiden

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My husband has a few hundred dollars of random work expenses each month which are reimbursed as direct deposits into our bank account. I've begun working on the V.3 master spreadsheet and I'm retroactively inputing all info starting from January but I'm confused how to input these expensed items.

Some of the expensed items are obvious like flights or hotel rooms but there are a lot of coffee shop and lunch ones that just blend in with regular spending. Now that we are using the spreadsheet we can do a monthly review, but he doesn't remember from 6 months ago which coffee shop visit was a meeting and which was just getting coffee. The other issue is the lag time between the actual expense and the reimbursement, usually about two to three weeks so the spending vs reimbursement monthly is not equivalent.

So should I leave all of the expenses and reimbursements in the document as is and let them slightly skew our actual numbers (especially for travel, income, & restaurants) or should I try to separate them out even if I might miss some.

Are other mushtachians having this issue???

Thank you for any suggestions!

MrsPB

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2017, 03:55:43 PM »
My DH travels a lot for work and I have him use a different credit card for any work expenses so I know which ones are which

SpreadsheetMan

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2017, 04:13:17 PM »
My DH travels a lot for work and I have him use a different credit card for any work expenses so I know which ones are which

+1. Different credit card for work expenses and exclude them from the domestic spreadsheet.

I also have a separate credit card for on-line purchases so I'm not exposing all my cards to the same fraud risks. (I admit to being just a bit paranoid)

WaffleIronMaiden

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2017, 12:42:40 PM »
@mrsPB Thanks, thats a good idea i'll try to get him on board!

@Spreadsheetman Doesn't sound paranoid to me, sounds sensible :)

jpeizie

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2017, 05:58:21 AM »
I just tally it up the way it is and let the chips fall where they may. If I spent it, it goes in the spend column, and when I get reimbursed for it, that goes in the income column. I know that messes up my within-month numbers since the spend and the reimbursement never happen in the same month, but I try not to get too worked up about the monthly totals and look at things over a longer term, where these things pretty much even themselves out.

sokoloff

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2017, 06:12:05 AM »
No Ultramustachian chiming in to say "eliminate all the 'just getting coffees' and the problem goes away"? :)

I'm with the keep it simple approach. Cash out and cash in. If you want to match up/marry off the large expense items (flights, hotels, high-end dinners) to get a picture of how smooth your inherent cashflow is, that's fine, but I wouldn't spend too much time on that if you're willing to take a 12-month average and call that your inherent spending.

chasesfish

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2017, 06:18:04 AM »
I expense it like a normal item on my budget.  When I get the reimbursement, I'll record a negative line item in my spreadsheet.  There's a timing difference on the reimbursements so I like knowing where I stand and being ahead.

dryer

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2017, 07:01:42 AM »
I input it as a expense, but put it in its own classification.  Once I get reimbursed, I credit out the same cell (in excel its a =$50 - $50) that way I can see that there was a expense and that I was reimbursed.  That way it doesn't skew my balances, especially when its due to airfare and hotels related to work options.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2017, 07:11:41 AM »
I do same as dryer. In YNAB, my category is called "Reimbursable." I can quickly see if it's at zero, or if I need to submit some receipts/nag someone for payment, etc.

specialkayme

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2017, 09:43:27 AM »
Perhaps a dumb question, but I don't know what a "V.3 master spreadsheet" is. I don't know if that impacts my answer though.

The spreadsheet I use is based off the Your Money or Your Life book. I don't have any hotels or flights that are reimbursable, but I do have books, mileage, and food. Food gets counted as "work food" whether it's reimbursable or not (as a bill for entertaining a client and a bill for being too dumb to pack lunch both go in this category). Gas gets counted as "gas" whether I get mileage reimbursement or not (as its too difficult for me to count how much of the mileage reimbursement goes toward "gas" and how much is a prepayment on car maintenance). Same with books. Income goes as "reimbursement income."

It isn't perfect, as it inflates my expenses a little and inflates my income a little too. But this way I can clearly see what are "work expenses" that can be pulled out and what are "work income" that ties to it. Easy enough for my purposes.

Plus, by lumping my reimbursable expenses in with my regular expenses, I budget for my total expenses. The reimbursement check is then treated as a "bonus" to me and invested, rather than pre-earmarking it for a set expense. Again, works well for me but YMMV.

apricity22

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #10 on: July 06, 2017, 10:52:39 AM »
I have separate categories for business expenses. I like doing it this way because I can quickly identify those expenses and make sure that I am reimbursed the correct amounts. I also don't have to worry about business expenses obscuring how much I am spending in my personal life (like the coffee example above.)

Heroes821

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2017, 01:11:37 PM »
When I had a company card from an employer we were told to put all food/drinks/travel etc on it so there was no reimbursement, although you were allowed to use your own cards for points and request reimbursement.

As my current self employed self, I only use accounts in the business name for business expenses, which is basically the same as pick a credit card and just use that for his reimbursable expenses.

Sibley

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Re: How do you handle work expensed items on monthly spreadsheet?
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2017, 01:36:23 PM »
I use Quicken, and all work expenses and reimbursements are lumped together into one category called "Work". Ideally, it nets to 0. In reality, there's timing differences.