YNAB You Need A Budget

[adavant1]

Hi all

I have a question about funds that are going to be reimbursed to you. I have to purchase items for my church then they reimburse me. HOw do I account for this in YNAB?

[tindelsurf]

Assign the outgoing to a category... when they reimburse you, assign the reimbursement to that same category instead of 'income available this/next month'.

[Malisa]

I'd recommend a specific category so the amount stands out. Also, if the reimbursement will come the following month, you'll want to turn the overspending arrow to the right (click on it and then choose to point to the right). This will keep the overspending confined to that category. This is fine if either you're using a credit card so the money is basically being floated by the CC company AND you're sure you'll get paid back. If you're using a cash/debit only based budget and you're at all close to the financial edge, you'll want to budget for the original purchase. Otherwise, it could make you overdraft. If this is the case, then when they reimburse you you can budget a negative number (if it's in the following month) or unbudget/erase what you budgeted (if it's in the current month) to free that money up for other purposes.
Use the link in my signature, there's a short video that says it better than these words.

[mozzie61]

If this is a one off situation for a relatively small amount, then I would just absorb it until repaid in an already existing category like Supplies or Miscellaneous (as suggested above), but if this is a regular occurrence and you want to keep track of how much your church owes you then you should set up a separate Church Expenses category and handle this the recommended YNAB way. You can view a three minute video specifically on Reimbursements on the YNAB Training and Education web pages.

[roger]

I have a category called "Church Stuff" that has zero in the BUDGETED column. The arrow is turned to the right. When I get the reimbursement the inflow is categorized as "Church Stuff", not as income.

Hey! I just noticed... I'm owed $250! Maybe I'll just sit at the back next Sunday and take it out of the offering plate when it goes by.

[DonGately]

Our approach may be a little quirky but we have a category called Reimburseables with subcategories for certain regular expenses where we expect reimbursement. The amounts are never that great and it doesn't create a cash flow problem so we don't budget for the categories but rather will record the expense as an outflow to the appropriate category which then shows as a red balance on the budget page. When the reimbursement is received we record an inflow to the category and viola! the red disappears.

[MRKlink]

I have a category called "Church Stuff" that has zero in the BUDGETED column. The arrow is turned to the right. When I get the reimbursement the inflow is categorized as "Church Stuff", not as income.

Hey! I just noticed... I'm owed $250! Maybe I'll just sit at the back next Sunday and take it out of the offering plate when it goes by.

Roger, I just had a huge chuckle over this!


And DonGately, I think we all have a similar approach - yours is not quirky! I have Reimbursements: His Work, Her Work, Family Gifts. I also have the red arrow turned to the right, as most of these are "floated" on the credit card, and reimbursed in enough time not to incur interest (but may cross over a month, depending on when they were purchased/submitted for reimbursement).