Work flow around group expenses?

Ask Anything
1

Apologies if this is super basic and obvious, but I struggle with concepts, so I appreciate your patience!

I live in a house with 4 people. We share the rent four ways, and each month take turns paying the rent (and getting reimbursed).

When I pay the entire rent (and then get paid back) how do I catagorize the repayments from my housemates? As income (but marked hidden?)

I want their payments applied to the rent total, so that my spending totals are correct.

Does this question make sense?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Eleanor

2

Hi. Here’s what I would do:

-In months that I pay the rent, I would split the rent payment transaction into (a) my portion of the rent categorized as Rent and (b) the portion to be paid by others categorized as Reimbursable.

-When your housemates pay you their portion, I would categorize those transactions as Reimbursement.

-Rent is an expense category. Reimbursable and Reimbursement are transfer categories that are reflected in neither income nor expenses. If ever in doubt about whether you’ve been paid in full, you could compare Reimbursable and Reimbursement to ensure they are equal.

I’m sure there are other ways to do it, but that’s what I think I’d do.

3 Likes
3

I would enter all 4 transactions as “Rent.” Let’s say the rent is $2,000, so you each owe $500 each month. The month you pay the rent, you’ll have a -$2,000 debit, but you’ll also get a credit of $1,500 from your three housemates, offsetting to a -$500 for Rent. The months someone else pays the rent and you reimburse them -$500 for Rent, you’ll still be showing your rent expense as -$500. The drawback is if they don’t reimburse you the in the same month you pay the rent, it’ll look like your rent expense is higher in that month.

2 Likes
4

I like this solution @dmetiller for a problem I’ve been having with group vacations, where we might reserve the B&B but not get reimbursed from our travel mates for many months later, which makes our travel budget look out of whack. Your split reimbursement category solution would solve that. Thanks!

5

thank you so much for responding! I’ll give this a shot.

6

Helpful! Thank you! I’m not sure which option is “best” but I appreciate having options!