Returns and Reimbursments are NOT "income"!

[sailorsteve]

If I buy something and then return it later for credit against my credit card, here's what happens now in Mint:

It gets added into my expenses against whatever budget category I give it, say "home improvement" in the case of a new light fixture.

When I return it and get credit, I put it into "returns" which is a subcategory under "income" in Mint.

My budget shows I spent that money and it counts against my "home improvement" budget! Also, the return credit goes into my "income"! Even though I really didn't spend that or make that income....

This is screwy. So, when I got a credit for an item, I tried categorizing the credit in the budget category it originally was "expensed" against, thinking it would offset the expense as far as the budget category went. However, Mint does not add the positive credit to the budget category. I think it should!!

So, to do a workaround so my budget spending trends are not whacked out of shape by an "expense" that was reversed by a return, here is what I had to do:

First, I have to track down any credit transactions for a return and categorize it as "Exclude from Mint". I then have to track down the original purchase transaction and also categorize it as "Exclude from Mint". Then, finally the spending won't show in the budget and the credit won't show in my income, which is how it should be.

This is a kludge! Please allow us to offset expenses more easily than this. Am I missing something??

[mburdsall]

I've not had the same problem with credits. I do not have many credits. What I do have is expenses from ATM charges at the end of the month. When I use my ATM card I may have a service charge and this shows up as a expense item in my budget. When I get the credit from the bank at the end of the month, I have the credit hit the service charge catagory to off set the original expenses. This shows as zero in the budget then at the end of the month.

I have several thousand dollars worth of reimbursements each month for travel. During the month as I receive the busienss expenses in Mint I apply them to a business travel catagory and also a tag for business. When the reimbursements are received I do not apply them the reimbursements to the same business expense catagory as the expenses. Since the reimbursements are usually several months after the expenses and this would not zero out the catgory.

I would love tohave a way of reconciling business expenses with by having a report that shows income and expenses on the same page over several months or being able to link the expenses trnasactions with a reimbursement check, maybe by the use of a reimbursement code.

[uberzoop]

So I bought something at Cabelas and then returned it. Mint sees the transaction as a Sporting Goods Purchase and the Return as a credit card payment.

http://i44.tinypic.com/11jraf7.png

But when I go to trends with the graphs, it still shows up as I spent $31 on sporting goods. But I didnt, I returned it

http://i44.tinypic.com/wjyrv8.png

What should I do to wash out this transaction or make mint think I didnt spend $31 on sporting goods? Should I mark both transactions as "duplicates"?

Just curious, because I will need to do this in the future as well.

[uberzoop]

I think I got it. I can pick the purchase and pick the return and change the category in both to "Exclude From Mint" and it goes away in my trends and goes away in my transaction window.

Did I do this right?

http://i42.tinypic.com/312zh1c.png

[mburdsall]

If I buy something and then return it later for credit against my credit card, here's what happens now in Mint:

It gets added into my expenses against whatever budget category I give it, say "home improvement" in the case of a new light fixture.

When I return it and get credit, I put it into "returns" which is a subcategory under "income" in Mint.


When I have returns I place the credit in the expense catagory that I applied the original purchase. This allows the catgory to show as zero in the trends tab.

[uberzoop]

When I have returns I place the credit in the expense catagory that I applied the original purchase. This allows the catgory to show as zero in the trends tab.

I just tried that, it didn't work for me. Still shows up in trends.

[mburdsall]

What are you seeing in the trends, both the charge and the credit or just the charge? In the budget on the overview screen it will show as zero, but since the trend only look at expenses you will only see the charge and not the credit.

[coreyp]

I have the same basic issue basically. I have a $1000 car repair expense that needs to be offset by the $800 insurance reimbursement. No matter how I mark the reimbursement, mint still shows me spending $1000 on the car this month.

Is this something we can put in a bug report for?

[mburdsall]

I have the same basic issue basically. I have a $1000 car repair expense that needs to be offset by the $800 insurance reimbursement. No matter how I mark the reimbursement, mint still shows me spending $1000 on the car this month.

Is this something we can put in a bug report for?

There is really two ways to look at your example. In th first case some people woud want to know that they spent 1000 USD on the repair and received 800 USD insurance reimbursement. In which case the user should recrd the 1000 USD as repair expense and the 800USD as reimbursement income. That is my preference since the total savings (income-spend) for the month is the same and I retain the integrity of transactions for future reference.

The second way of handling this would be to go into the 1000 USD repair transaction and split the transaction. Show 200 USD for the repiar and add a line for 800 USD insurance. In order to not duoble count the insurance then go into the original insurance payment and select the exclude from mint catgory.

The second way acheives what you want I think but it is not really the proper way. Mint shoud show that youreally spend 1000 USD for repair. You just happened to get 800 USD reimbursement for some of that 1000 USd spend. The net should appear in your reporting only.

[ohbejoyful]

Funny, I just had a Cabela's return too!

I bought size 8 regular flannel lined jeans, but they were too short. They cost $53.94. I returned them for the 8 Tall, which fit beautifully. These also cost me $53.94. Cabela's refunded my credit card $37.49 - woo, that's some expensive shipping costs!

Mint handled them all correctly, except for the categorization. There were two debits of -$53.94, and one credit of +$37.49. I put them all in the Clothing category, even the credit.

The Trends chart accurately reflects that I spent $70.39 at Cabela's overall.*

So, it's working for me.

ETA - $70.39 for a pair of jeans. Basically I paid for the jeans ($44.99) and double shipping. This is why I like places with free shipping like Zappos, so you can try things on without getting dinged so badly.