Splasm Software Discussions

Let me state up front that Accounting has never made sense to me. I tried to get through a college class twice and didn't succeed. What seems to me something that should be absurdly simple seems to have been made absurdly complex. But that's just me. I mention this because the question I'm about to ask is probably answered by an Accounting practice that I'm unaware of.

So I am not reporting this as a bug, though it sure seems like one to me. I'm sure someone versed in Accounting practices can explain it so I'm looking forward to that. BTW - I'm using CBP V2.5.1 with OS X 10.6.8.

I use CBP to track expenses. So the only deposits I add to an account are, for instance, refunds to charge cards, insurance reimbursements, etc.

When I create a year-to-date category summary, I'm baffled because the result indicates that both expenses and deposits are being totalled to give a total debit value. For instance:



It appears that CBP is summing the Dental expenses of $230.15, adding in the deposits of 194.00 (which were actually insurance reimbursements) to give a total Dental category debit value of 424.15.

Obviously, this is why I failed Accounting class because it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

So, if this isn't a bug, could someone give me a simple and brief explanation of why in the world this is done?

Thanks.

In the Summaries, Categories are subtotaled and then the Category subtotal is followed by breakdown for what of the overall subtotal came from Deposit Entries and what came from Debit Entries. So, in your screenshot, you're being shown that -230.15 went towards Dental items for the subtotaling period. Basically, that -230.15 is just a total of your 194 dollars worth of Deposits and -424.15 dollars worth of Debits [194 + (-424.15) = -230.15].

This subtotaling should be particularly helpful in your case because you can quickly see that you put 230.15 towards Dental. Overall, you originally spent 424.15, but your reimbursements brought you back down.

_________________
Allan Woodall
Phosphorescent Phage
Splasm Software
http://www.splasm.com

Allan:

Thanks for your reply! But there is still a point of confusion.

I have not spent $424.15 on dental. I paid the dentist a total of $230.15 (the expenses totalled), and was reimbursed by insurance $194. So my total out-of-pocket was only $36.15. It boggles my mind that somehow the deposits should be added into the expenses. But, again, that's why I never passed college Accounting.

So how do I get CBP to give me the actual cost of category? How do I get it to take the expenses and then subtract out any deposits?

Using these rules, if I then added in my monthly wages as deposits and ran a complete all category summary I would get an ending total of (roughly) twice of what I actually paid as the Summary would add my expenses and wages together for the total. That sort of logic baffles me...

Allan:

So let's approach this in a different way. Maybe I'm simply entering something incorrectly in CBP.

Assume I make a purchase of several items. I enter the total as an expense. Now assume I return one item. Typically I've been entering the return as a Deposit as a Return or Credit. That seems to be wrong, at least as far as getting a Category Summary is concerned. How can I enter the value of the return and have that amount deducted from the expense total?

Thanks.

Allan:

There's another point of confusion for me.

When in the Entry mode in CBP when I enter a Deposit it, correctly in my eyes, reduces the running Expense total in the screen by the entered Deposit amount.

So why does the Summary function treat a Deposit differently than the Entry function does?

The Summary you're looking at isn't necessarily displaying an Expense total (except strictly beside where it says 'Debits:'). Instead, you're looking at a Category subtotal (the top value) for every single Entry using that Category designation—that's why everything gets added up. If you want to see an Expense subtotal Summary, double-click the Summary where it shows listed under the Accounts Summaries area and then uncheck the 'Deposit' item next to where it says 'Show:'. This won't factor in your Dental Deposits at all, though.

In a sense, what you're seeing in the Summary is that the Deposits amount is reducing the Expense total in the end. Maybe the ordering in the Summary is what's creating the confusion—that top value (-230.15) is the overall total followed by the breakdown for what constitutes that total. The expense total would be the total of the Debits (-424.15) and the Deposits total (194) brings things down to -230.15 since it's a negative number that's reduced through incorporating that positive value. This holds true with your purchase-and-return scenario (wherein the return deposit would bring down the overall negative subtotal value as if you spent less initially), just be sure you're looking at the top value since that's the Category subtotal.

_________________
Allan Woodall
Phosphorescent Phage
Splasm Software
http://www.splasm.com

Allan:

Thanks for your patience. Yes, I think the order is exactly what is confusing me. I filtered the Entry section on just Dental entries and it all makes sense.

My apologies for being so thick-headed...

So let me ask another silly question...

Is there a way to generate a Summary that is for Categories only and not have it break out summaries for subcategories?

It's great to hear that it's all starting to make a bit more sense!

Now, your other question isn't silly at all. There is indeed a way to keep the subcategory breakdowns from getting listed out beneath the main container Category subtotals. For that, either use the New button to create a custom Summary or hit Change while an existing one's selected and then uncheck the 'Include Subcategory subtotals' option.

_________________
Allan Woodall
Phosphorescent Phage
Splasm Software
http://www.splasm.com

Well, that's what I thought and what I tried. But the Summary still breaks out and displays the Subcategories of each Category. The difference is in the way the information is printed out.

When I choose to include the Subcategories, all of the Category totals are shown first, followed then by a Subcategory breakdown. If I turn off Subcategory totals then all of the Subcategories are listed under each Category.

What I was hoping for was a summary of the Categories only with no Subcategory info listed at all.

Ahhhh, so you're looking to see just the overarching Category subtotaled—I see now. Unfortunately, unchecking the 'Include Subcategory subtotals' option does indeed just remove the subcategory breakdowns that are listed beneath the main container Category.

Since you're using CheckBook Pro, you could instead use a Smart Folder to accomplish what you're looking for. To do that, choose 'New Smart Folder...' from the Account menu at the top of the screen, set the filter options as 'Category/is equal to', and then type the Category designation into the field to the right. After that, while your Smart Folder's selected, any Summary viewed will show only Entries that use that exact typed-in Category string and nothing more.

_________________
Allan Woodall
Phosphorescent Phage
Splasm Software
http://www.splasm.com

Yep, this is what I do. Smart folders area great for this kind of thing and keeps me on track for the particular date period I've set the smart folder to include.

It sounds as if I can only do this (Smart Folder) operation on a single category at a time. Is that correct?

Looks that way, since there is no filter for Matches Any/Matches All descriptors.

Bugger...