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Credits & refunds

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When money comes back to you, such as a refund for a returned item or cashback from your card, record it as a Credit or Refund instead of as income. The app then lets you choose: give the money back to the category you spent it from, or treat it as new income.

Record a credit or refund​

You can start from three places:

  • Tap Add in the bottom bar and choose Credits & refunds.
  • In an account's Account details, open the ⋮ menu and choose Credits & refunds. The account is filled in for you.
  • Open a completed expense and choose Refund in its ⋮ menu. The account, category, payee and full amount are filled in, so you only adjust what's different (for example a partial refund).

Then fill in the form:

  1. Enter the amount.

  2. To: the account the money goes back to (required).

  3. Date: when the money came back.

  4. Type: Credit or Refund.

  5. Category (optional): the category to give the money back to. Leave it empty to treat the money as income (see below).

    The Credits & refunds form: the amount, To Checking account, Date, Type Refund, Category Groceries and Payee Grocery storeThe Credits & refunds form: the amount, To Checking account, Date, Type Refund, Category Groceries and Payee Grocery store

  6. Optionally add a Payee, Tags and Notes.

  7. Tap the checkmark (Confirm) at the top right.

Info

Credits & refunds isn't offered in the Simple tracker budget type.

With a category: reverse the spending​

When you choose a category, the amount comes off that category's spending, as if part of the original purchase never happened. The money goes back into the category, ready to be spent again, and your reports show the lower spending. This works the same in Zero-Based and Classic Budgeting.

Example: you spent $200 on groceries and return items worth $30. Record a $30 refund to Groceries: the category's spending drops to $170 and the $30 is available in Groceries again.

On a credit card, a refund with a category also lowers the card's balance and gives back the money that was set aside to pay it.

Without a category: treat it as income​

If you leave the category empty, the app asks Treat refund as income? Tap Confirm as income to save it as income in the account.

  • In Zero-Based Budgeting, the money is added to Ready to allocate, just like your salary, and you assign it to whichever categories you like.
  • In Classic Budgeting, it's recorded as income in the account.

Example: you get $15 cashback on your credit card and want to put it towards savings. Record it as a credit with no category and confirm it as income, then allocate it to your savings category.

Refunds and cashback aren't income​

Income, such as your salary, is new money you've earned. Refunds and credits are different:

  • A refund returns money you already spent. Giving it back to the original category keeps your spending reports accurate.
  • A credit such as cashback is a reward. You can use it to offset spending in a category, or treat it as extra income to allocate.

Choosing the category is what decides which of the two happens.

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