I recieved an invoice from my provider that covered two separate services on different dates. I had paid for the first of these previously but because of a misunderstanding regarding it am owed a credit, and this shown on the invoice. The amount due for the second service is correct, but my check to cover it will reflect the credit. How do I show this in my register? There doesn't seem to be a way to enter a negative amount!
My system is set up on a date of service, per provider basis.
I received an invoice from my provider that covered
two separate services on different dates. I had paid
for the first of these previously but because of a
misunderstanding regarding it am owed a credit, and
this shown on the invoice. The amount due for the
second service is correct, but my check to cover it
will reflect the credit. How do I show this in my
register? There doesn't seem to be a way to enter a
negative amount!
My system is set up on a date of service, per
provider basis.
It's been a very long time since I've had to deal with a credit from a provider, so I'm not 100% sure that this will cover all of your reporting needs, but my tests so far look hopeful:
The expense for your first service date should show that the provider owes you the amount of the credit. Modify that expense by adding a negative payment for the amount due you, for the date on which you pay the second service. This should correct your Expense, Tax, and FSA <if applicable> reports.
Add a service to the expense for the second service date called something like "Bogus Service for Billing Adjustment". The name doesn't matter, just so you know that it's not a real service. Enter an Amount Billed of $0 and a Provider Write-Off of the amount of the credit. Now you've got your negative number in the My Resp. column. Do not enter anything in the Insurance Payments window for this bogus billing adjustment service.
If this works for you, post back. If it doesn't, I'm sure you'll post back anyway. ;-)
Alternatively, you could just record in QMEM what SHOULD have happened (AKA, the end result) for both DOS and use Quicken (which I notice you also use) to record the amount owed to you and the use thereof.
Trying to use QMEM as a full blown accounting system just leads into convolutions that can be easily bypassed in Q.
db
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Edited by dbAnalyst at 05/23/2006 1:01 PM
THINK IT THRU! Have you explained your issue so that someone who knows nothing about you, or YOUR Quicken setup, can understand what your issue is? Are you using standard Quicken terminology, particularly with respect to FILES, ACCOUNTS and CATEGORIES?
SHOULD have happened (AKA, the end result) for both
DOS and use Quicken (which I notice you also use) to
record the amount owed to you and the use thereof.
Trying to use QMEM as a full blown accounting system
just leads into convolutions that can be easily
bypassed in Q.
db
db ... I pretty much stick with your procedure. My interest is to be sure that each date of service reflects the information I ultimately need ... like cost of services, insurance payments, out of pocket, tax deductible, etc. Exactly matching the paper received (sometimes confusing) is less important to me than the ultimate bottom line. ;-)
> Alternatively, you could just record in QMEM what
> SHOULD have happened (AKA, the end result) for both
> DOS and use Quicken (which I notice you also use) to
> record the amount owed to you and the use thereof.
Good point, but not being a Quicken user, this didn't immediately occur to me.
Additionally, I find myself rather commonly searching my QuickBooks database by transaction amount. In the OP's scenario, recording just the end result would have left the payments against the expenses "wrong" with respect to the amount that was actually paid. It's possible to work around this, but I'd prefer not to if I can think of an alternative.
db ... I pretty much stick with your procedure. My
interest is to be sure that each date of service
reflects the information I ultimately need ... like
cost of services, insurance payments, out of pocket,
tax deductible, etc. Exactly matching the paper
received (sometimes confusing) is less important to
me than the ultimate bottom line. ;-)
Wayward
I agree. However, I generally have two goals when using QMEM. The primary and ultimate goal is exactly what you said: reflecting the ultimate bottom line.
The secondary goal comes from dealing with the v1 to v2 transition. I want to keep the information as closely reflective of what actually happened as possible so that when new features appear in QMEM that better track "the truth", I 1.) have the information immediately available in QMEM to recreate what actually happened and 2.) I have the data available to test the adequacy of the new features.
My interest is to be sure that each date of service
reflects the information I ultimately need ...
like cost of services, insurance payments, out of
pocket, tax deductible, etc. Exactly matching the paper
> received (sometimes confusing) is less important
to me than the ultimate bottom line. ;-)
Wayward
Then Tony said:
I agree. However, I generally have two goals when
using QMEM. The primary and ultimate goal is exactly
what you said: reflecting the ultimate bottom line.
The secondary goal comes from dealing with the v1 to
v2 transition. I want to keep the information as
closely reflective of what actually happened as
possible so that when new features appear in QMEM
that better track "the truth", I 1.) have the
information immediately available in QMEM to recreate
what actually happened and 2.) I have the data
available to test the adequacy of the new features.
-Tony
Good point, Tony. However, I probably won't track that much detail in anticipation of future enhancements. At the risk of incurring the wrath of Quicken Bruce, I'll probably do an on the fly slip-stream into any new features. ?:|
This was in the Quicken Medical Expense Manager (MEM)Knowledgebase:
From time to time, you may end up overpaying a medical bill. Here's how to handle this in Medical Expense Manager so that your expenses add up and properly reflect both the amount you were billed and the amount you paid.
Any time you overpay an expense, you need to keep track of how much the actual expense was for, and how much you paid. This lets you know how much you've paid, which is useful for tracking your out-of-pocket maximum and your deductibles, as well as for totaling your expenses at tax time. Here are how you handle the three basic kinds of overpayments with Medical Expense Manager.
Case 1: Credit towards future expenses
The most common case is that you overpay and receive a credit towards your next bill. For example, let's say your doctor sets up a series of monthly procedures. You pay $200 in January but the actual expense was only $150. The doctor issues you a credit for $50 towards your February bill. Until you receive the bill with the credit applied, the overpaid expense in Medical Expense Manager should show a negative balance, reflecting the credit outstanding. After you receive the bill that has the credit applied, you can reconcile them, as follows:
1. On the overpaid bill (January in our example), enter a negative payment for the amount of the credit in the My Payments & Copays window. The balance due on this bill should now be $0.00.
2. On the current bill (February), enter a positive payment for the amount of the reimbursement in the My Payments & Copays window. The balance shown on this bill should now show the correct amount due.
When adding your new expense, be sure not to subtract the credit from the amount due. You have already accounted for the credit in your previous expense.
Case 2: Reimbursement
Another possible case is that you overpay and are reimbursed. In this case, let's say you pay $350 but due to a billing error, the charge should have been $300.
1. Until you receive the reimbursement, the overpaid expense should show a negative balance, reflecting the credit.
2. When you receive the reimbursement, find the expense that you overpaid. Enter a negative payment for the amount of the credit in the My Payments & Copays window. (You may want to note this as "credited to later bill" under Reference.) If the correct credit amount has been applied, the balance due on this bill should now be $0.00.
Case 3: Credit on initial charges with a provider
The final situation is when the first expense you enter for a provider has a credit applied to it. When you enter the expense, include a negative payment for the amount of the credit in the My Payments & Copays window. (You may want to note this as "credited from earlier bill" under Reference.)
Issues
If a consumer is reimbursed for an expense after the tax year that the expense was incurred, the total amount spent OOP will not be accurate (since it should include/subtract the reimbursement or credit).
Quicken Medical Expense Manager does not allow you to carry over credit balances from expense to expense. Each expense must be adjusted so that the balance due is 0.00.
