$archiver NSKeyedArchiver $objects $null $class CF$UID 37 NS.objects CF$UID 2 $class CF$UID 33 NS.keys CF$UID 3 CF$UID 4 CF$UID 5 NS.objects CF$UID 6 CF$UID 7 CF$UID 35 Title Text Date Untitled Snapshot $class CF$UID 34 NSAttributes CF$UID 10 NSDelegate CF$UID 0 NSString CF$UID 8 $class CF$UID 9 NS.string Sometimes you will want to spend money on behalf of someone else, which will eventually get repaid. Since the money is still ``yours'', it is really an asset. And since the expenditure was for someone else, you don't want it contaminating your Expenses reports. You will need to keep an account for tracking reimbursements. This is fairly easy to do in ledger. When spending the money, spend it @emph{to} your Assets:Reimbursements, using a different account for each person or business that you spend money for. For example: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Circuit City Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ $100.00 Liabilities:MasterCard @end smallexample This shows $100.00 spent on a MasterCard at Circuit City, with the expense was made on behalf of Company XYZ. Later, when Company XYZ pays the amount back, the money will transfer from that reimbursement account back to a regular asset account: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Company XYZ Assets:Checking $100.00 Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ @end smallexample This deposits the money owed from Company XYZ into a checking account, presumably because they paid the amount back with a check. But what to do if you run your own business, and you want to keep track of expenses made on your own behalf, while still tracking everything in a single ledger file? This is more complex, because you need to track two separate things: 1) The fact that the money should be reimbursed to you, and 2) What the expense account was, so that you can later determine where your company is spending its money. This kind of posting is best handled with mirrored postings in two different files, one for your personal accounts, and one for your company accounts. But keeping them in one file involves the same kinds of postings, so those are what is shown here. First, the personal transaction, which shows the need for reimbursement: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Circuit City Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ $100.00 Liabilities:MasterCard @end smallexample This is the same as above, except that you own Company XYZ, and are keeping track of its expenses in the same ledger file. This transaction should be immediately followed by an equivalent transaction, which shows the kind of expense, and also notes the fact that $100.00 is now payable to you: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Circuit City Company XYZ:Expenses:Computer:Software $100.00 Company XYZ:Accounts Payable:Your Name @end smallexample This second transaction shows that Company XYZ has just spent $100.00 on software, and that this $100.00 came from Your Name, which must be paid back. These two transactions can also be merged, to make things a little clearer. Note that all amounts must be specified now: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Circuit City Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ $100.00 Liabilities:MasterCard $-100.00 Company XYZ:Expenses:Computer:Software $100.00 Company XYZ:Accounts Payable:Your Name $-100.00 @end smallexample To ``pay back'' the reimbursement, just reverse the order of everything, except this time drawing the money from a company asset, paying it to accounts payable, and then drawing it again from the reimbursement account, and paying it to your personal asset account. It's easier shown than said: @smallexample 2004/10/15 Company XYZ Assets:Checking $100.00 Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ $-100.00 Company XYZ:Accounts Payable:Your Name $100.00 Company XYZ:Assets:Checking $-100.00 @end smallexample And now the reimbursements account is paid off, accounts payable is paid off, and $100.00 has been effectively transferred from the company's checking account to your personal checking account. The money simply ``waited''---in both @samp{Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ}, and @samp{Company XYZ:Accounts Payable:Your Name}---until such time as it could be paid off. The value of tracking expenses from both sides like that is that you do not contaminate your personal expense report with expenses made on behalf of others, while at the same time making it possible to generate accurate reports of your company's expenditures. It is more verbose than just paying for things with your personal assets, but it gives you a very accurate information trail. The advantage to keep these doubled transactions together is that they always stay in sync. The advantage to keeping them apart is that it clarifies the transfer's point of view. To keep the postings in separate files, just separate the two transactions that were joined above. For example, for both the expense and the pay-back shown above, the following four transactions would be created. Two in your personal ledger file: @smallexample 2004/09/29 Circuit City Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ $100.00 Liabilities:MasterCard $-100.00 2004/10/15 Company XYZ Assets:Checking $100.00 Assets:Reimbursements:Company XYZ $-100.00 @end smallexample And two in your company ledger file: @smallexample !account Company XYZ 2004/09/29 Circuit City Expenses:Computer:Software $100.00 Accounts Payable:Your Name $-100.00 2004/10/15 Company XYZ Accounts Payable:Your Name $100.00 Assets:Checking $-100.00 !end @end smallexample (Note: The @samp{!account} above means that all accounts mentioned in the file are children of that account. In this case it means that all activity in the file relates to Company XYZ). After creating these transactions, you will always know that $100.00 was spent using your MasterCard on behalf of Company XYZ, and that Company XYZ spent the money on computer software and paid it back about two weeks later. $classes NSMutableString NSString NSObject $classname NSMutableString $class CF$UID 33 NS.keys CF$UID 11 CF$UID 12 NS.objects CF$UID 13 CF$UID 30 NSParagraphStyle NSFont $class CF$UID 29 NSAlignment 4 NSLineHeightMultiple 1.1000000238418579 NSTabStops CF$UID 14 $class CF$UID 28 NS.objects CF$UID 15 CF$UID 17 CF$UID 18 CF$UID 19 CF$UID 20 CF$UID 21 CF$UID 22 CF$UID 23 CF$UID 24 CF$UID 25 CF$UID 26 CF$UID 27 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 28 $classes NSTextTab NSObject $classname NSTextTab $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 56 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 84 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 112 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 140 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 168 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 196 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 224 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 252 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 280 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 308 $class CF$UID 16 NSLocation 336 $classes NSArray NSObject $classname NSArray $classes NSParagraphStyle NSObject $classname NSParagraphStyle $class CF$UID 32 NSName CF$UID 31 NSSize 14 NSfFlags 16 Courier $classes NSFont NSObject $classname NSFont $classes NSDictionary NSObject $classname NSDictionary $classes KBWordCountingTextStorage NSTextStorage NSMutableAttributedString NSAttributedString NSObject $classname KBWordCountingTextStorage $class CF$UID 36 NS.time 267380389.201664 $classes NSDate NSObject $classname NSDate $classes NSMutableArray NSArray NSObject $classname NSMutableArray $top Snapshots CF$UID 1 $version 100000