What is the best way to track cash back?

swiederin

I have an Apple Card. What is the best method to track the cash back?

SRC54

I just categorize it as a negative bank fee. I was putting it as an income category: cash rewards, but it isn't really income nor is it taxable, more of a rebate, so I decided to do it as a negative expense. Of course, my fee categories includes things like courtesy fees handling fees, bank fees and other things.

Coach Natalie

@swiederin, I personally created a "Rewards" Category that's classified as income and use this to track all of the cashback I receive from my credit cards. Since I use the option to have the rewards money credited to my account, I totally count these transactions as income. It's also neat to see how it adds up over time in the Income Report!

-Coach Natalie

DannyB

Interesting question. I have one cash back card with an annual payout. But that payout come in the form of a check cashable at a particular warehouse store and this payout doesn't go through any of our accounts. My other credit cards give reward points that can be converted to cash but I usually apply the rewards toward any balance due on each card so again, no cash deposits

RobWilk

Most Likely, Like @DannyB , I have a Citi Costco Anywhere Visa card (it's one of three cards i carry), which once a year should give me a coupon to redeem at the store for either cash or credit towards a purchase there (typically, we pay at self-checkout, and we cannot pay with that certificate there). If I decide to track that, I'll virtually "deposit" that money (and manually clear it) into an account as a rewards redemption category, and virtually "withdraw" as cash (and manually clear that).