What this guide is for
Record refunds accurately and stop pending amounts from silently reducing the cost you report as already spent.
Two states, two meanings
A pending refund is a claim or promise — it has not landed yet. A received refund is money that is actually back. The notebook treats them differently on purpose: a received refund reduces your recorded (net) cost now, while a pending refund is shown as a separate, projected figure.
Received refunds reduce net cost. Pending refunds are shown separately and never quietly subtracted from what you already paid.
How to record each one
- 1
Set the refund state
On the item line, choose none, pending or received. Only 'received' changes the net cost immediately; 'pending' appears in its own column and in the projected figure.
- 2
Enter the refund amount
Type the amount in the parcel's currency. If the refund arrives in a different currency, keep it on a separate parcel in that currency rather than guessing an exchange rate.
- 3
Update the state when money lands
When a pending refund is confirmed as returned, switch its state to received. The recorded cost and the variance update straight away.
Why we never convert currencies
The notebook sums totals only within the same currency. It will not apply an exchange rate you did not give it, because a made-up rate is exactly the kind of invented figure this workbook exists to avoid.