> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.guito.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Refunds

> Link money you were paid back to the expense it covers, so your spending shows what you actually paid.

Money someone pays you back isn't income: it lowers what an expense cost you. A friend who sends you their share of dinner, a shop that refunds a return. Link that money to the expense and its category shows only what you really paid, while the money coming in stops counting as income.

## How a refund is counted

* **It lowers the expense instead of counting as income.** An €80.00 dinner in **Restaurants** with €20.00 paid back counts €60.00 in restaurants, in your budget too.
* **It counts in the expense's month.** A December dinner paid back in January lowers December's restaurant spending.
* **Account balances don't change.**

## Add a refund to an expense

Open the expense and, in the **Refunds** section, choose **Add refund**. Pick the incoming money from the list or find it in **Search transactions** by description or amount. If it's more than what's left to pay back, say how much is for this expense; the rest stays free for another one.

For a dinner for four, add one refund per friend with **Add another refund**. If a friend paid for dinner and the cinema in one go, link the money to the first expense, then, on its page, choose **Use the rest on another expense**.

You can also start from the money you received: open it and choose **Mark as a refund**. If the expense isn't in guito (paid with another bank's card, for example), choose **The expense isn't listed** and pick the **Expense category**.

## Refunds paid in cash

If you were paid back in notes and coins, or into an account that isn't in guito, open the expense, choose **Add refund** and then **Received in cash**. Under **Where did the money go?**, leave **No account** or pick a manual account, such as a wallet, to add the amount to its balance.

If the person later sends the money by bank transfer, choose **Replace the cash refund from** when you link it, so the same money isn't counted twice.

## Shop refunds

Money under **Purchase refunds** is linked automatically to a recent purchase at the same store. If it ends up as income, open it and choose **Mark as a refund** to pick the expense.

## Remove a refund

In the **Refunds** section, open the **⋯** menu next to the refund and choose **Remove refund**. In the app, swipe the line to the left.

## What can't be a refund

* **Transactions in a different currency** from the expense.
* **Transfers between your own accounts.**
* **Incoming money that has been [split](https://docs.guito.app/en/features/split-transactions.md).** A split expense can still be paid back, shared across its parts.

While an expense has refunds, it can't move to **Transfers**, change currency or drop below what's been paid back. Remove the refunds first.

## Frequently asked questions

> [accordion] Do I have to link every refund?
>
> No. Money that comes in under an expense category (the €700 towards the rent filed under **Rent**, say) already lowers that category, in the month it arrived. Linking makes it count in the expense's month. See [Cash flow](https://docs.guito.app/en/concepts/cash-flow.md).

> [accordion] The refunds in a category add up to more than I spent there. What happens?
>
> The category stays at €0 that month, never below, and the difference counts as income.

## Related pages

> [card] [Transactions and cash flow](https://docs.guito.app/en/features/transactions.md)
>
> View, filter and correct your transactions.

> [card] [Cash flow](https://docs.guito.app/en/concepts/cash-flow.md)
>
> How guito counts income and spending, and why a refund lowers an expense.

> [card] [Budgets](https://docs.guito.app/en/features/budgets.md)
>
> How refunds come off each budget's spending.

> [card] [Split a transaction](https://docs.guito.app/en/features/split-transactions.md)
>
> Divide one expense across several categories.


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