I read in the quicken 2004 manual that I need to setup an Asset account for a t-bill but it didn't say anything else. When I make a purchase of $30,000 for a 13-week t-bill at 3% they take $29,775 and when it matures I get my 30k. How do I record the transaction in quicken, is it two transactions one for the $29,775 and another for $225 for the interest? what categories would I use?
Thanks, Chris
I hold TBills in a regular brokerage account. Seems the best choice for handling buys/sells etc. Also, if you don't hold to maturity, you could get into capital gains/losses which a brokerage account will handle smoothly.
The sell transaction is recorded at cost as you indicated. Using a brokerage account, there is no category involved.
The interest is indeed recorded as a separate transaction. I created a category 'IntInc_GovSec' and assigned tax line item 'Schedule B:US government interest'. This tax line assignment tells QW that the interest income is exempt from state and local taxes, but taxable at Fed level.
Hi, Chris.
TBills are strange creatures - but only because they don't fit our mindset. They are kind of like savings bonds (bought at a discount and redeemed at par), but on a much shorter time schedule and usually much larger than the typical savings bond.
In accountant-speak, the entries are pretty simple (I don't know how OE is going to format this, but you should be able to figure it out):
Purchase TBill now: Debit TBills $29,775 Credit Cash $29,775
In 13 weeks: Debit Cash $30,000 Credit TBills $29,775 Credit Interest Income $225
In Quicken-speak, TBills would be an Investment Account; Interest Income would be an Income Category. States are not allowed to tax interest income on US government obligations, so be sure to keep this income separate from taxable interest if you need to file a state return. The Feds do tax it, of course. I don't recall about 2004, but in Q2006 Basic, the Help file is concise but accurate (it says what I said). Just search for "treasury bills" and follow the several links and hypertext paths.
One possible problem is that 13 weeks from now is next year, and I don't recall whether you must recognize interest accrued to year-end. I don't think so, but you'd better check with your own CPA to be sure.
If you need to prepare financial statements before the TBill matures - and if they must be on the accrual basis - you will need to compute and amortize the discount to the statement date.
RC
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