Money that comes back is where a ledger quietly lies. A refund, a failed UPI, or a cancelled order can show up later as a credit SMS. If the debit stays as a loss and the credit feels like free money, you punish real spending and then spend the refund again. Both alerts can land in your Google Sheet. Kharch Log reads them from the bank SMS on your Android phone. There is no bank login. Link the credit to the original row so the net is what you actually lost.
A credit is not a bonus
When a credit SMS arrives, look for a recent debit with a similar amount and payee. Write refund and the original date on the credit. Write refunded on the debit. Do not delete the debit. The history is the point. A full match should drop out of the spending total. A partial refund should leave only the net. Deleting the row makes the Sheet disagree with the SMS trail. An unmatched credit gets spent the same evening if you call it income.
A failed UPI often shows a debit and a credit within a day. If you already filed the debit as food, clear that label when the credit lands. If you only notice the credit, do not call it income. It is your money coming back. Match on amount and time when the wording differs. The row should not remain a meal you never got. Put reversal in both notes so you can find the pair later.
- Search recent debits by amount and payee before you label a credit
- Write refunded on the debit and keep the row
- A full match leaves the spending total
- A reversal is not income
Partial refunds and the net
A partial refund leaves a real cost. If an order returns only part of the debit, the spend is the net. Either note the net on the original row, or keep both SMS amounts and subtract in the total. Write the choice in the header. Do not keep the full debit as spend and also treat the credit as spare money. Charges that were not returned stay in the net. Say that in the note.
A refund next month can still refer to last month's purchase. Decide if your total is cash that moved this month, or the net cost of the purchase. Cash movement shows the credit when it arrived. Net cost needs a note tying it back. Do not mix the two readings in one total. The SMS date stays the bank date. The note is what connects a big return to the original buy.
Card credits, wallets, and cash handed back
Card refunds follow the same match as UPI refunds. If you log swipes, mark the swipe so spending falls. The bill you pay later should be smaller, and that is correct. Do not also call the card credit income. If you only track the bill, the smaller payment is the whole story. Do not add a separate income row on top. Two alerts for one return should be marked so only one remains in the total.
A refund into an app wallet may not hit the bank at all. Do not invent a bank credit the SMS never sent. Track the wallet as its own pocket, like cash, or do not track the internal credit. Mixing a wallet credit with bank rows breaks the reconcile. Cash handed back at a counter needs a manual credit row. Link it to the purchase. The app cannot see notes a shop returns to you. Skip that row and the purchase stays a loss while the cash gets spent again.
- One economic refund, even if two SMS arrive
- Do not label a card credit as salary or income
- Wallet credits that never hit the bank are not bank rows
- Cash returned at a counter is a manual credit you type
Clear credits before you judge a category
Once a week, filter credits that are not salary, client pay, or your own transfers. Each one needs a match or a clear income label. This takes a few minutes before you judge a category. A food total that still includes a cancelled order is a bad reason to cut groceries. Show the debit and the credit. The spending number is what remains after the match. Put this check on the same day as your other weekly review.
At month end, look for refund notes and for credit rows with no category. A blank credit will be misread as income or as a silent reduction. Force a label before you trust the total. Read the category after matches, not before. If a later refund changes last month, add a sentence to that month's header. Do not rebuild the whole month for one credit. Next month's cap should use the net pattern, not a total still carrying a returned spend.
Questions people actually ask
Should a refund be categorised as income? No, unless it is truly income, such as salary or a client payment. A refund is a purchase running backwards. Calling it income makes you look richer while the old debit still overstates spending. Match it to the debit. If you cannot find the debit, label it unmatched and look again next week. Do not park it in salary to force a balance.
The refund is a rupee or two short. Is it still a match? Yes if the payee and the timing line up. Note a tiny gap as a fee that was kept. Do not refuse the match over one rupee. A pile of near-matches will still distort the category. If the gap is large, it is a partial refund and the net is still spend. Write both figures in the note.
Can I edit the original amount and delete the credit? You may show the net on the original row. Do not drop the credit from history if you want a trail. Mark the credit matched so it does not reduce the total again. Editing the debit and still counting the credit doubles the refund. Use one method only. Say which method in the header.
Match every refund and reversal to the debit it undoes, and keep that pair out of the loss column. Small credits are easy to miss, which is why small UPI payments are worth a weekly look. The Kharch Log features page shows both debits and credits landing in your Sheet. Read unmatched credits before you cut a category.