How would you handle a Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) in Quicken?

Hi, I've had a few people ask me about how they should handle an FSA account. There are two basic options. The first is to create a separate cash account for the FSA and the second is to just use a spending category.

I personally use a separate account. I made it a "Property & Debt: Asset" account rather than a cash account. This is primary to keep it out of the way for day to day spending. I call mine "Medical Reim" account. I have done this as a separate account for years. Honestly, for me, it I don't track the details of this account close enough for me to have a strong bias as to having it as a separate account vs. just using a spending category.

The benefits are keeping it an asset account are:
- Reminds you periodically that you have the money and that you should drain it
- Treats the transactions accurately (e.g., refunds are really transfers from and asset that you have)
- Contains a ledger that *if* you want, you could track the spending of this account.

I just periodically (maybe twice a year at most, usually in August and then in December), sync this balance up to ensure I am on-track to use all the funds. Since I don't track all the expenses that I use on my medical debit reimbursement account, I just put in an aggregate transaction to balance out my spending and balance. It is useful to have this account when make sure I net to zero at the end of the year.

Thanks for the questions and feel free to keep them coming!

-Fortress Architect