# Reimbursement Approach Three: Pre-Fund a Reimbursement Category

> Learn how to apply our third reimbursement approach by pre-funding the category.

Source: https://support.ynab.com/en_us/reimbursement-approach-three-B1YBK2jull

Last updated: 2026-07-02T17:29:33.920Z

Instead of covering each reimbursable expense individually, if you have available money in savings categories or other funds, move enough money to a reimbursements category and hold it there permanently.

### How to Pre-Fund a Reimbursement Category

1.   [Create a dedicated reimbursements category](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/adding-removing-and-customizing-categories-a-guide-HJFO5j909#new).
    
2.  Decide on an amount to assign to the reimbursements category and include the amount in the name of the reimbursements category for reference. 
    
    1.  This amount should be an easy, round number, and should be higher than the total amount of reimbursable expenses you expect to have each month. 
        
    2.  Look back through past months to see the highest amount of overspending that happened in the reimbursements category, or pick a large number to be safe. 
        
3.  [Assign the decided-upon amount](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/assigning-your-money-a-guide-SypgkrNJi#category) into the reimbursements category. 
    
    1.  If there are pending reimbursements from a previous month, subtract that amount from the total cash you add to the reimbursements category. For example, if you decided on $2000 for your reimbursements category amount but you're waiting on a $300 reimbursement from last month, assign $1700 to the reimbursements category.
        
    2.  It's okay if there's overspending in that category this month for current reimbursements—you'll still assign the amount you decided on. That amount will cover the current overspending, moving money into your Credit Card Payment category. The amount that's left in your reimbursements category will help you see how much reimbursement money you're waiting on!
        
4.  [Create a "Have a balance" custom target](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-use-targets-rk5kkI9ks#process) with no due date and enter the total amount you're going to keep in this category. That way, you can use the "To Go" number as a reference for how much you're waiting on for reimbursements.
    

Keep in mind that the outstanding reimbursable amount is the "parked" amount minus the Available amount in this category.

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