You could add A2b:
Export your Chart of Accounts and write down the ending balances as
needed. Start a new file, import your exported chart of accounts and set
opening balances to the old ending balances.
This method is more like Pen & Paper days in that each file only
contains one period (year in this case) of data.
-----
As for A2(a), there's not really a solid way to 'mark' a file as
read-only if you have access to the file. (anyone determined enough can
edit it) Some folks write it to a CD-ROM, but that's about as good as
you could expect.
In addition, some folks also archive PDF copies of their year-end
reports with the file. While the file could always be changed after the
fact, the reports reflect the state of the accounts as of when they were
generated. (which of course are no more immutable than the file, but at
least offer a reference point)
Regards,
Adrien
On 1/13/24 12:16 AM, R Losey wrote:
I suspect that this topic comes up about every New Year - perhaps it is
worth putting in a FAQ (if it's not in one), and perhaps posting the FAQ
monthly to this list. In the relatively short time I've been on this list,
I definitely see some repeated questions, including this end-of-year
question that I created, and therefore may have errors in it.
-------
Question: "How do I start a new year in GnuCash?" Alternatively, "How do I
close out the old year in GnuCash?"
Answers as far as I can remember them:
General Answer: You need to determine precisely what you are trying to
accomplish in GnuCash. You may not need to do anything (see A1). If you
want to keep a backup-copy of the previous year, see A2. If you want to
close the books in the accounting sense (reset the balances of the income
and expense accounts), see A3.
A1: There is no necessity to take any action at the start of a New Year.
GnuCash can keep several years of data in its compressed XML file without
it growing too large.
A2: The best thing to do here is to be sure that there is no additional
transactions for end-of-year, run whatever end-of-year reports you need,
then shut down GnuCash and copy your main data file to some safe place. If
that area supports it, consider marking the file as read-only. You should
probably note the year in the name: "SmithFamilyFY2022.gnucash" or
something like that. There is no need to delete old data (see A1).
A3: See the GnuCash Manual, section 8.9 for a discussion about how to do
this task, along with the caveats.
_______________________________________________
gnucash-user mailing list
gnucash-user@gnucash.org
To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
-----
Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
