I decided to report here why I think it is "ok" to import the transaction list from a bank and to accept their "Posted Dates." When I perform the import operation I am using that tool to reconcile their record to an imaginary list in my head representing what I would have written in my checkbook. Nearly every time their list doesn't match my list, the difference is precisely the difference between when I wrote the check or when I initiated a payment online or when I swiped a card and when they posted the transaction to my account. That is what we users often consider to be the difference between accrual basis vs cash basis.
These days the fraud mitigation department at the bank is far better able to catch fraud than I would be if I depended on a manual reconciliation process to catch errors or, more likely, fraud. My banks are very aggressively monitoring transactions and they will call me immediately when they see a suspicious transaction. I have even had restaurant transactions declined from time to time when they could not contact me immediately. That can be embarrassing when we go to a restaurant that charges more than our average restaurant bill to celebrate a birthday or whatever, but it beats the alternative. I can still use the import process as my tool to look for errors or fraudulent transactions that they might have missed. My rationale for accepting their posting dates is that my list then closely matches theirs if ever a need arises to decide whether an overdraft charge is correctly assessed or whether a valid payment was declined by the bank. I would not consider it wrong to instead use the dates that I initiate transactions, it's just not my preference. On Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 10:41 PM Adrien Monteleone < adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote: > While there are other considerations, such as cash versus accrual and > following the Recognition Principle, I see this as more of a general > case of Your Books vs. the Bank's Books. > > You keep Your Books. > > The Bank keeps theirs. > > You then reconcile the two. (which does *not* involve changing dates) > > Simply copying what the bank has misses the opportunity to catch someone > else's errors. (they *do* happen) > > This is a similar question of entering your own transactions as they > occur, or just downloading from the bank and importing. > > It is a personal choice, but can have other implications as noted. > > Regards, > Adrien > > On 4/8/24 5:11 PM, R Losey wrote: > > Since I first learned about recording transactions, I have always dated a > > transaction on the date I wrote the check; similarly, when entering > credit > > card transactions, I use the date that I actually used the credit card. > > > > Recently, however, I was having a discussion with a friend and he said > that > > he uses the bank or credit card date of entry for all of his > transactions. > > > > I thought this was strange - probably because it is different from the > > method I've used all of my life. Perhaps I am the odd one... or perhaps > > it's merely a matter of choice, so I thought I'd bring it up to this list > > to see what people think about it. > > > > From (a very brief) research about this topic, perhaps this is the > > difference between cash basis accounting and accrual accounting? > > > > > > After thinking about it for a bit, one issue with using the date that the > > transactions occur is the reports, especially if one has repeating > > transactions. For example, if the satellite service bill is paid each > > month on the 28th, using my method, I record a transaction on the 28th. > My > > friend will see it on the 29th or 30th, but if the weekend or holiday > hits > > just right, it can be the 1st or 2nd before he sees it. In the long run > > everything should be the same, but the monthly sub-totals can look odd. > > Checks can be even worse... someone may hang onto one for weeks. > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > -- David Carlson _______________________________________________ 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.
