Re: [GNC] End of year

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 1/30/2024 4:37 PM, Adrien Monteleone wrote:
Michael, if I recall correctly, the OP was bifurcating their checking 
account *every year*. That is:


Checking
  -2022
  -2023
  -2024
  -etc. 


I was discussing in general.

And in any case, standing accounts (asset, liability,equity) are NOT 
"closed." And I was certainly not meaning to include something as 
questionable as doing this for a CHECKING account. Some assets have a 
defined "statement value" at a point in time so I suppose you COULD do 
this with them. But a checking account does NOT.


I will repeat this. The checking account in your books has an amount as 
of some date and the bank statement for that checking account will have 
a value as of some date, but it in the very nature of checks that these 
need not be the same. You normally would have some checks that have been 
"constructively delivered" (mailed, for example) but that have not been 
received by the payee, not been de[posited by the payee, not gotten back 
to your bank.


That is why we reconcile checking.

Michael D Novack


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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Kevin Buckley via gnucash-user]

On Wednesday, January 31st, 2024 at 01:12, Adrien Monteleone 
 wrote:
>
> On 1/29/24 8:04 AM, Mahon Finbar via gnucash-user wrote:
> 
> > OK, I want to do it properly, but I had an email crash and .
> > 
> > So, can someone point me or send me the 'how to' for doing an end of
> > year process, where I can 'inherit' the names from the autocomplete
> > from the previous years?
> 
> You can't. I thought we described that already.

Not strictly true.
 
> If you start a new file/account each year, you will lose all
> auto-complete from the previous year's entries.
> 
> The auto-complete list is generated on the fly from the other
> transactions in the register you have open at that time. If that
> register doesn't contain previous transactions because you started
> a new year, then you don't get auto-complete suggestions.

As Adrien points out, in order to have auto-complete, you need to have
some "previous" transactions to auto-complete against

However, if you have created a new, empty tree of accounts, and you
have also exported a CSV of transactions, then you should be able to 
import those old transactions, so as to give you something to auto-
complete against.

Clearly though, you don't need multiple tranaactions that have the
same name (Description field) because you only need one to be able
to autocomplete against it.

So the "trick" would be editing the CSV file so that you only have 
one transaction per auto-complete target that gets imported, and 
then deleting "old" entries, once you have your first autocompleted 
one for the new period, from within GnuCash itself.

The amount of work required depends on how many "proto-transactions"
you want to be able to autocomplete from, but it should be possible,
however, it's not for everyone, and if you don't feel comfortable
editing either CSV files, or the GnuCash files, when saved as XML,
then make lots of backups as you work out what works best for you.

Note that this approach is akin to copying your old GnuCash file
to a new one and then deleting all the old tranactions, one at a
time, from with the GUI front-end. 

I could even suggest that, once you have an exported CSV file of
transactions, you might be able, simply by changing the dates in 
it, to re-use the same "common transactions" file every time you 
start a new GnuCash file.

Alternatively, you might even maintain a second Gnucash file, which
just has one transaction per auto-complete target, to which you add
new ones as you encounter them in your ongoing accounts, and export
your proto-transactions to CSV from that.

So, make some backups; make one more set of backups, and then start
experimenting.

The bottom line is, whilst it is true that the vast majority of GnuCash 
users will only ever see, and operate on, their charts of accounts and 
transactions through the GUI front-end, underneath it all, it is just 
editable plain text, and you can use that to your advantage.

HTH


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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Adrien Monteleone]

Michael, if I recall correctly, the OP was bifurcating their checking 
account *every year*. That is:


Checking
  -2022
  -2023
  -2024
  -etc.

As a result (the same would happen with a new file), they were losing 
the benefits of auto-complete.


The only workaround for that is simply don't start a new account or file 
each year. It has nothing to do with accounting, but simply how the 
software works.


Of course as you note, 'closing the books' and other year-end procedures 
can be done in the same book, and in the same account, without losing 
auto-complete.


Regards,
Adrien

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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Patrick James]

> On 01/30/2024 9:39 AM PST Michael or Penny Novack 
>  wrote:
> 
> ONE refers to closing all the accounts of type income and expense 
> (temporary accounts of fundamental type equity) into equity itself or 
> accounts under equity. You will have to be doing the latter if the 
> entity type isn't "sole" (personal books or a sole proprietorship) 
> because need to allocate to the individual partners or shareholders. 
> Just closing the accounts of type income and expense WILL start the new 
> year off with these at zero.

There are those who love the "Income Summary" account, and then there are those 
who would rather forget about it.
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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 1/30/2024 12:12 PM, Adrien Monteleone wrote:

You can't. I thought we described that already.

If you start a new file/account each year, you will lose all 
auto-complete from the previous year's entries.
The auto-complete list is generated on the fly from the other 
transactions in the register you have open at that time. If that 
register doesn't contain previous transactions because you started a 
new year, then you don't get auto-complete suggestions.


If auto-complete is important to you (it does save lots of time!) then 
don't start a new file/account each year. 


Let's not confuse two very different things under the name of "year end 
closing"


ONE refers to closing all the accounts of type income and expense 
(temporary accounts of fundamental type equity) into equity itself or 
accounts under equity. You will have to be doing the latter if the 
entity type isn't "sole" (personal books or a sole proprietorship) 
because need to allocate to the individual partners or shareholders. 
Just closing the accounts of type income and expense WILL start the new 
year off with these at zero. Gnucash can produce reports without closing 
the books, but if you like to see the current income and account 
balances (just for the current accounting period) you might want to 
close the books.


Making a backup copy of the books is just like making a backup of any 
other file. Hopefully you are not JUST making a year end backup, but 
that's the one you might be sending additional copies to safe keeping.  
While just doing this does not prevent you from altering the past it 
does make that detectable.


The SECOND meaning is to also "start fresh" with just the balances of 
all "standing accounts". This file would have no past that could be 
altered. But as noted, you will lose things like autocomplete. It more 
closely mimics the old days when books were kept in physical volumes, 
starting in a fresh volume each year. THAT is why we still call these 
financial records "books" because for many hundreds of years, they were 
books.


Michael D Novack


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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Adrien Monteleone]

You can't. I thought we described that already.

If you start a new file/account each year, you will lose all 
auto-complete from the previous year's entries.


The auto-complete list is generated on the fly from the other 
transactions in the register you have open at that time. If that 
register doesn't contain previous transactions because you started a new 
year, then you don't get auto-complete suggestions.


If auto-complete is important to you (it does save lots of time!) then 
don't start a new file/account each year.


Regards,
Adrien

On 1/29/24 8:04 AM, Mahon Finbar via gnucash-user wrote:

OK, I want to do it properly, but I had an email crash and .

So, can someone point me or send me the 'how to' for doing an end of 
year process, where I can 'inherit' the names from the autocomplete from 
the previous years?


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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Jesse Ayers]

In regard to end of year,  I found the following on the web a few years back.   
The last section, “The Solution,”  is how I do it and it works like a charm 
(but I have a very small business with very few transactions).  Easy-peasy

— Jesse Ayers




GnuCash and End of Year
Posted on 22 August 11 
 by Greg 

Lots of people want to start a new GnuCash file for a new year. Well, here’s 
how it is done.

Introduction

GnuCash is a free accounting package based on double-entry bookkeeping.

It supports multiple accounting files (so you can have multiple businesses) but 
you can also have a separate file for each financial year of the business.

If you do use a new file for each year, each year you need to create a new file 
with the same account structure (Chart of Accounts) and with a new set of 
opening balances. The way to do this is not as obvious as it should be.

The Hard Way

Use “File”, “Save As” from your current year’s file to create a new file with a 
new name. Open the new file. Delete all the transactions.

This isn’t as easy as it could be because you can’t select multiple 
transactions: Open the first account. Select the first transaction. Click the 
“Delete” button. You are now on the next transaction. Click the Delete button 
again. Repeat this for every transaction in the account. Open the next account. 
Delete all transactions just like you did with the first account. Repeat this 
for every account.

If you have lots of transactions and lots of accounts this can take some time. 
At least a couple of hours in my case.

The Seemingly Easy Way

GnuCash has a menu option “Tools”, “Close Book”.

This is well-intentioned but doesn’t remove any transactions. It adds two more. 
I shouldn’t have been surprised. It does say this in the manual or guide.

What it actually does is add one transaction to all of your Income accounts 
transferring the money to another account (such as Equity:Opening Balances) and 
one transaction transferring all of your expenses to another account (often the 
same one: Equity:Opening Balances). Each transaction is split across all of the 
Income or Expense accounts and the total is balanced by a matching amount in 
the nominated transfer account (Equity:Opening Balances).

It is a neat solution from an accountant’s point of view. No information is 
lost. The Income and Expense accounts are all zero-ed ready for the new year 
and the opening balances have been tweaked to reflect the new starting position.

However, for those of us that don’t think like an accountant, it is a pain in 
the neck. We’d reconciled all of last year’s transactions. We’ve been through 
that pain, and we never want to have to re-reconcile those transactions ever 
again. We don’t want them there to edit by mistake (and mess up the starting 
balances). We want a clean slate. We wanted an empty file and a new start for a 
new year. It would also have been nice to have had new opening balances for 
each of the asset and liability accounts. Their balances are correct but not 
because of a fresh opening balance transaction. They are correct because every 
transaction in every asset and liability account is still there.

If you do “Tools”, “Close Book” and want to reverse it, that’s pretty easy. Go 
to the “Equity:Opening Balances” account (or whichever you specified) and 
delete the two transactions. That will undo all of the splits entered into all 
of the Income and Expense accounts.

Anyway, this menu tool does a very good job for accountants and does it very 
well and eligently; but it isn’t what most of us are looking for.

The Solution

Anyone who has been using GnuCash for a while has probably already said, “What 
on earth are you doing?”
It is actually incredibly easy. Provided you know how. It is one of those “You 
have to be there to be able to get there” things.
It is probably even documented somewhere and I just didn’t notice it.
Maybe it is self evident and so obvious that no-one would even think of 
explaining it.

You create a new file by “File”, “Export”, “Accounts”.
Choose the directory where you want the new file and give it a name that 
matches your convention for business and year.
Now, pretend you haven’t created an export of some information from your 
existing account file. Pretend it is a new account file just like your current 
one. Use “File”, “Open” and select the export file. It opens. You can add 
transactions to it. It has your existing accounts. There are no transaction in 
it (until you add one). All of the Income and Expense balances are zero. So are 
the Asset, Liability and Equity accounts; but it is a much better starting 
point.

Add the opening balances of your Asset and Liability accounts and you are up 
and running.


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Re: [GNC] End of year

[R Losey]

On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 1:40 PM Jim DeLaHunt  wrote:

> On 2024-01-29 06:04, Mahon Finbar via gnucash-user wrote:
>
> > OK, I want to do it properly, but I had an email crash and .
> >
> > So, can someone point me or send me the 'how to' for doing an end of
> > year process, where I can 'inherit' the names from the autocomplete
> > from the previous years?
>
> You might want to start with this email thread: "[GNC] Why or why not to
> do year-end closing journal entries? (Close Books?)" from December 2023
> <
> https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2023-December/109762.html
> >.
>
> My top lesson about year-end closing books using GnuCash is, you don't
> have to do it. And so I don't. My books contain over 10 years of
> transactions at this point.
>
> If you don't close books and start a new book file, then the existing
> book file, which you continue to use, will continue to provide
> autocomplete from previous years.
>
> Best regards,
>   —Jim DeLaHunt
>
>
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I agree with Jim; I have seven full years in my GnuCash file. You could
create an end-of-year copy of your main file, but there is nothing that
"has" to  be done.

But I do like the idea of zeroing the Income and Expense categories, so I
manually did a "close the books" once the new year started.  It was a good
experience, and I found some errors in the process, so that's good as well.


-- 
_
Richard Losey
rlo...@gmail.com
Micah 6:8
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Re: [GNC] End of year

[Jim DeLaHunt]

On 2024-01-29 06:04, Mahon Finbar via gnucash-user wrote:


OK, I want to do it properly, but I had an email crash and .

So, can someone point me or send me the 'how to' for doing an end of 
year process, where I can 'inherit' the names from the autocomplete 
from the previous years?


You might want to start with this email thread: "[GNC] Why or why not to 
do year-end closing journal entries? (Close Books?)" from December 2023 
.


My top lesson about year-end closing books using GnuCash is, you don't 
have to do it. And so I don't. My books contain over 10 years of 
transactions at this point.


If you don't close books and start a new book file, then the existing 
book file, which you continue to use, will continue to provide 
autocomplete from previous years.


Best regards,
 —Jim DeLaHunt


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[GNC] End of year

[Mahon Finbar via gnucash-user]

OK, I want to do it properly, but I had an email crash and .

So, can someone point me or send me the 'how to' for doing an end of 
year process, where I can 'inherit' the names from the autocomplete from 
the previous years?


Thanks, Finbar
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 1/13/2024 10:27 PM, R Losey wrote:

Absolutely; there is no reason to do anything special at the end of the
year; for many years, I have just kept using GnuCash and have had no
issues, but some people like to make yearly archives, or do the "close the
books" thing.


This perhaps bears repeating. MOST of us are using gnucash for personal 
accounting, sole proprietorships, organizations, etc. In other words, 
our entity type is "sole", which means no need for any accounting of 
ownership share in equity.


So MOST of us have no NEED to do any special YE processing beyond 
"journal entries"* for things like recording depreciation. Things that 
would be done BEFORE a "close the books". We can do special YE 
processing but do not have to. Gnucash can produce the normal YE reports 
without actually closing the books first.


BUT --- other forms of entities that are not "sole", that have to be 
able to show how shares of ownership and/or shares of income/losses are 
allocated to each owner, probably will have to do a "close the books" 
and will have to do much of that manually << the "tool" assumes all 
going to undivided equity >>  They will also need some "equity reports".


That means is that either we need to be very clear we are only speaking 
about entities that are "sole". Maybe  a reminder once a month? 
Something in the documentation?


Michael D Novack

* adjusting transactions where there is no money in or out

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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Michael or Penny Novack]

Folks trying to imitate Pen & Paper using a computer are always going 
to have to adjust their workflow or make concessions for the 
difference in formats. This is true no matter the task at hand, or the 
software used, and is true of things not even accounting related at all.


I'm glad GnuCash gives the choice. Some software forces you to do what 
*it* wants. 


Not as much as you think. Assuming you were using "journal view" to 
enter transactions the only real difference is that software like 
gnucash is "autoposting" (when you hit enter closing the transaction 
entry process the journal entry is posted to the ledger accounts WITHOUT 
ERROR --- errors made during the manual posting of pen and ink on paper 
days  were the bane of our existence and we had to learn all sorts of 
tricks* to find the errors). That's why we had to do a periodic trial 
balance >


Simply entering simple (two account) transactions directly in the ledger 
is very like the shortcut sometimes used in pen and ink on paper days 
known as "cashbook accounting" where a small subset of the most popular 
accounts had their own book separate from the main journal-ledger. 
Gnucash (or other similar apps) is simply expanding the subset to the 
entire ledger. But unlike pen and ink on paper days, gnucash can produce 
as a report the virtual journal of these transactions (they were never 
entered in journal form)


THAT is why I keep saying "if you don't know how you would enter 
something pen and ink on paper" then your problem is really a 
bookkeeping question as opposed to a gnucash question.


Michael D Novack

* example --- "if the difference (the oob amount) is divisible by 9 then 
look for a transposition of digits" ---  thus 51 -15 = 36 which is 
divisible by 9 251 - 152  = 99 which is divisible by 9  
There were other such rules, but transposition errors during posting 
were the most common error so this was the most import "rule"



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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[R Losey]

Absolutely; there is no reason to do anything special at the end of the
year; for many years, I have just kept using GnuCash and have had no
issues, but some people like to make yearly archives, or do the "close the
books" thing.

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 5:53 PM Stan Brown (using GC 4.14) <
stan...@fastmail.fm> wrote:

> With older versions of GC, it used to take a long time to open a file.
> With 4.14, and I presume with 5.x, it's almost instantaneous.
>
> So why is there any discussion of saving previous-year data? It seems
> reasonable to me to archive a file as of 12-31-20XX, because you can't
> have too many archives. But after archiving that snapshot, what's the
> problem with just continuing to use the original of the file that copied
> into the archive? That's what I've been doing since 2018, and it seems
> to work just fine.
>
> Stan Brown
> Tehachapi, CA, USA
> https://BrownMath.com
>
> On 2024-01-13 14:29, David Carlson wrote:
> > Dumb question.  The original topic was about unreconncciled transactions
> > from the pervious year.  If they are not copied over to the new file
> > wouldn't that mess up the next reconciliation?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 13, 2024, 3:07 PM Liz  wrote:
> >
> >> On Sat, 13 Jan 2024 11:19:26 -0600
> >> R Losey  wrote:
> >>
> >>> But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit
> >>> from a FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group.
> >>> The wiki has some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity
> >>> growth.
> >>
> >> You will need to convince me, because I would get to implement it.
> >>
> >> Liz
> >> (Moderator Hat)
> >> ___
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-- 
_
Richard Losey
rlo...@gmail.com
Micah 6:8
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Adrien Monteleone]

Sorry, I would not like to see an FAQ pop up in this list on any 
periodic basis.


What you are describing there is akin to a 'sticky' or 'pinned' post in 
a web forum.


This is not a web forum.

We have the Wiki, which has the FAQ section. We also have the Help 
Manual, and the Tutorial & Concepts Guide. Those are better places for 
standard, regular advice on how to use the software. This list serves a 
different purpose — to offer assistance that those sources don't (maybe 
yet) cover.


Some redesign of the website pointing to the FAQ might be in order, but 
that would take some careful analysis, and of course, someone to code 
the changes.


Regards,
Adrien

On 1/13/24 11:19 AM, R Losey wrote:

But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit from a
FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group. The wiki has
some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity growth.


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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Adrien Monteleone]

That would be the case at first glance, but see my reply up the chain 
concerning correcting entries and usual procedures when starting with 
fresh books each year.


I'd hazard that with Pen & Paper, Reconciliation is *not* necessarily a 
function of the T-Accounts or General Journal. That is something done 
independently that happens to now be rolled into GnuCash along with 
everything else. Thus, it likely wouldn't even be a consideration.


Folks trying to imitate Pen & Paper using a computer are always going to 
have to adjust their workflow or make concessions for the difference in 
formats. This is true no matter the task at hand, or the software used, 
and is true of things not even accounting related at all.


I'm glad GnuCash gives the choice. Some software forces you to do what 
*it* wants.


Regards,
Adrien

On 1/13/24 4:29 PM, David Carlson wrote:

Dumb question.  The original topic was about unreconncciled transactions
from the pervious year.  If they are not copied over to the new file
wouldn't that mess up the next reconciliation?


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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Stan Brown (using GC 4.14)]

With older versions of GC, it used to take a long time to open a file.
With 4.14, and I presume with 5.x, it's almost instantaneous.

So why is there any discussion of saving previous-year data? It seems
reasonable to me to archive a file as of 12-31-20XX, because you can't
have too many archives. But after archiving that snapshot, what's the
problem with just continuing to use the original of the file that copied
into the archive? That's what I've been doing since 2018, and it seems
to work just fine.

Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com

On 2024-01-13 14:29, David Carlson wrote:
> Dumb question.  The original topic was about unreconncciled transactions
> from the pervious year.  If they are not copied over to the new file
> wouldn't that mess up the next reconciliation?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jan 13, 2024, 3:07 PM Liz  wrote:
> 
>> On Sat, 13 Jan 2024 11:19:26 -0600
>> R Losey  wrote:
>>
>>> But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit
>>> from a FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group.
>>> The wiki has some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity
>>> growth.
>>
>> You will need to convince me, because I would get to implement it.
>>
>> Liz
>> (Moderator Hat)
>> ___
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[David Carlson]

Dumb question.  The original topic was about unreconncciled transactions
from the pervious year.  If they are not copied over to the new file
wouldn't that mess up the next reconciliation?




On Sat, Jan 13, 2024, 3:07 PM Liz  wrote:

> On Sat, 13 Jan 2024 11:19:26 -0600
> R Losey  wrote:
>
> > But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit
> > from a FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group.
> > The wiki has some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity
> > growth.
>
> You will need to convince me, because I would get to implement it.
>
> Liz
> (Moderator Hat)
> ___
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Liz]

On Sat, 13 Jan 2024 11:19:26 -0600
R Losey  wrote:

> But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit
> from a FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group.
> The wiki has some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity
> growth.

You will need to convince me, because I would get to implement it.

Liz
(Moderator Hat)
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[David Cousens]

A section in the Tutorial and Concepts Guide may be even more appropriate and
then link the FAQ to it.

That then provides the option when the question comes up repeatedly in the list
of just providing the link to it.

David Cousens

On Sat, 2024-01-13 at 11:19 -0600, R Losey wrote:
> Pretty much, yes, although I found it a bit weak on the note that it is not
> really necessary.
> 
> But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit from a
> FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group. The wiki has
> some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity growth.
> 
> I gather that the main reason for "closing" books is that on the "Accounts"
> tab, one can see the year-to-date expenses and income instead of the total
> since one started using GnuCash. It's a neat idea.
> 
> On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 10:59 AM sunfish62--- via gnucash-user <
> gnucash-user@gnucash.org> wrote:
> 
> > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Closing_Books
> > 
> > Does that cover it?
> > 
> > ⁣David T.
> > 
> > On Jan 13, 2024, 4:25 PM, at 4:25 PM, Adrien Monteleone <
> > adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:
> > > 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.
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > ___
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Fred Tydeman]

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 9:20 AM R Losey  wrote:

> I gather that the main reason for "closing" books is that on the "Accounts"
> tab, one can see the year-to-date expenses and income instead of the total
> since one started using GnuCash. It's a neat idea.
>

Another option is to use the "Total(Period)" column.
Click the down arrow in the upper right on the Accounts page.
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[R Losey]

Pretty much, yes, although I found it a bit weak on the note that it is not
really necessary.

But the larger issue is that I believe this email list could benefit from a
FAQ that is posted monthly or every other month to this group. The wiki has
some neat ideas about tracking year to year equity growth.

I gather that the main reason for "closing" books is that on the "Accounts"
tab, one can see the year-to-date expenses and income instead of the total
since one started using GnuCash. It's a neat idea.

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 10:59 AM sunfish62--- via gnucash-user <
gnucash-user@gnucash.org> wrote:

> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Closing_Books
>
> Does that cover it?
>
> ⁣David T.
>
> On Jan 13, 2024, 4:25 PM, at 4:25 PM, Adrien Monteleone <
> adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:
> >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
> >-
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-- 
_
Richard Losey
rlo...@gmail.com
Micah 6:8
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[sunfish62--- via gnucash-user]

https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Closing_Books

Does that cover it?

⁣David T.​

On Jan 13, 2024, 4:25 PM, at 4:25 PM, Adrien Monteleone 
 wrote:
>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.
>> 
>
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Phyllis Bruce]

Just to clarify further, I'm referring to Adrien's A2b option above of just
entering ending balances for a new year.

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 10:52 AM Phyllis Bruce  wrote:

> Thanks for the explanation.   I guess it's a matter of personal
> preference.  If I'm starting a new file I want to be able to reconcile to
> my statement when it's received in 2024.  It does not bother me to have
> uncleared items in the archived file.  I could even go so far as to delete
> them from the 2023 archive but that would be overkill imho.
>
> On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 10:37 AM Gyle McCollam  wrote:
>
>> Phyllis,
>> If you enter unreconciled transactions again in 2024 you will have
>> doubled counted them because they will be in 2023 and 2024.  They are
>> already accounted for in the balance.  Since reconciliation is just
>> matching what has cleared with the statement it is OK that the transactions
>> are not in 2024 as long as you know that they were in 2023 and any that
>> have not clear in 2024 are the difference between your statement and
>> account balance per the statement.
>>
>> Thank You,
>>
>> *Gyle McCollam*
>>
>> Gyle McCollam
>>
>> gmccol...@live.comemail
>> --
>> *From:* gnucash-user 
>> on behalf of Phyllis Bruce 
>> *Sent:* Saturday, January 13, 2024 10:56 AM
>> *To:* adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net 
>> *Cc:* gnucash-u...@lists.gnucash.org 
>> *Subject:* Re: [GNC] End of Year?
>>
>> I did mean checking/savings and credit card accounts.  Thanks
>>
>> Since I use Gnucash for personal rather than business use, I don't
>> "close" the books.  However, if I wanted to archive 2023 and start fresh
>> on
>> Jan 1, 2024, I would enter any unreconciled transactions in those accounts
>> in your A2b example because the beginning balances would include them.
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 8:19 AM Adrien Monteleone <
>> adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:
>>
>> > *ALL accounts are 'credit and debit' accounts. But perhaps you mean
>> > Checking & Credit Card accounts? (i.e., those held at a 3rd party
>> > financial institution, since you are referencing 'reconciliation'.)
>> >
>> > Reconciliation is usually done prior to a Trial Balance as part of the
>> > End of Year process and that not infrequently is done up to a month
>> > (sometimes more) after the calendar date of the end of the period. It is
>> > not uncommon to see P and Balance Sheet reports published in February
>> > for periods ending December 31.
>> >
>> > Otherwise, correcting entries are employed. This is usually the case
>> > with Accruals that cross period boundaries. You reverse the portion of
>> > an amount that doesn't apply to the period being closed, and add it back
>> > in the following period. (this also occurs for interim periods such as
>> > months or quarters)
>> >
>> > Exactly what you do, depends on the requirements of your local
>> > jurisdiction.
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > Adrien
>> >
>> > On 1/13/24 8:03 AM, Phyllis Bruce wrote:
>> > > H, would you not also need to re-enter any unreconciled
>> transactions
>> > in
>> > > your credit and debit accounts?
>> >
>> > ___
>> > gnucash-user mailing list
>> > gnucash-user@gnucash.org
>> > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>> > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>> > -
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>> >
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>
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Phyllis Bruce]

Thanks for the explanation.   I guess it's a matter of personal
preference.  If I'm starting a new file I want to be able to reconcile to
my statement when it's received in 2024.  It does not bother me to have
uncleared items in the archived file.  I could even go so far as to delete
them from the 2023 archive but that would be overkill imho.

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 10:37 AM Gyle McCollam  wrote:

> Phyllis,
> If you enter unreconciled transactions again in 2024 you will have doubled
> counted them because they will be in 2023 and 2024.  They are already
> accounted for in the balance.  Since reconciliation is just matching what
> has cleared with the statement it is OK that the transactions are not in
> 2024 as long as you know that they were in 2023 and any that have not clear
> in 2024 are the difference between your statement and account balance per
> the statement.
>
> Thank You,
>
> *Gyle McCollam*
>
> Gyle McCollam
>
> gmccol...@live.comemail
> --
> *From:* gnucash-user 
> on behalf of Phyllis Bruce 
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 13, 2024 10:56 AM
> *To:* adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net 
> *Cc:* gnucash-u...@lists.gnucash.org 
> *Subject:* Re: [GNC] End of Year?
>
> I did mean checking/savings and credit card accounts.  Thanks
>
> Since I use Gnucash for personal rather than business use, I don't
> "close" the books.  However, if I wanted to archive 2023 and start fresh on
> Jan 1, 2024, I would enter any unreconciled transactions in those accounts
> in your A2b example because the beginning balances would include them.
>
> On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 8:19 AM Adrien Monteleone <
> adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:
>
> > *ALL accounts are 'credit and debit' accounts. But perhaps you mean
> > Checking & Credit Card accounts? (i.e., those held at a 3rd party
> > financial institution, since you are referencing 'reconciliation'.)
> >
> > Reconciliation is usually done prior to a Trial Balance as part of the
> > End of Year process and that not infrequently is done up to a month
> > (sometimes more) after the calendar date of the end of the period. It is
> > not uncommon to see P and Balance Sheet reports published in February
> > for periods ending December 31.
> >
> > Otherwise, correcting entries are employed. This is usually the case
> > with Accruals that cross period boundaries. You reverse the portion of
> > an amount that doesn't apply to the period being closed, and add it back
> > in the following period. (this also occurs for interim periods such as
> > months or quarters)
> >
> > Exactly what you do, depends on the requirements of your local
> > jurisdiction.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> > Adrien
> >
> > On 1/13/24 8:03 AM, Phyllis Bruce wrote:
> > > H, would you not also need to re-enter any unreconciled
> transactions
> > in
> > > your credit and debit accounts?
> >
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Gyle McCollam]

Phyllis,
If you enter unreconciled transactions again in 2024 you will have doubled 
counted them because they will be in 2023 and 2024.  They are already accounted 
for in the balance.  Since reconciliation is just matching what has cleared 
with the statement it is OK that the transactions are not in 2024 as long as 
you know that they were in 2023 and any that have not clear in 2024 are the 
difference between your statement and account balance per the statement.


Thank You,

Gyle McCollam

Gyle McCollam

gmccol...@live.com<mailto:gmccol...@gyleshomes.com>   email


From: gnucash-user  on 
behalf of Phyllis Bruce 
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2024 10:56 AM
To: adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net 
Cc: gnucash-u...@lists.gnucash.org 
Subject: Re: [GNC] End of Year?

I did mean checking/savings and credit card accounts.  Thanks

Since I use Gnucash for personal rather than business use, I don't
"close" the books.  However, if I wanted to archive 2023 and start fresh on
Jan 1, 2024, I would enter any unreconciled transactions in those accounts
in your A2b example because the beginning balances would include them.

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 8:19 AM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:

> *ALL accounts are 'credit and debit' accounts. But perhaps you mean
> Checking & Credit Card accounts? (i.e., those held at a 3rd party
> financial institution, since you are referencing 'reconciliation'.)
>
> Reconciliation is usually done prior to a Trial Balance as part of the
> End of Year process and that not infrequently is done up to a month
> (sometimes more) after the calendar date of the end of the period. It is
> not uncommon to see P and Balance Sheet reports published in February
> for periods ending December 31.
>
> Otherwise, correcting entries are employed. This is usually the case
> with Accruals that cross period boundaries. You reverse the portion of
> an amount that doesn't apply to the period being closed, and add it back
> in the following period. (this also occurs for interim periods such as
> months or quarters)
>
> Exactly what you do, depends on the requirements of your local
> jurisdiction.
>
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
> On 1/13/24 8:03 AM, Phyllis Bruce wrote:
> > H, would you not also need to re-enter any unreconciled transactions
> in
> > your credit and debit accounts?
>
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Phyllis Bruce]

I did mean checking/savings and credit card accounts.  Thanks

Since I use Gnucash for personal rather than business use, I don't
"close" the books.  However, if I wanted to archive 2023 and start fresh on
Jan 1, 2024, I would enter any unreconciled transactions in those accounts
in your A2b example because the beginning balances would include them.

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 8:19 AM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:

> *ALL accounts are 'credit and debit' accounts. But perhaps you mean
> Checking & Credit Card accounts? (i.e., those held at a 3rd party
> financial institution, since you are referencing 'reconciliation'.)
>
> Reconciliation is usually done prior to a Trial Balance as part of the
> End of Year process and that not infrequently is done up to a month
> (sometimes more) after the calendar date of the end of the period. It is
> not uncommon to see P and Balance Sheet reports published in February
> for periods ending December 31.
>
> Otherwise, correcting entries are employed. This is usually the case
> with Accruals that cross period boundaries. You reverse the portion of
> an amount that doesn't apply to the period being closed, and add it back
> in the following period. (this also occurs for interim periods such as
> months or quarters)
>
> Exactly what you do, depends on the requirements of your local
> jurisdiction.
>
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
> On 1/13/24 8:03 AM, Phyllis Bruce wrote:
> > H, would you not also need to re-enter any unreconciled transactions
> in
> > your credit and debit accounts?
>
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Adrien Monteleone]

*ALL accounts are 'credit and debit' accounts. But perhaps you mean 
Checking & Credit Card accounts? (i.e., those held at a 3rd party 
financial institution, since you are referencing 'reconciliation'.)


Reconciliation is usually done prior to a Trial Balance as part of the 
End of Year process and that not infrequently is done up to a month 
(sometimes more) after the calendar date of the end of the period. It is 
not uncommon to see P and Balance Sheet reports published in February 
for periods ending December 31.


Otherwise, correcting entries are employed. This is usually the case 
with Accruals that cross period boundaries. You reverse the portion of 
an amount that doesn't apply to the period being closed, and add it back 
in the following period. (this also occurs for interim periods such as 
months or quarters)


Exactly what you do, depends on the requirements of your local jurisdiction.


Regards,
Adrien

On 1/13/24 8:03 AM, Phyllis Bruce wrote:

H, would you not also need to re-enter any unreconciled transactions in
your credit and debit accounts?


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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Phyllis Bruce]

H, would you not also need to re-enter any unreconciled transactions in
your credit and debit accounts?

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 7:24 AM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:

> 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.
> >
>
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Re: [GNC] End of Year?

[Adrien Monteleone]

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.



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[GNC] End of Year?

[R Losey]

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.

-- 
_
Richard Losey
rlo...@gmail.com
Micah 6:8
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Re: [GNC] End of year Archive of Accounts

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 12/11/2023 12:19 PM, Grace wrote:

Hello,

As we approach the end of the year (Happy Christmas everyone) I am 
wondering how I would archive off 2023 accounts leaving opening 
balances for 2024.


I don't see this an action available, so is there a process I need to 
know?


Thanks

Grace 


a) You can make an "archive" at any time. Your books are a file. Make a 
"keep forever" copy (I do my backups to a removable drive, normally kept 
in a safe location. Back when doing organizational books, would burn a 
copy and hand that to another officer of the org)


b) But you mean something in addition to the archive. You are asking to 
only see opening balances for the current year.


Now did you mean for ALL accounts. In the old days, it was common to do 
a "close the books" and so all income and expense accounts would have 
zero balances at the start of the new accounting period. It was NOT 
common to do that for the "standing" accounts. IF you do an end of year 
"close the books" (either with the tool or manually) and IF you have few 
standing accounts you COULD do what you want manually (from the post 
closing Balance Sheet). In other words, just start a new set of books 
entering the starting amounts from the balance sheet << in that case you 
might want to change the name of you books -- include the year in the 
name >>


Michael D Novack


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[GNC] End of year Archive of Accounts

[Grace]

Hello,

As we approach the end of the year (Happy Christmas everyone) I am 
wondering how I would archive off 2023 accounts leaving opening balances 
for 2024.


I don't see this an action available, so is there a process I need to know?

Thanks

Grace


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Re: [GNC] End of year for taxes

[Stan Brown]

On 2022-09-21 07:10, Richard Barmann wrote:
> After having covid and spending 4 months in a nursing home I have
> forgotten how to pull up the last year to do my taxes. It seems to have
> wiped my mind clear of how to proceed.  I nave to do the last taxes and
> then close the business as I am in a wheelchair and can no longer carry on.

Not sure what you mean by "pull up the last year". If you mean to make
reports for last year, then

1. Open the report.
2. Click Edit » Report Options.
3. On the General tab, select the period or date for your report.
4. Make any other necessary changes to options.
5. Click Apply.

If you mean account registers for last year, just scroll in the register
for older data, or use View » Filter By to filter by date.


Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com
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[GNC] End of year for taxes

[Richard Barmann]

After having covid and spending 4 months in a nursing home I have 
forgotten how to pull up the last year to do my taxes. It seems to have 
wiped my mind clear of how to proceed.  I nave to do the last taxes and 
then close the business as I am in a wheelchair and can no longer carry on.


Richard  Barmann

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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Chris Green]

On Tue, Feb 02, 2021 at 12:27:22PM -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
> HI,
> 
> On Tue, February 2, 2021 12:07 pm, Chris Green wrote:
> > On Tue, Feb 02, 2021 at 10:12:09AM -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> On Tue, February 2, 2021 10:03 am, Chris Green wrote:
> >> [snip]
> >> > Yes, that works, thanks Derek.  I suppose it's not too onerous as I
> >> > only do it once a year! :-)
> >>
> >> This begs the question:  Why are you doing this?  Why not just backup
> >> the
> >> data file, then run tools -> Close Books to zero out your income/expense
> >> accounts, and then continue on with the same data file?  Why start over
> >> from scratch?
> >>
> > Because having a separate xxx.gnucash file for each year fits much
> > better with my way of working where I have a directory for each year
> > and keep all the documents for one year in the same place.  Thus I
> > have the general accounts, the building fund accounts, copies of
> > GiftAid forms, invoices etc. all in one directory which is easily
> > saved and transportable.
> 
> That kind of archiving makes sense, but I don't see why you need to
> actually start over.  You could keep the existing data as you start the
> new year.  I.e., you could do the equivalent of:
> 
>   copy datafile from 2020/foo.gnucash to 2021/foo.gnucash
> 
Yes, but the last year's data simply confuses things in this year and
doesn't add anything useful IMHO.


> Also keep in mind, GnuCash can also get confused if you have multiple
> files of the same name in different directories.  So the above might cause
> issues with metadata, because both would want to open "foo.gnucash.gcm".
> 
Yes, I know, gnucash is a very odd program in many ways and this is
one of its oddities.  It does really feel sometime as if gnucash
*tries* to be non-standard and not work like most other programs. :-)

Since I'm starting gnucash explicitly with the file name on the
command line it seems to behave OK though.  However I'm quite prepared
to have g2020.gnucash and g2021.gnucash if necessary.


> > It also means I can use the same report format as I don't have to
> > generate a report for each year, the report is always for 'everything
> > in the accounts'.
> 
> I'm not sure what "same report format" means here.
> 
I have, for example, an income report for 2020.  If I want to see the
same report for another year I have to go and explicitly change the
start and end dates, then to get back to the 2020 one I have to put
the 2020 dates back.


> >> GnuCash happily deals with multiple years of data; the reports happily
> >> report for you.
> >
> > Only if you specify the date *every time* you generate the report,
> > unless you copy them when you generate them.
> 
> The default settings work pretty well.  So really, you should rarely have
> to change dates, except when there is something specific you want.  Those
> reports currently default to the current accounting period, which can be
> arbitrary or fixed.
> 
For me that is exceedingly irritating!  The current accounting period
seems to be 'this year' which isn't particularly handy if I want to
see some details from last year.


> For me, I have "Previous Year" Balance Sheet and Income Statement reports
> that I leave open.
> 
You must have a *lot* of 'open' reports then if you ever look at
things for two or three year back.

I find having so many things open just clutters the interface.  With
just one year per instance there aren't nearly so many tabs to search
through when looking for things.

-- 
Chris Green
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Derek Atkins]

HI,

On Tue, February 2, 2021 12:07 pm, Chris Green wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 02, 2021 at 10:12:09AM -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Tue, February 2, 2021 10:03 am, Chris Green wrote:
>> [snip]
>> > Yes, that works, thanks Derek.  I suppose it's not too onerous as I
>> > only do it once a year! :-)
>>
>> This begs the question:  Why are you doing this?  Why not just backup
>> the
>> data file, then run tools -> Close Books to zero out your income/expense
>> accounts, and then continue on with the same data file?  Why start over
>> from scratch?
>>
> Because having a separate xxx.gnucash file for each year fits much
> better with my way of working where I have a directory for each year
> and keep all the documents for one year in the same place.  Thus I
> have the general accounts, the building fund accounts, copies of
> GiftAid forms, invoices etc. all in one directory which is easily
> saved and transportable.

That kind of archiving makes sense, but I don't see why you need to
actually start over.  You could keep the existing data as you start the
new year.  I.e., you could do the equivalent of:

  copy datafile from 2020/foo.gnucash to 2021/foo.gnucash

Also keep in mind, GnuCash can also get confused if you have multiple
files of the same name in different directories.  So the above might cause
issues with metadata, because both would want to open "foo.gnucash.gcm".

> It also means I can use the same report format as I don't have to
> generate a report for each year, the report is always for 'everything
> in the accounts'.

I'm not sure what "same report format" means here.

>> GnuCash happily deals with multiple years of data; the reports happily
>> report for you.
>
> Only if you specify the date *every time* you generate the report,
> unless you copy them when you generate them.

The default settings work pretty well.  So really, you should rarely have
to change dates, except when there is something specific you want.  Those
reports currently default to the current accounting period, which can be
arbitrary or fixed.

For me, I have "Previous Year" Balance Sheet and Income Statement reports
that I leave open.

>
>>And if you separate it that way, it makes it very
>> hard to
>> go back and look at previous years' data.  It seems like a lot of work,
>
> No it isn't, it's trivial.  "cd ~/pcc/2019;gnucash general.gnucash"
>
> Going back to a previous year in the GUI feels more difficult to me! :-)

It's only difficult because of how you separate them.  For me, I can take
my (open) GnuCash and run a Balance Sheet report, go to the options, and
select 12/31/2009 and -- voila, I've got my EoY balance sheet from 2009. 
I can search for historical transactions as well.  Also, if I have rare
transactions, the auto-fill works great.  For example, I recently had a
shredding company come to take care of a bunch of boxes of papers.  The
last time I used them was 7 years ago.  But I was able to duplicate that
old transaction (and see that I paid the same amount!)  ...  All because
the data is all there together.

NB that while GnuCash does let you have multiple instances of the
application open at one time, they will contend for your Preferences, so
if you make preferences changes in one they may get overwritten by
another.

Anyways, do what works for you.  I'm just suggesting there might be better
ways, or at least ways that require less work.

> Chris Green

> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.

-derek

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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Chris Green]

On Tue, Feb 02, 2021 at 10:12:09AM -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On Tue, February 2, 2021 10:03 am, Chris Green wrote:
> [snip]
> > Yes, that works, thanks Derek.  I suppose it's not too onerous as I
> > only do it once a year! :-)
> 
> This begs the question:  Why are you doing this?  Why not just backup the
> data file, then run tools -> Close Books to zero out your income/expense
> accounts, and then continue on with the same data file?  Why start over
> from scratch?
> 
Because having a separate xxx.gnucash file for each year fits much
better with my way of working where I have a directory for each year
and keep all the documents for one year in the same place.  Thus I
have the general accounts, the building fund accounts, copies of
GiftAid forms, invoices etc. all in one directory which is easily
saved and transportable.

It also means I can use the same report format as I don't have to
generate a report for each year, the report is always for 'everything
in the accounts'.


> GnuCash happily deals with multiple years of data; the reports happily
> report for you.

Only if you specify the date *every time* you generate the report,
unless you copy them when you generate them.


>And if you separate it that way, it makes it very hard to
> go back and look at previous years' data.  It seems like a lot of work,

No it isn't, it's trivial.  "cd ~/pcc/2019;gnucash general.gnucash"

Going back to a previous year in the GUI feels more difficult to me! :-)

-- 
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

On Tue, February 2, 2021 10:03 am, Chris Green wrote:
[snip]
> Yes, that works, thanks Derek.  I suppose it's not too onerous as I
> only do it once a year! :-)

This begs the question:  Why are you doing this?  Why not just backup the
data file, then run tools -> Close Books to zero out your income/expense
accounts, and then continue on with the same data file?  Why start over
from scratch?

GnuCash happily deals with multiple years of data; the reports happily
report for you.  And if you separate it that way, it makes it very hard to
go back and look at previous years' data.  It seems like a lot of work,
unless you have some external force requiring you to start over?

> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.

-derek

-- 
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Chris Green]

On Tue, Feb 02, 2021 at 09:44:44AM -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
> On Tue, February 2, 2021 9:37 am, Chris Green wrote:
> > On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 08:07:07AM -0500, D. wrote:
> >> > Is there any easy way to create a set of empty copies of an existing
> >> > set of accounts so I can start the new year easily?
> >>
> >> File -> Export -> Export Accounts
> >>
> > Well, I have been trying to do this but it doesn't work.
> >
> > I am using gnucash with sqlite on Linux.
> >
> > The first problem is that one *always* gets the file lock issue if you
> > do this because the new database created by the export always has the
> > lock table in it.  This isn't a big issue of course because you can
> > ignore the message or remove the lock table.
> >
> > However the saved accounts database is somehow broken.
> >
> > I have done the following:-
> >
> > Start gnucash with "gnucash general.gnucash"
> >
> > Select File->Export->Export Accounts
> >
> > Set the data format to sqlite3
> >
> > Save as 'newyear'
> >
> > Quit from gnucash
> >
> > Run "gnucash newyear.gnucash"
> >
> > Click "Start anyway" when the lock file message pops up
> >
> > I then get a pop-up window saying "An error occurred while
> > processing /home/chris/pcc/2020/newyear.gnucash"
> >
> >
> > So how do I get this to work?
> >
>
> Try saving it as XML, and then opening it, and then Save-As Sqlite
> 
Yes, that works, thanks Derek.  I suppose it's not too onerous as I
only do it once a year! :-)

-- 
Chris Green
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Derek Atkins]

Try saving it as XML, and then opening it, and then Save-As Sqlite

-derek

On Tue, February 2, 2021 9:37 am, Chris Green wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 08:07:07AM -0500, D. wrote:
>> > Is there any easy way to create a set of empty copies of an existing
>> > set of accounts so I can start the new year easily?
>>
>> File -> Export -> Export Accounts
>>
> Well, I have been trying to do this but it doesn't work.
>
> I am using gnucash with sqlite on Linux.
>
> The first problem is that one *always* gets the file lock issue if you
> do this because the new database created by the export always has the
> lock table in it.  This isn't a big issue of course because you can
> ignore the message or remove the lock table.
>
> However the saved accounts database is somehow broken.
>
> I have done the following:-
>
> Start gnucash with "gnucash general.gnucash"
>
> Select File->Export->Export Accounts
>
> Set the data format to sqlite3
>
> Save as 'newyear'
>
> Quit from gnucash
>
> Run "gnucash newyear.gnucash"
>
> Click "Start anyway" when the lock file message pops up
>
> I then get a pop-up window saying "An error occurred while
> processing /home/chris/pcc/2020/newyear.gnucash"
>
>
> So how do I get this to work?
>
> --
> Chris Green
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Chris Green]

On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 08:07:07AM -0500, D. wrote:
> > Is there any easy way to create a set of empty copies of an existing
> > set of accounts so I can start the new year easily?
> 
> File -> Export -> Export Accounts
> 
Well, I have been trying to do this but it doesn't work.

I am using gnucash with sqlite on Linux.

The first problem is that one *always* gets the file lock issue if you
do this because the new database created by the export always has the
lock table in it.  This isn't a big issue of course because you can
ignore the message or remove the lock table.

However the saved accounts database is somehow broken.

I have done the following:-

Start gnucash with "gnucash general.gnucash"

Select File->Export->Export Accounts

Set the data format to sqlite3

Save as 'newyear'

Quit from gnucash

Run "gnucash newyear.gnucash"

Click "Start anyway" when the lock file message pops up

I then get a pop-up window saying "An error occurred while
processing /home/chris/pcc/2020/newyear.gnucash"


So how do I get this to work?

-- 
Chris Green
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Chris Green]

On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 08:07:07AM -0500, D. wrote:
> From: Chris Green 
> > 
> > Is there any easy way to create a set of empty copies of an existing
> > set of accounts so I can start the new year easily?
> 
> File -> Export -> Export Accounts
> 
I just did that and on trying to open the new, empty set of accounts I
get the message about it being in use by another user!

I seem to be having a lot of issues with the lock file, this is
GnuCash 3.10 running on xubuntu 20.10 by the way.


-- 
Chris Green
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Re: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[D. via gnucash-user]

File -> Export -> Export Accounts


 Original Message 
From: Chris Green 
Sent: Wed Jan 20 07:01:42 EST 2021
To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org
Subject: [GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

Is there any easy way to create a set of empty copies of an existing
set of accounts so I can start the new year easily?

-- 
Chris Green
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[GNC] End of year, how to clone a set of accounts for the new year?

[Chris Green]

Is there any easy way to create a set of empty copies of an existing
set of accounts so I can start the new year easily?

-- 
Chris Green
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Christopher Lam]

It has not quite been merged in yet, but I see no further issue that I can
fix myself, so, I'll see about getting in for wider use and bug finding, in
an "experimental" submenu. It won't report unrealised gains though, too
difficult to hack it as it is.

On Fri., 22 Mar. 2019, 23:06 Derek Atkins,  wrote:

> Adrien Monteleone  writes:
>
> > For now, the likely best method is exporting and using a spreadsheet
> > for multi-period comparisons, though I seem to recall a proper
> > multi-period report is in development.
>
> I believe it has been committed to the repository already.  If not,
> there is an open PR about it which implies it should be committed soon.
>
> > The multi-column report could fit that bill, but as-is, repeats all of
> > the account labels which makes things quite cluttered. There is also
> > no way to see percentages or variances unless you use a
> > spreadsheet. (or other reporting solution)
>
> I agree that some things are best done outside GnuCash, but GnuCash can
> certainly get you most of the way there.
>
> > I find myself looking at odd periods and crossing yearly boundaries
> > more often than I find myself comparing two monthly or annual
> > periods. (though I need that too) If I had to close the books each
> > year, I’d lose that ability, or at least it would be very cumbersome.
>
> This would be much harder, I think, if you had separate data files.
> Especially because GnuCash doesn't like having multiple files open
> simultaneously.
>
> > Regards,
> > Adrien
>
> > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>
> --
>Derek Atkins 617-623-3745
>de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com
>Computer and Internet Security Consultant
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Derek Atkins]

Adrien Monteleone  writes:

> For now, the likely best method is exporting and using a spreadsheet
> for multi-period comparisons, though I seem to recall a proper
> multi-period report is in development.

I believe it has been committed to the repository already.  If not,
there is an open PR about it which implies it should be committed soon.

> The multi-column report could fit that bill, but as-is, repeats all of
> the account labels which makes things quite cluttered. There is also
> no way to see percentages or variances unless you use a
> spreadsheet. (or other reporting solution)

I agree that some things are best done outside GnuCash, but GnuCash can
certainly get you most of the way there.

> I find myself looking at odd periods and crossing yearly boundaries
> more often than I find myself comparing two monthly or annual
> periods. (though I need that too) If I had to close the books each
> year, I’d lose that ability, or at least it would be very cumbersome.

This would be much harder, I think, if you had separate data files.
Especially because GnuCash doesn't like having multiple files open
simultaneously.

> Regards,
> Adrien

> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.

-- 
   Derek Atkins 617-623-3745
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Derek Atkins]

Christian Kluge  writes:

> Am 21.03.2019 um 21:00 schrieb Derek Atkins:
>> 
>>> At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for more
>>> than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting for
>>> another period than 01.01. to 31.12.
>> 
>> Here in the US, organizations are free to set up any financial year they
>> wish.  Many still choose a calendar year, but certainly may are on a
>> skewed calendar.  Many choose June 30 for the end of the year.  I worked
>> one place that was Jan 31.
>> 
>
> But still it’s just one year.

I don't understand your point?  These are two orthogonal issues.

There is the issue of year start/end, and there is the issue of whether
to hold multiple years in a single data file.  You seemed to imply that
a calendar year was sufficient, and I was pointing out that no, it is
not.

This is completely separable from the other question of whether to have
separate files for each year.

> The certain circumstances I mentioned are mainly income tax related:
>
> The financial for farmers ends at 30.06. and for forestry it can be 28.02.
>
> A merchant according to German commercial law can choose a financial
> year than the calendar year with approval from the tax office.

Same here in the US.

> However if it’s just a small cash accounting business the financial year
> is always the calendar year.

"Never say never"  :)

> And all I’ve said about different financial years doesn’t apply for VAT
> which is always reported for the calendar year, which complicates things
> even further.

FUN!

> Kind regards
>
> Christian Kluge

-derek

-- 
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Adrien Monteleone]

For now, the likely best method is exporting and using a spreadsheet for 
multi-period comparisons, though I seem to recall a proper multi-period report 
is in development.

The multi-column report could fit that bill, but as-is, repeats all of the 
account labels which makes things quite cluttered. There is also no way to see 
percentages or variances unless you use a spreadsheet. (or other reporting 
solution)

I find myself looking at odd periods and crossing yearly boundaries more often 
than I find myself comparing two monthly or annual periods. (though I need that 
too) If I had to close the books each year, I’d lose that ability, or at least 
it would be very cumbersome.

Regards,
Adrien

> On Mar 21, 2019, at 3:13 PM, Liz  wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:51:00 +0100
> Christian Kluge  wrote:
> 
>> I don’t know how to say it, but I think GnuCash might be better off
>> with a balance carry over method into the next year.
>> 
>> At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for
>> more than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting
>> for another period than 01.01. to 31.12.
>> 
>> I don’t know whether it would be possible to have an option the
>> gnucash file for the previous year which would be used comparisson
>> reports.
> 
> Sometimes it is better to ask the question than ask "where is this
> solution?"
> 
> I think your question is
> "Using a single file for accounts in Gnucash, how do you make a
> comparison between different financial years?"
> 
> There is a way of using a multicolumn report to do this. I don't do it,
> so I can't advise.
> Did I get your question correct?
> 
> Liz


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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Adrien Monteleone]

I too worked for a company that had an odd fiscal year - starting Nov 1 because 
that’s when they incorporated. They ran for decades like that till I convinced 
them to do a short year filing and align to the calendar the following year.

Do you mean that GnuCash should require closing the books and carrying over the 
balances? I wouldn’t support that at all. This app isn’t just for official 
annual reports. Many people use reports for analyzing their financial info and 
sometimes it is very useful to run reports for odd periods. Certainly, I’ve 
seen enough people on this list talk about job-tracking features and needs 
where they might have activity they need to report on that spans multiple 
monthly periods (and even parts of those) and also crosses yearly boundaries. 
Forcing a close-book procedure is taking a physical limitation of paper and 
applying it where it doesn’t really need to be.

The act of ‘closing the books’ served the purpose of organization of paper 
journals, as well as generating the consolidated figures to prepare an Income 
Statement. But computers render both of those considerations obsolete. (you can 
prepare the statement without the intervening calculations manually since the 
computer can do it at any time, and organization is up to you. You don’t have 
to keep separate files if you don’t want to.) But some people still are more 
comfortable with that procedure, so they have that option.

Being able to export all business meta data however would be nice. (in a format 
GnuCash could re-import of course)

Regards,
Adrien

> On Mar 21, 2019, at 2:51 PM, Christian Kluge  wrote:
> 
> Am 21.03.2019 um 15:14 schrieb Derek Atkins:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> Philip Burg  writes:
>> 
>>> I would like to close my books at the end of my financial year but
>>> have access to the previous years files, my thoughts were to archive
>>> the file at the end of the year by backing up to a cd/dvd then start
>>> afresh with the new financial year. would this be possible. I am using
>>> windows 10 and Gnucash Version 3.4 Build I.D. 3.4+(2018-12-30)
>> 
>> Archiving old books is always a good idea.
>> 
>> Restarting at the begining of the year, however, is not necessarily is
>> good idea.  Specifically, there is a Close Books feature that zero's out
>> your Income & Expense accounts into Equity, but it doesn't actually
>> DELETE any data.
>> 
>> Your other option is to Export the account tree which will create an
>> empty file and then re-open it.  The downside is that you will have to
>> reset all your opening balances, and if you use any business features
>> you will need to manually re-enter all that metadata too (customers,
>> vendors, tax tables, etc).  I highly ANTI-recommend this approach.
>> 
> 
> I don’t know how to say it, but I think GnuCash might be better off with
> a balance carry over method into the next year.
> 
> At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for more
> than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting for
> another period than 01.01. to 31.12.
> 
> I don’t know whether it would be possible to have an option the gnucash
> file for the previous year which would be used comparisson reports.
> 
> Is there a way to ex- and import the business related things?
> 
> If there were the scenario you’ve described would a bit cumbersome but
> still doable.
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> Christian Kluge


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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Christian Kluge]

Am 21.03.2019 um 21:00 schrieb Derek Atkins:
> 
>> At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for more
>> than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting for
>> another period than 01.01. to 31.12.
> 
> Here in the US, organizations are free to set up any financial year they
> wish.  Many still choose a calendar year, but certainly may are on a
> skewed calendar.  Many choose June 30 for the end of the year.  I worked
> one place that was Jan 31.
> 

But still it’s just one year.

The certain circumstances I mentioned are mainly income tax related:

The financial for farmers ends at 30.06. and for forestry it can be 28.02.

A merchant according to German commercial law can choose a financial
year than the calendar year with approval from the tax office.

However if it’s just a small cash accounting business the financial year
is always the calendar year.

And all I’ve said about different financial years doesn’t apply for VAT
which is always reported for the calendar year, which complicates things
even further.

Kind regards

Christian Kluge
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Liz]

On Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:51:00 +0100
Christian Kluge  wrote:

> I don’t know how to say it, but I think GnuCash might be better off
> with a balance carry over method into the next year.
> 
> At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for
> more than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting
> for another period than 01.01. to 31.12.
> 
> I don’t know whether it would be possible to have an option the
> gnucash file for the previous year which would be used comparisson
> reports.

Sometimes it is better to ask the question than ask "where is this
solution?"

I think your question is
"Using a single file for accounts in Gnucash, how do you make a
comparison between different financial years?"

There is a way of using a multicolumn report to do this. I don't do it,
so I can't advise.
Did I get your question correct?

Liz
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Derek Atkins]

On Thu, March 21, 2019 3:51 pm, Christian Kluge wrote:
[snip]
> I don’t know how to say it, but I think GnuCash might be better off with
> a balance carry over method into the next year.

Patches always welcome!  :)

> At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for more
> than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting for
> another period than 01.01. to 31.12.

Here in the US, organizations are free to set up any financial year they
wish.  Many still choose a calendar year, but certainly may are on a
skewed calendar.  Many choose June 30 for the end of the year.  I worked
one place that was Jan 31.

> I don’t know whether it would be possible to have an option the gnucash
> file for the previous year which would be used comparisson reports.

You would have to have GnuCash keep track of multiple files.
Search the code history for Gemini.  There was, at one point, an attempt
at doing this.  But really, searching across multiple files is not as
straightforward as you would think.

> Is there a way to ex- and import the business related things?

There is an importer; I do not believe there is an exporter.

> If there were the scenario you’ve described would a bit cumbersome but
> still doable.

> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.

-derek

-- 
   Derek Atkins 617-623-3745
   de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com
   Computer and Internet Security Consultant

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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Christian Kluge]

Am 21.03.2019 um 15:14 schrieb Derek Atkins:
> Hi,
> 
> Philip Burg  writes:
> 
>> I would like to close my books at the end of my financial year but
>> have access to the previous years files, my thoughts were to archive
>> the file at the end of the year by backing up to a cd/dvd then start
>> afresh with the new financial year. would this be possible. I am using
>> windows 10 and Gnucash Version 3.4 Build I.D. 3.4+(2018-12-30)
> 
> Archiving old books is always a good idea.
> 
> Restarting at the begining of the year, however, is not necessarily is
> good idea.  Specifically, there is a Close Books feature that zero's out
> your Income & Expense accounts into Equity, but it doesn't actually
> DELETE any data.
> 
> Your other option is to Export the account tree which will create an
> empty file and then re-open it.  The downside is that you will have to
> reset all your opening balances, and if you use any business features
> you will need to manually re-enter all that metadata too (customers,
> vendors, tax tables, etc).  I highly ANTI-recommend this approach.
> 

I don’t know how to say it, but I think GnuCash might be better off with
a balance carry over method into the next year.

At least for me in Germany I can’t think of someone accounting for more
than one year and also only on certain circumstances accounting for
another period than 01.01. to 31.12.

I don’t know whether it would be possible to have an option the gnucash
file for the previous year which would be used comparisson reports.

Is there a way to ex- and import the business related things?

If there were the scenario you’ve described would a bit cumbersome but
still doable.

Kind regards

Christian Kluge

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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

Philip Burg  writes:

> I would like to close my books at the end of my financial year but
> have access to the previous years files, my thoughts were to archive
> the file at the end of the year by backing up to a cd/dvd then start
> afresh with the new financial year. would this be possible. I am using
> windows 10 and Gnucash Version 3.4 Build I.D. 3.4+(2018-12-30)

Archiving old books is always a good idea.

Restarting at the begining of the year, however, is not necessarily is
good idea.  Specifically, there is a Close Books feature that zero's out
your Income & Expense accounts into Equity, but it doesn't actually
DELETE any data.

Your other option is to Export the account tree which will create an
empty file and then re-open it.  The downside is that you will have to
reset all your opening balances, and if you use any business features
you will need to manually re-enter all that metadata too (customers,
vendors, tax tables, etc).  I highly ANTI-recommend this approach.

Personally, I don't do anything.  All the reports handle year-end
accounting without doing anything special.  I don't mind seeing my
income and expense account balances showing lifetime achievements :)
But that's just me.

Hope this helps,

> Regards
>
> Philip Burg
> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.

-derek

-- 
   Derek Atkins 617-623-3745
   de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com
   Computer and Internet Security Consultant
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[David T. via gnucash-user]

 Of course you can. Google "close books site:gnucash.org" and read up on the 
myriad opinions and issues that you might encounter. 

 
 
  On Thu, Mar 21, 2019 at 1:00, Philip Burg wrote:   I 
would like to close my books at the end of my financial year but have access to 
the previous years files, my thoughts were to archive the file at the end of 
the year by backing up to a cd/dvd then start afresh with the new financial 
year. would  this be possible. I am using windows 10 and Gnucash Version 3.4 
Build I.D. 3.4+(2018-12-30)



Regards

Philip Burg





Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10




From: gnucash-user  
on behalf of Matthew Andrews 
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2019 3:57:12 PM
To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org
Subject: Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

Hi Adrien,

I just joined this list with the same question.  Great timing!  I like
your suggestion.  It seems easier than starting a completely new file,
importing the accounts tree, and entering any starting balances left
over from the previous year.

It took me a bit of time to figure out how to add a column to the chart
of accounts.  I found the answer in chapter 10 of the gnucash-guide.pdf,
in case anyone else is looking.  There's a little down arrow on the top
right corner of the accounts window that gives more display options.

Adding my thanks!


~Matthew



On 3/20/19 6:36 AM, garage cowboy wrote:
> Thanks for the reply -  and the helpful tips.
>
> regards,
>
> ALT
>
> On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 10:42 PM Adrien Monteleone <
> adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:
>
>> Welcome to GnuCash!
>>
>> There is a ‘close books’ procedure you can use that zeros expenses and
>> income to equity as ‘retained earnings/losses’ but you don’t have to use
>> it. GnuCash does not require that you clear anything out at the end of the
>> year. (and doing so can impact your ability to run reports in some cases)
>>
>> There are people with 10+ years of data in very large files (with lots of
>> stock tracking) and other than some slow loading times, there aren’t any
>> major issues. (there are work arounds for the slow loading - somewhat)
>>
>> Some people do a close books and open a new file each year. But that
>> process requires archiving reports and the data files. It also means you
>> can’t run reports for multiple years without external help (like from a
>> spread sheet) or you can’t run reports that cross yearly boundaries. (say
>> from 4Q18 to 1Q19) And if you want to look at prior year(s) data, you have
>> to open each of those files separately.
>>
>> The Chart of Accounts tab has an available column for totals that show all
>> data in the entire book. (running totals from when you started using
>> GnuCash) It also has a column you can make visible for totals just for this
>> accounting period. (year) That way you can have an ‘at a glance’ view of
>> your accounts without running Income Statements or Balance Sheets. (but
>> those are available of course if you need them) The Summary Bar also shows
>> current net worth and retained earnings/losses.
>>
>> My personal workflow is to not use the close books procedure, make the
>> current period totals visible on the Accounts tab, as well as keep open a
>> YTD P, and a monthly P for last month and this month. I run Balance
>> Sheets as needed. I also never close GnuCash except for upgrades. Thus I
>> don’t experience the data file loading but a few times a year. And it is
>> still relatively painless. (special note - loading is significantly slower
>> if you leave reports open when closing the app. They will be loading on
>> re-opening the program which takes some time)
>>
>> As for reconciled transactions, they don’t ‘go away.’ But you can filter
>> your register views if you don’t want to see them. (or any transaction
>> before a certain date, say in the previous year)
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
>>> On Mar 19, 2019, at 5:36 AM, garage cowboy 
>> wrote:
>>> Hi  - I am a new gnucash user  ( just a few weeks).
>>>
>>> First of all, congratulations and thanks to all those  who have
>> contributed
>>> to  this great product.
>>>
>>> My question is about EOFY processes  - I am used to products  which have
>>> an end of year rollover process which clears reconciled transactions  -
>> is
>>> there equivalent function in gnucash?  What is the recommended approach?
>>> am wondering  what will happen in a few years  when there are thousand of
>>> transactions in the xml  file.
>>>
>>> Also interested in contributing to 

Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Philip Burg]

I would like to close my books at the end of my financial year but have access 
to the previous years files, my thoughts were to archive the file at the end of 
the year by backing up to a cd/dvd then start afresh with the new financial 
year. would  this be possible. I am using windows 10 and Gnucash Version 3.4 
Build I.D. 3.4+(2018-12-30)



Regards

Philip Burg





Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10




From: gnucash-user  
on behalf of Matthew Andrews 
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2019 3:57:12 PM
To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org
Subject: Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

Hi Adrien,

I just joined this list with the same question.  Great timing!  I like
your suggestion.  It seems easier than starting a completely new file,
importing the accounts tree, and entering any starting balances left
over from the previous year.

It took me a bit of time to figure out how to add a column to the chart
of accounts.  I found the answer in chapter 10 of the gnucash-guide.pdf,
in case anyone else is looking.  There's a little down arrow on the top
right corner of the accounts window that gives more display options.

Adding my thanks!


~Matthew



On 3/20/19 6:36 AM, garage cowboy wrote:
> Thanks for the reply -  and the helpful tips.
>
> regards,
>
> ALT
>
> On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 10:42 PM Adrien Monteleone <
> adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:
>
>> Welcome to GnuCash!
>>
>> There is a ‘close books’ procedure you can use that zeros expenses and
>> income to equity as ‘retained earnings/losses’ but you don’t have to use
>> it. GnuCash does not require that you clear anything out at the end of the
>> year. (and doing so can impact your ability to run reports in some cases)
>>
>> There are people with 10+ years of data in very large files (with lots of
>> stock tracking) and other than some slow loading times, there aren’t any
>> major issues. (there are work arounds for the slow loading - somewhat)
>>
>> Some people do a close books and open a new file each year. But that
>> process requires archiving reports and the data files. It also means you
>> can’t run reports for multiple years without external help (like from a
>> spread sheet) or you can’t run reports that cross yearly boundaries. (say
>> from 4Q18 to 1Q19) And if you want to look at prior year(s) data, you have
>> to open each of those files separately.
>>
>> The Chart of Accounts tab has an available column for totals that show all
>> data in the entire book. (running totals from when you started using
>> GnuCash) It also has a column you can make visible for totals just for this
>> accounting period. (year) That way you can have an ‘at a glance’ view of
>> your accounts without running Income Statements or Balance Sheets. (but
>> those are available of course if you need them) The Summary Bar also shows
>> current net worth and retained earnings/losses.
>>
>> My personal workflow is to not use the close books procedure, make the
>> current period totals visible on the Accounts tab, as well as keep open a
>> YTD P, and a monthly P for last month and this month. I run Balance
>> Sheets as needed. I also never close GnuCash except for upgrades. Thus I
>> don’t experience the data file loading but a few times a year. And it is
>> still relatively painless. (special note - loading is significantly slower
>> if you leave reports open when closing the app. They will be loading on
>> re-opening the program which takes some time)
>>
>> As for reconciled transactions, they don’t ‘go away.’ But you can filter
>> your register views if you don’t want to see them. (or any transaction
>> before a certain date, say in the previous year)
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
>>> On Mar 19, 2019, at 5:36 AM, garage cowboy 
>> wrote:
>>> Hi   - I am a new gnucash user  ( just a few weeks).
>>>
>>> First of all, congratulations and thanks to all those  who have
>> contributed
>>> to  this great product.
>>>
>>> My question is about EOFY processes   - I am used to products  which have
>>> an end of year rollover process which clears reconciled transactions   -
>> is
>>> there equivalent function in gnucash?  What is the recommended approach?
>>> am wondering  what will happen in a few years  when there are thousand of
>>> transactions in the xml  file.
>>>
>>> Also interested in contributing to the cause  but not a developer.
>>>
>>> regards,
>>>
>>> GC
>>
>> ___
>> gnucash-user mailing list
&g

Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Matthew Andrews]

Hi Adrien,

I just joined this list with the same question.  Great timing!  I like 
your suggestion.  It seems easier than starting a completely new file, 
importing the accounts tree, and entering any starting balances left 
over from the previous year.


It took me a bit of time to figure out how to add a column to the chart 
of accounts.  I found the answer in chapter 10 of the gnucash-guide.pdf, 
in case anyone else is looking.  There's a little down arrow on the top 
right corner of the accounts window that gives more display options.


Adding my thanks!


~Matthew



On 3/20/19 6:36 AM, garage cowboy wrote:

Thanks for the reply -  and the helpful tips.

regards,

ALT

On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 10:42 PM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:


Welcome to GnuCash!

There is a ‘close books’ procedure you can use that zeros expenses and
income to equity as ‘retained earnings/losses’ but you don’t have to use
it. GnuCash does not require that you clear anything out at the end of the
year. (and doing so can impact your ability to run reports in some cases)

There are people with 10+ years of data in very large files (with lots of
stock tracking) and other than some slow loading times, there aren’t any
major issues. (there are work arounds for the slow loading - somewhat)

Some people do a close books and open a new file each year. But that
process requires archiving reports and the data files. It also means you
can’t run reports for multiple years without external help (like from a
spread sheet) or you can’t run reports that cross yearly boundaries. (say
from 4Q18 to 1Q19) And if you want to look at prior year(s) data, you have
to open each of those files separately.

The Chart of Accounts tab has an available column for totals that show all
data in the entire book. (running totals from when you started using
GnuCash) It also has a column you can make visible for totals just for this
accounting period. (year) That way you can have an ‘at a glance’ view of
your accounts without running Income Statements or Balance Sheets. (but
those are available of course if you need them) The Summary Bar also shows
current net worth and retained earnings/losses.

My personal workflow is to not use the close books procedure, make the
current period totals visible on the Accounts tab, as well as keep open a
YTD P, and a monthly P for last month and this month. I run Balance
Sheets as needed. I also never close GnuCash except for upgrades. Thus I
don’t experience the data file loading but a few times a year. And it is
still relatively painless. (special note - loading is significantly slower
if you leave reports open when closing the app. They will be loading on
re-opening the program which takes some time)

As for reconciled transactions, they don’t ‘go away.’ But you can filter
your register views if you don’t want to see them. (or any transaction
before a certain date, say in the previous year)

Regards,
Adrien


On Mar 19, 2019, at 5:36 AM, garage cowboy 

wrote:

Hi   - I am a new gnucash user  ( just a few weeks).

First of all, congratulations and thanks to all those  who have

contributed

to  this great product.

My question is about EOFY processes   - I am used to products  which have
an end of year rollover process which clears reconciled transactions   -

is

there equivalent function in gnucash?  What is the recommended approach?
am wondering  what will happen in a few years  when there are thousand of
transactions in the xml  file.

Also interested in contributing to the cause  but not a developer.

regards,

GC


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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[garage cowboy]

Thanks for the reply -  and the helpful tips.

regards,

ALT

On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 10:42 PM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote:

> Welcome to GnuCash!
>
> There is a ‘close books’ procedure you can use that zeros expenses and
> income to equity as ‘retained earnings/losses’ but you don’t have to use
> it. GnuCash does not require that you clear anything out at the end of the
> year. (and doing so can impact your ability to run reports in some cases)
>
> There are people with 10+ years of data in very large files (with lots of
> stock tracking) and other than some slow loading times, there aren’t any
> major issues. (there are work arounds for the slow loading - somewhat)
>
> Some people do a close books and open a new file each year. But that
> process requires archiving reports and the data files. It also means you
> can’t run reports for multiple years without external help (like from a
> spread sheet) or you can’t run reports that cross yearly boundaries. (say
> from 4Q18 to 1Q19) And if you want to look at prior year(s) data, you have
> to open each of those files separately.
>
> The Chart of Accounts tab has an available column for totals that show all
> data in the entire book. (running totals from when you started using
> GnuCash) It also has a column you can make visible for totals just for this
> accounting period. (year) That way you can have an ‘at a glance’ view of
> your accounts without running Income Statements or Balance Sheets. (but
> those are available of course if you need them) The Summary Bar also shows
> current net worth and retained earnings/losses.
>
> My personal workflow is to not use the close books procedure, make the
> current period totals visible on the Accounts tab, as well as keep open a
> YTD P, and a monthly P for last month and this month. I run Balance
> Sheets as needed. I also never close GnuCash except for upgrades. Thus I
> don’t experience the data file loading but a few times a year. And it is
> still relatively painless. (special note - loading is significantly slower
> if you leave reports open when closing the app. They will be loading on
> re-opening the program which takes some time)
>
> As for reconciled transactions, they don’t ‘go away.’ But you can filter
> your register views if you don’t want to see them. (or any transaction
> before a certain date, say in the previous year)
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
> > On Mar 19, 2019, at 5:36 AM, garage cowboy 
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi   - I am a new gnucash user  ( just a few weeks).
> >
> > First of all, congratulations and thanks to all those  who have
> contributed
> > to  this great product.
> >
> > My question is about EOFY processes   - I am used to products  which have
> > an end of year rollover process which clears reconciled transactions   -
> is
> > there equivalent function in gnucash?  What is the recommended approach?
> > am wondering  what will happen in a few years  when there are thousand of
> > transactions in the xml  file.
> >
> > Also interested in contributing to the cause  but not a developer.
> >
> > regards,
> >
> > GC
>
>
> ___
> gnucash-user mailing list
> gnucash-user@gnucash.org
> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
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Re: [GNC] End of year rollover

[Adrien Monteleone]

Welcome to GnuCash!

There is a ‘close books’ procedure you can use that zeros expenses and income 
to equity as ‘retained earnings/losses’ but you don’t have to use it. GnuCash 
does not require that you clear anything out at the end of the year. (and doing 
so can impact your ability to run reports in some cases)

There are people with 10+ years of data in very large files (with lots of stock 
tracking) and other than some slow loading times, there aren’t any major 
issues. (there are work arounds for the slow loading - somewhat)

Some people do a close books and open a new file each year. But that process 
requires archiving reports and the data files. It also means you can’t run 
reports for multiple years without external help (like from a spread sheet) or 
you can’t run reports that cross yearly boundaries. (say from 4Q18 to 1Q19) And 
if you want to look at prior year(s) data, you have to open each of those files 
separately.

The Chart of Accounts tab has an available column for totals that show all data 
in the entire book. (running totals from when you started using GnuCash) It 
also has a column you can make visible for totals just for this accounting 
period. (year) That way you can have an ‘at a glance’ view of your accounts 
without running Income Statements or Balance Sheets. (but those are available 
of course if you need them) The Summary Bar also shows current net worth and 
retained earnings/losses.

My personal workflow is to not use the close books procedure, make the current 
period totals visible on the Accounts tab, as well as keep open a YTD P, and 
a monthly P for last month and this month. I run Balance Sheets as needed. I 
also never close GnuCash except for upgrades. Thus I don’t experience the data 
file loading but a few times a year. And it is still relatively painless. 
(special note - loading is significantly slower if you leave reports open when 
closing the app. They will be loading on re-opening the program which takes 
some time)

As for reconciled transactions, they don’t ‘go away.’ But you can filter your 
register views if you don’t want to see them. (or any transaction before a 
certain date, say in the previous year)

Regards,
Adrien

> On Mar 19, 2019, at 5:36 AM, garage cowboy  wrote:
> 
> Hi   - I am a new gnucash user  ( just a few weeks).
> 
> First of all, congratulations and thanks to all those  who have contributed
> to  this great product.
> 
> My question is about EOFY processes   - I am used to products  which have
> an end of year rollover process which clears reconciled transactions   - is
> there equivalent function in gnucash?  What is the recommended approach?
> am wondering  what will happen in a few years  when there are thousand of
> transactions in the xml  file.
> 
> Also interested in contributing to the cause  but not a developer.
> 
> regards,
> 
> GC


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