John Hasler wrote:
> tboldt writes:
> > So, my question - what do you do when initiating gnucash on a set of
> > accounts for accounts that existed prior to gnucash and so the money
> > cannot be 'transferred from' any other account.
>
> I think that it is confusing to think in terms of "transfers".
>
> > Starting with more than zero seems to be a problem.
>
> With double entry you not only start with zero, you stay there: debits
> always equal credits.
>
> You gave no details, so I'll make up an example:
>
> You have $10,000 in cash, $15,000 in equipment that is fully paid for, and
> $5,000 in supplies that you purchased on account. You have been keeping
> your records on the backs of old envelopes, in Quicken, or in some other
> makeshift fashion but you have decided to do things right and start using
> Gnucash. How to transfer your records?
>
> The $10,000 is an asset, specifically cash, so you debit the account
> 'Assets:Cash' $10,000. What to credit though? Well, it's your money:
> credit yourself. How? 'Equity'. Credit the account 'Equity' $10,000 and
> everything balances.
>
> The equipment is also an asset, and you own it free and clear, so you treat
> it similarly to the cash: debit 'Assets:Equipment' $15,000 and credit
> 'Equity' $15,000.
>
> The supplies are also an asset, so you debit 'Assets:Supplies' $5,000.
> However, you still owe on it, so it doesn't add to your equity. Instead it
> adds to your liabilities: credit 'Liabilities:Accounts Payable:Acme, Inc'
> $5,000.
>
> You now have nice clear records showing that you have $30,000 in assets,
> $5,000 in liabilities, and equity of $25,000.
> --
> John Hasler
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Dancing Horse Hill
> Elmwood, Wisconsin
>
> --
> Gnucash Developer's List
> To unsubscribe send empty email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Okay that makes sense to me. Now I have another question - essentially the
mirror of the first question:
After I few years I find that I have accumulated a lot of 'dead' accounts,
i.e., accounts that have zero money, or anything else in them and no activity,
e.g., a closed savings or checking account - got a better deal elsewhere.
Now after a year or so I would like to delete the account from the gnucash
'file' and not have it show up on the main window and clutter things up. If I
simply delete the account, I end up with 'orphaned' transactions and the
double entry methodology 'seems' to be working against me - making things more
difficult. I say seems - since again I am sure that this problem has been
worked out before. I could go through the account before deleting it and
change all the transfers to come from some 'other' account, but that's a lot
of work if I had the checking account for a few years and accumulated a lot of
transactions on it. Also it would still leave a 'dummy' account hanging around
for no real purpose.
--
Gnucash Developer's List
To unsubscribe send empty email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
