On Nov 27, 2018, at 6:35 AM, Stephen M. Butler <kg...@arrl.net> wrote:
I was both excited and dismayed to learn that GnuCash has "Fixed Assets".
Excited because that meant an expansion of capability and dismayed because reading
between the lines implied only the setting up of an accounting structure.
Adding a set of Fixed Asset accounts to the General Ledger system does not make
the General Ledger into a Fixed Assets module any more than adding a set of
Payroll accounts make the G/L into a payroll system.
Accounting Modules (at a high level):
1. General Ledger (G/L). The module that allows a user to maintain a set of
accounting books electronically using generally accepted accounting practices.
This module is also the recipient of JVs (Journal Vouchers) from other
financial systems. Primary purpose is to produce a Balance Sheet (under
various names) and an Income Statement (also having aliases). It maintains
information at a summary level
2. Accounts Payable (A/P). This module tracks to whom, how much, and when
payments are due. It should sent a multi-line JV to the G/L. This module must
track names and addresses and other information that a G/L does not need (and
shouldn't have to worry about).
3. Accounts Receivable (A/R). This module tracks from whom, how much, and
when payments should be received. It also should sent a multi-line JV to the
G/L. It also tracks names, addresses, and other information that a G/L should
ignore.
4. Fixed Assets (F/A). This module tracks the assets of the company that have
a relative long life. (Not inventory that has a short shelf life). It also
knows about depreciation schedules and the past, present, and potential future
value of each asset including the depreciation amount, etc. It also sends a
multi-line JV to G/L. And again, G/L should ignore a lot of the details
involved in Fixed Assets.
5. Payroll (P/R). This tracks employees, how much they are paid, what
deductions to take out of their pay, how often they are paid along with the
accrual of certain benefits (sick leave, vacation bank, etc). It also prepares
certain tax related reports for various governing bodies. This is one of, if
not the, most complicated financial module. It also sends a multi-line JV to
G/L. Generally it prints its own set of checks but I've heard of cases where
it sends that information over to A/P (overloads A/P in my opinion).
Then there follow other financial modules that may be beneficial to some
entities:
6. Inventory. This tracks certain transitory assets and has reorder-points,
vendors (from whom to order), clients (who can buy and purchase levels). It
also talks to G/L and other systems (A/P, A/R).
7. Purchasing. May be part of inventory or some systems make inventory part
of purchasing. Ideally they talk to each other and this handles the issuing of
the PO (purchase order) to ensure inventory levels are maintained. It may
interface with F/A when the company needs to purchase additional (or
replacement) items for long-term retention. It also needs to handle items that
are directly expensed and not recorded in inventory nor F/A.
8. Point-of-Sale (POS). I've not done one of these -- it might be more
complicated then payroll (which I have designed and built)!
So, why was I excited? Its always nice to see an application expand and tackle
additional arenas.
Why dismay then? It takes a lot of resources to maintain each one of the above modules. It is better to
pick one module and make it the best one available ("hit a home run", "gold standard",
etc) than to be mediocre in several ("never get on base" -- even on fouls).
So, what are my credentials? I've seen that one of the Davids on this forum
was a physicist in a prior career and retired as an accountant. Here is my
story:
I was born (I do wonder about some folks if they have even begun to live)
midway through the last century (makes me feel even older admitting that).
Graduated with a BS in Chemistry (though I have more credits in math) and
minors in Physics and Religion. I took every computer class the college
offered -- including Numerical Analysis. It wasn't much but enough to impress
the recruiter from a hospital. So, I began my post graduation career as a
programmer in the now ancient language of COBOL on a 6-bit computer (Honeywell
115-Mod1) with 32K of core (real core) based on 556 bpi 7 track tape. Oh, it
did have a 10 MB disk drive. That was the summer of 1975.
Graduated to an HP-3000 in 1978 (still COBOL) with gobs of disk, 9-track tape,
and a two-level network database system called Image. My phone has more RAM
than all those disk drives held! But now I was an analyst and data modeler.
Spent time at Weyerhaeuser ('81-'84) with their database group brushing up on
database theory (CJ Date book). Moved on to consulting work ('85-'90) (built
property tax receipting system, utility billing, permits, etc). Then spent
time with newsprint distribution for The Seattle Times ('91-'96). They sent me
off to become an Oracle DBA ('93) but didn't have a full-time position as such.
So I moved on (July '96) and did DBA (database administration) for Washington
State's largest PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). Learned a lot about
processing/pricing/adjudicating medical claims and ended up designing the data
model for their new systems.
Became an I.T. Manager (2007) for that company and managed two development
teams plus the DBA (and was the only Korn Shell writer in the company). Picked
up my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification in 2011 and promptly
retired in February 2017.
So, I have over 40 years working with computers. Mostly with those ancient
languages (BASIC, Fortran, COBOL, some Pascal) and some assembly
language/machine language exposure (PDP 11/20, ASM, PAL, PSL) and database
transaction languages (Transact, PL/SQL,, Oracle's flavor of SQL). But
woefully lacking in web and modern day (C, C++, C#, Scheme -- I did read the
book last week).
Took time this past year to relax, work on the new property, enjoy the
grandkids and how I had time to go to work all those years.
Well, the greenhouse is built, summer is over, the rains have set in and I did
promise to figure this language called Scheme out enough to get the basic
reports formatted to my wife's demanding specifications.
Her qualifications? MEd secondary education for Business Education. Took some
additional Accounting courses and spend the last 21 years doing accounting for
an architect. Mostly assisted living facilities but also churches around the
world.
So, when I get stuck on which side of the T account the credits/debits go (and
when the default value is negative/positive -- and yes, I know that both debits
and credits can hold both negative and positive values for the same account so
looking at the sign doesn't tell you to which side it belongs -- it is a really
strong hint though) I have an in-house reference that accepts voice input (not
Alexei nor Echo!) and generally responds rather quickly. Failing that, I
contact my daughter who has her AA in accounting (she specializes in payroll).
Now, it's time for me to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty in this
thing called Scheme. It looks to me that there are just a couple developers
holding down the fort here. And that is way too little to try to make GNC
anything more than a good G/L system. Hopefully by spring I'll have my
thousand hours in and be able to contribute.
Yes, I've noticed that the brain muscle has atrophied along with the knees and
other items since retirement. I think I can still whip out a data model (ER
diagram) but the detailed syntax to create that in an Oracle database -- well,
for the last 10 years I had a DBA to whom I could assign that task!
Oh yes, C is on the bucket list, I'll have to Scheme my way to it.
