Thank you again for this helpful information. I did have one other question about this. When I enter a split transaction directly into GnuCash (by using the "Split" button), it allows me to give each split of that transaction its own description. Since - if I understood your explanation properly - the CSV importer uses the "Description" field to group consecutive transactions in the same split, does this mean that when I am importing transactions using "multi-split," that I can't give each split of the same transaction its own description, as I can when I am entering them manually?
Regards, Patrick On Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 11:36 AM Patrick <plafr...@gmail.com> wrote: > That makes sense. Thank you for the very helpful response and the example. > > Regards, > Patrick > > On Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 5:45 AM Geert Janssens <geert.gnuc...@kobaltwit.be> > wrote: > >> Op zondag 17 maart 2019 00:55:38 CET schreef Patrick: >> >> > I would like to import split transacations from a CSV file. Based on the >> >> > help balloon for it, the "multi-split" option seems to be the way to do >> >> > this, but I am not sure how to use this option. Is there an example >> >> > somewhere of how to use this option? >> >> > >> >> > To be specific, what I don't understand is that when the multi-split >> option >> >> > is disabled, I can set one column in the CSV to be the "Account", and >> >> > another column to be the "Transfer Account". Setting these two columns >> >> > allows me to specify the "credit" and "debit" accounts involved in the >> >> > transaction. However, when I enable the multi-split option, the option >> to >> >> > set a "Transfer Account" goes away. So, I am not sure how to specify the >> >> > second of the two accounts involved with the transaction when >> multi-split >> >> > is enabled. >> >> >> >> First off, strictly speaking each transaction is "multi-split" as even >> the simplest transaction (a transfer from one account to another) has two >> splits: one in the source account and one in the target account. The split >> itself doesn't know about the transfer. It only knows which account it >> belongs to. >> >> >> >> As a real example is always more helpful, let's assume a transaction that >> transfers $100 from Account A to Account B. This would be represented with >> two splits: >> >> >> >> Transaction date 2019-03-18 >> >> Transaction description "Transfer" >> >> Split 1: Account A $100 (Withdrawal) >> >> Split 2: Account B $100 (Deposit) >> >> >> >> Converting this in a multi-split csv file that can be imported would >> yield something like this: >> >> Date,Description,Account,Deposit,Withdrawal >> >> 2019-03-18,Transfer,Account A,,100 >> >> 2019-03-18,Transfer,Account B,100, >> >> >> >> As you can see there is no need for a "Transfer Account" column in this >> case. Each split is associated with one account, you only have to define >> that account. GnuCash will use the transaction related fields (in this case >> only "Date" and "Description") to detect transaction boundaries. As both >> fields are identical on each line, GnuCash will assume both splits to be >> part of the same transaction. >> >> >> >> The single-line import format is a shorthand that can only be used in >> case of transactions with at most two splits. For that situation each line >> represents such a full transaction and hence may hold information to define >> two splits. For that reason it also provides two Account assignments >> options (Account and Transfer Account) as each split in that transaction >> can have one. So the above translated into a single line csv file would >> look like this: >> >> >> >> Date,Description,Account,Transfer Account,Deposit >> >> 2019-03-18,Transfer,Account B,Account A,100 >> >> >> >> You could say the single line import format is a special case to simplify >> most imports from bank accounts while the multi-split format is more >> generic and the only format that will ever be able to import multi-split >> (that is more than two splits) transactions (1). >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> >> >> Geert >> >> >> >> (1) Note there are currently issues with the csv importer for >> multi-currency imports or stock imports. These will eventually be resolved >> allowing the multi-split format to import every kind of transaction gnucash >> supports internally. >> > _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.