On 4/11/19 1:13 AM, ToddAndMargo via gnucash-user wrote: > On 4/11/19 1:08 AM, Colin Law wrote: >> On Thu, 11 Apr 2019 at 07:25, ToddAndMargo via gnucash-user >> <gnucash-user@gnucash.org> wrote: >>> .. >>> I will be reconciling by hand from my bank's statements. >>> When I find an entry, do I manually change it to "c"? >> >> Just to re-enforce what Adrien said, you don't need do this by hand (I >> don't think I have ever done that). There is a Reconcile dialog that >> will appear if you click the toolbar button or select Actions > >> Reconcile which will allow you enter the closing balance from the bank >> statement and will then let you tick off the entries that match the >> bank statement. Simple. >> >> Generally in GnuCash if it is difficult or laborious you are doing it >> wrong. Unless you are trying to do something unusual at least. >> >> Colin >> > > I think I am trying to turn it into something it is not. > A howitzer when I only need a b-b gun.
For a number of years I used an Excel spreadsheet to track my checking account. However, as life got more complicated and the tax laws (USA) more convoluted the work needed to categorize the tax relevant income and expenses became overwhelming. Especially when they had to be summarized for the CPA in order to file taxes (I've found they find enough extra deductions that offsets their expense). I went looking for an accounting package and looked at one that my wife used in her job (she is an accountant/bookkeeper). However, it was expensive and needed to be "rented" annually. So my foray into GnuCash. Thankfully, I was familiar with accounting principles and jargon. There is this thing called "Chart of Accounts". The way you set that up makes all the difference in the world about how you use GnuCash. Here is my take: Decide what you need to know/track for each of the 4 basic accounting types -- the 5the one will take care of itself according to accounting rules. ASSETS: These are things you own. Cars, boats, toys, house, bank accounts, investments, etc. Having lived a long life and worked a lot, my list is rather long. If you rent and don't care about the cash in your pocket and the car is a beater, you might be interested only in the checking account. You decide the level of detail you want to track. LIABILITIES: These are things you owe. Like that credit card! Here would go the house loan, the car loan, (boat loan), plus any other short or long-term debt instrument (amounts you borrowed). INCOME: Sources that bring you money. Like your employer(s). Interest on your bank accounts, etc. EXPENSE: Things for which you spend money. Gas, rent, groceries, clothes, etc. EQUITY/CAPITAL: This is the 5th category and at it's simplest is equal to your net worth, or ASSETS minus LIABILITIES. You could get away with just those 5 high level accounts and lump all details within a category into a single account. However, as another user noted, you should get more detailed than that. If your life is only about the credit card (Liability) then go for it. However, think about each category and ask yourself if there is something in that group for which you get a statement (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) to which you should reconcile your information. If so, set up a more detailed account under that category to track just that information. Then think of the detailed lines you need to fill out for your taxes and set up more detailed accounts in the appropriate category to track those numbers. Finally, if you use a CPA, show them what you have from the above and ask for their input. They can help you organize it in a way that will help them when you come back next time. --Steve -- Stephen M Butler, PMP, PSM stephen.m.butle...@gmail.com kg...@arrl.net 253-350-0166 ------------------------------------------- GnuPG Fingerprint: 8A25 9726 D439 758D D846 E5D4 282A 5477 0385 81D8 _______________________________________________ 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.
