Dear Jim, Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Since GnuCash is open source, i was wondering how members are able to contribute to it? Who adds features and make changes to the software. Im not a programmer, but perhaps i could find someonw that could work on making changes for me. Although, your solution is something that i have thought of, im wondering how difficult would it be to add 1 more account type to the software that made that account be ble to have any type under it. Similar to the top level accounts. I was surprised to find that there is no user group for GnuCash. I'd figure that may be a way for people to ask questions in a forum which may allow people to search previous topics and such. And please forgive me if any of this has been discussed already. I certainly do not want to be a troublemaker. Just wondering how i can contribute and perhaps help people. Thank you again, Luis Sinibaldi On Thu, May 30, 2024, 9:50 PM Jim DeLaHunt <list+gnuc...@jdlh.com> wrote: > Luis: > > Welcome to GnuCash! You ask a good question. > > On 2024-05-30 01:31, Luis Sini wrote: > > TL;DR > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > I would like to add "ASSETS" and "LIABILITIES" account types as > > sub-accounts but GnuCash only allows it if they are "Top Level Accounts" > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > Hello to everyone, > > I make money personally, I own a couple of properties, and I also design > > and manufacture audio devices. These are basically different entities, > and > > I know that I can create a separate GnuCash file for each one of those > > ventures. But, I wanted to create 1 GnuCash file that will allow me to > have > > a comprehensive view of all my financial activities while being able to > > track each venture separately. > > > > I've gone ahead and created the following structure: > > > > 1. PERSONAL WORK > > 1. INCOME > > 2. EXPENSES > > 2. PROPERTIES > > 1. PROPERTY A > > 1. INCOME > > 2. EXPENSES > > 2. PROPERTY B > > 1. INCOME > > 2. EXPENSES > > 3. AUDIO DEVICES > > 1. INCOME > > 2. EXPENSES > > > > What I would like to do is add "ASSETS" and "LIABILITIES" sub-accounts to > > "PERSONAL WORK" and each of the "PROPERTIES". Unfortunately, GnuCash only > > allows me to assign sub-accounts types as either "Income" or "Expense" > > unless the parent account is not set up as either Assets or Liability? I > > can make an account an "Asset" or "Liability" if the account is a "Top > > Level Account". Is there any way to get around this limitation? > > I do not know a way around the limitation that GnuCash places on the > types of accounts which can be children of various types of accounts, > e.g. that an Asset account may not be a child of an Income or Expense > account. > > I face a similar situation with my own bookkeeping. I track assets, > liabilities, income, and expenses, for my marriage's joint holdings, and > my personal income, and my spouse's personal income, for my small > business, and some real estate. I let GnuCash insist that Assets, > Liabilities, Equity, Income, and Expenses be top-level accounts. I > divide into my various joint and personal and business divisions at the > next level down. > > Applying that to your example, your chart of accounts might be: > > 1. Assets > 1.A. Personal Assets > 1.B. Property Assets > 1.B.a. Property A Assets > 1.B.b. Property B Assets > 1.C. Audio Devices Assets > 2. Equity > 2.A. Personal Equity > 2.B. Property Equity > 2.B.a. Property A Equity > 2.B.b. Property B Equity > 2.C. Audio Devices Equity > 3. Expenses > 3.A. Personal Expenses > 3.B. Property Expenses > 3.B.a. Property A Expenses > 3.B.b. Property B Expenses > 3.C. Audio Devices Expenses > 4. Income > 4.A. Personal Income > 4.B. Property Income > 4.B.a. Property A Income > 4.B.b. Property B Income > 4.C. Audio Devices Income > 5. Liabilities > 5.A. Personal Income > 5.B. Property Income > 5.B.a. Property A Income > 5.B.b. Property B Income > 5.C. Audio Devices Income > > I can imagine three objections you might have to this structure. > > 1. It is verbose. My structure has 30 lines, while yours has only 13 > lines (or 21 after you add Assets and Liabilities as you propose). I do > not find that to be a problem. The only time I see all the accounts is > in the Accounts tab, and most of the time most of the hierarchy is > collapsed and hidden from view. When I want to enter an account name > into a transaction, I type portions of the path of account names, and > GnuCash gives me a menu of the few accounts which match those portions. > > 2. It doesn't let you report on a single subtree of the account and > capture all the income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. I also do not > find that to be a problem. GnuCash custom reports allow you to select > which accounts to include in the reports. If you want a report for > Property A, you can define a GnuCash custom report which includes 1.B.a. > Property A Assets, 2.B.a. Property A Equity, 3.B.a. Property A Expenses, > 4.B.a. Property A Income, 5.B.a. Property A Income and all subaccounts > of those five accounts. > > 3. You might not be sure which structure will work for you long-term. > The good news is that GnuCash lets you move accounts from one parent to > another within the Accounts tree (subject to its rules about which > account types can be children of which account types), and all the > transactions associated with that account follow the account to its new > home. You can do even pretty major restructuring of accounts as you go, > and your records stay intact. > > I hope this helps. Good luck with your bookkeeping! > —Jim DeLaHunt > > > _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
