On 2024-06-26 08:20, Joseph Hesse wrote:
Hello,
I have several consecutive records in my imbalance account where the
amounts in the deposit and withdrawal columns are both zero (blank). …
This seems like a bug or an error in my bookkeeping. I am using the
latest version of gnucash.
I suspect that this might be the result of clumsy data entry combined
with clumsy but well-meaning attempts by GnuCash to be helpful.
As you know, double-entry bookkeeping requires every transaction to be
balanced, that is, to have its credits equal its debits. GnuCash
enforces this requirement, but only when it saves a transaction, not
while you are actively entering or editing the transaction. But, it is
possible to tell GnuCash to save a transaction when you don't mean to,
while you think you are still doing data entry.
If you enter some splits of a transaction, but you have not yet entered
all the splits or balanced them, and you inadvertently tell GnuCash to
save the transaction, GnuCash will see that the transaction is not
balanced. It will create a split to a special "Imbalance" account with
an amount that exactly balances the transaction. Then it finishes saving
the transaction. If you then continue your data entry, GnuCash
interprets that as editing an existing transaction, and lets you
continue. When you finish entering and balancing all the splits, the
transaction is now imbalanced again, due precisely to that split which
GnuCash added, to the "Imbalance" account. GnuCash changes the debit and
credit amounts of that split to balance the transaction. The result is
that the debit and credit amounts of that split become zero. You might
think that GnuCash should remove that split, but it does not do so.
I make it a policy to not allow any entries in the Imbalance account(s)
in my book. When I find one with non-zero debit or credit amounts, that
indicates an error in my transaction. I go to the transaction and fix
the error. When I find an entry in the Imalance account with zero debit
and credit amounts, I go to that transaction and delete the split with
the "Imbalance" account.
Does that explain what you are seeing? Best regards,
—Jim DeLaHunt
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