2010-01-24 GnuCash IRC logs

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03:44:49 <lucas2> I was just wondering... I have two bank accounts and I import all transactions from both accounts into GNUCash. Initially every single transaction from both accounts gets balanced against an 'unbalanced' account. But some transactions are directly between the two bank accounts, so in those cases I have now two separate transactions in GNUCash while in reality it should be only one. Is there a way to balance these two separate transactions against each other, s
03:45:11 <lucas2> Of course I could delete one, but it would be nicer if that is not necessary... ;-)
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04:18:59 <Simon> lucas2: change one of each to refer to the other account
04:19:16 <Simon> (and then delete the duplicate)
04:19:43 <Simon> or just keep it like that if your banking system is slow (there's no way to have different dates on each side :/)
04:23:48 <Simon> blizgerg: you could add a second transaction immediately after it refunding it
04:24:36 <Simon> blizgerg: although it is still possible they will claim it at some point
04:25:31 <kimmo_> blizgerg, assuming you have checked all your other CC accounts that it's not there
04:26:37 <kimmo_> blizgerg, maybe think of notifying the fast food shop in question? We had a thing here where one of the payment terminals in a restaurant wasn't sending the info to the bank, so about 2 months worth of debit card payments on one terminal were delayed bout 2 years
04:27:31 <Simon> the only transactions I've ever had go missing are payments for lunch... where they are currently recording it by hand on paper (they don't trust the internal card system for some reason)
04:27:35 <kimmo_> they had to press fraud charges on some clients who showed clearly suspicious behavior (never eating in the place before, then 3 days after this malfunction started, eating there every day, then stopping when the data was going through again
04:28:25 <kimmo_> I'd be much more willing to trust a computer recording system than a handwritten one
04:28:32 <Simon> they make mistakes
04:29:07 <Simon> there are several 1.30/1.80 transactions and one of them has been totalled as 1.80 not 1.30 last month
04:29:33 <Simon> someone must be busy entering them all into a spreadsheet somewhere
04:30:07 <Simon> kimmo_: well... it did initially not take any payment for my transactions for several months
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09:39:37 <lucas2> Simon: Thanks :)
09:49:37 <Simon> the other option should actually see the two extra accounts being merged, in the form of a "banks wasting time holding your money account"
09:49:55 <Simon> I've never imported transactions automatically... it was all manual
09:56:42 *** warlord-afk is now known as warlord
09:56:59 <warlord> lucas2: another thing: during the import you should map the transactions to the proper destination account
09:57:16 <warlord> .. then the importer will have a chance to actually detect the duplicates
09:57:53 <warlord> A1 -> Undefined and A2 <- Undefined have zero chance of dup detection. But A1 -> A2 and A2 <- A1 do
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10:07:44 <ggergely> hello
10:07:57 <ggergely> i'm using gnucash for a few days now
10:09:08 <ggergely> it is basically great, yt still i see some strange things, maybe seeming strange only to me as i'm not at all connected with finnance, apart from trying to track my expenses with this piece of software
10:09:53 <ggergely> i'm using 2.2.9 from netbsd's pkgsrc, 2009q3 stable branch
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10:10:30 <ggergely> i saw this sometimes: i add some transcations. save the things, and exit
10:11:04 <ggergely> when i start toe program again, a fake transaction, with opposite "direction" is automatically added, zeroing the balance
10:11:44 <ggergely> it was apparent as i switched off showing accounts with 0 balance, and food expenses just disappered from one day to annother
10:12:10 <ggergely> other: i was trying to make a complex transaction, that i imagined this way:
10:12:18 <ggergely> title: we went to a bar
10:12:35 <ggergely> money from other sources to cash
10:12:50 <ggergely> and from cash to costs
10:12:56 <ggergely> all in a split transaction.
10:13:34 <ggergely> but i see well this was not possible, as cas must from from one place to many, or from many to one in a compley transaction, but not from many to many
10:13:54 <ggergely> and expanded split transactions just go away sometimes
10:14:26 <ggergely> but my question, as these are small problems... is:
10:15:00 <ggergely> if i make a report, can i save the 'receipe' for future use?
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10:34:49 <warlord> ggergely: GnuCash will not enter a fake transaction. More likely you're assigning the same account to both sides, so it's debiting and crediting the same account. That would show up as two transactions in the acount.
10:35:10 <ggergely> ok
10:35:21 <ggergely> i may have been the faulty
10:35:33 <ggergely> i'm new to accounting.
10:35:52 <warlord> In your "complex" transaction, I'm trying to understand what you mean by "money from other sources to cash" and "from cash to costs"...
10:35:53 <ggergely> other question: is there a way to do other types of diagrams on the reports?
10:36:06 <ggergely> warlord: i'll detail
10:36:10 <warlord> What do you mean "other types of diagrams?"
10:36:23 <warlord> As for saving the report recipe, yes: Change the report name and then click "Add Report"
10:36:25 <ggergely> i found pie chart and bar diagram
10:36:44 <ggergely> now i'd like to add something, like a line diagram, but integrated
10:36:47 <ggergely> for expenses
10:37:12 <ggergely> like now i made a diagram for monthly expenses in dayly resolution
10:37:22 <ggergely> but it is differential
10:37:40 <ggergely> if i spend no nomey on a day, expenses are on 0
10:38:00 <ggergely> i'd like one with expenses staing on the value they were yesterday
10:38:26 <ggergely> this way the sum of expenses, and the type of them could be tracked simply on a single diagram
10:38:35 <ggergely> this is what really interrests me.
10:38:37 <warlord> Well, you could always write a report to do that. We DO have scatter plots available (currently used in the Stock Price Scatterplot)
10:38:50 <ggergely> how can i write one?
10:38:53 <ggergely> i can program C
10:39:05 <ggergely> awk, bash, some c#, IDL
10:39:06 <warlord> Reports are in Scheme
10:39:09 <ggergely> oh
10:39:40 <warlord> If you can program, you can learn scheme syntax in a day, and learn most of the language in a week. It's a VERY simple language (syntactically) but very powerful
10:40:02 <ggergely> i do not know that language. nor do i know finance, to name the plot apropriatly, but do you understand what i'd like?
10:40:19 <ggergely> i may learn it then in a few weeks. now i've got no time for that
10:40:32 <ggergely> but the program is great.
10:40:34 <warlord> I'm not 100% sure I understand your requirements
10:41:04 <ggergely> i'll try to do some sketch
10:41:30 <ggergely> be around, i'll draw it and upload somewhere in a few minutes
10:41:37 <warlord> k. So back to your split-txn question.. could you explain what you mean? What's the real-world transaction that happened?
10:41:57 <warlord> (remember that gnucash is just a way to record real-world money flows)
10:42:05 <warlord> s/money/value
10:42:29 <ggergely> so: my girlfriend and my friends went to a bar after an exam
10:42:52 <ggergely> i bought drinks for the 2 of us, but my love also gave me some money
10:43:14 <ggergely> and the money back from paying one round stayed in my pocket
10:43:27 <ggergely> first i bought 2 drinks for 640 huf
10:43:40 <ggergely> then i got 540 huf, and bough annother beer for 340
10:43:50 <ggergely> then i had 200 in my packet
10:44:05 <ggergely> the money i received was from "income:other sources"
10:44:20 <ggergely> the expenses were "expenses:entertainment"
10:44:41 <ggergely> but all in hungarian, so the translation my not be totally apropriate :)
10:44:52 <warlord> it's good enough :)
10:45:10 <warlord> You're missing the asset account.. assets:cash on hand
10:45:35 <ggergely> ok. that is "my pocket" :)
10:46:22 <warlord> So it's a split transaction where you: credit cash 640 and debit expenses 640. then credit income 540, debit expenses 340, and debit cash 200
10:51:19 <ggergely> no, the 200 cas in the end stayed at me. so that is not debit.
10:51:25 <ggergely> that adds to my balance
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10:51:59 <warlord> Right, debiting cash will INCREASE your cash balance!
10:52:20 <warlord> that's why you debit cash 200 in the end.
10:52:59 <ggergely> hmm. as that does out from the transaction? as the transaction must have a banace of 0?
10:53:13 <ggergely> all cash must frlow from, and to somewhere?
10:54:02 <warlord> Right
10:54:32 <ggergely> moment, i'm fighting with gimp to draw something like i'd like to see
10:57:40 <ggergely> this is hell. how can i change layers in gimp?
10:58:11 <ggergely> why isn't there a simple "paint"
10:58:35 <warlord> I have no idea. I've never used gimp.
11:00:04 <jean> ggergely, use the "Layer" menu
11:01:10 <jean> if you don't like layers, just merge them so that you have a flat image with only one layer
11:03:09 <ggergely> ok
11:03:15 <ggergely> i found that
11:03:18 <ggergely> hmm
11:03:27 <ggergely> it is simpler to do with ascii art :(
11:03:47 <ggergely> i'll do it in a few secs in vim :)
11:05:42 <warlord> lol.
11:10:33 <ggergely> may i post it here?
11:10:41 <ggergely> 26 lines
11:10:47 <ggergely> or pastebin?
11:11:01 <cortana> pastebin :)
11:11:15 <ggergely> http://pastebin.org/81627
11:11:17 <ggergely> ok
11:11:33 <ggergely> so it is integrating expenses.
11:12:55 <ggergely> i know it is crude,but shows what i'd like better than i couldever draw with gimp.
11:14:19 <Simon> tracking cash as an account ends up being an all or nothing thing
11:15:04 <kimmo_> "Probably beer" is a popular transaction memo for Cash account
11:15:17 <warlord> That looks like a bar chart to me.
11:15:42 <ggergely> it is, but it is integrating the expenses
11:15:50 <ggergely> or a line chart
11:18:19 <ggergely> it is area diagram
11:18:28 <ggergely> i'm trying to draw one in gnucash now
11:23:59 <ggergely> i'd like a cummulative histrogram
11:24:10 <ggergely> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histogram
11:24:10 <ggergely> :)
11:26:12 <ggergely> similiar to this, but mirrored on the y ayis: http://users.elis.ugent.be/~kbeyls/rdvis/tutorial1/html/rdh_cumulative_screenshot2.png
11:30:01 <warlord> ggergely: have you tried the Expenses barchart?
11:35:38 <ggergely> warlord: yes
11:35:49 <ggergely> i'm ready with my sketch
11:36:20 <ggergely> do you have openoffice?
11:36:27 <ggergely> i made a demo charts in that
11:36:38 <ggergely> i finally could recall how to use that :)
11:36:54 <ggergely> and i'll put up a screenshot with gnucash
11:37:51 <ggergely> http://enyergija.hopto.org/~ggergely/gnucash-plotting/
11:37:56 * Simon wonders why Balance Sheet defaults to "end of year"
11:38:01 <ggergely> here will be the things
11:38:19 <Simon> :o I can set the date
11:39:00 * jean should add cumulative histograms in goffice
11:40:03 <ggergely> so, one screenshot shows gnucash, i have expenses on the right chart
11:40:58 <ggergely> and in oo-calc, i made two charts from the same data, the left is like the one in gnucash, the right is what i'd like to see also
11:42:40 <ggergely> it has its advantages: as it sums up expenses, you can see the total money spent. also you can have some ide about how much you spent on something. on the other hand you can't tell how much exactly did you spent one day for the forst glance.
11:42:52 <ggergely> so it also has disadvantages
11:43:51 <jean> area plots already exist in goffice, so this should be easy to implement
11:44:18 <ggergely> do you also think this has sense to be implemented?
11:45:03 <ggergely> a one-plot over all, one plot to rule them :) could be implemented based on this
11:45:37 <jean> I don't use area plots, but why not?
11:45:42 <ggergely> with income integrating, drawn with a line, and expenses also integrating. and the diffrence of them, the balance also drawn, but with a line
11:46:13 <ggergely> so: income, balance, lines, expenses area plots
11:46:22 <jean> this is quite feasible
11:48:40 * Simon ponders eradicating Equity/Opening Balances and just calling it Income
11:50:26 <ggergely> so, after finally i was able to explain my idea (with paper and pencil and a beer, around one table it would have been 30 seconds :)) i'd like to ask: can i save the "receipe" for my report somewhere?
11:53:10 <jean> imho bugzilla is the right place to request such things
11:53:14 <ggergely> other question: what files are necessary, to keep the state of gnucash between restarts of the program? i'm trying to use a revision control system.
11:53:37 <ggergely> jean: so i should add a bug?
11:54:11 <jean> I think so, it's the usual way to do elsewhere, don't know for gnucash
11:55:07 <ggergely> oh. so you are not a devel?
11:55:49 <jean> just fixed a few little issues in charts after changes in goffice API
11:56:43 <ggergely> what is the category of ths request?
11:57:11 <ggergely> engine? general?
11:58:08 <ggergely> reports
11:59:04 <jean> I suppose
12:09:54 <warlord> Simon: that would be incorrect. You HAVE an opening balance in your asset and liability accounts. Unless you have 0 money at all when you started using GnuCash..
12:10:30 <warlord> ggergely: yes, you can file a BZ report.
12:10:44 <warlord> But unless it comes with a patch I wouldn't expect it to be acted upon in a timely manner.
12:11:56 <jean> ;)
12:12:32 <ggergely> https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=607948
12:12:44 <ggergely> i fear it will not be done soon :(
12:12:49 <warlord> jean: does goffice support that kind of graph?
12:13:11 <warlord> (c.f. http://enyergija.hopto.org/~ggergely/gnucash-plotting/2010-01-24-173909_1024x768_scrot.png right-hand-side graph)
12:13:25 <jean> warlord, yes
12:14:28 <jean> area plot with type property set to "stacked"
12:15:20 <ggergely> can plots be plotter over eachother in goffice?
12:15:25 <ggergely> like what i'd like?
12:15:27 <jean> yes
12:15:39 <ggergely> the only problm would be balance
12:15:39 <jean> try with gnumeric
12:15:56 <ggergely> that is great
12:16:07 <jean> why would it be a problem?
12:16:45 <ggergely> i have 500000 savings, income of 100000 and spend 80000
12:17:01 <ggergely> balance would fsck up the scales
12:17:14 <jean> you can add a second Y-axis
12:17:15 <ggergely> if i'd like to line plot balance and income also
12:17:18 <ggergely> oh
12:17:20 <ggergely> true
12:17:23 <ggergely> great ide
12:17:24 <ggergely> a
12:17:37 <ggergely> this would be uber-cool :)
12:17:53 <ggergely> *über
12:18:17 <ggergely> thanks for your help
12:18:22 <ggergely> now i must go learning
12:18:32 <ggergely> bye (i'll lurk around)
12:21:57 <warlord> good luck!
12:22:01 <warlord> I look forward to your patch, ggergely !!
12:22:18 <warlord> (It might require some additional C programming to wrap the specific goffice graph)
12:22:38 <jean> I an idea world, I'd have a lot of available time and might write a patch to introduce custom plots in gnucash ;)
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12:23:23 <jean> in an ideal world*
12:26:38 <Simon> warlord: well, those opening balances did come from Cash, so technically that's all that would need to start with one (I have every liability transaction)
12:27:15 <warlord> Simon: So you didn't have any bank accounts before you started your GnuCash account file?
12:27:25 <Simon> unfortunately where I open an account by cheque from another account, the account is opened with money I don't have :/
12:27:29 <warlord> jean: of course. In an idea world we'd all have infinite time to work on our pet projects ;)
12:27:45 <Simon> warlord: no, but I have all transactions for all the accounts that are in gnucash
12:27:49 <warlord> Simon: and *THAT* is why you need Equity:Opening Balances!
12:28:11 <Simon> yes but I also have both accounts!
12:29:38 <warlord> I'm not sure what "having both accounts" means here.
12:29:58 <warlord> If you had a non-zero balance in any Asset or Liability account at time T0, then you need to record that as a starting balance.
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12:55:57 <JonathanEllis1> I need to delete a line item from a Vendors bill. I have unposted the bill but I cant edit the line item.
13:02:58 <warlord> What happens when you try to edit it?
13:04:05 <JonathanEllis1> Hi Warlord. I just cant get focus on the line item
13:04:44 <warlord> Try closing and re-opening the bill?
13:05:01 <warlord> (maybe the 'unpost' didn't properly reset the window)
13:05:27 <JonathanEllis1> Doesnt make any difference. I have just gone into the xml and deleted from <gnc:invoice> to </gnc:invoice>. Im hoping that will work
13:06:22 <warlord> Ummm... That could cause you MAJOR issues!
13:06:34 <warlord> I hope you backed up your data file before you did that!
13:06:57 <JonathanEllis1> I saved it as a different file name. Why would that cause a problem?
13:08:00 <warlord> Data integrity errors
13:08:16 <warlord> You deleted the invoice, but not the line-items associated with the invoice..
13:08:22 <warlord> And there may be other references..
13:08:40 <JonathanEllis1> Oh OK. I will revert to the original file then
13:10:11 <warlord> So what do you mean by closing and reopening doesn't make a difference?
13:10:19 <JonathanEllis1> Right. I have the original file without my xml hack. But I still cant select the line item
13:11:26 <JonathanEllis1> I unposted the invoice, closed it, reopened it but I still cant select that line item. It only has 1 line item
13:13:07 <warlord> Screen shot, please?
13:16:40 <warlord> (note that I have to leave in about 10 mins)
13:17:38 <JonathanEllis1> warlord: http://imagebin.org/81618
13:19:01 <warlord> Oh, just unpost it and mark it 'inactive'.
13:19:07 <warlord> You cannot delete the bill.
13:19:32 <JonathanEllis1> I realise I cannot delete the bill but I thought I could delete the line items. I have already marked it as inactive
13:19:48 <warlord> You should be able to do that..
13:19:57 <JonathanEllis1> I cant though
13:20:06 <warlord> What happens when you move the cursor up to the line in question?
13:20:20 <warlord> (note that i only see 1 line-item on that bill)
13:20:33 <JonathanEllis1> The cursor wont move onto that line item
13:20:46 <warlord> What version of GnuCash?
13:21:03 <JonathanEllis1> 2.2.6
13:21:18 <warlord> Oh, 2.2.9 is current stable.
13:21:38 <warlord> So you can't get into the 29/07/2008 line-item?
13:21:56 <JonathanEllis1> Dont you just love ubuntu repos being so far behind#
13:22:11 <warlord> Especially when 2.2.9 has been out for a very long time.
13:22:21 <warlord> (and indeed, 2.2.6-3 is broken)
13:22:51 <JonathanEllis1> I seem to be on 2.2.6-1
13:23:01 <warlord> Oh, well I guess that's some consolation ;)
13:24:08 <JonathanEllis1> Im just looking for the more up to date repo
13:25:31 <JonathanEllis1> All I see on https://code.launchpad.net/~gnucash/+archive/ppa?field.series_filter=hardy is 2.2.6-1
13:26:59 <JonathanEllis1> Is there a backport for Hardy?
13:28:34 <warlord> I know there is somewhere. But I run Fedora.
13:29:28 <JonathanEllis1> I have ppa.launchpad.net/gnucash/ubuntu hardy main in my sources so I guess 2.2.6-1 is the newest version for Hardy
13:29:49 <JonathanEllis1> Would it be risky to go into the xml and just zero the amount on the line item?
13:30:11 <JonathanEllis1> At least then if I make a mistake at some point in the future and repost the invoice it wont affect my registers
13:30:40 <warlord> Why does it matter?
13:30:49 <warlord> If the bill isn't posted, it wont show up anywhere.
13:31:29 <JonathanEllis1> I can see myself in a year or so forgetting about this and trying to post it by mistake
13:32:00 <warlord> That's what the note is for..
13:32:16 <warlord> And marking it inactive means it wont show up in default searches.
13:32:42 <JonathanEllis1> True
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13:38:54 <sswta> hi, breifly how would i go on entering a transaction of lending some 30$ to a friend and expecting to return some next few weeks at no interest?
13:42:00 <JonathanEllis1> sswta: Just enter a transaction in the register with a meaningful description and categorise it as miscellaneous. THat would be the quick and dirty way. Or you can create an asset account called "loan to friend" and transfer the money from your bank or cash account register to the loan account
13:42:41 <JonathanEllis1> When he pays back the money you make another transaction to transfer the money back again
13:46:16 <warlord> You should use an Asset if you expect it back.
13:46:21 <warlord> Assets:Loan To Friend
13:46:31 <warlord> (or a sub-account of that if you loan money to many friends)
13:46:38 <warlord> anyways, gotta run
13:46:40 *** warlord is now known as warlord-afk
13:46:47 <JonathanEllis1> Thanks for your help warlord-afk
14:30:38 <ggergely> i set up a multi-coloum report, and forgot to save it. now i have to create it again.
14:31:05 <ggergely> but my bigger question is: can i save it, once done, to be re-openable between closes of that tab?
14:31:34 <ggergely> or to be usale on a different set of (similiarly layed out) accounts?
14:33:08 <ggergely> oh i fount a button!
14:33:10 <ggergely> :)
14:33:12 <ggergely> cool
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15:12:34 <ggergely> hmm. i have problems with saving and reloading reports...
15:13:03 <ggergely> i saved two reports, but when opening them they both are the one i saved later.
15:13:14 <ggergely> and the stylesheet is gone
15:13:49 <ggergely> and i cannot directly open them, but the new multicoloum report, and i have to add my custom report then as a report
15:13:56 <ggergely> and select only this report from there
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17:37:43 <Tony4x4> hello
17:38:38 <Tony4x4> I am having a problem printing from GnuCash. I am a Mac user.
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18:09:21 <warlord> ggergely: no, you cannot save a multi-column report.
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18:19:45 <warlord> Tony4x4: yes, gnucash cannot interface into the Mac printing system. It's a known issue. You should be able to print to a file and then print it from there.
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18:56:02 <tome> Howdy, I've got a question about splitting rent in gnucash
18:56:57 <tome> I pay the rent for my house, and my two housemates pay me. I would like to have rent broken up into the part that I truly pay. What is the recommended way to track the portion each month that my roommates pay me?
19:07:34 <warlord> tome: Split Txn: e.g. Credit Assets:Checking $1000; Debit Expenses:Rent $333; Debit Assets:Roomie-Rent-Due-To-Me $667
19:08:14 <tome> warlord, let me see if that makes sense against my account, one min
19:10:17 <tome> One problem. When they pay me, it goes directly into checking (from paypal), how do I balance that against the rommie-rent-due account?
19:10:42 <tome> the money is physically in CHECKING, not in ROMMIE-Rent-Due
19:14:28 <warlord> When they pay you you transfer from roomie-rent-due to your Paypal account (or checking, or wherever the money went/goes)
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19:18:44 <tome> so they actually pay through paypal, which goes directly to checking, so that transaction already exists every month. I would like to keep the 'bank' transactions. A transfer from Roomie would mean I double count the amount in CHECKING, if I keep the paypal transfer...
19:19:26 <tome> I could redirect the paypal push into the ROOMIE account, and then into CHECKING.
19:19:46 <tome> in gnucash, but that is a lot of manual work, rather than just a simple import of my monthly transactions
19:20:20 <tome> so all payments actually go from checking, and all roommates pay to paypal --> checking.
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19:22:23 <tome> maybe my situation doesn't make sense
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19:28:37 <warlord> The situation makes sense. How you're recording it does not.
19:29:31 <warlord> Your accounting should model actual money flows. Each transaction documents a single flow from one set of sources to another set of destinations.
19:29:40 <warlord> In a basic txn you have 1 source and 1 dest.
19:30:33 <warlord> So from the paypal --- you have a paypal account, Assets:Paypal? What do you mean by "goes directly to checking"? How would you get a double count?
19:31:34 <tome> thinking
19:32:00 <tome> I think the problem is that I want to view the money differently than how it actually flows?
19:32:13 <warlord> that would be illegal, and anti GAAP
19:32:36 <tome> This is just a personal account, fyi
19:33:09 <tome> So there is a paypal account where they put in money for the monthly rent, each month
19:33:13 <tome> yes Assets:Paypal
19:33:27 <tome> then there is a transaction which moves money from paypal to my checking
19:33:43 <tome> then there is a transaction which pays our combined rent from my checking
19:34:29 <tome> but I was hoping to somehow show their monthly rent owed to me, and show them paying that (so if they missed a payment I could easily see it)
19:34:43 <tome> also, have my rent look like 1000 instead of 3000 or whatever
19:34:51 <warlord> Okay... The first transaction, the " where they put in money for the monthly rent, each month" would be Assets:Rommie-Rent -> Assets:Paypal.
19:34:58 <warlord> Then Assets:Paypal -> Checking
19:35:08 <warlord> Then Checking -> Rent / Assets:Roomie-Rent
19:35:28 <tome> so the mental problem I have is what is Assets:Roomie Rent
19:35:33 <tome> wouldn;t that always be in the negative then
19:35:38 <tome> every month just more and more neg?
19:35:46 <warlord> Nope, it should always be 0
19:36:00 <warlord> ... unless either your roomies don't pay you, or you dont pay their rent
19:37:09 <tome> I thought assets were things I control, and roommate's paying would be more of an income (or liability)
19:37:42 <warlord> would definitely not be income
19:37:52 <warlord> it could be liability... liability == -asset
19:38:37 <tome> hm, thinking it through
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19:39:33 <tome> so lets say it's a liability, Liability:Roomate-Rent. Each time they send me a paypal transaction I'd need to book a transfer of $2000 from that liability to my paypal?
19:39:52 <warlord> yes
19:40:37 <tome> and each month I need to set up an automatic transaction to somehow add $2000 to that liability
19:40:46 <tome> no
19:40:54 <tome> that should be done when I actually Pay the rent
19:41:01 <tome> which is an automatic transactoin
19:41:04 <tome> but conceptually
19:41:19 <tome> now I'm in knots
19:41:34 <warlord> correct, when you pay the rent you split to expenses:rent and l:roomies
19:42:05 <tome> so I actually split the payment 1/3 to the rent, and 2/3 to the l:roommie?
19:42:10 <tome> and it comes from checking
19:42:13 <tome> (100%)
19:42:39 <warlord> Yes
19:42:59 <tome> Now it's making sense!
19:43:01 <warlord> So credit checking $3000, debit exp:rent $1000 (your portion), and debit l:roomies $2000 (their portiion)
19:43:40 <tome> hm I thought the words would be reversed. Is that just a noob misconception ?
19:43:56 <tome> oh
19:43:57 <tome> sorry
19:43:58 <tome> the asset
19:43:58 <tome> yes
19:44:00 <tome> exactly
19:44:04 <tome> got it!
19:44:14 * tome learns slowly sometimes
19:44:22 <warlord> most people confuse debit and credit because bank statements print it from their side, not your side.
19:44:34 <warlord> The the bank your account is a liability, not an asset.
19:44:54 <warlord> so when you deposit money, to you it's a debit, but to them it's a credit.
19:46:57 <tome> I'm writing this up now to see if I totally understand it
19:48:11 <tome> it seems so easy now that it's all worked out...
19:48:23 <tome> Thanks warlord! Much appreciated
19:50:27 <tome> One last Q. For a personal setup, does it make sense to keep the same gnucash file for many years, or create a new file per year? Particularly from a performance standpoing
19:50:29 <tome> point
19:53:03 <warlord> I use the same file.
19:53:17 <tome> thanks!
19:53:23 <warlord> you're welcome
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22:45:12 <Tony4x4> Thanks Warlord
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22:58:41 <whoano> I load all my data from my bank, and then select that a transaction transferred money to a different foo account, now that foo account lists 2 transactions for the same thing.. how can I make it those transactions in foo account merge?
23:00:58 <whoano> or am I supposed to delete one of them? any ideas?
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