2010-10-26 GnuCash IRC logs

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14:08:51 <indigo> hm, so how should i handle fund shares converting classes?
14:09:10 <indigo> assuming i have separate accounts for each class, can i transfer from one to the other?
14:14:07 <warlord> Sorry, what do you mean by "converting classes?"
14:15:05 <indigo> i purchased class B shares, which convert to class A shares after 8 years.
14:15:17 <indigo> now it's been 8 years
14:16:13 <indigo> it looks like i can enter a transaction on the class B register for the shares that were converted from B to A, using the market value at the time of that transaction
14:16:31 <indigo> then i open the class A register and enter the number of class A shares i got
14:16:35 <warlord> Well, you have two ways to do it. 1) just change the commodity setting. or 2) create a new account with a new commodity and transfer the shares.
14:16:51 <indigo> not all the shares have converted, so i need a separate account
14:17:00 <indigo> i'm just wondering what the most elegant way to transfer the shares is
14:17:44 <indigo> i think i figured out a way that works, but it does require that I open each register to enter the dollar value of each type of share at the time
14:17:57 <warlord> Either that or turn on Split mode
14:18:01 <indigo> but given that this only happens at most once per quarter, i guess that's not a bad deal
14:18:13 <indigo> oh, good idea.
14:34:50 <indigo> also, i've been having a hard time making sense of the advanced portfolio report
14:35:59 <indigo> for some of my funds, it lists the basis as X, and the value as X*1.2 which is reasonable enough. However, money in is very close to X*2, and the total return is -37%, which makes no sense at all
14:36:13 <indigo> having never sold any of these shares, i'd think the money in would be the same as the basis.
14:37:03 <indigo> also for other funds, the basis is X, the value is a bit more than X, and money in is 0, which doesn't make sense either.
14:43:15 <warlord> well, you did transfer the shares, right?
14:46:06 <indigo> i did, but they were weird before that.
14:46:25 <indigo> the funds with the negative returns haven't had any transfers
14:47:30 <warlord> Quotes?
14:48:12 <indigo> what do you mean?
14:48:43 <indigo> you mean the price database?
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14:52:20 <warlord> yes
14:52:35 <indigo> well, i've entered the quarterly prices for each statement i get
14:52:58 <indigo> regardless of the prices though, "money in" is twice what i've paid for the shares
14:53:57 <indigo> it's within pennies of twice what i've actually paid, and it's also interesting that when i buy these shares, i do it with one transaction that buys 50/50 (by cost) of two funds
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14:54:11 <indigo> could it be counting that money twice?
15:03:10 <warlord> I dont know enough about the report. sorry.
15:03:13 <warlord> Ask on -user?
15:05:18 <indigo> ok
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16:22:08 <ropp1gra> Hello! I am new to GnuCash, and I am wondering how the best way is to get my financial data into the program. I can convert my excel data to QIF; however, I have many redundant transactions, for I kept a list of transactions for each account. Thus, inter-account transfers are somewhat numerous. Thankfully, I have only about 200 transactions per account, give or take a few :). Thanks for all your help!
16:26:49 <warlord> ropp1gra: If you name your accounts consistently then the qif importer should notice that $100 from A -> B on date D is the same as $100 to B <- A on date D
16:27:05 <warlord> or you can just ignore your history ;)
16:30:26 <ropp1gra> OK. So if I make all the categories the same, it should catch all the duplicates?
16:31:48 <warlord> Has nothing to do with categories; only with transfers between asset and liability accounts. Or e.g. from Bank1 to Bank2
16:32:43 <ropp1gra> You see, I had made my own spreadsheets without formal accounts, just one spreadsheet corresponding to each bank account.
16:33:35 <warlord> That's fine, but then why would you have duplicate transactions?
16:33:48 <warlord> ... unless it's a transfer *between* those bank accounts?
16:33:55 <ropp1gra> So, I have only one column per spreadsheet identifying the type of transaction. It is not a double-entry system, but I would like to change to that.
16:33:57 <ropp1gra> Right on.
16:34:08 <ropp1gra> So there aren't many, I guess.
16:34:20 <ropp1gra> I just need to know how to change them...
16:34:49 <warlord> For those transactions you need to put L[OtherAccountName] into the transaction. (and be sure that you're consistent with account names)
16:34:59 <ropp1gra> I'd really like to put my data in for report purposes, etc...
16:36:09 <ropp1gra> Ok. Could you please explain that a little more?
16:36:57 <ropp1gra> Because I can edit the transactions in Excel before converting, as well.
16:37:14 <warlord> Which part?
16:37:24 <ropp1gra> 3:34:50
16:37:48 <warlord> Do you understand what L is in QIF?
16:38:14 <ropp1gra> No.
16:39:12 <warlord> Ah. Go read up on that and all will be more clear.
16:39:25 <ropp1gra> OK. In the help, or online, or...
16:40:03 <warlord> For transfers between banks you need to tell the importer that it's a transfer to another account and not an income/expense category.
16:40:29 <warlord> Um, QIF? google?
16:40:40 <warlord> I'm not sure how much documentation is on the wiki.
16:40:53 <warlord> There's nothing in the gnucash help about the qif format
16:40:53 <jsled> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QIF
16:41:45 <ropp1gra> Thanks!!!
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17:52:53 <ConFoozed> hi there. How can I set the default start # for invoices under gnucash 2.2.9 ? I want to start at - say - 34
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18:00:18 <ConFoozed> I saw an old reference to editing the data xml file to twiddle the counters but I didn't see that in my 2.2.9 data file :/
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18:01:15 <ConFoozed> I know I could manally override it, but then I would have to do so every time. I'd much prefer to just tell gnucash I want to start at invoice # X
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18:56:39 <warlord> ConFoozed: it'll be in the data file *after* you let it assign one. So, let it assign one, then manually change it to what you want, and then go into the data file and change the value.
18:56:43 <warlord> There is no way to set it in the UI
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20:16:41 <ConFoozed> oh - i see. thank you.
20:17:04 <warlord> welcome
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20:18:04 <ropp1gra> This is me again - I'm still trying to figure out how to import my various QIF files into gnucash. I have about six files to import: cash, checking, checking 2, savings, savings 2, credit card, credit card 2. I had all my transactions logged in an Excel file, and I used the Excel addin XL2QIF to convert the data to QIF with 5-7 columns: date, amount, memo, payee, check #, and reconciled y/n. I just want to know if there is a good way to imp
20:19:16 <warlord> ropp1gra: got cut off at "good way to imp"
20:19:36 <ropp1gra> I also would like to know if there is a good way to eliminate redundant transactions, namely transfers between various accounts, such as credit card payments, cash deposits, etc. THanks for the help!
20:20:09 <ropp1gra> Sorry, here's the end of my message.
20:20:11 <ropp1gra> I just want to know if there is a good way to import these, mapping the categories I have to various new expense and asset accounts, etc. I used pretty much the same categories in all of my Excel account logs. I also would like to know if there is a good way to eliminate redundant transactions, namely transfers between various accounts, such as credit card payments, cash deposits, etc. THanks for the help!
20:21:04 <ropp1gra> Manipulating QIF files is a bit over my head - I just used the Excel addin, as I said...
20:21:05 <warlord> Like I said earlier, for transactions between accounts you need to use L[AcctName].
20:21:25 <warlord> The add-in wont do this for you -- you will need to modify the QIF by hand afterwards.
20:21:48 <warlord> (or, it most likely wont.. i dont know for sure)
20:21:56 <ropp1gra> I see.
20:22:06 <ropp1gra> Can I use Excel to open the QIF?
20:22:16 <ropp1gra> I wasn't sure how to do that.
20:22:47 <warlord> So let's assume you have checking.qif, which is for "checking". In there you have a transaction to checking 2, so you'd have L[checking 2]. Then in checking 2.qif you would have the same transaction marked L[checking]
20:22:56 <warlord> It's just a text file; open it in any text editor.
20:23:06 <ropp1gra> Oh!
20:23:45 <ropp1gra> Cool. It just might take a while. THanks for stooping to my level of expertise.
20:25:33 <warlord> you're welcome ;)
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21:03:38 <ConFoozed> warlord: that worked perfectly. thanks again.
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21:26:22 <ropp1gra> Warlord: OK. I went through all my seven QIF files and took care of the funds transfers and credit card payments by assigning them to accounts using the [AcctName] method. Is it ok if differentiated between accounts like this: [Checking - ING], etc.?
21:27:37 <ropp1gra> And can I now simply import all of the files at once? How do I get, for example, "clothing" transactions to all be imported to the same account?
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21:55:07 <warlord> ropp1gra: yes, that's fine -- just make sure you use "Checking - ING.qif" as the filename... For clothing, you'll map Payees and Memos to income/expense accounts during the import process.
21:55:19 <warlord> .. and import all the qif files together in one import.
21:55:42 <ropp1gra> What accounts should I set up in advance of importing?
21:56:12 <ropp1gra> A, L, OE, I, E
21:56:50 <warlord> I recommend you set up a full tree.
21:57:55 <ropp1gra> Using the most appropriate default set in gnucash? Or should I set up accounts that are identical to the ones I used?
21:59:23 <warlord> up to you
22:00:47 <ropp1gra> So I just have to map them right... I don't quite understand the part as follows:
22:00:49 <ropp1gra> For clothing, you'll map Payees and Memos to income/expense accounts during the import process.
22:01:23 <warlord> just run the import.
22:01:32 <warlord> you'll understand,
22:01:35 <warlord> if you don't like the import, start over
22:02:18 <ropp1gra> ok. But in case it messes up, I can save my account tree and go back to that, right?
22:03:37 <warlord> yes.
22:04:05 <warlord> just save first before the import. after the import if you donht like it then exit w/o saving again
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22:14:11 <ropp1gra> OK. I have my account structure set up, and I am trying to import. However, it wants to make new accounts for just about everything. I can't seem to uncheck the "new account" box.
22:16:11 <ropp1gra> It looks like there's no way around it...is that right?
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22:33:02 <warlord> ropp1gra: currency mismatch?>
22:33:29 <ropp1gra> I'm quite sure not, but...
22:33:43 <ropp1gra> would it be a possibility?
22:33:57 <ropp1gra> I think I used US $ for everything - never changed it.
22:38:22 <warlord> Check.
22:43:37 <ropp1gra> The default currency is the US $. oh, what I ended up doing is finishing the import like you said. It appears to have put everything in the right accounts - expense accounts, for example. However,
22:44:27 <ropp1gra> for some reason some things get in the wrong debit and credit columns...
22:44:41 <ropp1gra> sort of randomly, too.
22:51:10 <warlord> nothing is random. if you run the import multiple times I'm sure the same transactions will appear "wrong"... which means there's something special about those transactions.
22:54:20 <ropp1gra> Could I ask about XL2QIF? I think I might be not understanding how to map the dr./cr. columns when I convert to QIF.
22:56:30 <warlord> I know nothing about XL2QIF, sorry.
22:57:05 <ropp1gra> ok, so most people are coming from Quicken or some software I suppose
22:57:14 <warlord> Or starting from scratch, yes.
22:57:40 <warlord> Anyways, I'm afraid it's bedtime for me. I'll be back in the morning if you need more help.
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22:57:52 <ropp1gra> THanks so much!!!
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