David, I never noticed that before. Thanks! Regards, Adrien
> On Jan 26, 2018, at 5:34 AM, David T. <sunfis...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Adrien, > > A small point: there is an option on the reconcile window to include > subaccounts, so that should not pose a problem. > > David > >> On Jan 26, 2018, at 12:38 PM, Adrien Monteleone >> <adrien.montele...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> The biggest problem with any of this is if the money is actually sitting in >> a bank account. Reconciling is a mess. (I don’t think you can reconcile a >> parent by considering the child accounts to ‘roll-up’) >> >> This works best with physical cash you hold in your hand. >> >> Technically, that cash is still a current asset because it’s liquid, but >> that’s up to you if you want to segregate it out. >> >> I use the following: >> >> Current Assets:Cash:Wallet >> Current Assets:Cash:Savings >> >> I’ve tried several sub accounts of Savings, but it was just too messy when I >> had to move money around for other purposes than the savings were intended >> for. >> >> One thing that might help is simplifying your splits. >> >> I used to use the Savings account only for transfers in and out. I would >> then create separate transactions for the expenditures from Wallet with >> money either going back to Savings, or to Wallet. >> >> But I found in many cases, I was really taking money out of Savings to spend >> directly for a purpose, so I stopped doing most of the out transfers to >> Wallet and just recorded the expense directly from the Savings account. (I >> prefer to always record outflows from the account they are flowing out of - >> easier to keep it straight) If there was any change or a left-over balance >> (say I broke a C-note for something) and didn’t put that back into my >> physical Savings location but in my wallet, then one of the splits would be >> to Wallet. (I’m meticulous and also have a Current Assets:Change account so >> it’s easy to ‘reconcile’ my physical cash in my wallet. This also lets me >> see how much is in my change jar if I want to cash it in. Yes, I even track >> quarters separately because I’m currently stuck with coin-laundry so I need >> to know at a glance if I have enough.) >> >> Certainly, if you are allocating money from a checking account to savings >> held at home, don’t use a sub-account of checking. Use a sub-account of >> Cash, or create a same-level account like I did as Savings, or if you want >> that separate still, as ‘Allocated' with sub-accounts there for specific >> purposes. (I suppose even ‘Envelopes’ would work if you’re physically >> stuffing them, it’s up to each individual how they think of it) >> >> I’m not sure where you’re going using the ‘Money Allocated’ account with >> respect to balancing it with its sub-accounts. >> >> To me, the Money Allocated account (or whatever you call it) should likely >> be a placeholder account and never have any transactions in it. Everything >> happens in the subs. >> >> If you want to allocate funds, you’re taking them from some other regular >> asset account like Checking or Cash. (or Savings if that’s a physical >> account at a bank) That’s the credit side. The debit side is the allocated >> sub-account. >> >> So something like this: >> >> Dr. Assets:Current Assets:Envelopes:Dining Out $100 >> Cr. Assets:Current Assets:Cash $100 >> >> Cash is now less $100 and your Dining Out envelope has $100 in it. >> >> When you go out to eat, I would save a transaction and just spend the money >> (which is physical cash) directly from the sub account. >> >> Dr. Expenses:Food:Dining Out $60 >> Cr. Assets:Current Assets:Envelopes:Dining Out $60 >> >> >> A more ‘real world’ example might include holding the change in Cash instead >> of putting it back in your envelope stash location, thus: >> >> Dr. Expenses:Food:Dining Out $58 >> Dr. Assets:Current Assets:Cash $ 2 >> Cr. Assets:Current Assets:Envelopes:Dining Out $60 >> >> Looking over your last reply more I think I see where you’re ending up with >> extra transactions and splits. And while I know I said ‘accounts’ are just >> ‘reasons’ and not necessarily related to physical things, perhaps treating >> the allocated money as more of a physical asset would help. >> >> It looks like you want to keep track of allocating money and ‘spending it’ >> out of that allocation as a separate ‘layer’ from the actual location of the >> funds and why they leave your hands, that is you want to record the >> transaction TWICE. That’s adding complexity that I don’t think is needed. >> >> This is why the allocated sub-accounts belong under one or more regular >> asset accounts. >> >> If the money physically is in your control, your wallet, a safe, a drawer of >> envelopes or such, I’d put the Allocated and Allocated:Subs like so for more >> regular and discretionary purposes: >> >> Assets:Current Assets:Cash >> Assets:Current Assets:Cash:Allocated >> Assets:Current Assets:Cash:Allocated:Dining Out >> Assets:Current Assets:Cash:Allocated:Movies >> Assets:Current Assets:Cash:Allocated:Snacks >> Assets:Current Assets:Cash:Allocated:Groceries >> etc. >> >> But if the funds really never leave your checking account until you spend >> them, or you regularly write checks/pay online for some purposes I’d use >> this: >> >> Assets:Current Assets:Checking >> Assets:Current Assets:Checking:Allocated >> Assets:Current Assets:Checking:Allocated:Rent >> Assets:Current Assets:Checking:Allocated:Utilities >> Assets:Current Assets:Checking:Allocated:Loans >> Assets:Current Assets:Checking:Allocated:Insurance >> etc. >> >> You might even put some of the Allocated subs under a credit union/savings >> account that is rarely touched for the less frequent purposes: >> >> Assets:Current Assets:Credit Union >> Assets:Current Assets:Credit Union:Allocated >> Assets:Current Assets:Credit Union:Allocated:Charity >> Assets:Current Assets:Credit Union:Allocated:Gifts >> Assets:Current Assets:Credit Union:Allocated:Vacation >> >> >> You could alternately move ‘Allocated’ up one level if it has a separate >> physical location than your usual wallet/stash, or even drop it entirely and >> put the subs directly as children of their physical location you’ll likely >> be spending from. >> >> Separating the subs according to from where you’re likely to spend their >> funds will help cut down on either inter-sub transfers, or as I’m about to >> show below, spending funds saved for one purpose for a different one. >> >> In all cases, record the credit side of the transaction for any expense from >> where it actually comes from. As I mentioned, I don’t think transfers back >> to the Checking/Cash/Savings parents are necessary, just credit against the >> Allocated:Sub - you know where it physically was, and if the actual balance >> doesn’t go back to the sub - and goes to a different level account for other >> general expenses then include that as a split to save yourself a separate >> transfer transaction. >> >> Having the subs under their respective ‘real world’ location where the funds >> reside also allows you to still maintain at least a glance look at how much >> is in that physical location. (Parents in the CoA include the balances of >> the child accounts) But these child accounts are problematic for reconciling >> as noted above when dealing with institutional accounts. >> >> I’m considering re-implementing this for myself as subs of ‘Savings’ (or >> moving Savings to a sub of ‘Envelopes’) and instead of transferring money >> around for expenses not related to the sub’s purpose - just recording the >> expense there anyway. This way, I can see if there are any expenses in say >> Envelopes:Vacation that are for expense accounts OTHER than vacations, like >> Dining Out. That shouldn’t happen right? This would give an at a glance look >> to see why my vacation bucket is always shallow. This also gets an added >> advantage that now I can run a Cash Flow report using just one sub at a >> time. (and save the configuration) That will show me what accounts had money >> flow into that sub, and what expense accounts money flowed out of the sub >> for. That will be an eye opener I’m sure. All that, and no special report or >> functionality needed to be added by programmers. >> >> My main hangup is duplicating the formula and triggers for the allocating >> that MoneyWell uses. (which is VERY convenient) I’ll still have to calculate >> that outside of GnuCash and use the result to enter a transaction. (or >> better yet, create the transaction in a spreadsheet and import it - perhaps >> I can script it and maybe even make it a mini-app with an Automator >> Workflow) The goal is to enter the receipt of funds - say a paycheck and >> then automatically allocate portions to different subs based on priority and >> if they are ‘full’ or not based on a savings goal. >> >> If you have any other approach for figuring out amounts to allocate, I’m >> game for trying it. >> >> Anyhow, those are my thoughts on the subject. >> >> Thanks for starting the topic, it’s helped me consider tackling this again. >> >> Regards, >> Adrien >> >>> On Jan 26, 2018, at 12:22 AM, Matt Graham <matt_graham2...@hotmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>> 😊 You beat me to the punch on a couple of things. Yes, I have the tendency >>> to over-complicate. I think there needs to be a simple way to do what >>> people want though... >>> >>> I started plotting things out more and came to similar conclusions. >>> >>> First, when I say “fake” I mean “not corresponding to physical money – >>> cash, account balance etc”. You’re right, its bad terminology, and I like >>> the way you think of accounts as just a “thing”. >>> >>> Second, I have tried a number of other programs for my financial needs. All >>> of them have various advantages and disadvantages. So with no clear winner, >>> I thought I’d try to make GNUCash better... >>> >>> “Categories” is a vague word and risks things getting complicated. Perhaps >>> all of this allocation of money concept would work best if GNUCash >>> introduced “categories” purely for allocation? Applications where we are >>> allocating things on the side without actually changing our accounts? Lets >>> keep that aside and see if it works once we agree on everything else – >>> sounds complicated (and I cringe at adding a new ‘semi-account’ type). >>> >>> Thinking about things further (and trying it) I agree 100% that liabilities >>> aren’t involved. Allocating money to something decreases the amount of cash >>> (agree with your term – LET “cash” = “liquid assets”), which would >>> correspond to a decreased liability... Makes no sense having negative >>> liabilities. My bad. >>> >>> I tried fiddling with equity as you (tentatively) suggested too, but this >>> didn’t really make sense either. You end up with negative equity accounts >>> showing how much you have to spend... >>> >>> So yes – I agree It is asset to asset... Decreasing cash available (asset) >>> is balanced by increasing cash to spend on a purpose later (asset). >>> >>> Creating a sub-account to your physical cash or bank account to track >>> allocated money is only good if you are always going to spend out of that >>> account. If I’m tracking my spending money from my bank account, but then >>> spend out of my cash on spending money... >>> Dr increase Expense >>> Cr decrease physical cash I used to pay >>> Cr decrease the amount in that sub account – gets it out of that sub >>> account.... >>> Dr increase the amount in parent account – puts it back in the parent... >>> It works, I guess, but just seems weird transferring balance between the >>> child and parent like this. >>> >>> So they way I’m thinking of trialling is having a separate asset account >>> “Allocated Assets” (separate from Current and Fixed assets). That way when >>> allocating money the decrease (cr) in current assets (an account I’ve put >>> as “Money Allocated”) is balanced by the increase (dr) in the specific >>> “Allocated Assets”:”Spending Money” account. >>> Spending is the same as above, but the increase to make “Money Allocated” >>> less negative is balanced by the decrease in the relevant Allocated assets >>> account.... >>> >>> Of course, all of this still means i’m entering four lines for one >>> expenditure. The good news is that I only really have four accounts that >>> involve allocated money like this (2 spending money, Holiday, and >>> restaurant/café spending). Since all of this is a very common application >>> for most personal users, I’m wondering if there is an easier way – >>> “categories” defined against an expense account that just track how much >>> you have “allocated” to that purpose? Would need both aspects – viewing >>> “how much I have left” to spend for that purpose (budget line item?), but >>> also ensuring “I have the money in my accounts to be able to buy it”. That >>> all sounds too complicated – it would be easier to allow the user to tag an >>> expense account, and have GNUCash automatically maintain the necessary >>> “Allocated” asset accounts... >>> >>> I don’t think I am overthinking too far though, purely because it seems >>> like a common thing people want. Hence, solution required... Philosophy of >>> accounting tells us that this kind of allocation is: double entry on >>> Asset/Asset when allocating, two double entries (Asset/Expense and >>> Asset/Asset) when spending. >>> >>> Hmmm.... Same conclusion as before – I’m going to try it out for a while >>> before suggesting any program changes... >>> >>> Thanks and regards, >>> >>> Matt >>> >>> From: Adrien Monteleone >>> Sent: Friday, 26 January 2018 4:32 PM >>> To: GNU Cash User >>> Subject: Re: Future allocated money vs Budgets >>> >>> Here’s my attempt to save you a few months… >>> >>> I think you’re spinning wheels into something more complicated than it >>> needs to be. >>> >>> For starters, there’s no reason any liability account or expense account >>> should enter the picture of ‘saving’ for any particular purpose. ‘Spending >>> Money’ savings is NOT an expense. Why would anyone think to record it that >>> way? >>> >>> An expense is when you actually receive something of value and you owe >>> someone else in exchange. (goods or services) >>> >>> If you pay for those goods or services at the same time you receive them, >>> you just record the expense. >>> >>> If however, you receive the goods or services and then pay later - an >>> accrued expense - then you use a liability account to track what you owe. >>> (you still record the expense when you receive the goods or services) >>> >>> If you pay for goods or services *before* receiving them, it’s not an >>> expense yet. (a deferred expense) It’s a shift from one asset, likely >>> 'cash', to another asset called 'prepaid expenses.’ (cash is generic for >>> liquid assets, this includes checking and savings) When you actually use >>> that asset, that is, either receive the service or the goods, then you >>> record the expense. (you’d also do this for other assets you acquire and >>> use up later - like supplies. Depreciation is an example of a deferred >>> expense for special assets you paid up front for but use up slowly) >>> >>> If however, you’ve not received any goods or services, and you don’t know >>> if you actually will and haven’t yet paid for them, then expenses and >>> liabilities aren’t even in the picture. >>> >>> All you are doing is segregating assets for informational purposes. (the >>> practice of ‘envelope budgeting’ fits this model) The only accounts >>> involved are asset accounts. >>> >>> They aren’t ‘fake’ any more than any other account in your books is fake. >>> If by ‘fake’ you mean they don’t correspond to a real world account held at >>> some institution then that goes for nearly all accounts in your ledger save >>> a small handful. (unless you are quite the prolific banker, borrower, >>> investor or credit spender) >>> >>> The point of accounts is to track where money comes from and goes to. Some >>> of those accounts *might* have real-world counterparts, but they are all no >>> more ‘real’ or ‘fake’ than any other. Accounts are ‘reasons’, not physical >>> things. (note, ‘account’ is not some special term. You have an ‘account’ at >>> a bank, because they created one in their books to track the money you gave >>> them. They have lots of other accounts on their books that don’t correspond >>> like you think they do. Your ‘account’ at your bank is simply their >>> ‘reason’ for having money that doesn’t belong to them.) I might draw the >>> ire of those wanting to have GnuCash stand apart from Intuit products, but >>> basically, your Chart of Accounts is just a Chart of Categories, Chart of >>> Classifications, or Chart of Reasons to be more accurate. It is a system of >>> classification. Don’t think even of ‘account’ as a thing, it’s a really a >>> verb in this sense - you are ‘accounting’ for why something is or why it >>> happened. >>> >>> For the purpose of planning expenses, the GnuCash budgeting module can >>> help. (certainly, it is limited and needs improvement) >>> >>> For the purpose of putting money aside or segregating it so you don’t >>> ‘accidentally’ spend it, that’s just financial discipline. Some people find >>> that they can utilize sub-accounts or special savings/asset accounts for >>> this purpose to ‘hide’ the money from themselves. This can cause a mess >>> with reconciliation though. >>> >>> Budgeting is the process of planning your expenses. Saving is the process >>> of not spending. The two are not the same thing. (but certainly one >>> influences the other) >>> >>> Using sub-accounts or other asset accounts has the advantage of being able >>> to see how much you’ve saved, but not how much you have left towards a >>> goal. I suppose one could get creative with equity accounts in this regard, >>> but it might be more work than necessary. (I hesitated to even mention it) >>> Certainly a special set of ‘savings goals’ liability accounts could be used >>> as well, but there again, this is confusing the issue of what a liability >>> really is or isn’t. Your balance sheet would be all out of whack. (unless >>> you don’t care) >>> >>> With the envelope method, you aren’t creating liabilities by saving. (even >>> negative liabilities!) You’re just taking some of your assets and putting >>> them inside envelopes. Those are still assets. They don’t change their >>> nature because of the envelope. You don’t suddenly have this not-quite >>> nefarious non-expense or imaginary negative debt. You just separated your >>> cash to keep it out of your wallet so you can pay your bills, buy gifts, >>> make charitable donations, or have a small savings to cover emergencies >>> instead of splurging on impulse buys or going out to dinner instead of >>> cooking. >>> >>> What you have are assets that you want to earmark, at least temporarily and >>> not even by hard and fast rule necessarily. You really don’t *owe* that >>> money to anyone. >>> >>> So I would just use asset accounts. >>> >>> No extra complicated transactions. No contra-balanced liabilities. Your >>> assets are always correct. Your liabilities are always correct. You only >>> become confused as how complicated you make the process. (how many >>> ‘envelope’ asset sub-accounts you create and where you put them) >>> >>> I’m also probably going to draw ire by suggesting another software package >>> as a better fit for this purpose. (at least at this stage of GnuCash >>> development) Certainly, some people have managed to finagle an ‘envelope’ >>> method using special accounts in combination with either manual or >>> scheduled transactions. (which are somewhat limited for the purpose) Most >>> likely, if you really want to stick with GnuCash, you’d have to set up a >>> spreadsheet to handle the envelope part, at least the calculations as to >>> how much to segregate at each opportunity and keep track of any goals. >>> >>> But I’d proffer that something along the lines of MoneyWell is more suited >>> to the task, especially for those who live from a checking account. As far >>> as I know it’s Mac only however. (there are mobile versions, but I don’t >>> think they are stand-alone) For those who handle a fair amount of cash, or >>> want to track investments and asset values, or need to track A/P and A/R, >>> GnuCash is better suited. MoneyWell was designed specifically to implement >>> the envelope method (using ‘buckets’) to automatically ‘flow’ money you >>> receive to targeted purposes such as your utilities, rent, car, savings, >>> etc. I’ve played with it quite a bit, and I’d like GnuCash to have >>> something similar, but I find it too limited for all my other accounting >>> purposes. If there were a way to get transactions in and out easily, I >>> might use it for daily purposes and budgeting and keep GnuCash for the >>> overall big picture stuff. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Adrien >>> >>>> On Jan 25, 2018, at 9:29 PM, Matt Graham <matt_graham2...@hotmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi All! >>>> I’m going to discuss (and get people’s opinions) on a way in which many >>>> users (myself included) struggle to get “what they want” from GNUCash >>>> budgeting. GNUcash is very strict on proper double-entry bookkeeping >>>> practices (which I love). In accounting, “budgeting” means that you are >>>> plotting out exactly when you are going to change account values in what >>>> way. It is forecasting the future states of the accounts. >>>> >>>> So if you have a monthly bill of $50 you need to pay – easy. You enter it >>>> into the monthly periods - both expense account and asset account. You >>>> know you will spend that amount, and you (usually) know what asset account >>>> you are spending it out of. This is budgeting, and allows you to see that >>>> you are not losing money overall and sending yourself broke by end of year. >>>> >>>> The next thing that people call “budgeting” is when they want to save up >>>> for something, but don’t have a distinct plan of when it will be spent or >>>> how it will be paid for. My example is “Spending Money” (but perhaps >>>> “holiday savings” is a better example). I allocate $100 every month to >>>> myself and my wife to spend as we want (hobbies, clothes, etc). If we >>>> don’t spend it, it builds up allowing us to buy bigger stuff later. So I >>>> should put $100 in each budget period against those two expense accounts, >>>> right? NO, NO, NO!!!! From an accounting perspective, nothing is >>>> necessarily going to be spent out of my “Spending money” expense account. >>>> It is an allocation of money, not a spending of money. I can’t predict in >>>> advance any real changes to my asset or expense accounts from this monthly >>>> “allocation of money”. What I am doing from an accounting perspective is >>>> setting up a liability on myself – a promise to give money later to >>>> someone (in this case a promise to give money to myself). The reduction in >>>> my assets (cash) is as completely fake as the increase in liability – none >>>> of my cash or credit accounts have changed in value. >>>> >>>> For now I’m going to call this application “Future allocated money”, and >>>> controversially say that it is NOT “budgeting”. >>>> >>>> So if you have some ‘budget’ purpose such as this, and lament that GNUCash >>>> can’t give you the running total, the way to deal with it is the way this >>>> person describes: >>>> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fallmybrain.com%2F2008%2F12%2F15%2Fbetter-budgeting-with-gnucash%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C2d1add0a2c6a4643591d08d5647e306d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636525415498305568&sdata=s61s%2FSFcqv5L1C0v2xEma0%2BbaPC4eQl2EyPXGHLgTcc%3D&reserved=0 >>>> >>>> The fake asset account is used to show the money that has been allocated >>>> for certain purposes in the future (ie is unavailable). It needs to be a >>>> fake account, because usually we don’t know in advanced which asset >>>> account we are going to spend the allocated money out of. If you know >>>> which asset account you are going to be spending the money out of, then >>>> sure you can just create a sub-account to record the amount allocated to >>>> this. In this case, you don’t really need to record the liability at all >>>> (the liability is effectively shown in your sub-account), and the >>>> transactions become easier – just transferring between that sub-account >>>> and the actual expense account when you spend. But for most people, you >>>> need a fake asset account because you don’t know in advance which account >>>> you will spend out of. >>>> >>>> The fake liability account is your running amount you can spend at any >>>> time. >>>> >>>> <b>The problem in doing this?</b> >>>> It creates extra transactions that look really complicated. Allocating the >>>> money is one fake transaction involving the fake “asset budgeted” account >>>> and the “fake liability” account (and in the website they allocate money >>>> from a pay packet rather than periodically, so it involves the real income >>>> and real asset account too) . Spending money against a category affects >>>> the expense account, the asset account, the fake liability account, and >>>> the fake “asset budgeted” account... Looks confusing at first until your >>>> head gets around it. >>>> >>>> <b>So how can we make all this easier on people?</b> (both to understand >>>> and then to implement)? It is a pretty common thing to do. >>>> Perhaps having some way to mark an expense account as “future allocated >>>> money” based, and having the program automatically create the necessary >>>> fake liability and asset accounts? And perhaps any expenditure recorded >>>> against that expense account would be auto amended to include the effects >>>> on the fake liability and fake asset account? >>>> >>>> I think I’m going to try all this for a few more months (and await your >>>> thoughts!) before coming up with a proposal. >>>> >>>> Thanks and regards, >>>> >>>> Matt >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >>>> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.gnucash.org%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fgnucash-user&data=02%7C01%7C%7C2d1add0a2c6a4643591d08d5647e306d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636525415498305568&sdata=Rr7f0f3uZTy64eI9JuoAdLPJiisfP7VJ7TpCbSFYLCs%3D&reserved=0 >>>> ----- >>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> gnucash-user mailing list >>> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >>> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.gnucash.org%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fgnucash-user&data=02%7C01%7C%7C2d1add0a2c6a4643591d08d5647e306d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636525415498305568&sdata=Rr7f0f3uZTy64eI9JuoAdLPJiisfP7VJ7TpCbSFYLCs%3D&reserved=0 >>> ----- >>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> gnucash-user mailing list >> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >> 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. > _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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