On 1/5/2023 7:19 PM, Simon Roberts wrote:
Can I check an understanding? I have an account "Liabilities:CreditCard"
Assuming I owe them money, the balance of this would be positive, am I
correct?
Thanks!
Simon
The "senses" in double entry bookkeeping are "debit" and "credit" (as
opposed to "positive" and "negative") and you may confuse yourself
trying to relate the former to the latter. If this seems surprising to
you, remember double entry bookkeeping was in use by the 13th Century
but European math didn't begin dealing with negative numbers till the
15th Century.
Gnucash, like any other application partially automating double entry
bookkeeping, will make the work of keeping double entry books much
easier (and less prone to errors) but cannot relieve you of having to
learn the basics. If the tutorial isn't enough (if still confused) then
obtain a "text" (paper or in-line) on bookkeeping basics. If nothing
else, learning from scratch that way will give you appreciation of what
gnucash is doing for you. I'm speaking as somebody who learned
bookkeeping in the old days of pen and ink on paper, enter in the
journal and then post to the ledger << and all the tricks you needed to
find the errors caused by miscopying a digit or transposing some digits >>
Do note that you CAN ask gnucash to use "formal" accounting (debit and
credit) and enter transactions as if first in the journal (normally you
do "journal view" only when entering a "split" transaction, one with
more than just two accounts affected). This MIGHT help you learn more
quickly.. Shortcuts work best when you already know what you are doing.
Michael D Novack
--
There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality
of the grave.
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