Thanks for all the tips. I've been looking through tutorials and reading
up on double system accounting and have a better understanding on how it
all works.
On 11/04/2023 15:30, Michael or Penny Novack wrote:
As others have mentioned, you should read up on the rules of double
entry
bookkeeping. If GnuCash cannot identify the proper account, it puts
it in
the account call "Unbalanced" - this account should BTW always be
ZERO!!!!
Anything in "unbalanced" is a mistake somewhere.
A little closer to reality is that anything LEFT in
Unbalanced/Imbalance is a mistake. But there only temporarily might be
OK if :working on it".
For example, when entering a transaction you might realize that one
component might more properly be an account not yet in your CoA. And
while you could maybe deal with that "on the fly" I often find that IF
that new account existed, OTHER (earlier) transactions should have
referenced it.
For example, imagine an expense account X. It has been used as the
debit account for a number of transaction all of which would be
thought related to "x". But now I am entering a transaction where
there is enough difference that it seems advisable to create a new
account Y. But if the "y" category exists, some of the transactions
now posted to X really should be in Y because more "y" lie than "x"
like. So........ I'd allow the transaction I was entering to complete
leaving the amount in Imbalance and finish the work of entering that
stack of transactions. When done, I'd do what was needed to clear up
anything left in Imbalance. Create the new account Y, possibly a
placeholder parent for X and Y (if they weren't related in some way,
wouldn't have had this problem). go through X to find all transactions
that should really be in Y and do that, and then deal with the one in
Imbalance << done last, because as long as there know "not done yet">>
IF you are in business ...... It is common or at least possible that a
payment comes in that you are unsure about (what customer, what
invoice, etc.). Good practice is not to sit on that check, deposit
with the rest but the other side in an account with the name
"Suspense". Again, anything left in there means something to be dealt
with. In businesses of any size, might be a different worker bee who
specializes in solving the mysteries << might require some days
elapsed time, emailing or calling customers, etc. >> So just like
Imbalance, anything remaining in "Suspense" means something needing work.
Michael D Novack
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