Thank you, Adrien.
I knew it was a presentation issue, and was trying to figure out how to
present it correctly and yet be able to use GnuCash as I *wanted* to :)
I also realize the importance of the inventory accounts and the theory
behind this. I just know that the amounts and number of transactions are
minuscule at this point, so I was trying to cut corners. Maybe not a
good move. Second smiley :)
I was surprised that GnuCash limits the user's ability to debit an
income account from the Accounts Payable section, so I guess that was
where I scratched my head and wondered… No biggie. I suppose that
feature is intended to prevent inadvertent debits to income accounts,
which I can understand. I can deal with that limitation (feature) in
GnuCash. And I may just go back and re-do those few transactions with
inventory accounts.
I agree that COGS is an expense account. But as far as I know it is
either usually or always presented in the income section of the Income
Statement, not in the expense section. I would have thought, though,
that the "Income" or "Expense" attribute would be irrelevant to *where*
something is presented: *I expected the parent-child hierarchy of the
Chart of Accounts would control presentation*. I only marked the COGS
accounts as "Income" after finding out the parent-child hierarchy is
*not* the deciding factor in presentation, since I perceived that the
"Income" attribute would put them in the income section of the Income
Statement. I'm sure it makes sense from a programming perspective since
the storing of data under the hood should not be determined by possible
reporting desires. I probably won't put in the effort to learn Scheme –
as much as I'd like to. Not enough time available for the benefit.
Thanks again!
Eric
On 12/9/23 00:23, Adrien Monteleone wrote:
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is an Expense account, not Income.
What you are looking for is a different type of Income Statement that
does not exist in GnuCash. (the basic math is the same, you just are
looking for a 'Net Sales' figure by moving COGS to the upper part of
the report. This is merely presentational and does not change the
nature of COGS being an expense rather than an income account.
Your options are:
1. Write your own report. (not easy, and you'd have to learn Scheme)
2. Manipulate the existing report in a spreadsheet app. (still work,
but much easier and little-to-no learning curve)
Also, generally, you *do* want inventory accounts because purchases
are *not* the same as COGS.
Here are some generic transactions:
Acquisition of Inventory
------------------------
Dr. Assets:Inventory
Cr. Assets:Cash
(or Credit whatever account you used to pay for the inventory)
Sale of Inventory
-----------------
Dr. Assets:Cash
Cr. Income:Sales
Accounting for COGS
-------------------
Dr. Expenses:COGS
Cr. Assets:Inventory
(can be a separate transaction if using the Business Features, or all
together in one with the sale if done manually)
Buy or find a good Accounting 101 book, and be sure to get official
professional advice.
Regards,
Adrien
_______________________________________________
gnucash-user mailing list
[email protected]
To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
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.
