7:00pm -0000 03/02/26 Tom Route36 <[email protected]> wrote: >This isn't a problem or help request. It's more a philosophical or >usage question. Any transaction in GnuCash always involves at least two >accounts. For example, when you make a payment to a credit card account >you're debiting funds from your checking account, and crediting those >funds to your credit card account.
Debits and credits are reversed for assets and expenses, increased with a debit, reduced with a credit. For liability, equity, and income accounts, theh are increased with a credit and reduced with a debit. A credit card account is a current liability as it's less than a year. Paying the statement balance reduces the liability. Credit the checking account, debit the credit card account. >My question here is about how folks >choose to enter the transaction dates in GnuCash. >For a timely example here: Let's say I made an online payment to my >credit card account on Feb. 27th. The credit card company records the >payment as posted on Feb. 27th. But my bank doesn't record the >transaction until today, March 2nd. When recording this payment in >GnuCash, which date would you use as the transaction date: Feb. 27th or >March 2nd? >If you use Feb. 27th, the transaction date differs from your next >month's bank statement. But if you use March 2nd, the date differs from >your next credit card statement. Personally, I use the credit card >company's date; since that's the date I actually made the payment. But >I was just curious how other folks deal with these kinds of date >differences. You are doing it correctly. It is very important to date the transactions in your time line, not the bank's. In my case, when I do an asset transfer by check into the checking account, it can take weeks. In this case, I do acknowledge the float. I set up a manual clearing account. This means I use two transactions for every transfer in which I anticipate the float will be more than three days. When there is a transfer out from one account, the clearing account receives the funds. When I deposit the check, I transfer out from the clearing account and into the checking account. For this, I use the date of deposit (even if the bank won't post it the same day), not the date I finally received the check. (If I received a payment, I'd have to use date of receipt, not date of deposit.) You don't need to do it the way I am doing it as you are talking about a minor amount of float. However, if you wanted to acknowledge the float, then create a clearing account as a current asset. You'll have two transactions. February 27, credit the clearing account and debit the credit card account AND credit the checking account and debit equity, which in GnuCash means using the OBE account. On March 2, credit equity and debit the clearing account. I think that's too much work to account for float over the weekend. _______________________________________________ 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.
