I agree with David W. here. I don't think that GnuCash is the right tool for this, and IMHO it's more trouble than it's worth. When it comes time to receive distributions, I'm pretty sure the financial institution will let you know what's what. Aside from the satisfaction of being able to say "I tracked it right," I'm not sure there's much point.
And yes, DW, my note regarding separating income was to keep it apart from other (taxable) income. My CoA has separate income account trees for each brokerage account (to match 1099 forms), and one single set for all nontaxable income (Income:Untaxed:LT Gains, Income:Untaxed:ST Gains, etc.). David T. On June 4, 2026 9:32:24 PM GMT+05:30, David Warren <[email protected]> wrote: >If you want rules-based "keeping track", I don't think GC is the place for >that. Of course, depending on the complexity you are comfortable with, you >could elect to track an individual Roth IRA with multiple sub-accounts, >including Contributions, or even two accounts for Contributions older than >5 years, more recent Contributions, or even year by year contributions, and >then at the end of each year time period, credit and debit multiple >sub-accounts. I won't do that, but you certainly could. > >On Thu, Jun 4, 2026 at 11:58 AM Clint Chaplin <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Roth distributions MAY be taxable under certain conditions. Contributions >> are always non-taxable when distributed. Roll-overs and conversions when >> distributed may be taxable. And earnings when distributed may also be >> taxable. The taxability depends on age of the contributor (59 1/2 or >> more), age of the contribution (5-year rule) >> >> The IRS has rules about where distributions come from: contributions >> first, then rollovers and conversions, and then earnings. >> >> Thus my question about keeping track of contributions vs. >> rollover/conversions vs. earnings in GnuCash, and if so, how. >> >> On Thu, Jun 4, 2026 at 3:46 AM David Warren <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I track Roth IRAs and my Roth 401(k) the same way I do all of my other >>> broad investment / brokerage accounts: >>> >>> Contributions credit the bank account and debit the Roth IRA. >>> At some periodicity (could be every 3, 6, or 12 mos), I change the >>> investment balances, which in a rising stock market has typically meant >>> debit the Roth IRA, credit Income:Nontaxable Investment Income. (I >>> understand other people may prefer a different credit account; this works >>> for me for tracking. David T says below "earnings are tracked in separate >>> income accounts for tax tracking purposes. Note that *nothing *on Roth >>> IRAs needs to be 'tracked' or reported in the USA, but perhaps David T >>> means "separate" from his/my *other *income accounts that do need to be >>> reported.) >>> >>> When I eventually take distributions, no, I won't make "extra" entries to >>> track for the IRS, I will simply credit the Roth IRA account and debit the >>> asset account where I have sent the distribution. >>> >>> Note that this is less involved than what I would do if I had REGULAR >>> IRAs or 401(k)s, as there I would be tracking eventual tax liabilities on >>> growth in those accounts, and then when I eventually take Required >>> Distributions, then the portion of the distribution that is taxable I would >>> track into a taxable income account. Here's an example for a REGULAR IRA. >>> Say the account balance was $500,000 at 2029-12-31 and I was required to >>> withdraw 5% of it per the tax code in 2032. When I take that $25,000 >>> required withdrawal, I would record it as: >>> >>> Credit Regular IRA $25,000 >>> Debit Brokerage Account $25,000 [these two record the transfer of assets] >>> Credit Income:Taxable:IRA withdrawal $20,000 [this presumes a calculation >>> that my tax basis in the IRA as of the withdrawal date was 100,000, or 20% >>> of the balance] >>> Debit Income:Nontaxable:IRA Deferred Growth $20,000 >>> Credit Liabilities:Taxes Due this year $8,000 [at 40% tax rate] >>> Debit Liabilities:Deferred Taxes on IRAs $8,000 (this account would have >>> been credited every year as the IRA grew from investment earnings) >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2026 at 2:29 AM David T. via gnucash-user < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Clint, >>>> >>>> I don't see any other replies, so... >>>> >>>> Our family has four Roth accounts-- one each for an IRA and an employer >>>> retirement plan. I track all the contributions and earnings for those >>>> accounts* (we haven't yet taken distributions **). That way, I can see >>>> generally what our retirement savings look like. >>>> >>>> Tracking actual daily value for these accounts is, frankly, more trouble >>>> than it's worth. Our retirement plans mask the investment details, and only >>>> provide generalized data, which makes tracking difficult. So, I mostly >>>> check that the share balances are correct from year to year. This gives me >>>> a broad sense of our progress toward the long term goals. >>>> >>>> HTH, >>>> David T. >>>> >>>> * - Contributions are handled as standard transactions between asset >>>> accounts, while earnings are tracked in separate income accounts for tax >>>> tracking purposes. >>>> >>>> ** - IANAA, but I understand that when distributions are made, extra >>>> entries must be made in GnuCash to allow you to track the distribution as >>>> income for IRS tracking. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On June 3, 2026 9:22:21 PM GMT+05:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >For those of you using GnuCash and having Roth accounts, do you use >>>> GnuCash >>>> >to keep track of contributions vs. rollover/conversions vs. earnings, >>>> and >>>> >if so, how? >>>> > >>>> >-- >>>> >Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin >>>> >_______________________________________________ >>>> >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. >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> 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. >>>> >>> >> >> -- >> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin >> _______________________________________________ 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. 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