Re: Merging imported transactions

[Warner Losh]

The problem I have is that the bank has OFX files. But AmEx and PayPal do
not (well, AmEx does, but I'd have to pay extra and it's for a business
that's not making enough money to pay extra). I've hacked together some
python code so I can import transactions this way via csv lists (which I
wish there was an option to say 'use line 1 for the headings, they match
the strings you are expecting'). I don't want to DELETE one of the
transactions, I want to MERGE them. Why? Because the Bank side of the
transaction has the bank's confirmation number and some other information.
And the other side of the transaction has things like who the seller was
and what I bought. I'd like both bits of information preserved. And trying
to cut and paste between notes has proven to be somewhat difficult due to
GTK "issues"

I was able to do the QucikBooks 2007 -> GnuCash migration based on
https://lwn.net/Articles/729087/ coupled with several bug fixes for stupid
things like commas, two digit years, etc. I've been able to automate my
monthly rent transaction posting by copying old transactions and setting
the date. I haven't found a good python OFX parser yet, or I'd take a stab
at trying to match the transactions as well and create fully-formed entries.

With the OFX importing and python scripts, I was able to catch up with a
year backlog in a couple of hours, despite the difficulties (a chore that
usually takes me days). I'd hoped to find some way to take it a step
further to automate the tedium further (though to do that, I'd need some
kind of spider that downloads the data from three different sources as
well)... Maybe next month i'll try loading the .csv transactions first to
see if that helps...

Warner

On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 8:23 PM, David Carlson 
wrote:

> The OFX import assistant includes a step to match newly imported
> transactions to existing transactions, as you probably noticed.
>
> The problem is that it is error prone and has to be monitored carefully
> during the import process.  I prefer to import a small number of
> transactions at a time so that I am less likely to be overwhelmed.
>
> The program is supposed to learn from previous imports and improve it's
> accuracy eventually, but in my experience it still seems to make a lot of
> mis-matches.  I still end up with duplicates when it fails to find the
> correct match or I just get tired of searching and just let the duplicates
> through.  I am less likely to miss a transaction if I use the import
> assistant, so I continue to use it.
>
> David C
>
> On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 11:00 AM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> I download all my transactions from my back in quickbooks OFX format. I
>> import them into gnu cash. This works well; however, I’ve hit a snag.
>>
>> I have a credit card, a paypal account and a bank account. These all have
>> different formats for downloading the data from, which I can convert to
>> something gnu cash can import. When I do this, though, I have a small
>> problem. The bank account comes in via OFX, so has lots of Imbalance-USD
>> entries. I’ve used this account for the import of some items from the
>> credit card and paypal accounts as well. So I wind up with a transaction in
>> the bank ledger that is a payment to the credit card, but doesn’t credit
>> that account. There’s also a separate transaction in the credit card that’s
>> a payment from the bank, but doesn’t debit the bank account. In a sense,
>> there’s two double entries I’d like to combine to eliminate the
>> Imbalance-USD account entirely since I don’t think that’s a real account
>> and find it sloppy book keeping. Is there anything I can use to merge
>> entries when I’m replying on downloading the bulk of the data rather than
>> entering it myself?
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can give me here.
>>
>> Warner
>>
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>
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Re: Merging imported transactions

[jeffrey black]

Warner:

I may be wrong but: it sounds like the Bayesian matching routine has been 
taught to match these transactions to "Imbalance-USD".  You need to do several 
small imports of ofx/qfx files, from any and all of these financial 
institutions that use ofx/qfx.  The Bayesian matching routine is going to have 
to be "UN-taught" to point at the wrong account.  Do several small imports.  I 
do not know how many transactions you run monthly but; for sake of argument let 
us say import only a half-dozen transactions at a time (over time you can 
increase the number as it learns).  The Bayesian matching routine catches on 
faster that way, short fast lessons not long boring ones.  Since you are 
getting a lot of Imbalance transactions select the "A" box and manually select 
the account where the transaction should go.  After 2 or 3 imports the importer 
should slowly begin to catch on so you can use the "R"econcile option more 
often.  It will help some if you can already have some of the transactions 
already entered manually, and always check to see if the "R"econcile brings up 
the right transaction, if so reward it and select "R"econcile otherwise correct 
it by manually selecting the proper account with the "A" option.  Keep in mind 
you have to double click either side of the "A", "U", "R" box's to see what it 
is matching to.

Right now all it knows is all imported transactions balance with 
"Imbalance-USD".  Think of it as a 2 year old who's favorite word is "NO", 
latter it will be "CAN I HAVE THIS ONE?".  Until it "learns" to associate a 
specific payer to a specific payee you will have to manually assign each 
transaction with the "A" option.  Like David said, the matching routine is not 
perfect so you need to double check each transaction as you accept the match.

QIF works a lot differently.  And when you get to importing PayPal at 
individual transaction level, well  aspirin and a ball bat help.

--JEffrey Black M.B.A.






From: gnucash-user 
<gnucash-user-bounces+beastmaster126=hotmail@gnucash.org> on behalf of 
David Carlson <david.carlson@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2017 9:23 PM
To: Warner Losh
Cc: gnucash-user@gnucash.org
Subject: Re: Merging imported transactions

The OFX import assistant includes a step to match newly imported
transactions to existing transactions, as you probably noticed.

The problem is that it is error prone and has to be monitored carefully
during the import process.  I prefer to import a small number of
transactions at a time so that I am less likely to be overwhelmed.

The program is supposed to learn from previous imports and improve it's
accuracy eventually, but in my experience it still seems to make a lot of
mis-matches.  I still end up with duplicates when it fails to find the
correct match or I just get tired of searching and just let the duplicates
through.  I am less likely to miss a transaction if I use the import
assistant, so I continue to use it.

David C

On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 11:00 AM, Warner Losh <wl...@bsdimp.com> wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I download all my transactions from my back in quickbooks OFX format. I
> import them into gnu cash. This works well; however, I’ve hit a snag.
>
> I have a credit card, a paypal account and a bank account. These all have
> different formats for downloading the data from, which I can convert to
> something gnu cash can import. When I do this, though, I have a small
> problem. The bank account comes in via OFX, so has lots of Imbalance-USD
> entries. I’ve used this account for the import of some items from the
> credit card and paypal accounts as well. So I wind up with a transaction in
> the bank ledger that is a payment to the credit card, but doesn’t credit
> that account. There’s also a separate transaction in the credit card that’s
> a payment from the bank, but doesn’t debit the bank account. In a sense,
> there’s two double entries I’d like to combine to eliminate the
> Imbalance-USD account entirely since I don’t think that’s a real account
> and find it sloppy book keeping. Is there anything I can use to merge
> entries when I’m replying on downloading the bulk of the data rather than
> entering it myself?
>
> Thanks for any help you can give me here.
>
> Warner
>
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Re: Merging imported transactions

[David Carlson]

The OFX import assistant includes a step to match newly imported
transactions to existing transactions, as you probably noticed.

The problem is that it is error prone and has to be monitored carefully
during the import process.  I prefer to import a small number of
transactions at a time so that I am less likely to be overwhelmed.

The program is supposed to learn from previous imports and improve it's
accuracy eventually, but in my experience it still seems to make a lot of
mis-matches.  I still end up with duplicates when it fails to find the
correct match or I just get tired of searching and just let the duplicates
through.  I am less likely to miss a transaction if I use the import
assistant, so I continue to use it.

David C

On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 11:00 AM, Warner Losh  wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I download all my transactions from my back in quickbooks OFX format. I
> import them into gnu cash. This works well; however, I’ve hit a snag.
>
> I have a credit card, a paypal account and a bank account. These all have
> different formats for downloading the data from, which I can convert to
> something gnu cash can import. When I do this, though, I have a small
> problem. The bank account comes in via OFX, so has lots of Imbalance-USD
> entries. I’ve used this account for the import of some items from the
> credit card and paypal accounts as well. So I wind up with a transaction in
> the bank ledger that is a payment to the credit card, but doesn’t credit
> that account. There’s also a separate transaction in the credit card that’s
> a payment from the bank, but doesn’t debit the bank account. In a sense,
> there’s two double entries I’d like to combine to eliminate the
> Imbalance-USD account entirely since I don’t think that’s a real account
> and find it sloppy book keeping. Is there anything I can use to merge
> entries when I’m replying on downloading the bulk of the data rather than
> entering it myself?
>
> Thanks for any help you can give me here.
>
> Warner
>
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Merging imported transactions

[Warner Losh]

Greetings,

I download all my transactions from my back in quickbooks OFX format. I import 
them into gnu cash. This works well; however, I’ve hit a snag.

I have a credit card, a paypal account and a bank account. These all have 
different formats for downloading the data from, which I can convert to 
something gnu cash can import. When I do this, though, I have a small problem. 
The bank account comes in via OFX, so has lots of Imbalance-USD entries. I’ve 
used this account for the import of some items from the credit card and paypal 
accounts as well. So I wind up with a transaction in the bank ledger that is a 
payment to the credit card, but doesn’t credit that account. There’s also a 
separate transaction in the credit card that’s a payment from the bank, but 
doesn’t debit the bank account. In a sense, there’s two double entries I’d like 
to combine to eliminate the Imbalance-USD account entirely since I don’t think 
that’s a real account and find it sloppy book keeping. Is there anything I can 
use to merge entries when I’m replying on downloading the bulk of the data 
rather than entering it myself?

Thanks for any help you can give me here.

Warner


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