How to set up hierarchy for accounts? What is better?

[John Layman]

The account structure can still show you how much is in all savings
accounts, how much is in all checking accounts, and so on.  But each
individual bank account, investment account, etc. is a record-keeping entity
in its own right, so they need also to be an easily identifiable entity in
your own records. If you fracture them into pieces/parts, good luck when it
comes to reconciling your records to those of the institutions!  The example
given of a high-level  IRA umbrella is rather like saying, "I'd like to know
how much I spend using debit cards, so I'll define a Debit Card account,
Checks account and so forth.  As soon as you have more than one checking
account with a debit card, you've got a mish-mash.  This is not just some
matter of personal preference, it's a matter of structuring data so that it
actually resembles the entity it is tracking.

One question asked here was along the lines, "Can I still find out how much
total I have deposited in Bank-X?"  Obviously, no hierarchical structure
like a chart of accounts will ever allow you to group things in every
conceivable combination.  We have plenty of other tools at our disposal to
accomplish that purpose.

"Better implies that one method is superior to another"

Yes, but no one said otherwise. Superior, on the other hand, has more than
one meaning, last time I checked.  Perhaps you should try actually reading
messages before you reply to them?

-----Original Message-----
From: gnucash-user-bounces+john.layman=laymanandlayman.com at gnucash.org
[mailto:gnucash-user-bounces+john.layman=laymanandlayman.com at gnucash.org] On
Behalf Of FireFly
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 6:51 PM
To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org; alfggmb
Subject: Re: How to set up hierarchy for accounts? What is better?

Better implies that one method is superior to another, again it really
depends what you are looking for

Personally, I like to know how much is in my savings (in total) regardless
of what institution it's held with vs knowing how much of my money any
particular institution holds. However your needs may be different.

- James Duerr

E-mail: FireFlys_98 at yahoo.com
---------------------
Discover a lost art - play Marbles. May 2004 www.marillion.com


--- On Fri, 3/18/11, alfggmb <alfggmb at verizon.net> wrote:

> From: alfggmb <alfggmb at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: How to set up hierarchy for accounts? What is better?
> To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> Date: Friday, March 18, 2011, 10:25 PM I guess analagously then it is 
> better to use  Savings Account:[bankname]:account#  than 
> Banks:[bankname]:Savings account:
> account#??
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> View this message in context: 
> http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/How-to-set-up-hierarchy-for-accou
> nts-What-is-better-tp3386171p3389075.html
> Sent from the GnuCash - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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