GNU cash 2.4.11 trial balance bug?

[Mike or Penny Novack]

> Although it is possible to set the date options in the Trial Balance report, experiments suggest that the start date is always the start of the year before the report date you have chosen.

Frankly, I don't understand this "start date" business. Of course 
gnucash sometimes uses unfamiliar names for reports, but the "trial 
balance" I remember from the days of pen and ink on paper was a 
"snapshot" of the state of the ledger at some point in time. In other 
words, like a Balance Sheet report (just the "standing" ledger accounts 
at some point in time). Thus an effective date, but no "start date".

The old pen and ink on paper process, you did a trial balance to make 
sure you had no "out of balance" errors before closing the books 
(immediately after closing the books a Balance Sheet report is 
equivalent to a "trial balance" since all the temporary accounts should 
have zero balances). Also done more frequently to pick up any errors 
since the last time done. Doing it by hand, errors were common, and all 
sorts of tricks to find the offending entry based on the amount by which 
the trail balance was out of balance.

I haven't used the report since I can't see what for; the computer will 
not make the sort of mistake the trial balance was used to detect. Maybe 
somebody who is using this report could explain what they are doing with it.

Michael D Novack

-- 
There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality of the grave.