OFX import

[David Reiser]

On Jul 6, 2009, at 11:22 PM, Brad Haack wrote:

> I didn't get any response on the user list, so I'm posting it here  
> also
>
> I turned off bayesian matching & it doesn't seem to make any  
> difference
>
> GC 2.2.6
>
>
> I'm trying to import investment dividends and transactions with the  
> OFX
> import feature.   The Generic Import Transaction Matcher doesn't  
> give me
> any option to pick what accounts to use, doesn't show me what accounts
> it's going to use, and often uses the wrong accounts.  What am I doing
> wrong?
>
>

An OFX file is defined by specification to contain transactions from  
only one account. The ofx tag <ACCTID> (or very similar) identifies  
the account for one side of every transaction in the file. If you have  
ever imported an ofx file containing the same <ACCTID>, then you have  
already told gnucash what account is associated with the split common  
to all transactions in the file. Gnucash will not ask a second time if  
it already has an internal account match for a given <ACCTID> from an  
ofx file.

Also, the first time you import a dividend transaction for a security,  
gnucash asks you to identify an income account associated with a given  
stock/mutual fund. You have to be attentive, because the dialog  
details look a lot like other similar dialogs, and I find it too easy  
to pick the wrong account instead of an income account. Once you have  
specified an income account associated with a stock, gnucash won't ask  
you again (you already told it where the dividend income belongs...).

I suspect that part of the reason it isn't asking you for accounts is  
that you told it something in previous imports. If you told it  
something that is incorrect, fixing it is a challenge since there  
isn't a user interface for those 'settings'. I think you're looking at  
having to edit the raw xml data, but work with a copy and be very  
careful.

Dave
--
David Reiser
dbreiser at earthlink.net