[Features for gnucash-1.6?]]

[Rich Shepard]

On 27 Mar 2001, Chris Shenton wrote:

> Yes please! This would be a big win for new users, especially those
> like me who didn't quite get the double-entry and how you could create
> money for the initial balances.

Chris,

  Double-entry actually makes more sense than alternative systems when you
stop to think about it. Every addition to your checking account must come
from somewhere, correct? So, when you make a deposit in the bank and record
it in gnucash, you specify the _source_ of the money (salary, refund,
miscellaneous income, etc.) and the _destination_ (checking, savings, etc.).
That's the double entry.

  For every expenditure, you record the _source_ (checking, savings, petty
cash, etc.) and the _destination_ (i.e., account) of the recipient
(groceries, mortgage, sports equipment, etc.). You probably already do this
on your manual bookkeeping, but you do it either mentally ("I know that this
payee represents an insurance expense") or in the memo field of the check.
Double-entry bookkeeping means only that you are forced to do the same
source-destination recording for every transaction.

HTH,

Rich

Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President

                       Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
            2404 SW 22nd Street | Troutdale, OR 97060-1247 | U.S.A.
 + 1 503-667-4517 (voice) | + 1 503-667-8863 (fax) | rshepard@appl-ecosys.com