assets, etc. more newbie questions

[Wesley Sheldahl]

Keep in mind there are *four* main sorts of accounts in GnuCash, not just
two.  Assets and Liabilities are both things you hold for at least a little
while--long enought to notice.  Income and Expense accounts keep track of
where money you get comes from, and where the money goes when you spend it.
 When you figure your net worth, you add up all your assets, then subtract
your liabilities.  Whatever is left over is your net worth.  It's generally
just a snapshot of a moment in time, and shows up on the "Balance Sheet." 
Income and expense show up on the Profit/Loss report.  As far as I can
tell, this just measures whether you earned more than you spent during a
given time period.  If this is negative in the short term, that might be ok
if you took money out of savings to buy something.  If its consistent in
the long term, then you're probably getting deeper in debt.

Hope this helps.  If I messed anything up in the above, hopefully someone
else on the list will jump in and correct me.  Thanks!

On 2001.03.30 11:30 Brian Craft wrote:
> Ok, some more simple questions:
> 
> Seems like "assets" are things you hold long-term, while expenses are
> things
> you consume. So (from the perspective of your bank account) a book would
> be a
> transfer to an asset, and toothpaste would be a transfer to an expense
> account.
> 
> Is that right?
> 

-- 
Wes Sheldahl
wsheldahl@qx.net