QIF syntax question

[Paul Lussier]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of inputting several months of bank transactions 
(debit card purchases, ATM receipts, etc.) into GnuCash.

Since I have a lot to do, I figured that the GnuCash GUI would likely 
slow me down some (too much pointing/clicking required) and opted to 
create a QIF file of all the transactions.  It took me about 10 
minutes or so to create keyboard shortcuts for both account names and 
payee descriptions in emacs, as well as a qif entry template.  So 
there I was speeding along last night entering my transactions, when 
it donned on me that I wasn't sure of the actual format for split 
transactions in qif.

What I've been doing is something similar to:

	D01/01/01
	N
	PPackage Store
	MBeer
	T-20.00
	SExpenses:Food:Beer
	$-18.00
	SExpenses:Bottle Deposit
	$-2.00
	^

However, when looking at some other .qif files I had laying around 
later, I noticed that all the transactions containing splits also had 
an 'L' account specified.  So, my questions are:  Do I need an 'L' 
account specified, and if so, what account name would be placed there?
In the example above, would it be a re-iteration of the E:F:Beer 
account, or would it be the account the money is being taken from?
	
Thanks for any insight on this :)
-- 

Seeya,
Paul
----

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