Newbie questions

[warlord at MIT.EDU]

Rory Campbell-Lange <rory at campbell-lange.net> writes:

> Thanks very much for your help, Derek and John.
>
> The question I am still unclear about is:
>
>     Similarly, is it possible to define a default transaction for any
>     imported data when imported to a particular account?
>
> I imagine when inserting 300 records from my bank account download file,
> it would be good to have these by default debit against
> Business->Expenses or something and credit against Business->Creditors
> or something. (You can tell I'm confused!).

Aha, that's what you mean.  When you import a specific account, you
automatically attach it to one GnuCash account (i.e. the GnuCash
representation of your Bank account).  The "other end" of each
transaction will get matched based on a number of criteria.  No, there
is no way to set a default; you have to manually go through an set the
"far account" on each transaction.

> Finally, do you consider gnucash something you could run a small
> business on without too much trouble? My experience with open source
> software has been overwhelmingly positive, however I need to be prudent
> because my business depends on my knowing what its financial position
> is.

I use it to manage the finances of my consulting company.  That's
why I wrote the business features ;)

> Thanks again,
> Rory

-derek

> On 04/11/03, John Reynolds (gnucash at reynj.fastmail.fm) wrote:
>> On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 13:03:48 +0000, "Rory Campbell-Lange"
>> <rory at campbell-lange.net> said:
>
>> > 1. Import and Export
>> > --------------------
>
>> Currently GC will only import the following formats, QIF, OFX/QFX, and
>> HCBI. No .cvs
>> 
>> > I'd like to know how easy it is to export data to csv or something like
>> > that. My accountant uses Excel and I'd like to back my accounts up to
>> > postgres. 
>> 
>> No export to .cvs either. You could write an .xslt to transform the
>> .xml (default GC data file format) to something else. 
>
>> There is a postgres backend, but the current version does not support the
>> "Business" functions (customers, invoice, etc). A DB back end is being
>> actively worked on by the developers.
>
> I'll use postgres then, as one can use Perl's Spreadsheet::WriteExcel to
> quickly write an excel file out. Hope the relationships are clear!
>
>> > I've had a look at the format of the gnucash data file and I'm
>> > confident I could at least extract my data using Perl. However I'd
>> > prefer not to have to reinvent the wheel!
>> 
>> Maybe someone will offer up something they have already done... or you
>> will do it and offer it back for inclusion in an "extras" folder for
>> distribution.
>
> Well, you have me intruiged by the idea of the postgres backend -- quite
> easy to push data in and out of the database. How to get gnucash to
> accept newly added data will be the question.
>
>> > 2. VAT
>> > ------
>> > Do I have to do a transaction split on every VATable item to render
>> > it to a VAT account?
>> 
>> Yes. 
>> 
>> > 3. Dealing with imported data
>> > -----------------------------
>> > 
>> > I have a personal bank account for which I would like all the data to be
>> > simply imported, and not be required to run a transaction against each
>> > entry. Is this possible to achieve?
>> 
>> Not sure what your asking... but remember that GC follows Double-Entry
>> Accounting principles. If you just want to omit certain txn during
>> import, I believe you can mark them and they will be skipped.
>
> I think I was thinking of not always using double entry. Not a sensible
> question, as that is the point of using the package, isn't it!
>
>> > Is it possible to detect duplicate data entries on import? (i.e. when I
>> > have data from the same dates mistakenly imported twice.)
>
>> The QIF importer does not do a great job of matching. If you can, use the
>> OFX/QFX option.
>
>> > 4. Fonts
>> > --------
>
>> Fortunately I use a distro that covers most of that for me.
>
> Ah well. There has to be one downside to Debian!
>
> On 04/11/03, warlord at MIT.EDU (warlord at MIT.EDU) wrote:
>> Rory Campbell-Lange <rory at campbell-lange.net> writes:
>> 
>> > 1. Import and Export
>> > --------------------
>
>> GnuCash cannot import a csv or tab format file.
>> 
>
>> > that. My accountant uses Excel and I'd like to back my accounts up to
>> > postgres. 
>> 
>> You could write a report to generate the HTML table and export it that
>> way, but there is no QIF/CSV/TAB export, either.  Also note that
>> postgres does NOT support any of the business features
>> (customer/vendors, invoices/bills, etc).  So if you plan to use the
>> business features, you're (currently) stuck with the lame XML file
>> format.
>
> I think I'll try the postgres backend as I develop with postgres, and
> not try the business features.
>
>> > In the UK most transactions require VAT to be paid at 17.5%, which is
>> > then recouped by Customs and Excise. Do I have to do a transaction split
>> > on every VATable item to render it to a VAT account?
>> 
>> Yes, this is how you have to do it unless you use the Tax Table
>> support in the Invoice/Bill features.
>
> Thanks for the confirmation.
>
>> > 3. Dealing with imported data
>> > -----------------------------
>> >
>> > I have a personal bank account for which I would like all the data to be
>> > simply imported, and not be required to run a transaction against each
>> > entry. Is this possible to achieve?
>> 
>> I dont understand...  Could you rephrase the question?
>
> I was talking of circumventing the double-entry system. Clearly not a
> good idea!
>
>> > Similarly, is it possible to define a default transaction for any
>> > imported data when imported to a particular account?
>
>> Again, I don't understand the question...  Are you trying to match
>> an imported transaction to a hand-entered transaction?
>
> No, I was talking of a default transaction, so that I don't have to
> select every account against which 
>
>> > Is it possible to detect duplicate data entries on import? (i.e. when I
>> > have data from the same dates mistakenly imported twice.)
>
>> Yes.
>
>> > 4. Fonts
>> > --------
>
>> This is a problem with gnome1. 
>
> Ah! Thanks.
> -- 
> Rory Campbell-Lange 
> <rory at campbell-lange.net>
> <www.campbell-lange.net>
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>
>

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available