Catagories or accounts

Doug Laidlaw laidlaws at hotkey.net.au
Thu Nov 11 07:17:18 EST 2004


Quicken has a lot of lists that can be called up and edited.  For example, 
transactions are "memorized" so that they can be used again for quick entry.  
This list eventually gets a mess and needs to be cleaned up.  For this 
purpose, the list can be displayed and edited.

There is a list of accounts, and a list of categories.  As you have explained, 
the list of accounts in Quicken includes only assets and liabilities (and 
provisions) -  the categories are really income and expense accounts, so in 
Gnucash, they form part of the list of accounts.  For example, in Quicken I 
had a category for Groceries.  In Gnucash, that is an expense account.  I had 
a bit of accounting training, but I can fully understand that anybody with 
none, will face a bit of a hurdle in understanding the differences.  For the 
person with only a checkbook, it seems a bit of "overkill", but for an 
accountant, or a businessman who has one, it is the correct way of doing 
things.

HTH,

Doug.
 
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 08:51 am, Derek Atkins wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Phil Scherzinger <pscherz at earthlink.net> writes:
> > Need some help and an explanation.  I come from a Quicken
> > background, so patience please.  I am looking through the list of
> > catagories, and find I would like to either edit, delete or add to
> > them.  Can I? if so, how.
>
> First, a bit of terminology.  There are no "categories" in GnuCash.
> Gnucash ONLY has accounts.  What quicken labels categories are just
> "income" and "expense" accounts in gnucash.
>
> Having said that...  Which "list of categories" do you mean?  Do you
> mean the list in the New Hierarchy Druid (the one you get when you
> run File -> New File or when you first started?).
>
> The short answer is "yes", you can edit the account list, but only
> after you've created your actual data file.  Once you've created your
> Chart of Accounts you can add/edit/delete to your heart's content.
>
> > Also, and this borders on an accounting question, when do I want to
> > use an account vs a catagory?
>
> See above explanation about gnucash accounts....
>
> -derek

-- 

 #!/bin/sh
LOBOUND=1
HIBOUND=75
RANDMAX=32767
BINUMBER=$(( $LOBOUND + ($HIBOUND * $RANDOM) / ($RANDMAX + 1)))

echo "ICQ Number 178748389. Registered Linux User No. 277548."
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fi

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echo " - Alan Paton."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "3" ]; then
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echo "	- Robert M. Persig"
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "4" ]; then
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fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "5" ]; then
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fi


if [ "$BINUMBER" = "6" ]; then
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echo "- Irving Berlin."	
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "7" ]; then
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fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "8" ]; then
echo "Anger is one letter away from danger."
echo "	- Eleanor Roosevelt."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "9" ]; then

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echo "(s)he is just brave five minutes longer."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "10" ]; then
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echo "Pure as an angel, sweet as love."
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fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "11" ]; then
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echo "	-- Horace Walpole, 1769."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "12" ]; then
echo "Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven"
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if [ "$BINUMBER" = "13" ]; then
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if [ "$BINUMBER" = "14" ]; then
echo "Life is just one damned thing after another."
echo "	-- Elbert Hubbard."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "15" ]; then
echo "The less we are attached to life, the more alive we can become."
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if [ "$BINUMBER" = "16" ]; then
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if [ "$BINUMBER" = "17" ]; then
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echo "Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors."
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fi

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echo "You should never put on your best trousers when you go out to fight for 
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echo "  --Henrik Ibsen."
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fi

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fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "22" ]; then
echo "It's all right letting yourself go as long as you can let yourself 
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echo "  -- Mick Jagger."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "23" ]; then
echo "Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never 
were and say: Why not?"
echo "	- Robert Kennedy."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "24" ]; then
echo "Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."
echo "	- Robert F. Kennedy."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "25" ]; then
echo "Where's the man could ease a heart"
echo "Like a satin gown?"
echo "--Dorothy Parker, who also said: Women and elephants never forget."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "26" ]; then
echo "Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied."
echo "	--Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor."
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if [ "$BINUMBER" = "27" ]; then
echo "Things should be made as simple as possible - no simpler."
echo "	--Albert Einstein."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "28" ]; then
echo "Here lies one who meant well, tried a little, failed much:- "
echo "surely that may be his epitaph, of which he need not be ashamed."
echo "	-R.L. Stevenson."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "29" ]; then
echo "But I grow old, always learning many things."
echo "	-- Solon, Greek lawgiver, 6th cent. B.C."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "30" ]; then
echo "The complete truth is not the prerogative of the human judge."
echo " - Judge Meir Shamgar."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "31" ]; then
echo "Love can heal the world, and forgiveness is the catalyst to make it 
happen."
echo " - John Gray, author of Men are from Mars, women are from Venus."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "32" ]; then
echo "Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes."
echo "	- Henry J. Kaiser."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "33" ]; then
echo "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change."
echo "	- Bret Harte."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "34" ]; then
echo "Who begins too much accomplishes little."
echo "	- German proverb."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "35" ]; then
echo "When the doors of perception are cleansed everything appears as it truly 
is - infinite."
echo "	- William Blake."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "36" ]; then
echo "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."
echo "	- Henry David Thoreau."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "37" ]; then
echo "It takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow."
echo "	- Caption to a motivational picture."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "38" ]; then
echo "Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have 
trouble remembering how to fly."
echo "	- Anonymous."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "39" ]; then
echo "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
echo "- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943"
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "40" ]; then
echo "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."
echo "- Indira Gandhi."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "41" ]; then
echo "The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it."
echo "	- MichDiogenesel de Montaigne."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "42" ]; then
echo "To know the road ahead, ask those coming back."
echo "  - Chinese Proverb."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "43" ]; then
echo "A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should 
survey the world."
echo "  - George Santayana."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "44" ]; then
echo "Love doesn't make the world go 'round, love is what makes the ride 
worthwhile."
echo "	- Franklin P. Adams (1881-1960)."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "45" ]; then
echo "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
echo "	- Thomas Jefferson."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "46" ]; then
echo "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
echo "	- Thomas Edison."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "47" ]; then
echo "No one goes there nowadays, it's too crowded."
echo "	- Yogi Berra."
fi


if [ "$BINUMBER" = "48" ]; then
echo "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to 
yours."
echo "	- Yogi Berra."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "49" ]; then
echo "People want economy and they will pay any price to get it."
echo "	- Lee Iacocca."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "50" ]; then
echo "Let's explore.  If we don't find something pleasant, we will at least 
find something new."
echo "	- Voltaire."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "51" ]; then
echo "Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right."
echo "	- Isaac Asimov."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "52" ]; then
echo "I have spread my dreams under your feet;"
echo "Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams."
echo "	- W.B. Yeats."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "53" ]; then
echo "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears."
echo "	- John Vance Cheney."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "54" ]; then
echo "Who does the best his circumstance allows"
echo "Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more."
echo "	- Edward Young."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "55" ]; then
echo "We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why don't we legalize it and 
then tax it out of business."
echo "	- Will Rogers."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "56" ]; then
echo "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when 
there is nothing left to take away."
echo "	- Antoine de Saint Exupery."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "57" ]; then
echo "Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."
echo "- Albert Schweitzer."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "58" ]; then
echo "Don't label people. A label is a mask life wears."
echo "- Rachel Naomi Remen."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "59" ]; then
echo "This thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the 
staying down."
echo "	- Mary Pickford."
fi
 
if [ "$BINUMBER" = "60" ]; then
echo "A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends."
echo "	- Baltasar Gracian."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "61" ]; then
echo "He who says that a thing cannot be done is likely to be interrupted by 
the person doing it."
echo "	- Chinese proverb."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "62" ]; then
echo "Imagine all the people living for today."
echo "	- John Lennon."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "63" ]; then
echo "On the one hand, we'll never experience childbirth. On the other hand, 
we can open all our own jars."
echo "	- Jeff Green."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "64" ]; then
echo "There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn't matter who 
gets the credit."
echo "	- Emerson."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "65" ]; then
echo "Remember that happiness is a way of travel - not a destination."
echo "	- Roy M. Goodman."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "66" ]; then
echo "As you grow older, you'll discover that you have two hands: One for 
helping yourself, the second for helping others."
echo "	- Author Unknown (Attributed to Audrey Hepburn)."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "67" ]; then
echo "Spare no expense to save money on this one."
echo "	- Samuel Goldwyn."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "68" ]; then
echo "Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even."
echo " - Horace (65-8 B.C.)"
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "69" ]; then
echo "There is nothing so strong or safe, in any emergency of life, as simple 
truth."
echo "	- Charles Dickens"
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "70" ]; then
echo "The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it."
echo "	- Dudley Moore."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "71" ]; then
echo "Life is like going to the dentist.   You think that the worst is yet to
come, and already the worst is over."
echo "	--Otto von Bismarck."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "72" ]; then
echo "Life is a fatal complaint, and an eminently contagious one."
echo "  - Oliver Wendell Holmes."
fi

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "73" ]; then
echo "Laughter is healing ... it washes away the pain."
echo "	- a sufferer from breast cancer."
fi
  
if [ "$BINUMBER" = "74" ]; then
echo "It's taken me all my life to understand that it is not necessary to 
understand everything."
echo "    - Rene Coty."
fi 

if [ "$BINUMBER" = "75" ]; then
echo "Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you 
can."
echo "    - Danny Kaye."
fi



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