Different dates for same transaction

[Derek Atkins]

Quoting Ben Pracht <bpracht at nc.rr.com>:

> I have this problem to a somewhat greater extent.  I try to manage my 
> checking account in such a way that I have as litte cash as necessary 
> for payments, keeping the rest to either pay down debts or for 
> investing.  Unfortunately, if I don't time things the way the bank does, 
> it goes into overdraft which costs money first for the transfer, then 
> interest on an amount larger than I actually needed.

This is what the "cleared" field is for.  Put the transaction for the date you
"promise" the funds (i.e., the date you write the check, the day you initiate
the transfer, etc).  When the fund actually clears you account then mark the
transaction "cleared" in the reconcile field.  Then look at your "cleared
balance" in the account summary bar and you'll see that the cleared amount
equals the actual balance in the account.

> Further, my credit card is due on the 15th, but they actually draft on 
> the 20th or the 21st, then back date it for their records to the 15th.  
> I can work around this, but it would be nice to have the program note 
> date differences.  Yes, reconciliation still works, but it makes cash 
> management more difficult if you can't get the banks dates to agree with 
> the dates entered.

Why do you care, exactly?   See above about how to use the reconciled field's
"cleared" status to do what you want.

> As for the date entered, it appears that it is intended to be the 
> transaction date, not the date the gnucash user posted it, as previously 
> stated.  I say that because their's a separate date field in the data 
> file which says something like date entered. 

The "date entered" in the transaction object is the actual real-time date/time
you create the transaction.  If you enter a transaction into gnucash on
2005-02-10 at 12:57:26 EST, that's the time that's put into the "date entered"
field.  The "date" field is what you see in the register, and it's supposed to
be the date you initiated the transaction (NOT the date it posts to your
account).  E.g. it's the date you write the check, or the date you initiate the
direct-deposit, etc.

There's also a "reconciled date" which is the date you reconciled the
transaction.  Unfortunately there's no "cleared date" at this time, to mark
when the transaction actually cleared the account.

> Ben

-derek

-- 
       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