Selling an old car...

[Beth Leonard]

On Mon, Jun 26, 2006 at 01:20:51AM -0400, Lincoln A. Baxter wrote:
> I intend to deposit the proceeds into my checking account.  The problem
> is... where should I have accounted for the value (asset) of this old
> car.  

Equity:Opening Balances
Assets:Fixed Assets:Old Car

Unless you want to back-track in the depreciation expenses of your
old car, it's easiest to just use the actual value you sold it for.

Now that you've sold it, the money goes into your checking account
from your Assets:Old Car account, bringing the Old Car account back
to $0.  In essence, the money your bank account just received is
for an asset you held before you started, an opening balance asset.

There's a bit on depreciation in the manual if you want to do
it for your next car:
http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v1.8/C/gnucash-guide/dep_example1.html

I also like the cap gains example:
http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v1.8/C/gnucash-guide/capgain_example1.html

--Beth 
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+                             Beth Leonard                          +
+       O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave              +
+       O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?        +
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