First steps wtih Double-Entry bookkeeping

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

I highly recommend that you read the Concepts and Tutorial Guide
at <http://www.gnucash.org> because it explains all this.

To do what you want to create an Opening Balance transaction
between the Asset/Liability and an Equity account, usually
Equity:Opening Balances.  Just make sure the debits and credits
are correct so the money flows in the right direction.

-derek

Quoting Daniel Carrera <daniel.carrera at zmsl.com>:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm just starting out in the neat and wonderful world of double-entry
> bookkeeping. This is my first experience with GnuCash, and I have a
> conceptual problem:
>
> I am not starting from zero. I already have assets and I already have
> liabilities. How do I enter those?
>
> For example, my largest liability is a student loan that was retrieved
> over a period of 4-5 years to pay for many courses. I've made some of
> it, and much of it remains to be paid. If I had started using GnuCash 11
> years ago, I would have a long trail of university-related expenses to
> match a growing liability account. But I can't possibly recreate that
> today.
>
> How can I start my accounts book so that on "Day 1" I have $90 in my
> wallet, $2,000 in bank account A, $4,000 in bank account B and $15,000
> in a student loan?
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
> Cheers,
> Daniel.
> -- English is essentially French converted to 7-bit ASCII.
>



-- 
       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