Beginner's question

[Fred Frazelle]

Beth Leonard wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 21, 2007 at 06:55:27PM -0800, FamiliaFrazelle wrote:
>   
>> i'm a first time user and do not use a checkbook, only credit cards.  My
>> salary from work is deposited directly into my savings acct.
>>
>> Is this entered as a Deposit or a Withdrawal?
>>     
>
> Short answer:
> It's a deposit to your savings account (occurs in the left column)
>    AND
> It's income to your "Income:Salary" account (occurs in the right column)
>
> Long answer:
>
> Gnucash uses what's called "Double Entry Bookkeeping"  This means
> that money is never created or destroyed, it only changes accounts.
>
> So, when your work deposits money into your bank account, two
> gnucash accounts are affected.  You can name those two accounts
> anything you like, but if you use the default names then it's
> easier for others to understand your questions.
>
> Getting the default names:
> When you start Gnucash, you can go to File->New->New File
> and it will give you a "New Account Hierarchy Setup" druid.
> Choose your currency, and then select "Common Accounts"  That's
> probably the easiest way to get started.  You could uncheck
> "Common Accounts" and instead check "A Simple Checkbook" but
> I think "Common Accounts" is much more useful than "A Simple Checkbook"
>
> Recording your salary:
> Assuming you have the common accounts defined, if you want to record
> that your work has deposited your salary into your savings account,
> Click on Assets:Current Assets:Savings Account.
>
> This brings up the register tab for your savings account.  In the
> Description field enter "Salary from Job A"
>
> In the Transfer field click on "Income:Salary".  The shortcut for
> this is after you are done typing "Salary from Job A" hit the tab
> key, then type the letter 'i' followed by a ':' followed by 's'
> then tab again.  This will put you in the deposit row.  Enter how
> much money they gave you (assume $1000 for this example) and hit
> return.
>
> Now your bank account balance will show that it's gone up by the
> amount of your Salary.
>
> If you go back to the "Accounts" tab, and open up by double-clicking
> the "Income:Salary" tab, you will also see that your Salary account
> now has an entry that was automatically put there for $1000.  It's
> properly in the "Income" column on the right.
>
>  
>   
>> If i wish to set up an income account, such as MyJob, and from this
>> transfer the money to the savings acct., above, when i deposit to MyJob,
>> is this a Charge or Income?
>>     
>
> As stated above, it will show up automatically as Income if you entered
> it from your bank account's tab.  If you wish to enter it from the
> "Income:Salary" tab instead, you'd put your income in the "income"
> column, and choose the transfer account to be
> "Assets:Current Assets:Savings Account" (a:c:s for short)
>
> Once you've entred your salary once for one paycheck, if you use
> the same description the next time, Gnucash will auto-prefill the
> columns for you.
>
>   
>> i think that if i can get these two questions answered, i'll have enough
>> to proceed.  My head aches from trying to understand this and this is
>> such a great looking program that i'd really like to be able to use it.
>>     
>
> It is very hard to understand at first, but Soooo useful once you get
> the hang of it.  You can import credit card statements on the computer
> into gnucash and it totals up where all your money is being spent, etc.
>
>   
>> Thanks for any help and have a great evening!  :)
>>     
>
> If you need more help, just ask -- but if you reply to this message
> don't forget to group-reply.  The default mail behavior is strange
> and doesn't reply to the list automatically.
>
> --Beth 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> +                             Beth Leonard                          +
> +       O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave              +
> +       O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?        +
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>   
Thanks to all who replied!  This answer seems to be the clearest and has 
helped a great deal!  Have a great evening!  :)