Joint Asset in an Individual Chart of Accounts

[Paul Schwartz]

If you are expecting to treat this as a business, then it might be better to have it in its own COA. If not, then just do what makes the most sense to you. Accounting is a lot like law, there are rarely absolute right and wrong answers.

Just MNSHO, IANAA/L

Paul



----- Original Message ----
> From: Lincoln A. Baxter <lab at lincolnbaxter.com>
> To: gnucash-user <gnucash-user at lists.gnucash.org>
> Sent: Monday, August 4, 2008 8:18:52 AM
> Subject: Joint Asset in an Individual Chart of Accounts
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> I have been using Gnucash for going on 4 years now. I manage my personal
> accounts and assets.  Great software. I love the rigor provided by the
> double entry accounting system. 
> 
> My partner (who does not use gnucash) and I account for our assets
> individually.  She is not a GC user.  I account for our shared expenses
> via assests:owed_to_me accounts. When we split expenses the cost of the
> expense gets gets split between the my expense account and the assests
> account for what she owes me, and then she writes me a check which
> Zero's out the owed to me asset.  It works great.
> 
> Now I have an "interesting" problem: Recently we bought a second home in
> both of our names, which we will be "renting" to her son (and some
> roommates).  The property is jointly owned property, and I am trying get
> clear in my head a clean way to account for for this.
> 
> I'v just about to set this up in GC, and currently have a Expense (soon
> probably multiple expenses), an Assets, and soon, a Liabilities account
> (for the Mortgage), as well as an Income Account (for the "rent"), named
> for this property.  What I am struggling with, and why am writing the
> message, is how to account for the fact that I have 50% not 100%
> ownership in this property:
> 
> 1) I could create a Liability account that represents my partner's share
> of the Assets, and then transfer 50% of the assets into that account,
> periodically. That is how I think I would handle her share of the down
> payment for instance.  (I am leaning this way)
> 
> or,
> 
> 2) I could create a separate set of books for this property, and
> periodically adjust my assests by the amounts in the other books.  The
> problem is I want to manage this through my checking account, and that
> would require more cross books accounting complexity than I think I
> want.  
> 
> Does anyone on this list have any other suggestions or experience with
> using CG to account for this kind of relationship? (common vs individual
> assests), or any comments on the choices I articulated above?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Lincoln
> 
> 
> 
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