Action split

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

I think you should file a bug report on this.

-derek

Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz <gnucash at numerixtechnology.de> writes:

> On Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:59:09 -0400
> Josh Sled <jsled at asynchronous.org> wrote:
>
>> Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz <gnucash at numerixtechnology.de> writes:
>> > It certainly makes sense for split transactions. For non-split
>> > transactions it is a bit counter-intuitive for the user. Looking at
>> > the XML data file, I can see that every unsplit transaction is a
>> > two-way split. But the user won't think of it as a split.
>> 
>> But in the Basic Ledger case, one can't even see the Action field.
>> And in any way of interacting with Splits, one does.
>> 
>> If the Basic ledger did have an Action field, using it should
>> probably set the Action field on all the Splits that it's hiding.
>
> As Derek confirmed earlier to-day, the Action field is visible in
> double-line mode.
>
> And as I described above, setting it only sets it on the account where
> you are entering the transaction.
>
>
> I understand that internally a non-split transaction has 2 splits
> (which the end user won't be aware of). While I appreciate that you
> need a separate Action field for multi-splits, it is not great for
> no-splits.
>
> If I make an electronic transfer from account A to B it is an
> electronic transfer regardless from which end I look at it.
>
> A possible solution might be to auto-populate the other Action field
> for non-split transactions?
>
>> > You send a cheque from account A to account B. Enter Action
>> > 'Cheque' on A. If you search for all cheque payments to B, you
>> > won't get any results as the Action is associated with A.
>> 
>> Set "Cheque" on both splits.
>> 
>> As someone who never uses the Action field, what's the actual use
>> case for this?  Why do you want to know this?
>
> It's a piece of information which can act as a filter in reports.
>
> example 1: 
>
> One of my current accounts pays me 1% cashback on all debit card
> payments up to £10K. I enter "Debit Card" in the action
> field. I created a report that selects all debit card pay-outs from
> this account for a year. I use this to check whether I have reached my
> limit and at the end of the year to check whether the bank has paid me
> the correct amount.
>
> example 2:
>
> In the UK, they have only just introduced a new electronic payment
> system which transfers funds in hours rather than days. This is only
> available between certain banks. I would like to make a note in the
> Action field which method I used for a transfer. This will a) indicate
> whether monies arrived on the same day and b) allow some analysis which
> banks have adopted the new system.
>
>
> The whole point of an accounting system is being able to analyze the
> data. This means you need good reporting facilities and useful data
> fields for filtering. I like GnuCash because the way data are entered
> suits me but reporting is a bit of a sore point. ;-)
>
> I've got a huge amount of data and I can imagine all sorts of reports
> I might want to run but that's another topic.
>
>
> Regards,
> Tarlika
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-- 
       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