GNUCASH: Windows Version - How save Preferences

[Mike or Penny Novack]

> Hi Derek
>
> Thanks. I think you have answered my query that in GnuCash we cannot 
> preset
> any date period & then GnuCash keeps that and uses that to generate 
> reports
> etc.
>
> You see, when I generate say the Income Statement, it defaults to
> (01-01-2008), but this is one place I want to fix my reporting period. In
> Australia, Individual Accounting period is from 01-07-2008 to 
> 30-06-2008 NOT
> 01-01-YYYY. Right now I generate the report, the via Options, reset the
> Start Date as the Drop Down menus do not translate to Australian 
> Accounting
> period. Perhaps we will see in future.
>
> Anyway, an excellent product by any standards.
>
> Thanks for you time.
>
> Regards. 

Satendra,

     This isn't precisely a GnuCash issue. There isn't ANY particular 
range of dates for which GnuCash can assume financial reports must be 
run and in many jurisdictions one can SELECT to report by "fiscal date" 
(not necessarily coinciding with some particular calendar dates). In 
fact it is not terribly unusual for a business to have some calendar 
date which is NOT included in the fiscal year -- a date where the 
computer programs run just to do "year end" processing but no EXTERNAL 
financials take place.

    In other words, in general you have to specify the dates for which 
you want reports generated. All GnuCash is doing here is selecting YTD 
(year to date) as representing the most likely value SINGLE possibility 
for the default. But given all the possibilities, being more probable 
than any other single possibility doesn't mean many people will be able 
to use it "as is". The START date might be OK, but how many of us run 
our reports immediately as of the end of the period in "real time". 
Usually whoever is doing the books needs at least a little time to get 
all the entries posted and whoops, real time we are now a day or two 
into the next month or the next quarter, etc. So almost all of us have 
to use options to adjust at least the END date.

Michael

PS: I assume that (in Australia) the date range January 1-6 represents 
"days where it is assumed no business takes place", some sort of "bank 
holiday"? Dates you can use for your year end processing?