transaction dates + times (gnucash-user Digest, Vol 63, Issue 25)

[J. Alex Aycinena]

On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 9:00 AM,  <gnucash-user-request at gnucash.org> wrote:
> Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:13:18 +0100
> From: Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz <gnucash at numerixtechnology.de>
> Subject: transaction dates + times
> To: "gnucash-user at gnucash.org" <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
> Message-ID: <20080619161318.48dd88c9 at dick.coachhouse>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> I make a lot of transfers between my own bank accounts. Transfers take
> X working days (X varies depending on banks involved). As a result, the
> balance in the receiving account will not be correct until the date the
> funds arrive. This can be very confusing and the utmost care is
> required when scheduling payments from that account or trying to figure
> out available funds on certain days. However, I am not aware of any
> accounting system that could resolve this problem.
>
Set up a "Funds in transit" account and credit the 'from' account when
the funds leave, debiting this account, then debit the 'to' account X
days later when the funds arrive, crediting this account. This will
make the dates in the two bank accounts match the bank statements on
an after-the-fact basis.

However, if you want to use this approach to predict funds
availablility by posting transactions in advance to ensure you can
cover future payments, the question is how reliably you can know how
long X is with each bank pair. If it's pretty reliable or if you give
yourself a few days grace, just in case, it should work.


>
>
> In a similar vein, a requirement I have is to make a note of
> - when a bank transaction was intitiated (date + time)
> - when the funds leave account A
> - when the funds arrive in account B (value date)
> - when the funds become visible or withdrawable from B

Is this information something you want to capture on an after-the-fact
basis for analysis purposes or something you want on a more real-time
basis for actual funds management purposes? For the latter, how would
you get the information on a timely basis?


>
>
> Sometimes I check the "date-entered" field in the XML file to figure
> out when I did a particular transfer. Is this timestamp updated when
> the transaction is changed?
>
>
> I know these are rather unusual requirements and GnuCash is not
> designed to store this level of detail. I just wanted to raise these
> points to see whether anybody else might have similar requirements.
>
> --
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz
>
>
> A: Because it breaks the logical sequence of discussion
> Q: Why is top posting bad?
>
>