'Loans': Asset or Expense?

[Christopher Stamper]

On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 6:32 PM, Phil Longstaff <plongstaff at rogers.com>wrote:

> ...we had the rule that it was much better to
> separate out details using the chart of accounts, rather than have to scan
> through the transactions in an account.  If you use a single account which
> has
> transactions for things you buy and reimbursements, and want to know how
> much
> a particular person owes, you will need to scan through and isolate
> transactions for that person.  Therefore, you might want to have 1
> sub-account
> per person.  The parent account (which should be a placeholder) will show
> you
> how much you are owed, and the individual sub-account balances will show
> you
> the balance for any particular person.
>

Thanks everyone, makes a lot more sense now.

I'm not sure that I'll use a separate account per-person, mainly because
that would require quite a few accounts. Plus, typically only one person
owes me anything at any given time, making it easier to see what I'm owed.

I'll probably go ahead and make separate accounts for the larger loans, and
consolidate the smaller ones in one 'misc' account.

Thanks for the help!

-- 
Christopher Stamper

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