Getting Started for 2010

[John R. Carter, Sr.]

On April 16, 2010 10:49:10 AM MST "CFreestone" <cfstone at cox.net> wrote:

> Thank you for this  opportunity. We have just installed gnucash and I am trying to learn how to navigate around. 
> 
> Our situation is that we have a revocable trust which owns all of our assets, and rents out three units (two offices and an apartment). 
> 
> We do our day to day business from our personal check book.
> 
> My question is - should I set up two separate files; one for the trust and another for our personal expenses.

This is not absolutely necessary. You can safely mix the accounts in one file. When creating reports, just make sure you select only the accounts you want the report for.

You do need to take into account that the Properties of each file identifies the owner of that file. With that in mind, you may want to create separate files so that each file has the proper Properties associated with it. Also keep in mind that when you launch GnuCash it will open the last used file by default.

There are several ways to organize your accounts. What I did was add a new sub-account called <name of business> and I created all the sub-accounts in each one as needed (e.g., Assets:Fixed Assets:Meridian Rental). GnuCash is like Burger King - you can have it your way. It makes sense to create Expenses:<name of business> and then create sub-accounts for it as needed since a lot of those expenses will be the same as your personal expenses.

It is possible to have more than one sub-account with identical names under different parent accounts, so you probably will want to use keywords instead that help you tell them apart when they are open in a tab. Something like P_Cash and B_Cash.

It is a good idea to have separate bank accounts for personal and each business (even if you never write checks from the business accounts).
	Assets:Current Assets:<name of bank>:Checking
	Assets:Current Assets:<name of bank>:Savings
	Assets:Current Assets:<name of business>:<name of bank>:Checking
	Assets:Current Assets:<name of business>:<name of bank>:Savings

If you only have one bank for checking and savings then you don't need <name of bank>.

> I tried to set up a file for personal and on the third screen, "Choose Accounts to Create" I checked only the "Simple Checkbook" square thinking that I would then add a customized list of accounts later.

Planning your chart of accounts before you start a file is a better idea. Regardless, GnuCash is forgiving enough to allow you to move things around at any time.

> On the fourth screen, "Set Up New Accounts", I typed the opening balance shown in my checkbook into the Assets opening balance (I wanted the gnucash to correspond to my checkbook), but after Ifinished the account setup I couldn't find the opening balance in the assets, the current assets, or the checking account under assets, or anywhere else.

I'm guessing you meant the bank checking account (Assets:Current Assets:Checking). The guess is that if it didn't show up as the first entry in the bank checking account then you can look for it in the Equity:Opening Balances account, the Imbalance account, or the Orphan account. If it is in the Imbalance or Orphan account, then you forgot to assign two accounts to the opening balance. One would be a debit to Equity:Opening Balances and the other would be a credit to Assets:Current Assets:Checking.

> I was thinking that I would not enter any opening balance in the set up proceedure, but wait and put it in as the first entry for income.

I'm guessing you already have ending balances in the manual accounting system. There are two ways to go with this. One is to start with the opening balance at the beginning of the fiscal year and enter all transactions from the manual system into GnuCash, reconciling for each month added as you go. The other is to just start where you left off with the manual system and enter that ending balance as the beginning balance in GnuCash. I think it is better to start the opening balance in step with a bank statement and enter all transactions in GnuCash from that date to the present. That would make it easier to reconcile the following months from your bank statements.

If you do start midstream (between bank statements), you should first balance against the bank on the date you choose to make the switch from one accounting system to another.

I am using GnuCash 2.2.9 on an Intel iMac OS X 10.6.2.

John Carter