How to make a "custom" expense report [was Re: Report customization nightmare]

[David G. Hamblen]

On 07/01/2010 08:55 AM, Mike Leone wrote:
> On 7/1/2010 12:09 AM, Andrew Sackville-West had this to say:
>> On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 08:47:58PM -0300, Daniel Trezub wrote:
>>> I think the whole question about the Gnucash Reports can be demoed 
>>> by this
>>> statement:
>>>
>>> Here are instructions to get a selection of *expenses* only in a text
>>>> based report for a specific time period:
>>>> 1. Click Reports ->  Income&  Expense ->  *Income* Statement
>>>>
>>>
>>> Nothing logic, I think. I know some of the developers could argue 
>>> that it is
>>> logic, but it is not. If one is looking for an Expenses report, why 
>>> in earth
>>> should he/she try the Income Statement??
>>
>> simply standard accounting practice, as far as I know, to call a
>> report that summarizes income and expenses for a given time period an
>> Income Statement.
>
> But what the OP is referring to is a report that does *not* have 
> "Income" on it. He doesn't want to summarize Income and Expenses; only 
> Expenses. Putting Income on such a report is superfluous, and perhaps 
> distracting, from the point (sum of expenses only).
>
> Perhaps that's not a standard accounting report, but it's a pretty 
> standard report that a user wants/needs. And it's a bit difficult to 
> get just that table of information (i.e., just expenses, no income 
> shown on the report, no charts, etc), by customizing (and saving) an 
> existing report, as I pointed out earlier in this thread.
This one's easy.  Simply deselect the income accounts (clear all and 
then reselect all the expenses on the accounts tab); then change the 
Report Name and Title to Expense Report (on the General tab), and save 
it.  It'll have your new name on the Reports list (under Custom 
Reports), and won't say Income anywhere.  It still will have a blank 
"Revenue" line, and a Year-to-date loss equal to the expense total.