bulk delete transactions

[Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz]

On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:31:43 -0500
Mike or Penny Novack <stepbystepfarm at mtdata.com> wrote:

>>I would like to delete a few thousand transactions - all the ones
>>against above account.
>>
>>
>>If delete account doesn't delete the double entry, I can only see one
>>possible solution: move to SQL version and delete the records via SQL.
>>Would that work?
>>

Thank you for taking the time to reply, Michael.

>Might I try a guess?
> This is a dormant/obsolete account. Although once very active, a
> large 
>number of transactions, it now has a zero balance and there is no 
>expectation of it being used in the future.
>[...]

not quite

>If you intention is something else, explain what and we may be able to 
>help. The reason no facility to delete in the way you want is that is 
>USUALLY considered a no-no in accounting.

I appreciate that and I understand that's why there is no multi-delete.

If this puts you at ease: I use this particular set of accounts for
private purposes.
I have now decided to enter certain data in a different way to reduce
clutter and make them easier to read and reconcile.
For the sake of consistency, I would like my historical data to be
changed retrospectively.


Simplified example:
involving accounts: Asset.A, Liability.A, Expense,Income

Asset.A: I used to record a reduction of available funds by entering a
transaction against Liability.A. When this transaction was finally
settled I posted an opposing transaction against Liability.A, so
eventually Liability.A would always be zero.
Then I recorded income and expenses as appropriate.

12/03/2010 £10 -> Liability.A
13/03/2010 £10 <- Liability.A
13/03/2010 £10 -> Expense


I have simply changed procedure now: on settlement day I delete the
Liability transaction. This loses me one bit of info: when the
transaction was initiated. But it makes life a LOT easier because the
account becomes more readable and thus easier to reconcile against the
real account statement.


What I want to do now is delete all transactions against Liability.A.

-- 

Best Regards,
Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz