bulk delete transactions

[Jeff Kletsky]

On 3/18/2010 5:13 PM, Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz wrote:
> 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.
>
>    


This sounds a lot like the "standard" practice of using  accounts 
payable (A/P) or accounts receivable (A/R)

While it has a very different meaning under GAAP, for personal use I use 
it to deal with "delayed" transfers so that the dates in both the 
accounts "match" with my records in the appropriate account.

2010-03-18 $1000 Asset Checking -> A/P Due to Credit Card (date transfer 
initiated)
2010-03-22 $1000 A/P Due to Credit Card -> Liability Credit Card (date 
transfer posted to destination)

For everyday transactions that clear within a day or so of when I make 
the purchase (or deposit), I just use the date of the purchase or the 
date that the statement shows, if I neglected to record it at the time 
it was made.

For business, where I'm on an "accrual basis," the transactions look 
more like

2010-03-18 $1000 Expense Stuff I Buy <- A/P Vendor X (purchase made, not 
paid yet)
2010-03-29 $1000 Asset Checking -> A/P Vendor X (paid the bill)

In both cases, there are tons of "offsetting" transactions in the A/P 
account. This is "normal" practice.

Jeff