QuickBooks to GnuCash -- Apologies for wrong question

[Yawar Amin]

Hi,

On 2010-05-09, at 14:23, Tom Bullock wrote:

> [...]
> Tom:  The above is most uncertain for me since I have not found the place in
> GC where what you describe happens.  Can you tell me how  to find those
> column headings?

I've included a screenshot. You'll see the drop-down green arrow on the right, with the Account Code column heading checked in my case. I think you'll see something very similar.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: gnucash_accounts_column_headings.png
Type: image/png
Size: 38803 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/attachments/20100509/77969b8f/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------


> Also, Is there a report that generates the chart of accounts?  I have not
> found one.   I have been able to display the main page and when I click on
> the account code field, it lists all accounts in number order.  I can see
> them if the display is fully expanded.  I am looking for a report that
> automatically lists them as fully expanded and that shows the hierarchical
> structure built into the chart of accounts.  Is there such a report or
> listing?

Reports > Account Summary in the main menu? That sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

> [...]
> Tom:  This last idea is the one I am most interested in.  How do I enter a
> GL transaction?  what is the access path to do that?  

Main menu: Tools > General Ledger. This gives you a fully expanded double-entry view of the transaction as you enter it.

> [...]
> Tom:  This is a great suggestion.  I made a backup of my chart so that I
> could have a test file to practice in.  However, my original and backup both
> have opening balances in them.

I got bitten by that once, and ever since then I've never used the opening balance feature when creating a new account. Instead, I create the account, then put in a transaction called `Opening balance' that draws in money from (or throws it out to) Equity.

>  To implement your idea I should have a file
> with all zeros for the opening balances.  That way, I have a chart that can
> be used without the need to remove old data.

Correct.

> [...]
> Now that I am thinking about that, I could zero out the balances.  But that
> seems to me it would generate a transaction.

That's correct, zeroing will not delete any transactions, but it will add (at least) one transaction.

>  Since no transactions can be
> deleted (only hidden, right?),

Actually, you can delete transactions one by one, but it's slow going. If you have a lot of transactions, it might be easier to manually edit the XML file that GnuCash uses to store its data, and just delete all the transactions in there. Of course, this is not officially supported by GnuCash, and all sorts of weird things could happen. Very important to keep a backup if you need to go there.

> [...]
> Does that mean I would need to edit the data file?  If so, how would
> I do that?  Any suggestions?

I outlined the process of editing your GnuCash XML file a while back in [1]. Also, see Fred Bone's suggestion that should simplify things a bit [2]. In your case, you'd want to leave your accounts alone and delete all the transactions to get a skeleton file. The transactions start right where the accounts end, like the following:

<gnc:account version="2.0.0">
  <act:name>Orphan-CAD</act:name>
  <act:id type="guid">0c89272f8c6ae755466d92d27c800867</act:id>
  <act:type>BANK</act:type>
  <act:commodity>
    <cmdty:space>ISO4217</cmdty:space>
    <cmdty:id>CAD</cmdty:id>
  </act:commodity>
  <act:commodity-scu>100</act:commodity-scu>
  <act:parent type="guid">721006df65f050d9e9c76b27b98c2609</act:parent>
</gnc:account>
<gnc:transaction version="2.0.0">
...

Notice the last line above, which starts with `<gnc:transaction...'. You basically want to delete everything from there up until the end of the last transaction, which will be near the end of the file and look something like this:

  </trn:splits>
</gnc:transaction>
<gnc:template-transactions>
...

In the above snippet, the line which goes `</gnc:transaction>' is the end of the last transaction. So you want to delete up until that line, but no more. Note that if you haven't set up any scheduled transactions, you may not see the line after that, which starts the template transactions.

> Thanks again for your input.  It helps me to think about other aspects of
> GC.  I appreciate your taking the time.

Sure. Glad it helps. Btw, if the XML stuff above looks like gibberish, remember you can still delete transactions one by one using the Delete toolbar button. You may not have that many to delete in any case.

 Cheers,

  Yawar

[1] https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2009-December/032593.html
[2] https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2009-December/032595.html

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: PGP.sig
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 194 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/attachments/20100509/77969b8f/attachment-0001.bin>