Chart of accounts

[Mike Leone]

On 8/24/2011 12:00 PM, John Layman wrote:
> I think what you are referring to as the CoA might more correctly be called
> the Trial Balance.  You might ponder why it is that Googling the phrase
> "chart of accounts" returns a lot of sample charts with nary a monetary
> figure to be seen.

Granted, it's been 30 years since my accounting classes, but that's the
way I remember it. A Trial Balance is a listing of all accounts with
balances, and a Chart of Accounts is just accounts (names and perhaps
descriptions, no balances).

> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Derek Atkins [mailto:warlord at MIT.EDU] 
> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 9:20 AM
> To: john.layman at laymanandlayman.com
> Cc: 'David Carlson'; gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> Subject: Re: Chart of accounts
> 
> "John Layman" <john.layman at laymanandlayman.com> writes:
> 
>> To my mind, the CoA doesn't include balances at all.  It is simply the 
>> hierarchy of accounts, an abstract depiction of how ledger entries are 
>> structured for reporting.
> 
> Ah, see, to my mind that's not the CoA -- that would be the "Account List".
> No, there is no report to print the Account List.  Patches welcome, but I
> honestly don't see any reason anyone would ever want to do that.
> 
> -derek
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Derek Atkins [mailto:warlord at MIT.EDU]
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 3:57 PM
>> To: john.layman at laymanandlayman.com
>> Cc: 'David Carlson'; gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>> Subject: Re: Chart of accounts
>>
>> "John Layman" <john.layman at laymanandlayman.com> writes:
>>
>>> None of this eliminates balances in 2.4.6.  They show up even when
>> unticked.
>>> True, you can set the depth to 1 and have no balances, but the 
>>> original poster is looking for a way to print his chart of accounts, 
>>> not just the top level.
>>
>> I guess I'm still completely confused as to what the original poster 
>> wants to do.  To me the CoA includes not just the list of account 
>> names but also the account balances, and potentially other information 
>> (account description, commodity/currency, etc).  Maybe I just don't 
>> understand what "print the CoA" means to the OP.  By *my* definition 
>> of CoA, the Account Summary is exactly what you need.
>>
>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>
>> -derek
> 


-- 
Michael J. Leone, <mailto:turgon at mike-leone.com>

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