Travel Expense Advice...

[Alan Anderson]

Yawar,

Thanks for the confirmation that I couldn't create a template and also for
the link to the documentation--I'm sure I breezed over that section thinking
I wouldn't use it. ;)  It's probably where I (subconsciously) got the idea
to use a separate account and simply make it balance.  You were correct in
assuming I have a single file for both my personal and business
expenses--someday I'll split myself up enough to justify having two separate
files ;)

I had considered duplicating the transaction, but since they were all
different payees with different amounts, it seemed like almost as much work
as just entering them.  I managed to get through all 100 or so transactions
fairly quickly--thanks to the auto-fill features of GnuCash.

Thanks also to David and Ian for their help and suggestions.  I will try to
monitor the debate on tags/categories as much as I can.

Al


On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 9:47 PM, Yawar Amin <yawar.amin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 2:06 PM, Alan Anderson <foilistforever at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> [...]
>>
>>
>>   A:Checking =                     -$10.00,
>>   E:Auto:Gas = $10.00,
>>   E:Travel:Fall 2010 =            -$10.00,
>>   E:Travel:Fall 2010 = $10.00.
>>
>> This eliminates some of the entry error because it's all done at once, but
>> it's still a little tedious.  Is there any way to make a template for this
>> split transaction, so that I only have to change the amount?
>>
>
> GnuCash doesn't have templates except for scheduled transactions, but you
> can go into the E:Travel:Fall 2010 register, then just `duplicate' the
> transactions you want to enter again (toolbar button), and change the
> amounts to what you need.
>
>
>> How do most people deal with these types of tracking issues?  What are the
>> "best practices" for tracking travel expenses?
>>
>
> Best practices are compiled in [1], but keep in mind that this covers the
> scenario where the personal and business accounts are kept in two separate
> files. For your scenario where you are presumably keeping one book, your
> transaction above looks pretty good to me. It will collect all your expenses
> for the Fall 2010 trip in one account register and you can easily generate a
> report from there. In fact, the account itself can be named anything (say,
> Tags:Projects:Fall2010) because you're just routing money through it to
> `tag' certain transactions.
>
> Pretty innovative use of GC accounts if you ask me.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Yawar
>
> [1] http://code.gnucash.org/docs/guide/accts-oa5.html#accts-oa7
>
>