Generating a unique transaction number

[Colin Law]

On 9 May 2011 13:16, foxylady337 <hendry.michael at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 2011-05-09 at 02:01 -0700, Maf. King [via GnuCash] wrote:
>> On Monday 09 May 2011 08:37:02 foxylady337 wrote:
>> > Good to know I'm not unique!
>> >
>> > Seriously, though, if there's no intrinsic support for a transaction
>> number
>> > within GNUCash, how do other users manage to organise and file all
>> the
>> > unnumbered vouchers that comprise the vast bulk of day-to-day
>> activity in
>> > my domestic accounts?
>> >
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I file the accomanying paperwork for credit card transactions etc,
>> firstly by
>> account and then by date, and then group to match statements when they
>> arrive.
>>
>> At the end of a financial year, I'll have upto 12 bundles of reciepts
>> etc.
>> (paperclipped together) for each card I've used during the year, and
>> each
>> bundle will be in the same order that items appear on the statement,
>> which
>> corresponds roughly to the date order in GC.
>>
>> Don't really see how having an extra "system number" to identify a
>> reciept
>> really adds useful info over date/retailer/total.  I would say that it
>> would
>> be highly unlikely for me that 2 txns would duplicate those 3 pieces
>> of info
>> exactly, but YMMV of course (and whatever the Tax authorities
>> stipulate, but
>> you did say domestic!)
>>
>> HTH,
>> Maf.
>>
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>
>
> OK, but your method seems to involve a lot of extra paper handling.
>
> I know my age makes me resistant to change - I've been using the method
> I described for > 15 years, and the method I adopted was prompted by the
> book-keeping program I was using - but...
>
> Vouchers for shop purchases, returned items, on-line purchases etc come
> in a variety of shapes and sizes, don't reach me in date order and are
> paid for using several different credit and debit cards.
>
> When I come to enter a batch of vouchers, I simply take the one from the
> top of the pile first, and work my way to the bottom, numbering them
> sequentially. I then clip them into manageable bundles with a stapler
> and file them away. Unless I need to send something back, or deal with
> an error, I don't need to touch these vouchers again. If I need to
> recover one, I can search for the relevant transaction using GNUCash,
> and get straight to the voucher using the unique transaction number.

The only extra activity needed is to sort them into account first
(Visa, Mastercard, Cash etc).  Then use your technique.  The time to
sort by account is offset by the fact that you do not need to keep
switching accounts in GC.  Plus when you are finished on each account
you can see what the current status of the account is.
When you need to find a voucher then there is the extra step of
checking which account it is for, but how often do you need to do this
anyway?

Colin