NewbieQ: Different Dates on a transaction

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

On Sun, January 29, 2012 8:14 pm, Evan Van Dyke wrote:
> This probably qualifies as a newbie question, but I haven't seen the
> answer anywhere in the FAQs:
>
> I have a couple of transactions (usually credit-card payments) that need
> to clear on a different date for each of the endpoints.  For example, my
> Credit Card assumes payment is on day X when they submit the EFT to my
> bank.  However, the EFT doesn't clear for 48 hours, so to my checking
> account the transaction is on day X+2.  Is there an easy way to enter this
> accurately?  I can't see a way in the split transaction to enter two
> dates.

You can ignore the date.  You should set it to the date you originated the
transaction (the earliest date).  You can use the "Cleared" setting of the
reconcile flag to signal tat the transaction actually cleared the account.

In most cases there is no need to actually have multiple dates -- GnuCash
isn't performing automatic daily balance functions.  So it's perfectly
safe and extremely reasonable to only put in the earlier date (the date
you initiate the transaction) into the transaction itself, even if the
date the BANK sees it is different than your recollection.  Keep in mind
that these are YOUR transactions and not the Bank's transactions.

So use the reconcile flag to denote that the transaction actually hit the
account at the bank (or credit card), and leave the date for the date you
actually created the transaction (e.g. made the CC charge).

If you really REALLY need two dates then unfortunately the only way to do
it is via a suspense account, where you make a transfer to an "in process"
account, and then transfer our of that once the transaction hits the other
side.  The main downside with this approach is that you lose the
end-to-end connectivity.  You no longer see that you mpaid for e.g.
Groceries from your CC.  All you see is that you had *a* transaction (with
some description).  But you lose the ability to specify the account.

I hope this helps,

> Thanks.
>
> --Evan

> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
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-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant