Help with GnuCash! Why is there a “Rebate” column in the Expense account on GnuCash?

[David Carlson]

On 10/18/2012 6:00 PM, Robby Burns wrote:
> So...if I make charges on my credit card, and then pay the credit card at
> the end of the month, the money will come out of my bank account...but it
> will all come out as one lump some credit card payment?
>
> or...do I go in each month and go line by line (off the credit card bill)
> and enter the sub-category that I spent the money on...without showing that
> it was an actual credit card payment?
>
> And...with all politeness..I still have not received an answer as to how I
> get rid of the "Rebate" header on the column. How do I change those headers?
>
> If I want one to say "Expense"...what should the other ones say.
>
> Maybe I am just too stupid to be using GnuCash.  Huh?
>
> Robby
>
>
>

I used Reply All to ensure that this gets to the list, as sometimes
Reply List doesn't work.

It is time to take a break, eat and sleep before looking at this again. 
You are not stupid. 
GnuCash is a rather sophisticated program that is not always easy to
adapt to individual's needs.
Many other users on this mail-list have been trying to help you adapt
the program to your needs.
We are as frustrated as you are when we see that we are not solving your
problems. 

To specifically address only the topics you raise in this e-mail:

You used your credit card at several different stores to pay for several
different things.  If you want to be able to see how much you spent on
some types of things you enter transactions in a credit card register to
show how much these things cost and where you got them from.  If you
don't care about those details, just enter a single transaction totaling
all of them as miscellaneous.
Then, when you get the bill from the credit card company you pay them
one lump sum from another bank account, so this is only one transaction.

There were a few comments attempting to address your question about the
word "Rebate"  I, for one addressed it in my previous e-mail in this
thread.  Others also noted that you can go into
edit:preferences:Accounts:Labels and change the column titles to Credit
and Debit instead of the the "Informal" titles which vary depending on
the type of account, and happen to be "Expense" and "Rebate" for
accounts of the type "Expense".  Those are the only two user selectable
choices at this time.

If you take another look at the Tutorial and Concept Guide Basics
section you see that there are 5 different types of accounts.  You have
assets, liabilities, income, expenses and equity.  Each type is treated
a little bit differently in GnuCash. GnuCash is very rigid about using
these five types because following these rules makes it easier to avoid
mistakes.  Other personal finance programs also follow these rules more
or less and one of them may meet your needs.  No one is forcing you to
use GnuCash.

David C
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