Split credit card transaction

[ArtBra New Haven]

    Dear GnuCashistas:

[I write this in the spirit of a Wikipedia entry; they say something on 
the order of ``expect your content to be edited mercilessly''.  I'm 
fairly new myself, so please correct any errors.  I've rearranged Mr. 
Schartow's comments to, I think, address the more basic items first.]



  On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 11:57 AM, Elmer Schartow<elmobud at tm.net>  wrote:
	[...]
 > Your graphic of your credit card transaction
 > leaves some things to be desired for clueless newbies like me.
 > (...and I note from links on your graphics page there are plenty
 > others like me....)  I've tried numerous times to set up a
 > transaction using your graphic, but no luck yet.

 > First, from the file title at the top,... and from the active
 > tab,... it appears you're working in the credit card file, not a
 > checking account.  ?????  How does this tie into a checking
 > account???

    To be brief:  it doesn't.

 > Next, You show no check number in your example.  ???  Another
 > indication you're not working in a checking account??

    Precisely.  See below.

    To be non-brief:
    My impression from your e-mails is that you haven't yet acquired the 
double-entry mindset, part of which is ``all accounts are created 
equal''.  Most (all?) of the consumer budgeting software I've seen makes 
the checking account the focus about which all events revolve.  In 
GnuCash, the checking account is merely one of many, and it has no 
special powers.  The checking account comes into play _only when you 
write a check_.  (Ignoring deposits and such trivia.)

    To be specific, when you charge something on a credit card, your 
checking is untouched, and won't be until a month or so later when you 
get the bill.  So don't worry that there's no check-number field.

    Later down the line, when you write a check to pay the credit-card 
company, you'll add a transaction in the checking account showing a 
withdrawal and one in the credit-card account showing a decrease in its 
balance.  But for now you want to make an entry into the credit-card 
account causing it to increase.

 > Can you provide me with a step by step explanation of how to handle a
 > credit card entry, or a link to someplace that provides that???

    See [1] for the gory details.  For a higher-level intro, suppose I 
were to buy a power saw ($150) and a set of sheets ($30) at Sears, with 
the state getting its cut ($10 for sales tax).  The first step is to 
decide how to keep track of them, based on _your_ needs.  In my case, 
this involves four accounts:

	Liability:Credit cards:Visa		$190 for the lot
	Expenses:House:Maintenance	$150
	Expenses:Household		 $30
	Expenses:Tax:Sales tax		 $10

This is money that got shuffled around, but has not touched the checkbook.

    (Note that the above is my own setup.  Someone else probably uses a 
Linens account under House, and doesn't have a Household account.  Set 
things up to reflect what _you_ consider important to keep track of.  If 
you don't care about an account, delete it.  Either you just don't need 
it (auto, say, if you don't have one) or put its transactions into an 
account that make sense to you.  (Put doctor's bills under Medical, if 
you don't care to track them to that level.  Or add an account for each 
doctor, if that's your style.)  For example, I don't keep tight rein on 
my cash.  Big cash purchases I enter as you'd expect, but I also have an 
account Expenses:Cash evaporated.  Every month I count what I've got, 
and add a transaction to reflect reality. :-)

    (Once you've grasped the basis of double-entry bookkeeping, I think 
the hardest part is to decide what accounts to have.  It depends on what 
you want to keep track of, and in what sort of detail.  I've made many 
changes in accounts in the few years I've been using GnuCash---splitting 
one into two, moving an account to be a sub-account of a different one, 
creating new accounts as I see the need arising.  You don't have to get 
the table of accounts perfect at once:  refine it as you go.)

 > I understand the entries  such as Expenses:Food:Groceries, etc., but
 > do not understand how that relates to the checkbook and check
 > number????

    It doesn't because no check was written for this transaction.  It 
relates instead to the account for the credit card they were charged on.


    Similar instances not touching the checking account include 1) 
getting cash out of an ATM---the transaction would involve (in my case) 
Assets:Current Assets:Cash in Wallet and Assets:Current Assets:Savings 
Accounts:Hometown Savings, and 2) having your paycheck deposited 
directly to your savings account---the accounts would be, at a minimum, 
Income:Salary & Assets:Current Assets:Savings Accounts:Hometown Savings. 
  For detail, you could add in accounts for income-tax withholding, 
Social Security tax, and FICA (in the U.S.).  Neither transaction 
involves a check, so no transaction in the checking account.

    Here endeth the exposition.


 > Next, The first line in the yellow doesn't even give a valid entry.
 > In a checking account there would be an entry, not just an amount.
 > The same amount shows in the same col. further down.  How did you
 > make that happen????

    That's because the yellow line is simply an overall description of 
the transaction, including the total amount, but not part of the 
transaction proper.  The following lines (in greyish on my screen) are 
the transaction entries (called ``splits'').

 > Next, my version shows the row (Present, Future, Cleared, Reconciled,
 > Projected Minimum) under the tabs at the very bottom of my screen
 > Your row doesn't show the "Present" category.   Appears we're not on
 > "the same page."  (Version?)  Also,  Line 1 in the green shows
 > "Description" column heading only.  My line also shows a "Transfer"
 > column heading

    That I don't know about---maybe they're just formatting changes? 
ISTM there's a preference for putting that line above or below the 
register.  Maybe there's one to choose what to show.

 > Next, Re: line 2 in the green: shows "Notes."  How do I come by that?
 > I like to be able to add notes like Groceries, gifts, gas, etc. to
 > credit card transactions, and even some check transactions (Like I
 > could in MoneyCounts.)

    I'm not sure where the `Notes' comes from, but when I type in the 
`Description' field for a new transaction, and hit tab, GC goes to a new 
line, which has a field marked `Memo' which seems to be the same thing. 
  It lets me enter a memo for each line of the split transaction.

 > THis is driving me NUTS!!!!

    I just hope I haven't made things worse...

-- 
	Best wishes,

		Max Hyre



[1] Here's the blow-by-blow of how I'd to it:
     a) Select the credit-card account and open it
     b) On the bottom line, set the date, if necessary, and enter 
``Sears'' in the Description field.
     c) Hit TAB, which opens new line with a Memo field, and the Account 
already filled in with the credit-card account.
     d) If you please, enter something for the Memo.
     e) Tab to the Increase column and type in 190.
     f) Tab to get a new line, which has the Decrease column filled in 
with 190.
     g) Tab to the Memo, enter ``Power saw''
     h) Tab to Account, enter or select Expenses:House:Maintenance
     i) Tab to Decrease, enter 150.
     j) Tab to get another line, which will have 40 in the Decrease
     k) Fill in the Memo with ``Sheets''; fill in Account with 
Expenses:Household; fill in Decrease with 30.
     l) Tab to get another line, which will have 10 in the Decrease
     m) I wouldn't put in a memo, because the account explains it all.
     n) Select Expenses:Tax:Sales tax for the account
     o) The Decrease is already the right value, so...
     p) Tab to get a new line.  It has no value entry, which tells you 
that your transaction balances and you're finished with this transactions.
     q) Type ENTER to finish.  All the lines collapse into one line with 
a Description of ``Sears'', and a Tot Increase of 190.  In the future 
you can select this line and it will show all the details.  (If it 
doesn't expand automatically, click on the Split button in the toolbar, 
or the menu entry Actions > Split Transaction.)

    If this doesn't work for you, post the details and we'll try to 
figure out what's going on.