help for a beginner
Mike or Penny Novack
stepbystepfarm at mtdata.com
Sun Sep 8 08:28:32 EDT 2013
Donald Eugene Mines wrote:
>
>I also have a number of entries in "Orphan" account as well as numerous ones in the "Imbalance" account
>
>What is the best way to find my error(s) and correct them?
>
>Your wise words are appreciated.
>
>D.E. Mines
>
>
OK, you say you are a beginner. Did you mean by that a beginner with
gnucash specifically or a beginner with any sort of double entry
bookkeeping?
Entries in "Orphan" and "Imbalance" are almost always the result of
failure to specify the ledger account on the other side of the
transaction. Orphan for a simple transaction and Imbalance for a split
translation. That's not really a gnucash problem as you would have
exactly the same problem using ANY program doing double entry accounting.
Basics:
With double entry accounting there are TWO sides to every
transaction. Some account(s) are being affected on the debit side of the
ledger and some on the credit side of the ledger with the total debit
equaling the total credit. When you fail to specify the account(s) on
one side or the other gucash uses the Orphan and/or Imbalance accounts
as defaults.
To correct:
Look at each entry in Orphan and Imbalance and specify the correct
ledger account (you do this by seeing what that transaction in Orphan or
Imbalance has as its other account, go to that ledger account and find
the transaction, and change the Orphan or Imbalance to the correct account.
If this is not making sense, you need to (re)read the tutorial
explaining the basics of double entry bookkeeping, or better yet, a full
text on the subject. Sorry, but while gnucash (or any other computer app
that does bookkeeping) makes the process easier and less prone to error
you still have to have a grasp of the process.
Michael D Novack
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