Which file format to pick for import of split bookings

[Guido Flohr]

Hi,

Am Freitag, den 06.09.2013, 11:28 -0400 schrieb Derek Atkins:
> > I want to batch import bookings with multiple debit and credit accounts
> > involved per booking.
> >
> > Can somebody recommend me, which file format to use? As far as I
> > understood the German documentation on the topic, CSV and QIF are ruled
> > out, because the bookings are split on both sides.
> 
> I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "split on both sides".  Could
> you give an example of a transaction like this?  QIF *does* support a
> "standard" split transaction, and I'm pretty sure it can deal with more
> complicated split transactions as well.

They are salary bookings.  One transaction could look like this:

Debit                     | Credit
--------------------------+-------------------------------
Gross salary         1800 | Liabilities from salaries 1500
Bonus                 200 | Social installments        300
                          | Income tax                 200

This person would have a gross salary of 1800, plus 200 bonus.  The
company then owes the net salary of 1500 to the employee, social
installments of 300 to the social insurance institution, and finally 200
to the government.

> > QFX looks rather convoluted to me for that simple purpose.
> 
> ... and doesn't support split transactions.

Thanks for the hin.  I guess that saved me a lot of reading. :)

> > What about generating .log files and replaying them? Is that a viable
> > solution? If it is, can somebody explain me what the field "split_guid"
> > is used for, resp. what I should write into it?
> 
> I would not recommend this approach.  The log file format is not
> standardized and is subject to change at a whim.  To answer your
> question, the split_guid is the Global Unique IDentifier (GUID) of the
> Split.

I think I got it now.  All components of a split transaction share the
same transaction guid but each of them has its individual split guid,
right?

I will have a look at QIF and try to use it.  If it is too complicated,
I will use the log file.  I am the only user of my script, and I can
live with possible changes of the format.

Cheers,
Guido
-- 
Cantanea EOOD
ul. Knyaz Boris I No. 86
BG-1000 Sofia