Setting up gnucash for charity with project

[Wm]

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 14:15:06 <00e301cff382$bd8ac500$38a04f00$@lineone.net> 
Chris Brittain <chrisbrittain at lineone.net>

>Hi! I am a newbie on the list and have just taken over as a charity
>treasurer. The existing accounts are a bit random, but as it was just income
>and expenditure they survived. About a year ago, they won some restricted
>funding (about 5X annual turnover) from a range of funders for a new
>building project and the old "system" collapsed along with the treasurer. I
>am now trying to sort out the mess and have started to use GnuCash (for my
>first time). The straightforward income and expenditure are fine, but what
>is the best way to set up the project with its restricted funds?
>
>Also, what is the best management account report to show the relationship
>between the project and the main P&L as reserves have been regularly moved
>to and fro to meet matching requirements. Sorry to ask such a naïve
>question. Thanks in anticipation

This is a perennial question.

I think the formal answer is that GnuCash doesn't do fund accounting as 
expected.

DaleA has, in reply, said what some of the issues are more widely 
discussed (with some bias) here.

GnuCash should be the tool for organisations that need this sort of 
accounting to use.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say

that for each restricted fund a new GnuCash file should be created if 
the detail is important

OR

within a GnuCash file a new top level hierarchy should be created.

The problem is no one seems to have tried either of the solutions to the 
extent that they can be seen to succeed or fail.

In general people should start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fund_accounting

-- 
Wm...