Can a lawyer's trust account be adequately managed from the same gnucash file as the rest of their accounting?

[John Ralls]

> On Dec 30, 2015, at 6:59 PM, Macho Philipovich <macho at resist.ca> wrote:
> 
> Hi there.
> 
> I'd like to know the best way to manage accounting information for a solo lawyer's trust account using GNUcash.
> 
> This topic has been discussed before. One contributor to this list seems to be managing their trust account in the same gnucash file <https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2011-March/039321.html> as the rest of their accounts, but under separate accounts (under "current assets" and "liability accounts").
> 
> A helpful document published by the Minnesota State Bar Association in 2009, however, entitled Keeping Client Trust Accounts with GnuCash <http://www.mnbar.org/docs/default-source/practicelaw-public/keeping-client-trust-accounts-with-gnucash-2-2-4.pdf> instructs lawyers to "Keep your trust accounts separate from your business accounts if using a general-purpose accounting program […] *In GnuCash, use a separate file*."
> 
> I'd love to find a coherent, convenient, and adequate approach to this problem using GNUcash. I have essentially two questions:
> 
> 1. Is it feasible to store the trust account information in the same
>   gnucash file as the rest of the accounting information? Does this,
>   e.g., allow generating adequate and appropriate reports?
> 2. If the answer to the first question is no, and two separate files
>   are needed, is there any way to alleviate the inconvenience of
>   managing two separate-yet-closely-related accounting files? The two
>   main annoyances are, first, that GNUcash doesn't seem to be able to
>   have more than one file open at once and, second, that managing two
>   separate files requires needless duplication of effort and inserts
>   the potential for error. For example, transferring money from the
>   trust account to the business account requires recording the same
>   transaction twice, in separate files, which can't be viewed
>   simultaneously.
> 
> I'm brand new both to GNUcash and to basic accounting principles more broadly, so I'm open to having completely misunderstood any number of basic principles.
> 
> I'd love to hear from any of you with thoughts on the question.

It's feasible. You can select the appropriate accounts when generating any reports. However, the inconvenience of transferring your client's money held in trust to your personal/business accounts is often one of the motivations for requiring that you keep separate books. Whether not doing so passes muster with your Bar Association's ethics committee is another matter entirely, but you're in a much better position than anyone here to assess that. 

No one GnuCash instance can have two files open at once but you can usually open two instances, though you may have to resort to the command line to do so. 

Regards,
John Ralls