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

[Wm...]

Wed, 30 Dec 2015 21:59:21 <56849A09.9040300 at resist.ca>
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.?

In addition to other replies.  GnuCash doesn't provide sufficient 
separation for many situations, this is one of them.  I'd suggest that 
you go with the separate file route rather than the common accounts 
route.

Having said that there is nothing preventing you from using the 
Liability:Trust method for recording transactions on a daily basis.  See 
what I am saying?  Once a day / week / month you manually transfer the 
net of the transactions from your practice file to (each of) your trust 
files.  Whether this is practical depends on number of funds held, 
frequency of transactions, etc.  We can't say.

The broad answer remains: GnuCash will not enforce separation of monies 
unless they are in separate files; it is possible to make separations 
within a single GnuCash file but blurring won't be enforced.  For 
example, GnuCash doesn't care if you spend 10 on a pizza from your 
personal wallet or Fred Jones Educational Trust Fund ... you probably 
never want that to happen :)

-- 
Wm...