ORPHAN vs. IMBALANCE

[David T.]

Jan,
I don't believe that you can choose the account to which they are mapped. My recollection from when I first started using GnuCash is that GnuCash will create top-level accounts automatically with the naming ORPHAN-XXX and IMBALANCE-XXX. 

I did find from experimentation that I could *move* these top level accounts to a different hierarchy (e.g., Special Accounts:IMBALANCE-USD), and the software would find the accounts in their new spot. I don't know whether this restructuring would cause problems in multi-currency situations, however.

I also do not know whether the balancing code uses the account name or its (hidden) ID to locate the account, so I do not know whether renaming the account would result in a new IMBALANCE account getting created repeatedly. I seem to recall that it does get duplicated--suggesting that the code uses the account name specifically.

David
      From: Jan Steinman <Jan at EcoReality.org>
 To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org 
 Sent: Friday, February 6, 2015 1:16 PM
 Subject: Re: ORPHAN vs. IMBALANCE
   
> From: "David T." <sunfish62 at yahoo.com>
> 
> Could someone explain to me the difference between ORPHAN and IMBALANCE accounts in GnuCash??

And can you map them into some other account?

I have an account called "Errors and Exceptions." It's main use is when a cash drawer is over or short. In such a case, I'd like the "Balance" button to automagically post to "Errors and Exceptions."

:::: Driving four miles in a 20 mpg vehicle is the energy-equivalent of over two loaves of bread. -- David Pimentel
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op ::::


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