Cash Basis Report Options

Mike or Penny Novack stepbystepfarm at mtdata.com
Thu Jan 8 10:10:45 EST 2015


> I’m afraid not.
>
> In our case we’re lucky enough to have only a small number of transactions for which it matters, (the busy season is May-November) so I can fake out their posting dates (either temporarily or permanently) to get the effect of cash basis accounting.   But if you have a significant number of transactions that cross your fiscal year boundary, it gets harder.   GNUcash only supports accrual.
>
>
>
> Does GnuCash offer cash basis and accrual basis options for its reports?
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Shawn
  Maybe a more specific answer would be more precise? The BUSINESS 
FEATURES of gnucash support only the accrual basis which makes sense as 
things like "receivables" are conceptually related to the accrual basis. 
If you are on the cash basis, your business might well be sending 
invoices out to customers BUT these would not be "booked" until a 
payment was received (in other words, such an invoice system would be 
unconnected to "the books").

Gnucash does support "cash basis" accounting otherwise. All of the 
organizations(they are all non-profits)  for which I use gnucash to keep 
the books are "cash basis". Not problem as none of them send out 
invoices. But some organizations where I am involved (but not keeping 
the books) do want to be able to generate invoices(say "membership" or 
"dues" but are still on the cash basis. Makes a mess of the bookkeeping 
or imposes the price of entering data more than once*.

Michael D Novack

* That is how I would address the problem if I were using gnucash for an 
organization in that fix. I'd have the main organizational books set up 
on the cash basis. I'd have a separate set (a subset of accounts) set up 
accrual for the sole purpose of being able to generate invoices and 
generate the reports probably wanted (how many members are in arrears on 
dues, etc.). The "enter twice" would come into play when each invoice 
was paid (transaction for both sets of books) and obviously a possible 
source of error like in the old days of pen and ink on paper 
bookkeeping. But I think I would be able to have certain accounts where 
"different balances" means an error since the last checkpoint.



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