how to automatically update equity account as each transaction is entered?
Derek Atkins
warlord at MIT.EDU
Mon Apr 11 10:33:24 EDT 2016
Hi,
Francis Gerund <ranrund at gmail.com> writes:
> Hello!
>
> Yes, I am aware that this issue has come up before, but it really bothers
> me, so . . .
[snip]
> Now, you find $1.00. So now,
>
> Assets: $1.00
> Liabilities: $0.00
> Equity: $1.00
> Income: $0.00
> Expenses: $0.00
>
>
> Right?
That's one approach.
> WRONG - according to GnuCash 2.6.12 !! It stubbornly shows:
>
> Assets: $1.00
> Liabilities: $0.00
> Equity: $0.00
> Income: $0.00
> Expenses: $0.00
This implies you have mis-entered your transaction. The $1 debit to
Assets needs to be balanced with a $1 credit from SOMEWHERE. But you
clearly didn't do that. That $1 credit could come from Income, Equity,
or even a Liability. You have done none of those, so this *IS* wrong.
> To me, Equity has always been (and always will be) simply the calculated
> result of
> "Assets - Liabilities = Equity".
> That is, "Equity" is just another name for "Net Worth".
>
> I don't want to have to look up a balance sheet report just to check the
> Equity amount.
Sorry, but the "Equity Accounts" only show your equity at a specific
point in time. That specific point is either:
a) when you started accounting or
b) when you close the books
In order to see the Instantaneous Equity you *MUST* look at your
reports. This is because Income and Expense accounts are considered
Temporary Equity accounts, and they hold the changes to equity since the
last Point-In-Time Equity balance (see above).
> After all, the Equity is (literally) the bottom line, and as they say, "the
> bottom line IS the bottom line".
> I don't have to do that to get the Asset amount, so why should I have to do
> so to get the Equity amount?
See above. Income/Expense are also Equity accounts.
> So, is there a way to AUTOMATICALLY get GnuCash to show the Equity amount
> in the "Accounts" window (or tab),
> up to date after each transaction is entered?
No. And there never will be.
> Thank you for any information on this!
> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
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-derek
--
Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)
URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/ PP-ASEL-IA N1NWH
warlord at MIT.EDU PGP key available
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