Sharing customers between GnuCash files

[Wm...]

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 05:54:09 
<04bf01d155e5$893727a0$9ba576e0$@soffer-law.com>
"Benjamin Soffer (SLF)" <bsoffer at soffer-law.com> wrote...

>It seems to me that, from a bookkeeping standpoint, one could do what 
>Mr. Ralls (and MSBA) has suggested but within the file where all the 
>law firm's other accounts are kept; there is no need to create a 
>separate file to keep track of the trust account transactions.

This is getting tired.  There is no need for anyone to do anything.

This was a discussion about how to best do something and, if enquired 
of, be able to show separation.

If you want to keep someone else's accounts separate from your own *and* 
you want to use GnuCash then separate files is how you should do it. The 
parallel transactions can be easily batched and shouldn't take up more 
than an hour a month unless there is some weirdness going on or you are 
employing an aged relative to do the work on a time and cost basis.

>  I would add, however, that rather than "[creating] sub accounts in 
>one or the other" (as MSBA apparently prefers) there should be created 
>subaccounts on the asset side AND corresponding subaccounts on the 
>liability side.

Ufff, if you really want to do that consider the fact that GnuCash (and 
double entry accounting) can deal with multiple top level Equity 
accounts ... which is more than most humans can manage, I mean the whole 
double entry thing was invented to distinguish between mine and yours 
after all :)

-- 
Wm...