Earmarking funds for specific purposes

[Anita Graves]

Please tell me how I can account for earmarked funds, i.e., funds contributed in cash and deposited in the bank account, but tagged (earmarked) to be spent in the future for a future specific purpose.  I think these funds should be held in a ‘Liabilities’ account, a separate liabilities account for each specific purpose, but how do I account for them in the debit/credit scheme.  They cannot be a credit against the checking account, and they accumulate until such time as they are dispensed thru the checking account for the purpose for which they have been marked.

The reason they have to be held back until a future time is that they are cumulative in nature and until several contributions earmarked for the same purpose are collected, it is not desirable to disburse them immediately.

I am not sure what to do.

I am a new gnucash fan and so far I can understand most things, but not this one.

Thank you,
Anita Graves