Gnucash usage and reporting

Wm... wm_o_o_o at yahoo.co.uk
Mon Oct 17 11:01:57 EDT 2016


On 13/10/2016 06:31, Matrix Treasurer wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Back in the day, I was an accountant for nearly 30 years, so do know my
> way around financial reporting. I would like to say that Gnucash is
> simply a terrific piece of software and I use it to manage all the
> accounting needs of the 2-3 volunteer organisations I work with, not to
> mention I recommend it to everyone else!
> 
> I have struck a problem that does not make sense to me and I am aware
> that it is said there is no need to close the books annually in Gnucash,
> but I like to be neat and tidy at the end of each financial year, so I
> tend to do it. Fortunately, it is very easy to reverse the transactions
> if necessary.
> 
> This is the first time I have come across a treatment that does not fit
> with what I thought I know. In this instance, when I transfer the
> closing income/expense balances to the Net result account, the amount
> differs to the actual financial result for the year. The actual
> difference is represented by an amount I have expensed as a provision
> for future buildings maintenance. Yet this amount is not included (?)
> when I close the books, with the final result of surplus for the year
> being overstated by the exact amount of provision. Drives me nuts! Any
> thoughts as to why this is so? The item in question has been clearly
> identified as an expense type, even though it it never going to be a
> cash item, since it does not represent an actual payment of money -
> maybe that is the problem. Your thoughts on this would be most helpful,
> Thank you.

What are you comparing the actual result to?

>From your pov it may be double counted
1. when you manually write the expense into the NL as a provision
2. when it gets written into equity when you close the period

-- 
Wm


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