Customising the accounts hierarchy when beginning

[Mike or Penny Novack]

On 4/18/2017 1:46 AM, Stroller wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm new to Gnucash - I've only been messing with it a couple of days, but it seems very good.
>
> My question is how I set up a new set of accounts with starting balance.
You do not have to use the wizard (more on that later). You do not have 
to accept the names (you can edit the names of the accounts). If you 
have more accounts than the "skeleton" you can simply create them, in 
other words, create the CoA  to  fit YOUR needs.

Because I am mainly keeping books for organizations (non-profits) the 
CoAs I need are VERY different than the skeletons. So I just create an 
EMPTY (all amounts zero) CoA and then I enter an opening transaction (if 
you are new to this, use two so both will be one way splits -- leave two 
way splits till more experienced) just like would have been done in the 
old days of pen and ink on paper accounting. In other words, simply 
create using the skeleton but all balances zero, change account names as 
needed, add accounts as needed, delete accounts you don't need (after 
all the name changes), and THEN set the opening balances.

If using two, one would be a credit to equity and the other side split 
for the opening balances of all the debit accounts (asset and expense) 
and one a debit to equity split for the opening balances of all the 
credit balance accounts (liability and income). If neither the income 
nor expense accounts have opening balances you can use the date of this 
(these) transactions the first date of your period. But if you are 
wanting to start with balances in income and/or expense, use the day 
before. Run and initial Balance Sheet to check you work, paying 
attention that there is nothing left in Imbalance or Orphan.

If being new you are having trouble with "split" you can enter all of 
these as separate transactions, one per account.

The purpose of the wizard is to make things easier for those beginners 
whose likely CoA can make good use of the skeleton, perhaps the 
majority. But for a lot of us, poor match, so don't bother with the wizard.


Michael D Novack




>
> If I start a fresh set of accounts from "File" > "New File" I get the New Account Hierarchy Setup Screen. I skip through the new book options and arrive at the "New accounts to create" screen (is it ok to send screenshots to this list?).
>
> At the "New accounts to create" screen we can include "A Simple Checkbook", "Common Accounts" and so on.
>
> When I choose "Common Accounts" and move forward it allows me to enter an opening balance for the amount of cash in my wallet, checking account and savings account.
>
> Having fiddled with Gnucash for a couple of days, it seems best for me to have the actual accounts I have - name them "Santander Current Account", "Cooperative Current Account" and so on.
>
> Because I have more accounts than provided by the "Common Accounts" template I can't just enter the balances and change the names afterwards, and I can't see how to enter create more accounts at the stage at which I can enter an opening balance.
>
> I have an existing set of accounts in which I've managed to create an accounts hierarchy which suits me, but it doesn't have opening balances. I see there are export options from this, but I don't see how to use them so I can then import my 6 or 7 bank accounts AND set up the opening balances like I can from the New File wizard.
>
> Thanks in advance for any pointers,
>
> Stroller.
>
> _______________________________________________
> gnucash-user mailing list
> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> -----
> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>


-- 
There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality of the grave.