Credit/Debit Balance

Aaron Laws dartme18 at gmail.com
Tue Jan 31 16:23:06 EST 2017


On Tue, Jan 31, 2017 at 12:54 PM, ShaneK <skochvi at hotmail.com> wrote:

>      I am totally new to accounting and this software, so please forgive me
> if this question seems elementary or confused. When I create a Chart of
> Accounts using the Account Hierarchy Setup helper, if I enter, say $1000 in
> the Credit column of my Equity:Opening Balances account with a transfer to
> Assets:Current Assets:Checking Account, everything works as it should:
> There
> is $1000 Credit in my Opening Balances account, and the Balance is $1000.
> There is a $1000 Debit in my Checking Account account, and the Balance is
> $1000.
>
>      However, when I deleted the transaction and the Equity account
> hierarchy, then recreated the hierarchy and reapplied the transaction, the
> split in the Opening Balances account was incorrect! It showed a balance of
> -$1000. The problem seems to be that there is no way to change the meaning
> of the entries in the Credit and Debit columns. When a new account is
> created "manually", by default, Debit entries increase the account balance,
> and Credit entries decrease the account balance, unless the account
> hierarchy is created using the Account Hierarchy Setup helper.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Shane
>

I agree with Mr. Shepard; read the manual. I'm guessing your problem here
is that you got the wrong account type for your Equity account(s). Click
the account in question, then click "Edit Account", and ensure the account
type is Equity. Some account types' balances go up with Credits, some go
down. The manual will tell you all about that, and practice will tell you
why.


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