How should I enter values on a budget in gnucash ?

[Geert Janssens]

Op woensdag 1 maart 2017 13:48:39 CET schreef Edward Doolittle:
> > As to the original problem, I think there is a disconnect between how the
> > budget features operate, and how the rest of the application operates,
> > which the bug hints at.
> 
> I think the root of the problem is that there is a disconnect between the
> concept of budgeting and the concept of double entry accounting.
> 
<snip> (defining n^2 vs 2n budgetting)
> 
> It should be clear that the two conceptions are fundamentally different.
> Adding budgeting features to gnc has shoehorned the latter framework into
> the former, which is the source of some confusion.
> 
> In the past, I have tried to budget in the latter fashion, thinking mainly
> about the activity in my chequing account, which is where most of the
> day-to-day action happens for me.
I presume you only budgeted one leg of the transactions then. Only what 
happens in the checking account ?

> However, last year I started an
> experiment in which I try to project all n^2 types of transfers using a
> fairly comprehensive set of scheduled transfers which I create 366 days in
> advance. I like it much better than 2n budgeting (e.g., I can get a fairly
> accurate balance sheet projection by running a balance sheet at some day in
> the future, and I get early warning of cash flow issues). However, it is
> not for everyone: it is complicated to set up, and sometimes my estimated
> future transactions creep through the present and into the past if I don't
> stay on top of things (though marking such transactions as "(Estimate)"
> helps me to find them and fix them; it would be nice to have a report which
> stores a search for past transactions containing "(Estimate)" in the
> description). I wrote a longish message about my experiences with this
> system some time ago.
This sounds like you implemented this budget using scheduled transactions 
instead of using the budget features. If so I'll ignore this for the current 
discussion as it's not getting me closer to an answer on my original question 
which could be generalized to "should budgeting follow the same signedness as 
the CoA"? Should signs be reversed as set by the Reverse Signs preference ? So 
far I'm inclined to think it should but doesn't properly. It would help avoid 
confusion IMO.

> 
> This year I wanted to combine more traditional 2n budgeting with my n^2
> system of projections because sometimes I have a need to share my budget
> with others (spouse, financial planners), who are expecting to see a
> traditional 2n budget. I tried the gnc budgeting features, with the hope of
> combining them with my n^2 budget system. I ran into a few problems:
> 
> 1) The budget report slowed down my entire Windows 10 computer. Something
> is wrong with the graphical part of the budget display on Windows. I
> haven't noticed the same problem on Mac or Linux. Others have reported
> similar experiences in the mailing list. I hope to find the time to
> investigate the problem more thoroughly.
> 
That would be great. If you do find more clues, please do report your 
findings.

> 2) There seems to be a bug in the budget report which causes it to barf on
> one of my credit cards. I haven't found the time to nail down the problem
> in any more detail, but again I hope to. I might also try Phil Longstaff's
> budget report, which may work around problem 1) as well.
> 
> 3) It is not immediately clear how to reconcile the n^2 and 2n conceptions
> of budgeting.

Unfortunately I won't be of much help here. I'm still trying to understand the 
very basics of how budgeting is supposed to work.

Geert