[GNC] Question about sub accounts

[Adrien Monteleone]

Eric,

Read the end of my reply first...

Now, I was following you up until this point:

> On Oct 29, 2018, at 9:55 AM, Eric Gwin <ejgwin at gmail.com> wrote:
> ...

> I've been able to limp by so far by specifying every transaction as a split
> with no amount to *assets:current assets:sinking checking *
> and the actual transaction amount to the sub-account:
> *assets:current assets:sinking checking:AutoMaint*   -135.45
> *Expenses:Sinking:AutoMaint  *                     135.45

What you showed here *was* an amount to the sinking checking *and* an amount to the related expense account. Yet you said you “_no_ amount to the ...:sinking checking”.


> That at least creates an entry in the "singing checking" register and the
> "Accounts" tab does show the current balance for "sinking checking", but
> there is no running total, nor does the transaction amount show in that
> account's register.
> 

What do you mean by ‘running total’ and how could you not see the transaction amount in that account’s register if you in fact created a transaction with a split to that account? Your description here is very confusing.


> Setting "Sinking checking" as a placeholder seems to simply mean GNUCash
> won't allow you to view the register or enter a transaction against the
> account.

Correct. And as a good rule of thumb to not tear your hair out later, it is good practice to make all parent accounts placeholders except for very special situations. (This is one of them, but see below)


> 
> Is there a way to set up an account of this type where the account
> maintains the transactions (as it should for reconciliation)

If you enter a transaction with splits to a certain account, that account’s register will contain a copy of the transaction and its running balance will reflect the result of the cumulative effect of those splits.

> and each
> sub-account also "inherits" transactions for their type:

Not sure what you mean by this. By ’type’ do you mean ‘expense, asset, etc.?'


> or the sub
> accounts get the transaction entries as I'm doing, but the parent account
> register lists (but doesn't total) the sub account transactions?

Now we’re back to the first part of your post, the problem you are initially having an issue with is reconciling. There is a solution:

When you click the Reconcile button while viewing the *parent* account, check the “Include Subaccounts” box. But keep reading first...

Note, if this is a real checking account that you are simply segregating funds in *artificially* (that is, not actually with separate accounts at the bank) then make all of these subs as children of the actual checking account - not Current Assets. But do not make the parent real checking account a placeholder as it might contain real transactions unrelated to the children. Then the reconcile process will make sense using the ‘Include Subaccounts’ option. So you can see here, it would be odd to reconcile ‘Current Assets’ especially since that account can have other children like “Cash” or “Pre-paid Expenses” and other actual checking and savings accounts among others.

If these are simply your own mechanism for savings, like a virtual envelope method, and the funds might be physically represented in the real world in various or multiple places, then create a parent for them, say “Current Assets:Budget Envelopes” and include in each transaction a set of transfer splits from the envelope back to the physical account where the funds reside, then ’spend’ from the actual physical account, then reconcile the actual physical account. This means more splits for each transaction (at least 4 total) but you can maintain your budgeting method.

We’ve discussed envelope budgeting quite a bit here on the list. Do a list restricted search to find the threads. I’ve tried it myself in the past, and currently have the account tree set up to use, but honestly, it is probably better to use an outside piece of software to manage the budgeting and just use GnuCash for the actual real accounting. (GnuCash has a budget module, but it is not envelope based) There are several methods and lots of pitfalls. The least of which is nearly double the work in entering transaction splits.

Finally, there are plenty of good standard accounting textbooks online for free. Here’s one I’ve found pretty useful as a quick reference: https://www.principlesofaccounting.com/ (I have a college textbook I kept that is probably better, but that copy is on paper and this is at my fingertips)

All of your questions though were not accounting questions, but GnuCash mechanics questions. We don’t give accounting advice here, but can offer some basic generic example help and can point you in the right direction, but if the question is “how do I do ‘x’ with GnuCash” like you’ve asked, that’s what we’re here for.

Regards,
Adrien