[GNC] Changing account tree on large database

[Cricket Onebit]

On Thu, 25 Apr 2019 at 17:29, Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:

> > I'm preparing to convert 14,000 transactions from Quicken. It's a bit
> > overwhelming, and I've put it off for years.
>
> Sounds like a daunting task. I don’t do such imports, but reading the
> various threads over the years, this will be a doozy.
>

Yes, it's a daunting task, but I do't want to lose 10+ years of data. I'm
using an old version of Quicken, and don't trust the new version to be able
to read it. The old version might not work on newer Windows. I need to move
it.

I’d try finding some of those threads or asking about a general ‘best
> practices’ or ‘workflow’ to accomplish this with the least amount of
> headache.
>

There doesn't seem to be an easy way to find those threads. I might not be
searching right. "site:lists.gnucash.org quicken" has posts from many years
ago on the first page, but not any from 2019. I know there are some from
2019.

Two gnucash.org pages need to be updated. They have broken links.
https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
https://lists.gnucash.org/search/?idxinfo=gnucash-user

Yes, you can do this at will, over and over till you have your tree the way
> you like it. (and then re-factor it again months later when you change your
> mind)
>

Yay! for easy moving / promoting / demoting / etc child / parent / sibling
/ cousin accounts. Both your suggested methods make sense.

One less reason to put off the migration.

Also, for this particular example, I’d opt for tags for each kid instead of
> accounts, see below about Cars.
>

I didn't think GNUCash supported tags. I plan to use #tagone in a text
field. That's one of the things I need to do in Quicken. Search for each
transaction using a label, and put it in a text field. Problem: The text
fields are short. Maybe I'll create accounts/categories for each tag, and
add a $0.01 line. That will at least preserve the info. Then in GC edit
again to put the tags in a text field and undo the $0.01 split. (Not $0
because I think Quicken ignores $0 lines.)

I’ve not found one yet, though that may be in the documentation. Look into
> Double-Line mode to give you an extra note field. Once discovered, I now
> use it extensively.
>

I like that GNUCash makes it easy to switch between journal, register, and
split views.

The #1 piece of advice I could give to anyone who even thinks they might
> want detail or multiple levels of categorization is to record as much info
> as possible in each transaction. Record each split line from a receipt and
> never combine items. Be descriptive for each split. That way, in the
> future, should you decide to break something out into its own account, the
> process will be much easier. But if you don’t have that info in the first
> place...
>

I've annoyed many people with data. It runs in the family.

"Nothing ruins an argument like a fact." -- RM Thomas, P.Eng. (aka Dad)


> On the reporting end, if you really need to have parents with their own
> transactions (instead of just as placeholders), set your options like this
> on the P&L (Income Statement):
>
> Options > Display > Parent account balances > Account Balance
> Options > Display > Parent account subtotals > Show Subtotals

...

Parts` has one break-out sub-account with the remaining transactions in
> itself. So that one shows its own balance, and the `Total Parts` line
> combines it with its sub-account.
>

Yay! I wasn't looking forward to creating "misc" (grand) child accounts for
every parent and moving the transactions. The GC report is similar to the
Quicken report.

Does it also do that for a Transaction, Group by (sub-)account report? I
use that one a lot. There's probably something close enough.

+++

Enough stalling. Today's goal is to replace all the investment accounts
with basic accounts. Apparently migrating investments isn't reliable. I
won't lose any data because I haven't tracked investment details in Quicken
in years. Also create appropriate income/loss accounts for the investment
accounts so the year-end balances work. And, of course, lots of pre/post
change reports to catch problems.

Wish me luck!