[GNC] How-to question: CD Interest payments deposited in a different account

[Adrien Monteleone]

You shouldn’t need to have separate accounts for each. Since you can specify the source using the description, notes, or memo, you can run reports showing the info you need to determine the source of any funds. It is usually rare to need special accounts for singular purposes, general accounts usually work well for most use cases.

Regards,
Adrien

> On Feb 19, 2019, at 3:02 PM, Art Chimes <arts.online at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks all who replied, and so quickly, too. I think Dale pretty much
> nailed it, about over-thinking the problem. Or perhaps more accurately,
> failing to think about it in a new (gnu?) way.
> 
> Since the interest payments originated with the asset (the CD), I assumed
> that the payments should first appear in, or go through, the asset account
> holding the CD (analogous to what I am used to in Quicken). But it is
> definitely easier just to start with the income account and having the
> money then transfer to the checking account.
> 
> I can use the Description field to note the source of the money. Which
> brings me to another point. Since I can do that, it seems to me that ALL
> interest payments — other CDs, savings accounts, etc — can use the same
> Income:Interest account, yes? I don't see that I need to separate them, as
> long as they are tagged with the source. Unless I'm missing something,
> which is more than entirely possible.
> 
> Art