[GNC] How to enter Gold?

[Eric Coates]

Michael

> I wonder what???s the best practice on how to enter physical Gold into GNC. Is there anybody who has done that before?

I added gold to my list of "thingies" fairly recently.

The way I did it:
(1) Right click on the  Assets  class and choose   New Account
(2) In the window that appears enter an Account Name (let's say 
BULLION); optionally enter an Account Code and description
(3) The next bit is a bit odd but bear with me: in the Security/currency 
section click Select... in the mini window that appears under Type 
choose Currencies and then for Currency scroll almost to the bottom and 
choose XAU. Then click OK
(4) Back in the main window for the Smallest fraction I'd select 1/10000
(5) Make sure that the Account Type is Asset, add anything else you want 
and click OK
(6) And you will have an account called BULLION appear under Assets.

As far as I can see this account can be used to record your holding of 
gold but, of course, you will need to enter the purchase of said gold 
and (I assume) you'll want to track its value This is where that odd bit 
comes in. As far as I can see purchasing the gold is done in much  the 
same way as you'd buy some shares EXCEPT THE UNIT IS ONE TROY OUNCE. 
Note that this means that if you buy coins (or jewellry, I guess) you'll 
have to find the gold content - I found that relatively straight forward.

Now, when you update share prices XAU is automatically included and 
(rather magically to my mind appears) as GBP (I'm in the UK and GBP is 
my base currency). Rather magically because the price of gold is usually 
quoted (on the web) in USD - but hey, let's say we're lucky that someone 
has waved a magic wand behind the scenes.

It all seems rather simple now but at the time it took some work to get 
my head around things, whilst I was in that mode I was using a dummy 
copy of my accounts - slight hint, it may be best that you do too.

I guess you are in Germany, they are a sensible people so they may work 
in grams. A dummy transaction (in the dummy accounts) and some hand 
checking may show up any extra niggles

One major mistake I made was in the buying of the gold. The bullion 
dealer's web site said "purchase gold using a credit card or debit 
card". In my innocence (or as my wife called it "stupidity") I used a 
credit card. The card company hit me with a hefty "cash transfer" fee. 
Thinking about (post event!) it seems obvious why.

Good luck. Best wishes

Eric