[GNC] The Meaning of Split (previously Example of multi-split feature of CSV importer?)

[Michael or Penny Novack]

I think this dispute has more to do with how we begin to learn about 
transactions in double entry bookkeeping and that gnucash (and yes, most 
equivalent "direct entry into the ledger" alternatives) begins with a 
SIMPLIFIED entry that makes it quick/easy to enter the overwhelming 
majority of transactions.

Let's go back to the way double entry was done, first entering 
transactions into a "journal" and then later posting these to the 
ledger. We can then define a transaction as:

a date, optionally a check number or transaction number
one OR MORE lines of debits, each with the account being debited and the 
amount
one OR MORE lines of credits, each with the account being credited and 
the amount
and optional description of this transaction
< with the condition that the total of the debit amounts and the total 
of credit amounts must be the same>

This would then get posted to the ledger, each of those debit or credit 
lines being a line in that ledger account.

Now in gnucash (and yes, in  most alternatives) the journal is virtual. 
You begin entering directly in ANY of the affected accounts. Since MOST 
transactions have only one other account being affected, the entry 
process allows you to specify that on the same line. IF (for some 
reason) you wanted to see the journal, there is a report you can run << 
aside: in the old days, transcription errors while manually posting were 
the bulk of the the errors that had to be painstakingly found -- there 
were a number of "tricks" you had to learn to help you find  the error >>

Because THIS (beginning with the simplest possible transaction form) is 
how we begin entering with gnucash (and equivalents) we have a PROCESS 
to switch to the more general form of transaction where there is more 
than one debit, more than one credit, or both. That is called SPLIT. 
When you hit the split button, it brings up a view of what the JOURNAL 
entry would look like. All we are splitting is the view of a transaction 
form one where see a single line (with one debit and one credit) to a 
form where each debit and each credit appears on its own line.

The alternative software might call this process something else (say 
"switch to journal view" instead of "split" but is doing the same thing.

In other words, this is a "work flow" matter. The developers (correctly) 
decided to make it quick and easy to enter the overwhelming majority of 
transactions instead of always requiring the process needed for the 
rarer general case transaction.

Michael D Novack