[GNC] Split Transactions: "wrong" Num fields show in reports

Paul Kroitor paul at kroitor.ca
Sun Nov 24 10:39:05 EST 2019


Thank you, that’s exactly what I was looking for. Thanks also for the heads-up about the existing transactions having to be adjusted – I never would have realized this on my own, and would have tried the option, not noticed any difference (except for the simple ledger not showing any Nums at all), and quickly abandoned it.

One clarification for anyone else reading this: it’s actually all the *other* transactions that need to be fixed. When you change the mode, the Nums you have already entered in split lines now do show up in reports, but all the other ones (the transactions without splits) no longer do. One needs to re-enter the Num fields, *including* manually entering the Num on the expense side of the entry (as only the bank side is copied automatically).

In my case it’s going to require an hour or two of adjusting it all for the other mode, which isn’t too bad.
Thanks again,
Paul Kroitor

From: Alex Aycinena <alex.aycinena at gmail.com>
Sent: November 23, 2019 12:39 PM
To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org; Paul Kroitor <paul at kroitor.ca>
Subject: Re: Split Transactions: "wrong" Num fields show in reports

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Kroitor <paul at kroitor.ca<mailto:paul at kroitor.ca>>
To: "gnucash-user at gnucash.org<mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.org>" <gnucash-user at gnucash.org<mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.org>>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2019 15:49:26 +0000
Subject: [GNC] Split Transactions: "wrong" Num fields show in reports
Hi, I've looked for this in the archives but nothing pops up. I have years of experience with GnuCash cannot seem to resolve this.

Simplified, we have a regular bank account which is used to reimburse construction worker's out-of-pocket purchases. They provide a store receipt, which gets a NUMber, and an e-transfer is made to their bank account. Then we create a weekly transaction list, showing the all the expenses. It (of course) needs to show the receipt number.

This works fine for individual payments (each expense is listed with the Num correctly shown). But if we repay the worker for two items, we enter it as a split: a credit to the bank, and two debits, one for each receipt (e.g. #27 Nails $5, #28 Paint $10).

The problem is that the transaction report always shows the Num from the main entry in the bank ledger, not the individual Nums for the split lines. It does this even though the transaction report is selecting from the Expense ledgers, not the bank.

==== Entry into Bank shows as follows in Autosplit mode ====
Jan 1  #xxx  John Smith                    <acct is blank>   C   $15
           #27   ABC Hardware              Nails                     D     $5
           #28   DEF Paints                      Paint                    D   $10
                     (bank tracking code)    Bank Account    C    $15

==== But the transaction report for expenses shows ====
Jan 1  #xxx  ABC Hardware             Nails        $5
Jan 1  #xxx  DEF Paints                    Paint        $10

Note the Num shown is from the top line of the entry, but the description is from each split line. We need the Num from the split line to be shown.

Is this a bug, or is it designed to work this way? And if so, why, and is there a work-around?

Thanks for any advice, info, pointers, etc
Paul Kroitor

Paul,

There is an option (File->Properties->Accounts Tab->Use Split Action Field for Number) that should do what you want; that is, if this option is selected, the 'num' field on registers and reports can vary by split within a transaction. If the report you are using doesn't respect your selection for this option, that would be a bug on the report. Also, please note that changing this option will not change historical data. It will change the behaviour going forward for new transactions entered. But, if there are only a few, you could go back and modify individual transactions through the register window after making the option change and rerun the report.

Regards,

Alex


More information about the gnucash-user mailing list