[GNC] Convert credit cards as expenses to credit cards as liabilities?

[ornd25 at tutanota.com]

If you?re going to keep using the simplified method, there?s no point to changing the account type.

>
> #1 you?d lose expense tracking entirely for anything spent via the card.
> #2 credit card liability would forever be ?negative? (meaning they owe you)
>
> ...
> With the switch you are considering, you?d just be doing the second of the above two transactions instead of:
>
> Dr. Expenses:Credit Card
> Cr. Checking
>
> Which would remove expenses entirely and make your liabilities look like assets since they are negative. (because you keep paying more down, without the charge part of the transaction) So both your Income Statement and Balance Sheet would be wrong.
>
> ... 
>
> You might also be able to download some of that actual history from your card company if you think you want it. (I doubt all 10 years though)
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
I think I follow some of your reasoning, but I believe I allowed a misconception.

I'm trying to set up something similar to that proposed by the "GnuCash Tutorial and Concepts Guide" (page 100):


"If you do not want to track each expense made on the credit card, you can set up a simple account hierarchylike this:


-Assets-Bank


-Liabilities-Credit Card


-Expenses-Credit Card"

(Sorry about the indent errors.)

I don't wish to remove the Exp: Credit Card in favor of Liab:Credit Card - I want both of them. If I understand your reasoning, this would prevent the #2 error above, "Credit card liability would always be negative." The #1 error would still be true, but it's no worse than I've been doing it for 20 years. 

The new simplified structure would allow me to grow into detailed credit card tracking. I had never considered downloading detailed transactions - that might work for me. (Typically, we'll have 30 - 40 transactions a month, and I do recall stopping tracking all of them because I grew tired of typing, and of reversing for refunds. With downloads, such things appear easier now.)

Detailed transaction tracking might well be useful for me in a few months, after I've grown accustomed to GnuCash. If I may ask, however, I can't determine whether there is a method by which I can automatically populate a Liabilities:Credit Card account if I leave the Expenses:Credit Card account in place. Wold you mind addressing that, please?