[GNC] Tracking cash flows with balanced transactions

[Ove Grunnér]

I would like to be able to do this as well, however I create QIF files from
my investment account and then import it.
I convert exports from DEGIRO programmatically into QIF to avoid having to
enter transactions manually.
The problem being that when I import the transaction as an investment, then
GnuCash will not let me  do a split, and when I import as a bank account,
then it will not let me do a stock.

Is there a way to import this using a QIF file and it ends up with a split
containing a zero stock transaction and then the dividend?

fingers crossed,

Ove.

On Thu, 20 Aug 2020 at 14:23, peterb <peterb at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, I like that a lot, that's much more elegant than what I was
> experimenting with. Somehow it didn't occur to me that a zero-value split
> would still show up in the register...even though I've seen that happen
> when I've included one by accident.
>
> Thank you!
>
> -Peter
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 3:40 AM Geoff <cleanoutmyshed at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Peter, this is the way that I do it, and it doesn't require double entry
> > of the transactions.
> >
> > Simply "tag" all dividend payments when they arrive in the bank account
> > with the relevant stock account - you do this by entering a third (zero
> > value) split.
> >
> > The dividend will then automatically show up in the stock's register.
> >
> > The "Advanced Portfolio" report will also automatically include the
> > dividend income as part of its return calculations.
> >
> > Hope this helps - please see the attached screenshot.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Geoff
> > =====
> > P.S.  This is mentioned in Chapter 9.8:
> > https://code.gnucash.org/docs/C/gnucash-guide/invest-dividends1.html
> >
> > On 20/08/2020 2:01 pm, peterb wrote:
> > > Let's say I have a security - could be a stock, or a bond - which
> > > periodically yields some dividend or interest.  Often it's convenient
> to
> > be
> > > able to see those dividends in a single register.
> > >
> > > The vanilla way to account for dividends or interest doesn't quite make
> > > this easy: the obvious way to do it will appear in your brokerage
> > register,
> > > but not in the register for the stock.  And that makes perfect sense -
> > the
> > > money isn't going in to your stock account!
> > >
> > > Description          Account          Debit      Credit
> > > Dividend BIGCO     Assets:Brokerage   50
> > >                     Income:Dividend               50
> > >
> > > If you're disciplined about your descriptions you can of course search
> > for
> > > these, but it feels potentially error prone when looking for them.
> > >
> > > I'm on record as not liking the way GnuCash handles realized
> income/loss
> > > from sales in stock accounts (putting "zero share" dollar values in the
> > > share-denominated register instead of explicitly treating stock sales
> as
> > > return-of-capital plus gain/loss) but it occurs to me that you can do
> > > something similar for dividends and interest:
> > >
> > > Description          Account                  Debit      Credit
> > > Dividend BIGCO     Assets:Brokerage:BIGCO     50
> > >                     Assets:Brokerage           50
> > >                     Income:Dividend                       50
> > >                     Assets:Brokerage:BIGCO                50
> > >
> > > The idea here being: the income flows into the BIGCO-denominated
> account,
> > > but immediately flows out again into the cash-denominated account; if
> one
> > > looks at the BIGCO register, all of the dividend events will be clearly
> > > visible.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have either a more elegant way of accomplishing the goal of
> > > "all cash flows from a stock are visible on the stock's register", or a
> > > good reason *not* to do what I'm giving an example of here?
> > >   (Alternatively, if this is in fact what everyone does as described in
> > > chapter 7853.633 of the user guide, and I just missed it, please let me
> > > know!)
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > > -Peter
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