[GNC] How to use Reminders?

[Adrien Monteleone]

I'm going to reply in-line, but please understand, I sympathize, and 
have been in those shoes. What I'm about to say may at first sound 
harsh, but please keep reading...

On 12/9/20 2:03 PM, Fran_3 via gnucash-user wrote:
>   Please, wake up and smell the real world small business day old burnt coffee at the end of a 12 hour day when you are trying to do the bookkeeping and still get home for a few hours sleep before it all starts over again...
> Look... if you are working the front desk, or the floor, and trying to do other small business duties, doing the books, and trying to keep up with bills from a large quantity of vendors...

Sounds like an organizational problem, not an accounting problem.

- And some vendors don't actually send you a bill, they just expect you 
to know they want their payment by the 10th of the month or whatever...

Then have a talk with the vendor about their expectations. You are 
*their* customer after all. (yes, I know many suppliers forget this 
fact, but that doesn't mean you have to let them behave that way.)

- While other vendors send bills via snail mail...

Just enter *and* post the bill when it arrives. That's been standard 
procedure for eternity. Use *their* posting date, not your entering 
date. (this will correctly 'age' the bill)

- And other vendors email bills-

Same procedure.

And now some small vendors are even (exclusively) using Social Media 
Private Messenger instead of email to send bills...
Now that is absurd. I can't imagine they expect you to even be 
guaranteed to receive it. Sounds like you need to have a chat with those 
vendors as well.

> - So bills are coming in from every direction...Some times it gets very hard to keep up with the mail, email, etc...Results... things fall through the cracks no matter how hard you work.
A personal organizational problem, not an accounting problem. And one 
that I doubt can ever be solved 100%.

> So now you are telling me to keep up with multiple calendars !
No, Derek did not suggest this. That is for you to decide what tools you 
need to do the job. GnuCash is NOT and never will be "all things to all 
people", ever. Would you suggest it be able to send e-mail, type 
letters, surf the web? Please, take a breath and ponder a spell.


  Yet another job piled on the head of some poor owner or employee 
working at a conically understaffed, hanging on for dear life, small 
business !!!
Again, sounds like an organizational and time management problem. What 
you are describing is not unique to you. Thousands of businesses deal 
with these issues. (and likely those who do not manage it, are the ones 
who never become profitable, or don't stay that way)

> Forget the damn boss's birthday and Valentines day... the main issue here is having specific reminders to remember to go find and post every bill that came in from who knows where.
There is no substitute for your own workflow discipline and time 
management. No software package can prevent you from forgetting to do 
the tasks of your job description. Some can help in some cases, but only 
marginally so. YOU still have to use those tools, yes 'tools' is plural. 
There is no 'one' system for everything, anywhere, from any company or 
organization.

> If it were that easy to "just post the bills" the OP would have never been created.
It is, you are just overwhelmed due to either too many responsibilities, 
or lacking a workflow/method to get them in line instead of them making 
you chase your tail, putting out fires. There are lots of blogs and 
books on the subject. GnuCash is not the answer to that question.

GnuCash can remind you what bills (that are posted) are due and when and 
how much is left to pay, but it can't remind you to put the data in the 
system in the first place.

This is why Derek suggested a general calendar/reminder app. You need 
one of those regardless. They are better suited to the 'general 
reminders' you seek. You can set reminders in said app to check to see 
if you've received this or that vendor's bill yet, and if so, to be sure 
to enter and post it.

Then, and only then, will GnuCash pick up from that point and handle 
reminding you about payment. GnuCash is about the data entered into it. 
You have to find other solutions for the steps before that point. (or 
entirely outside of it)

> Sorry for the rant, we love GC... but creating/modifying the code for a simple general purpose reminder ain't that big of a job.

Are you a programmer? If so, code it. Contributions welcome. (if they 
are within the scope of the app) Remember, there is no organization or 
company behind GnuCash - everyone is a volunteer.

There are plenty of other apps already in existence to handle this. 
Heck, you don't even need an app. A paper calendar will do just fine. 
There is a large market in desk blotters and wall calendars still. 
Apparently businesses in 2020 still use them effectively - because they 
work. (My Aunt has been paying the bills for a small business for 
decades now using a paper calendar. She is never late and maintains an 
excellent rating. Her rating is so good, when other retailers were put 
on 'factors' or C.O.D., she gets 30-90+ day terms—with discounts!)


> My guess here is this is about setting design boundaries to minimize project creep... got it... but this one is so close to the line that I dare characterize it as a reasonable "suggestion"...
> There is probably a way to use the current reminder feature to "fake it" just to get an "in your face" reminder to  do whatever. I'll post back  if  I come up with such.

Yes there is. But I hesitate to describe it for you because clearly, 
you're trying to whack everything with the same GnuCash hammer, and that 
is just not going to always, if even seldom, work.

You are much better off with a general purpose calendar/reminder/todo 
app or just pen and paper. (even a nice printed calendar will work if a 
blank sheet is too scary)

You've already been given a hint concerning Scheduled Transactions.

I'll also offer the advice to do a small bit of research into Bullet 
Journaling aka "BuJo". There are plenty blogs and YouTube videos on the 
subject. I'd recommend sticking to the simple at first, but you'll find 
some get fancy with it.

Also, if you don't already have a copy or have read it, I highly 
recommend David Allen's book, "Getting Things Done."

Just do it.

It won't be easy. You'll think it doesn't apply to you. Forget that and 
just do. After doing for some time, you'll find ways to make that system 
work for you (or find another). Same with BuJo.

The key is to stick to a method and do that every single day, every 
single day, every single day. (got it?)

I use both to some extent daily. Yes, I still forget things. (because 
I'm not using them 100% or daily of course! I should follow my own 
advice...Like I said, it isn't easy.)

Relax, take a deep breath.

Regards,
Adrien