[GNC] Help

[will at theprescotts.com]

I noticed one quirk about using opening balances:

If you do add opening balances when creating new accounts, GnuCash creates an Equity:Opening balances account for you for the other side of the transaction. However, should you want to change the opening balance for any reason after the account has been created, I found that it is not editable. In order to edit it, I had to go to the accounts list, edit the Opening balances account and change the account to editable. I can't remember exactly what the check box was called.

I discovered this when I was setting up a template GnuCash file to give to new users. I included some sample accounts and transactions and I wanted them to be able to use the sample accounts and just correct the opening balances.

Will


On 2020 Dec 21, at 12-21 17:19:31, Michael or Penny Novack <stepbystepfarm at comcast.net> wrote:

On 12/21/2020 11:43 AM, Brian Gardner wrote:
> I have just had the system installed for me and I have managed to get all the accounts that I have used in my financial statements into the file. Unfortunately I read about the installing of opening balances after I had done everything thinking that I could add the opening balances to the accounts after they were all in place. I now have two asset accounts, four current asset accounts, two equity accounts, and three liability accounts in place but I have not yet found out how I can enter the opening balances into those accounts. Please let me know what I need to do.
> Thank you.

The "opening balance" tool is just that, a shortcut compared to the old fashioned way using an opening transaction. It is just trying to make it easier for new users so they don't have to start out with a split transaction. Or since transactions split on both sides are tricky to enter, transactions.

NORMALLY a new set of books is created using the Balance Sheet of the old. Do you HAVE your old Balance Sheet (for those two asset, four current asset, two equity, and three liability accounts?

NOTE: Just because normal to use one or two split transactions does not mean that you can't do it in separate transactions, one for each asset and liability account << the other side of these transactions would be equity >> When you have entered these transactions and all the asset and liability accounts have the correct balance (according to your records) does what appear as the balance for the equity accounts also match your records?

Michael D Novack


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