[GNC] General Ledger

Wed Mar 18 13:52:04 EDT 2020

On 3/17/20 8:50 PM, Adrian Yong wrote:
> Hi Adrien,
>
> Thanks for your very detailed explanation...
>
> I appreciate that we enter each transaction using the double entry system
> into the accounts.. This is almost the same as manual accounting.
>
> The problem arises when the auditors do not use Gnucash. In the manual
> system, the auditors will be provided with a General Ledger which is a
> collation of all transactions sorted into each of the accounts.
>
> If the auditors uses Gnucash, all I need to do is to furnish them with
> gnucash data file and my problem would vanish... But....
>
> Regards,
> Adrian

Adrian,

I give my CPA three items:

1.  Balance Sheet.

2.  Profit Loss statement

3.  Transaction Report of all transactions for the year sorted by
account and then by date within account.

So far he hasn't complained.

--Steve

>
>
>
>
> On Wed, 18 Mar. 2020, 01:28 Adrien Monteleone, <
> adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>
>> I think I understand now what you are asking.
>>
>> TLDR; your GnuCash file **is** the General Ledger. GnuCash **is not**
>> QuickBooks. QuickBooks has a separate view of the General Ledger because
>> they otherwise hide it from you.
>>
>>
>> QuickBooks in particular, hides the double-entry nature of accounting from
>> you with their home screen. They strongly urge you to enter transactions
>> via the various flow steps that they provide and they really want you to
>> use their workflow. You don’t make entries in the General Ledger, but in
>> various special entry screens. But you can make direct General Ledger
>> entries for special cases. However, they frown upon it. You can also view
>> the General Ledger separately. (but you don’t have to in order to run a P&L
>> or Balance Sheet, but that is where all QuickBooks transactions are
>> officially stored.)
>>
>> GnuCash takes the opposite approach and offers double-entry, by default.
>> You don’t need to open something special, or run a special report, you
>> *are* working directly in the various accounts that are part of the General
>> Ledger. Thus, each GnuCash file *is* the General Ledger. It is the
>> collection of all of your accounts and all transactions in them, in one
>> place. There is a summary tab labeled “Accounts” where you can see balances
>> in any account at a glance without having to open each one or run a special
>> report. There is also a General Journal, which is the pen and paper
>> equivalent of putting all transactions in one place, then later copying
>> them to the individual accounts. (but with GnuCash you don’t have to copy
>> them, you just enter them once.) Think of the various account registers as
>> subsets of the General Journal. Some (like myself) prefer to work directly
>> in various accounts. Some prefer to enter transactions into the General
>> Journal.
>>
>> An exception to this direct entry approach is the Business Features. While
>> you don’t need to use them, you can, and they offer special functions and
>> reports. If you use them, you should only make changes (with regards to
>> those individual special business transactions) via their special windows
>> rather than directly in the AR/AP accounts. But you can always view AR/AP
>> at any time. You can also have ‘Other’ AR/AP accounts and make all the
>> manual entries in them that you need. With regard to Bills and Invoices,
>> you can do those manually, or you can use the Business Features. If you do
>> so, you can’t edit the resulting transactions in Expense or Income accounts
>> directly, you have to use the Edit Bill/Invoice window to do so. (but you
>> can always view those transactions at any time, just like AR/AP by simply
>> viewing the relevant Income or Expense account, they are in fact, the same
>> transactions as what appears in AR/AP.)
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Mar 17, 2020 w12d77, at 2:20 AM, Adrian Yong <
>> adrianyong.88park at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Adrien,
>>>
>>> In the General Ledger, every account has it history recorded and all
>> these is collated in one book called the General Ledger...
>>> As I am used to QuickBooks and manually accounting methods, the General
>> Ledger is the basis for P&L, and Balance Sheet. QuickBooks seems to emulate
>> manual accounting.
>>> Somehow, I have to generate a report on each account and collate them
>> manually into one collection..
>>> Regards,
>>> Adrian
>>>
>>> On Tue, 17 Mar. 2020, 13:39 Adrien Monteleone, <
>> adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>>> If you mean you want to see the individual transaction activity in your
>> accounts related to a single customer, yes.
>>> If you just want to see the balanced owed by all customers, you can use
>> the Accounts Receivable report. (each customer can be listed separately,
>> along with a total)
>>> But both of these are entirely different things than your original
>> question. Which is quite fine, but please do clarify what it is you are
>> trying to accomplish so we can help you efficiently.
>>> Regards,
>>> Adrien
>>>
>>>> On Mar 16, 2020 w12d76, at 11:47 PM, Adrian Yong <
>> adrianyong.88park at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi Christopher,
>>>>
>>>> That means I have to generate a report for each of the accounts ie
>> Cash in
>>>> Bank, Trade Debtors, each customer at a time ?
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Adrian
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-- 
Stephen M Butler, PMP, PSM
Stephen.M.Butler51 at gmail.com
kg7je at arrl.net
253-350-0166
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