[GNC] Inserting the Beginning Balances of Accounts in Gnucash

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 4/22/2021 2:30 PM, Jose A. Lorido III wrote:
> Hi Derek,
>
> Thanks for your advice, however, I'm still not sure what to do with the
> balances I had on 12/31/2020 in my Equity Accounts
> (Additional-Paid-In-Capital, Opening Balances, and Retained Earnings
> accounts) and how to add them to the beginning balances as of 01/01/2021.
>
> Could you clarify?
>
>
> Kind Regards
> *Jose A. Lorido III*
> Managing Director

Question 1: Are you creating a new set of books for the new year? (like 
would have been done in the old days of pen and ink on paper)

Question 2: Are you trying to use the "opening balance wizard" or are 
you doing it the traditional way with an opening transaction(s)?

Let's for the moment assume the answer to the first is yes and for the 
second (what some giving advice seem not to be spotting is that since 
because things like "Additional-Paid-In-Capital" and "Retained Earnings" 
mean this is possibly the books of a corporation)

First -- you say you have the 12/31/2020 balance sheet, yes? That means 
that if all those amounts/accounts were entered in a single giant split 
on both sides transaction, that transaction would be in balance. It 
could be the first transaction of the new set of books, dated 
12/31/2020, description something like "open 2021 books". So that is ONE 
way. But a split transaction that is split on both debit and credit side 
isn't the easiest thing to enter. But that would be an exact mirror of 
how done in the days of pen and ink on paper.

OR -- let's say you want to use the tool. You enter all the asset and 
liability accounts each with their starting balance, and gncash uses 
starting equity for the other side of those (hidden) transactions. You 
will see that this doesn't match what's on your balance sheet for 
starting equity and that those other equity accounts are missing 
amounts. You then enter a split transaction just affecting the equity 
accounts, making the main equity amount match and the right amounts in 
each of those other equity accounts << that SHOULD be an in balance 
transaction >>

Michael D Novack

PS -- The FIRST action you should take after opening these new books is 
immediately run a Balance Sheet. Compare with the one you used to create 
this set of books. Should be an exact match.