[GNC] Recording non-cash donations

[Stan Brown]

On 2021-08-02 12:19, Rich Shepard wrote:
> While I've sent my account an email asking how to book non-cash donations
> I'm also asking here how folks do this. I can set up an Expense account for
> non-cash donations but cannot think of an appropriate off-setting
> account in
> Assets (since these are items and books I've owned but are now donating to
> Goodwill or the county library).
> 
> Your thoughts?

Hi, Rich!

The usual caveat: I am not an accountant or a tax professional.

If you're donating items that have no value on your books, I'm not sure
I would call that a "donation" in accounting terms. You could keep a
record by entering a transaction that would have only one split, with
Account = your charity account and Debit and Credit both = 0.

If the item does have significant value but for some reason you never
entered them in your books, you would create one or more asset accounts
for them. Then you'd make two transactions for each item:
(1) Debit: asset account
    Credit: Equity (I think this is a case for making a direct credit to
the main equity account, essentially a correcting item, because the item
is not new income but something that you've had all along but just not
in your books.)
(2) Debit: Expenses:Charity
    Credit: asset account

-- 
Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com
https://OakRoadSystems.com