[GNC] Beginner Accounting Question Using GnuCash

[davidcousens49 at gmail.com]

Patrick,

You obviously tried the reports. The most general report is the Transactionn
report which you can set to view the transactions in any one account or
combination of accounts. The trick with reports is when the report comes up its
options are set to default values. If you then choose the Edit>>Report options
with the report tab open you can set the specific options for the report you
require including the specific accounts to display. These can be saved as a
custom report and then reused (you may have to alter the date range though)

Don't know if this is the problem you are having  but it is farily common new
user problem with reports

David Cousens

On Fri, 2021-12-17 at 11:19 +0000, Patrick Skelton wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am trying to get my head around double-entry accounting. I think I have
> kind-of got it. I have just set up a stripped down set of accounts and
> tried a handful of transactions, to see how they affect profit-and-loss and
> the balance sheet. It all seems to make sense except that there is one
> piece of information that seems to vanish, and I am worried this means I am
> doing something wrong.
> 
> My transactions beginning with all zero balances are:
> 
> (N*ote:* I have added some dates to give context to my later question)
> 
>    1. 1st Nov: I pay £100 into the business *Bank* financed by *Owner's
>    Equity*.
>    2. 2nd Nov: I buy some paper costing £12, which comes from *Bank* and
>    goes into *Stock on Hand*.
>    3. 3rd Dec: I sell a notepad for £12, which credits *Bank* and is
>    assigned to *Income - Sales*.
>    4. 4th Dec: I transfer the cost of the paper used to make the notepad
>    (£1.00) from *Stock on Hand* to *Expenses - Cost of Materials*.
> 
> The Balance Sheet shows £111. Liabilities are zero. Retained Earnings are
> £11, which gives total equity of £111. Thus the sheet is balanced.
> 
> My question is that no matter what report I run using whatever dates, I
> cannot see the £12 I spent on stock. All I ever see is the £1 that I
> decided was the cost of the paper taken from stock.
> 
> Even if I do reports only for the month of November, I don't see the £12 I
> paid for stock because the money came from my bank and went into stock,
> which are both Asset accounts.
> 
> Is there a better way to do these transactions so that I could ask the
> question: how much have I spent on stock this month?
> 
> I am a complete newbie so would welcome any help or advice (short of 'get
> an accountant', which I would love to but can't afford).
> 
> Kind wishes - Patrick
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