[GNC] Expense Over Time report

Richard Danielson rdan217 at gmail.com
Sun Feb 21 02:34:56 EST 2021


Hello,

I moved from (originally) Bedford Accounting to Simply Accounting and 
can't remember when I was required to assign account numbers to all of 
my accounts, but I did.

After getting started with Gnu Cash, I used the names of accounts to 
make transactions, but that got tiresome so I added my old account 
numbers to all of the accounts in Gnu Cash.  After doing that I just 
used the account numbers to identify which account was needed for a 
transaction and all of the text stuff just came with it.  When I make 
transactions, it's quite fast, but only for accounts for which I 
remember the numbers.  If I forget an account number and have to 
remember the account names for rarely used accounts I just click on the 
drop down list and get it that way.  It works and is quite fast.

I still use placeholder accounts for category headings, but for 
transactions, use the numbers almost exclusively.

Check to see the numbering scheme for something like Sage Simply 
Accounting and add the numbers to your account name and number fields, 
then you're away.

Rick


On 2021-02-20 6:32 p.m., gnu Gord wrote:
> Thank you to everyone that replied.
> I'm still a bit confused as to why I can select the accounts to
> include/exclude plus I can/need to select the level. It seems redundant to
> me but maybe in some situations it's required.
>
> In my example, it appears I have created my hierarchy incorrectly. The
> suggestions I received seem to say I should have no transactions in branch
> accounts and only in leaf accounts. (I didn't realize I needed to be a
> gardener to do accounting!) LOL
> I rearranged my example and it seems the report options work more the way I
> would expect, but I'm still not clear on the level vs. account selection.
>
> To summarize the way I understand it, all but the lowest level accounts
> should be marked as Placeholder accounts (or at least have no
> transactions). Is this closer to 'standard' accounting practice?
>
> Here is the way I've redone the example. With "Expenses", "L2" and "L3" all
> having the Placeholder option ticked:
>
> [image: image.png]
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 11:36 AM Dale Alspach <alspachde at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Some accounting software, e.g., Quickbooks, use a virtual leaf  "Other" in
>> reports to remove any ambiguity when there are  transactions in a branch
>> account which are not in a leaf.  Thus a report for the situation L3 $100
>> transaction and L4 $500 transaction would display
>> L3
>>        L4 500
>>        L3 - Other 100
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> On Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 8:04 AM D. via gnucash-user <
>> gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Geoff,
>>>
>>> That was an excellent answer, and explains clearly a big reason why users
>>> should strive to limit their transactions to leaf nodes in the account
>>> hierarchy. (My own books include numerous violations of this premise,
>> BTW)
>>> Gnucash has always allowed users to put transactions in intermediate
>> level
>>> accounts, which some in the community have felt was Not Good, although
>> I've
>>> been a little more equivocal about it. I'm not sure, but there may be an
>>> outstanding bug request on the behavior.
>>>
>>> I *do* think Gord's final question is an interesting one. It might be
>>> useful to conduct some tests to see the interaction between account
>>> selection and level setting in the various reports that use that method
>> of
>>> grouping, and then update the docs with information.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> David T.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>> From: Geoff <cleanoutmyshed at gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Fri Feb 19 18:37:21 EST 2021
>>> To: gnu Gord <gnucashgord at gmail.com>, gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Expense Over Time report
>>>
>>> Hi Gord
>>>
>>> It appears that L3 is both a parent of L4 and has transactions worth
>>> $100 itself.
>>>
>>> Thus reporting on L3 is ambiguous - do you want only its transactions
>>> ($100), or its transactions plus the sum of its children ($100 + $500 =
>>> $600)?
>>>
>>> I suggest that you only record transactions against the lowest level
>>> children accounts in your hierarchy (the "leaves" and not the
>> "branches").
>>> Hope this helps.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Geoff
>>> =====
>>>
>>> On 20/02/2021 10:07 am, gnu Gord wrote:
>>>> I'm trying to understand this report and it just isn't working the way
>> I
>>>> expect.
>>>> Below is a screenshot of my test chart of accounts, for reference.
>>>> I have one expense of $100 in account L3 and one expense of $500 in
>>> account
>>>> L4
>>>>
>>>> If I ask for an Expense Over Time report and select L3 and* "Show
>>> Accounts
>>>> until Level" 3*, I get $600 in the report. If I select *"Show Accounts
>>>> until level" 4*, I get $100
>>>> If I select 2 or 1 in the "Show Account until level" I get nothing,
>> which
>>>> is OK.
>>>> If I select 5 or 6 I get the same output as 4.
>>>>
>>>> This is not the way I expected it to work.
>>>> I'm not really clear what the "Show Accounts until level" option is
>> used
>>>> for. If I can select the account I want to be included/excluded in the
>>>> report why do I need to also specify the level?
>>>>
>>>> Version: 4.4
>>>> Build ID: 4.4+(2020-12-28)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>
>>>>
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