[GNC] Imbalance on Fixed Income Transaction

[davidcousens49 at gmail.com]

Hi Bruce

It is a formal requirement in double entry accounting theory that the sum of the
debit entries/splits for a transaction should equal the sum of the credit
entries or splits.

Most transactions only have two splits but in the entry of transactions with more than two splits if you enter a transaction (pressing the enter key) GnuCash will assign any imbalance in these sums for the transaction to an imbalance account in the currency (and generate that account if it doees not exist. 
The purpose of this is to alert you that an unbalanced transaction has been
entered and by how much it is unbalanced. Any non-zero balance in an Imbalance
account is an indication that a transaction is in error or incomplete and
unbalanced. The transaction entry to the Imbalance account enforces that formal
accounting requirement for the transaction, even though it has been entered
unbalanced.

This can generally be fixed by viewing the transaction from any register but
most usefully from the Imbalance account register and altering the destination
account for the split from the Imbalance account to an appropriate account in
your CoA. The transaction split to the Imbalance account will then disappear and
its balance should return to 0.

When entering transactions with more than two entries/splits if you use the tab
key to get to a new line to enter the next split in the transaction, not the
enter key, you should not encounter this problem.

"Orphan" accounts perform a similar function when an account is deleted without
reassigning all transaction splits to that account to another account before
deleting the account.

David Cousens




On Thu, 2021-10-21 at 23:44 +0200, Bruce wrote:
> Just setting up GnuCash 3.8b+(2019-12-29) for the first time
> on an HP EliteDesk 800 G1 running LinuxMint v20.02 Cinnamon.
> And yes, I've had Bookkeeping-101 in College, 40+ yrs ago.
> And it was processed by an IBM 360 Mainframe.
> 
> What I'm not understanding is the basics behind the "Imbalance" result.
> I have set up all the top level accounts, and then added FI1 and FI2 (Fixed
> Income 1&2) as subs below the 'Income' top level account.
> 
> My two FI's come in at different times, one on the first of each month, the
> other on the Second Wednesday, which I will eventually want to set up
> recurring automatic transactions for those two sources (which I basically
> already have figured out).
> 
> After opening the register (ledger) for FI1 and entering a transaction for
> that allotment, lets say $1000.00 and saving it, then opening the transaction
> register for account FI2, and doing the same, for the same amount and saving
> that...   The main top level account page shows a total income of $2000.00,
> which is correct and I understand, but directly above that is the "Imbalance-
> USD" line, and if each transaction is once again opened each shows an
> 'Imbalance' for the Transfer field in the amount of the transaction.
> 
> I have reconciled both of these transactions basically meaning that I have
> seen proof that the transaction occurred by statement or by funds-in-hand and
> ticked the "R" box in the respective line, which changed to a "c", and is now
> a "y".  But the 'Imbalance' notice remains and the amount does not change.
> 
> Once the transactions are reconciled, should not the imbalance go away ?
> 
> I realize the answer to this is likely a simple one,
> but it is alluding me at the moment, input appreciated.
> 
> And lastly...  Is it advisable to update to v4.8 under Mint ?
> I notice that the doc page says it should be available through the 'Software
> Center' on Ubuntu, but I just installed THIS version (3.8) from the Mint
> 'Software Manager', and I'm limited to Cellular downloads at the moment, so
> I'd rather not do the 800+MB FlatHub (which is v4.8).
> 
> Bruce
> (just another old retired Vet trying to keep his funds straight)
> 
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