[GNC] Not exactly a new question. Am I introductory screwing up by entering 0 balances in accounts.

[Michael or Penny Novack]

Actually, not a specific gnucash question and while I am US (and file 
taxes here) anyone who understands double entry bookkeeping could answer.

Because you are asking "how do I enter a transaction if I know it might 
have to be corrected later?" The point is that you CAN later enter a 
correction transaction. In formal accounting you do NOT change past 
entries. Instead you enter a correcting transaction, in the  
description, explaining and identifying the transaction that is being 
corrected.

So enter it NOW the way you think it should be, If later you discover 
should have been a different account, etc. enter a correction transaction.

In other words, suppose you THINK the proper credit account is 
"expense1". But later you learn (you say the IRS tells you) should have 
been "expense2". So you enter a correction transaction debiting expense2 
and crediting expense1 << moves the expense for expense1 to expense2 >> 
They are BOTH "in the Journal". If this was an IRS ordered correction 
you might be dating it for during YE processing and rerunning your YE 
reports to reflect the change in the correct tax year.

Michael D Novack



On 12/17/2022 5:35 AM, Jeff wrote:
> For United States of America respondents, unless you have previous 
> experience with the I.R.S. please do not provide answers.
>
> I'm not sure how to to ask this.
>
> If you are as I am then don't feel alone.  I wish they would just levy 
> a straight tax on everyone, the IRS would finally make a profit and we 
> then could maybe find ways to support our own disabled (like myself 
> who does not qualify, even though I can no longer hold a job in the 
> real world because of a medical condition that is uncontrollable by 
> any medical means available with our "modern" medicine).  I'm entering 
> 0 dollars in accounts that I know that there is money flowing though 
> them, I just do not know what the other account would be (mysteries, 
> love them but hate them them come tax time).
>
> I have a debits that must go to multiple accounts.  Problem is, I will 
> not know which accounts for several weeks ( which may be after 2022 
> tax time thanks to the IRS, they found an error last year that costed 
> me $6,000).  Gotta love government accounting, want your money now, 
> might give some back latter if lucky or take more, and goodness knows 
> what account they decided to return or take it from.  Then you have to 
> adjust your books accordingly, which violates our double entry journal 
> system ( it may create accounts or tree accounts that are unneeded but 
> required by the IRS).
>
> Should I wait until they decide or just use in-balance usd until they 
> decide.  Hopefully before tax time.
>
> I've been entering 0 balances in accounts that I know have $ in them 
> and putting the difference in in-balance usd.
>
> I know that I am not clear on my question but the please ask (U.S. 
> only), not offend.
>

-- 
There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality of the grave.