[GNC] reconciling specific credit cards in an account

[Gyle McCollam]

"scum buster",
If you can't get the info to download from the bank correctly to the proper credit card, you can change that in the bank tab itself.  If you only have 2 or 3 cards from the same bank you only have to change 1 or 2 records in the bank register.  Just click on the liability:credit card and then the arrow and select the proper account.


Thank You,
Gyle McCollam

Gyle McCollam

609.680.2326                     Mobile

gmccollam at live.com<mailto:gmccollam at gyleshomes.com>           email

________________________________
From: gnucash-user <gnucash-user-bounces+gylemc=gmail.com at gnucash.org> on behalf of David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2022 11:01 PM
To: Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net>
Cc: GnuCash List <gnucash-user at lists.gnucash.org>
Subject: Re: [GNC] reconciling specific credit cards in an account

If the OP "scum buster" does not track the details in the credit cards at
all, only the monthly payments from the bank account to the credit cards,
then he may not even be tracking them as individual liability accounts.
Perhaps they are just expense accounts.  My sister does it that way, it
works for her.

In that case the payments could very well look too similar in the bank
account download even for the bayesian matching algorithm to assign them
correctly.  In my personal experience, GnuCash is always confusing
restaurant and gasoline purchases even when many are at the same few
merchants.  While I could suggest manually tracking by date and amount even
to the point of managing the payments to different cards to always be for
different amounts, GnuCash may still not be able to automatically assign
them correctly.  Then the user simply has to develop a procedure to
individually inspect each transaction carefully during the matching step of
the import to be sure that it is correctly assigned.  Again, from my own
experience, for one bank account I actually print out the register from the
online banking page in order to see every word in each transaction item
before I import it to GnuCash.  Sometimes I even markup that printout to be
sure I can import it correctly.  Can't do that on a computer screen,
[unless I use dry erase markers].

As for manually entering every transaction, few of us have time for that.
We mostly just scan the printout for items that look suspicious, like that
purchase of a computer and TV in Florida when we were not there or a string
of several out-of-town or online purchases on the same day.

On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 8:28 PM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:

> If you have multiple cards from the same bank, you'll need to
> differentiate them in GnuCash somehow. Some people use the last digits,
> some the card 'brand' which can be different, even from the same bank.
> (not just card 'type' though that may be sufficient)
>
> Your Bank *might* offer you the ability to tag or nickname your
> transactions before import. Your Card company might offer the same,
> though more than likely, you'll have to do that well in advance of the
> transaction going through for such info to be sent to the bank.
>
> Another option would be to manually edit the import file, appending your
> differentiation prior to import.
>
> -----
>
> As for the 'right way', I'd say the 'best way' is to always enter all of
> your transactions by hand. Importing should be part of the 'clearing'
> process prior to reconciliation.
>
> Clear (and if possible Reconcile) the Card accounts first, then do
> Checking.
>
> Reconciliation is making sure your books agree with your institution's
> version of your account(s). There's little point if all you are doing is
> importing their version anyway.
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
> On 2/16/22 7:02 PM, scum buster wrote:
> > I have been using Gnucash for years......currently version 3.7.  I very
> much
> > appreciate the program.....I used quicken for years til I started using
> > Gnucash.
> >
> > Have never used this forum before, so I hope I don't screw this up. LOL
> >
> > I am not a Gnucash expert....I know I do some things wrong but I get
> by....
> >
> > One thing I always seem to have issues with (I am sure it is user
> > error).....is with my checking account and credit card charges that come
> > through that account
> >
> > I download my checking account data as a quicken file and "import" that.
> >
> > I have a few credit cards with one company.  The charges come through as
> "
> > bankname online payment" when they hit my checking account.
> >
> > That would be fine if I had only one credit card with that bank.
> >
> > But with a few different cards, I have issues trying to get them to
> > auto-reconcile correctly and end up having to manually add the items and
> > manually pick the right account......and that ends up making duplicate
> > charges somehow.
> >
> > What is the right way to set things up so that Gnucash knows what credit
> > card account is being referenced when the charges hit my checking
> account?
>
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--
David Carlson
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