[GNC] reconcile problem?

[Jim DeLaHunt]

Hello, Scum Buster:

It seems to me that you are close to having this figured out, but that 
it maybe doesn't feel that way. Your night is darkest just before the dawn.

On 2022-02-26 23:29, scum buster wrote:
> ... I do not use the import function for the credit card accounts, I enter them manually in the credit card accounts.  I even use the same description as the bank does in my checking account...."bankname payment"....


Here's a chance to confirm your understanding. Do you see that, when you 
enter a transaction representing a payment in the credit card account, 
that this transaction also appears in the checking account?  And are you 
satisified that you understand why that happens (because this is 
double-entry bookkeeping)?

Good!


> It is when I am importing my checking account info that the issue comes up......there are three choices on import on what to do with the item....and none of them seem to do the trick.....
Yes. These three choices are described in the documentation, the "Help", 
6.16.7. Generic Transaction Import Matcher, 
<https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v4/C/gnucash-help/trans-import.html#trans-import-matcher>. 
The three options are "A", "U+C", and "C". Give that section another 
read, then come back to the next paragraph.
> one option imports the item and ends up being aduplictae....another doesn’t import it at all....the third I cant recall what it does but it messes up......and again I assume that is because GC cannot differentiate.  The SAME payment sometimes duplicates and also DIFFERENT payments to the same bank post to seemingly random accounts in GC for that bank.

"A" means that GnuCash should Add this transaction. You already have the 
payment transaction in the checking account. Thus "A" creates a duplicate.

"C" means match to an existing transaction, and Clear its reconciliation 
status. That is what you want.

But also, the colour of each row in the Import Matcher window matters. 
You each row to be green. That means they are matched to an existing 
transaction (if "C" is checked) or will become a new transaction (if "A" 
is checked).

And, the final trick: double-click on each Import Matcher row which 
corresponds to a payment from checking account to credit card account. 
These should be matched to an existing transaction, so "C" will be 
checked.  When you double-click, a window "Select matching existing 
transaction" will appear. The top part of the window shows the 
transaction in the import file.  The bottom part of the window will have 
one or more rows corresponding to the plausible transactions which 
GnuCash might match.  You should see your various payment transactions 
from checking to the various credit cards here. Each will have a date 
and an amount listed. Based on those dates and amounts, find the correct 
payment transaction for the transaction you are matching, and click on it.

That selection is I think the final missing link in your search for a 
way to match your payment transactions.

> Was just hoping that as powerful as GC seems to be (I haven’t tapped into more than 40% of what it can do I would guess.....) there was a more elegant solution so GC routes the imported payment to the right bank card account and doesn’t duplicate the same ones.....

The GnuCash UI does not make it clear that double-clicking on Import 
Matcher rows is a helpful thing to do, nor that it gives you a way to 
fix matching errors. When I finally learned it, it was a huge help to me.

So, try double-clicking on the Import Matcher rows, and see if that 
helps. Let us know.

The import matcher is also documented in the "Tutorial and Concepts 
Guide", 3.1.2 Import Matcher. You can read it at 
<https://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?rev=4&lang=C&doc=guide>.

Good luck!
       —Jim DeLaHunt, Vancouver, Canada