[GNC] Trying to get report with total when account has sub-accounts

[Robert Stocker]

Thank you! I will definitely look at budget reports and the P&L/Income
statement as alternatives. And thanks for the other advice as well, though
after having massaged my various accounts/categories over the last 28-ish
years (I started with CA-Simply Money), I'm pretty happy with how I have
that side of things set up. :)

On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 6:38 PM <gnucash-user-request at gnucash.org> wrote:

> Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2022 17:14:29 -0600
> From: Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net>
> To: gnucash-user at lists.gnucash.org
> Subject: Re: [GNC] Trying to get report with total when account has
>         sub-accounts
> Message-ID: <srl30m$17ca$1 at ciao.gmane.io>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
>
> Why not use the Budget Report? It rolls up sub accounts, and shows a
> variance if you like.
>
> I'm pretty certain you can restrict the accounts reported on as well to
> reduce clutter.
>
> Another option is to use the P&L/Income Statement, select just the
> expense accounts you want. There is an option for the Parent amount to
> include the Child amounts or not. You can also report them separate and
> still get a Grand Total which rolls up the Parent and the children if
> you like.
>
> -----
> Finally, I'd advise to keep *all* parents as placeholders only if
> possible. Create another child account to hold the transactions
> currently residing there. But this is a personal preference.
>
> I went through various refactors of my food/dining accounts as I crafted
> them to better show me *why* not just *where* I was spending money.
>
> So I've gone full nerd and done the following:
>
> Entertainment:Dining
> --Alcohol
> --Breakfast
> --Lunch
> --Dinner
> --Snacks
>
> Food:To-Go
> --Breakfast
> --Lunch
> --Dinner
> --Snacks
>
> I also track gratuities separately 'cause I can get carried away some
> times and I want to know if that's why my food dollars are disappearing
> so fast.
>
> Gratuities
> --Other
> --Dining
> --Entertainment
> --To-Go
>
> That Alcohol category is just for out in restaurants when I'm dining. I
> have a separate "Entertainment:Sympinein" for when I'm just out for
> drinks with friends; and "Groceries:Alcohol" for packaged stuff from the
> grocery store!
>
> I'm by no means suggesting anyone go this crazy, but it helped me get a
> fast handle on money that seemed to disappear into the ether. I've since
> turned that info into budgeting for each. And you don't even want to see
> my 'Grocery' account tree! (I use it for balanced food planning too,
> which also helped me cut my Dining budget drastically and zero To-Go
> entirely.)
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
>