[GNC] IRA/401K income detection

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 3/16/2022 10:48 AM, David G. Pickett via gnucash-user wrote:
> OK, not anything like an accountant, so my books have just asset, liability, income, expense.  Equity might be a better place for the IRA/401K, since it is an asset with a varying value and an attached tax liability TBD.  So, how should I have set up such 100% pretax deferred income accounts to capture the income when money is transferred out, preferably without two transactions (talk about your double entry!)?


I was NOT describing "two transactions" although until you have gotten 
comfortable with "split" transactions (more than just two accounts 
involved) you could do it with two instead of a split. And it would be a 
"two way split" which is ordinarily a little harder than a one sided 
split but this is a special case where all amounts the same so not hard.

The point is that this transaction (taking a distribution) is affecting 
more than two accounts. It is reducing the asset 401k and increasing the 
asset cash but ALSO moving that amount of deferred income to (current) 
income.

And sorry -- I think you misunderstand "equity" as the term is sued in 
double entry bookkeeping.  Review the introduction/basics.


Michael D Novack