[GNC] Orphan-<currency> and Imbalance-<currency> splits created on stock transaction when closing & reopening GnuCash data file

[Chris Grinton]

Good spotting on the share balance difference! I hadn't intended that in
the screenshots; it was just a side effect of me playing around trying to
get it to work between the first and 2nd screenshot - I had added some
other transactions for testing that did adjust the share balance.

Selecting "Edit Exchange Rate" on the CapitalLosses:CurrentYear:Realized
split in the CapitalLosses:CurrentYear:Realized account register shows an
error: "The two currencies involved equal each other".

I can reproduce the problem by creating a brand new (empty) GnuCash file
and then following the steps I described, and using only a single currency
in that file. So I don't think a multi-currency factor is at play here.

If it helps and I've inspired anybody to dig deeper, I've shared a .gnucash
file at https://app.box.com/s/xdrru5yr8gjm3r7ovatmsn92jcvme053 that can be
used to reproduce: simply create a new buy or sell transaction involving
the ACME security in the Assets:ACME Corp account, and new Orphan &
Imbalance splits will be created in your transaction the next time the file
is opened.

Chris

On Thu, 6 Oct 2022 at 11:59, john <jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:

> That looks like a proper cap gains transaction. It's odd that the share
> balance differs by 250 between the two screenshots: Is there some other
> transaction that might be affecting things?
>
> The next thought is that there might be a non-AUD transaction currency
> involved. If you open the transaction in the
> CapitalLosses:CurrentYear:Realized account register, right-click on the
> split for that account, and select "Edit Exchange Rate" does it open the
> transfer dialog or pop an error box? If the former, what is the non-AUD
> currency/commodity it wants to price; if the latter,
> what's the error?
>
> Regards,
> John Ralls
>
> > On Oct 5, 2022, at 7:33 PM, Chris Grinton <cgrinton at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Good thought - but the problem still occurs even if the share count and
> > price are non-0. (The example transaction I've described is a simple
> > reduction in the cost base of the asset without changing the number of
> > shares held. But I think that is not directly relevant to the problem and
> > probably the example I described more complex than it needed to be.)
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> > On Thu, 6 Oct 2022 at 09:45, R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Perhaps I'm missing something, but if there is a transaction that has a
> >> cost of 5000, and you have shares with a price of 0, that may be
> causing it
> >> to think there is an imbalance, and thus the transactions get added?
> >>
> >> On Wed, Oct 5, 2022 at 7:09 AM Chris Grinton <cgrinton at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi GnuCashers,
> >>>
> >>> I have a strange situation where a transaction is automagically (and
> >>> unexpectedly) getting splits added to it against the
> "Orphan-<currency>"
> >>> and "Imbalance-<currency>" accounts when my GnuCash data file is closed
> >>> and
> >>> reopened. I can't work out why these splits are getting added, and
> would
> >>> love any insights that people might have on how to stop it from
> happening.
> >>>
> >>> The unexpected behavior here appears to be somehow related to having
> >>> trading accounts enabled, and a consequence of changing the namespace
> of a
> >>> security.
> >>>
> >>> Here are steps I do to reproduce this problem:
> >>>
> >>> 1. Create a transaction as follows:
> >>>        Expenses:Realised capital losses     DR 5000
> >>>        Assets:Stock account                                         CR
> >>> 5000 (with shares & price = 0)
> >>>
> >>> This appears in GnuCash as per the following screenshot:
> >>>
> >>> [image: image.png]
> >>>
> >>> No change occurs to this transaction as long as I keep the GnuCash file
> >>> open.
> >>>
> >>> 2. Edit the UNLISTED:ACME security, and change its namespace. For
> example,
> >>> change the namespace from "UNLISTED" to "UNLISTED2".
> >>>
> >>> 3. Open a different GnuCash file (or close GnuCash), and then open the
> >>> original file again. The act of opening the file appears to cause the
> >>> transaction to be updated with additional splits to read as follows:
> >>>
> >>>        Expenses:Realised capital losses     DR 5000
> >>> *        Orphan-AUD                                      DR 5000*
> >>>        Assets:Stock account                                         CR
> >>> 5000 (with shares & price = 0)
> >>> *        Imbalance-AUD
>   CR
> >>> 5000*
> >>>
> >>> Here's a screenshot showing this:
> >>> [image: image.png]
> >>>
> >>> 4. If I delete the Orphan & Imbalance splits, they continue to reappear
> >>> every time I reopen the GnuCash file.
> >>>
> >>> I have not seen this behavior occurring for securities that have not
> had a
> >>> namespace change, but is reliably reproducible for securities that have
> >>> had
> >>> a namespace change.
> >>>
> >>> I'm using GnuCash 4.8 on Windows with a SQLite data file.
> >>>
> >>> Thoughts?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Chris
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> _________________________________
> >> Richard Losey
> >> rlosey at gmail.com
> >> Micah 6:8
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
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