[GNC] Problem adding a split to a currency conversion.

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 1/3/23 2:43 PM, Dr. David Kirkby wrote:
> Unless I am mistaken, it is not easy to delete transactions when using the
> business features. I don't think one can simply delete a transaction and it
> goes away.

You can't delete invoices, but you can remove their entries in your 
books by un-posting.

You can then re-use those invoices by assigning them to another Customer 
and/or changing the invoice number and other details. (date, line items, 
terms, etc.)

> It would be helpful if the manual had a section on how to edit transactions
> that used the business features. My experience tends to be
> 
> * Unpost
> * Edit
> * Post

That's the correct procedure for posted invoices/bills and should be 
covered in the documentation.

> * Struggle to find how to mark the invoice as paid. *This part is tricky!*

Where are you struggling?

When viewing the invoice click the Pay Invoice button on the toolbar, or 
use Business > Customer > Process Payment...

If you've already manually entered a payment transaction, or imported 
it, then right-click the transaction and choose "Assign as payment"

All of those methods get you to the Process Payment window.

1. Search & Select the customer
2. Select the invoice(s) being paid
3. Edit the amount paid if different than the outstanding balance 
(auto-filled by GnuCash for you)
4. Confirm the date.
5. Enter notes if needed
6. Assign the Transfer account. (usually matches the payment method: 
cash, undeposited funds, bank, etc.)

If you have pre-payments or previous over-payments retained, then select 
them also in step 2 above to offset the invoices accordingly.

If you have a more complicated payment transaction, similar to the one 
you describe with a bank fee, perform the above steps, then edit the 
payment transaction directly in the register to reflect the fee and 
reduce the amount that ended up in your hands.

Most cases will be as simple as 'Process Payment' on a one-to-one basis 
of payments-invoices.

> I did originally have this person as a customer and used the business
> features. But I think yourself and others pointed out that Accounts Payable
> or Accounts Receivable are really designed for when offers or receives
> credit, not where the payment is settled at the time of purchase or sale.

Generally true, but as noted then and in my previous reply here, there 
may be good reasons to keep them as a Customer and use the Business 
Features. Also as noted, you'll have to weigh that for yourself. And 
that consideration I offered was specific to people you pay, not 
necessarily people who pay you. For example, it may not be worth the 
trouble to treat your corner gas station as a vendor if you pay them 
each fill-up, even for a company vehicle, but it might well be worth it 
to treat a pre-paying customer, as a customer with invoices, statements, 
etc. Only you will know what works best for you. There are no hard and 
fast rules, outside of what your lawyer & CPA tell you.

As an illustration, a business I used to work for had a point of sale 
system that captured name, address & phone number for each sale. This 
was because usually, those customers were having some item delivered, or 
wanted us to retain a purchase history for them. But there were plenty 
of 'cash sales' (even paid by credit card) for small parts or one-off 
purchases where the customer was not interested in giving such info. We 
still entered an invoice in the point of sale system because it adjusted 
our inventory, but the 'customer' on those invoices was literally "CASH 
SALE" with the store address and phone number.

There were also cases of 'cash sale' repair payments. Those were done 
with a paper receipt book and entered as an aggregate for the day, not 
even individual transactions. (the sales from the POS system were also 
entered as a daily summary in the books, not as individual transactions 
- the systems were separate entirely.)

> As I wrote, it's unlikely that I will keep this person as a regular
> customer. However, there are a few vendors I use on a regular basis that I
> don't have credit facilities with, but which it might be beneficial to keep
> a record of what I spend with them.
> 
> Is it possible to add a company as a customer or vendor, but then pay them
> directly, without the transactions going through Accounts Receivable or
> Accounts Payable?

You can, but then there's little or no point to having them as a Vendor. 
The associated built-in reports or other features aren't cognizant of 
manual transactions.

You can still get something like a 'Vendor Report', but you'll have to 
finagle that from other existing reports on your own. (the Transaction 
Report comes to mind)

Think of it this way:

You can do everything manually the old-school way.

You can optionally use some built-in functionality to reduce workload 
and for added convenience in the case of Payables & Receivables.

Where you draw that line is up to you, and may involve simple trial, 
error, time, and experience.

Regards,
Adrien