[GNC] Window/Mac Summary Box difference

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 7/13/23 5:19 PM, Stephen M. Butler wrote:
> Based on some experimentation, I suspect:
> 
> 1.  Grand Total should always be zero (blank).  If ever non-zero it 
> means you have an out-of-balance transaction (maybe more than one) 
> somewhere.

It is not possible to have an out-of-balance transaction. Gnucash 
automatically creates a balancing split using the Imbalance-XXX account 
or the Orphan-XXX account.

Note, it seems there are only TWO figures on this bar, and not THREE 
with the first one simply 'missing'.

This first label, currency symbol, is telling you what the next two 
figures are denominated in, though this is redundant since the currency 
symbol is repeated with the actual amounts. I'll file a bug on this.

This space would be much more useful with a 'Current Net Worth' figure 
there. I'll file an RFE for this.

If you have a book that has assets and/or liabilities in multiple 
currencies, you will see those separately listed in the Summary Bar drop 
down.

You can see the Summary for *only* those accounts in your Book Currency, 
or you can select Grand Total and see the Summary for *all* accounts 
*converted* to your Book Currency.


> 2.  Net Assets appears to be Assets - Liabilities + Income - Expenses. 
> So, Total Equity including retained earnings/losses.

That would be a current Net Worth figure, but it doesn't appear that way 
for me. If I include Income & Expenses the numbers don't match.

I've found that this number is the result of:

Assets - Liabilities + Orphan-XXX + Imbalance-XXX, for the chosen currency.

That is, if I select USD as the currency, ONLY accounts denominated in 
USD are included in the equation.

How Accounting Period comes into play:

If I choose last year as the accounting period, my Net Assets figure 
changes by the amount of *this* year's (2023) 'Profits' figure because 
those weren't part of my Assets as of 12/31/22. (not because the Income 
and Expenses accounts are part of the equation for this figure, because 
they are not)

This figure is just as it says - Net Assets *in that currency* and it is 
'as of the end of your current Accounting Period'.


> 3.  Profits appear to be Income - Expenses for the current year.

Yes. Same for me and it is certainly affected by the Accounting Period 
preference. But it works as expected regardless of the preference.

That is, if I choose relative 'start/end of this year' then it is this 
year's numbers. If I choose Absolute and put 1/1/23 & 12/31/23, then it 
is still this year's numbers.

If I choose Absolute but put 1/1/22 & 12/31/22, OR if I choose Relative 
'start/end of previous year', it is last year's numbers.

The choice of Relative vs. Absolute doesn't give inconsistent results.

-----
Finally, none of this appears documented in Help where the Summary Bar 
is described. That existing description references how the Summary Bar 
behaves in tabs *other than* the Account tab, which I believe is a bug, 
and I'll file that too. (the Summary bar is later described in each 
context separately anyway)

Also note, the documentation references a 'Summary Bar' for the Accounts 
tab and for individual register tabs, but they visually appear 
different. (the Account tab Summary Bar is a drop down with a currency 
choice, whereas the register Summary Bar is fixed to the currency of the 
account)

Regards,
Adrien