[GNC] Should GNUCash allow a split to reference the same account twice

[Michael or Penny Novack]

A good, clear example why something like that should be allowed.

Ordinary users need examples like that to make it real to them (why 
should NOT be disallowed even though very rarely needed). I would 
perhaps just have pointed out that gnucash should not disallow something 
that COULD be entered "pen and ink on paper" but too few of you out 
there learned bookkeeping back in those days.

Stan, not unusual for it to be done that way. Suppose it was widgets 
instead of scallions vs bunching onions (those not accounted for by 
"inventory" but widgets would be. And assume that the cashier's POS 
system was also feeding the inventory system. By cancelling the sale of 
widgetA and then entering widgetB he/she has also corrected inventory as 
well as the money in your card account.

Michael D Novack

On 7/20/2023 5:40 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
> On 2023-07-20 10:46, Henry Law wrote:
>> Should GNUCash refuse to allow a transaction to have two splits into
>> the same account?  My knowledge of accounting is scant, but with it I
>> can't see why one would ever legitimately do that.
> Here's a recent example where _three_ splits in a transaction referenced
> the same account. I paid for my groceries with a credit card, then
> before leaving the register I noticed that the cashier had rung up my
> two $0.49 bunches of scallions as $1.99 "Mexican onions". You'd think
> she would apologize and hand me the $3.00 difference in cash, or at
> least just credit my card the $3.00. No, she insisted on crediting the
> $3.98 mischarge, then running a new charge of the correct $0.98. The
> whole operation took upwards of ten minutes, and she apparently felt no
> apology was needed for her mistake and the wasted time.
>
> When I got home I entered the transaction like this:
> Debit:  Groceries $100.98
> Credit: AP CapitalOne Visa $103.98
> Debit:  AP CapitalOne Visa $3.98
> Credit: AP CapitalOne Visa $0.98
> with suitable notes in the memo lines. Since there would be three lines
> on my next statement, I needed three splits in GC.
>
> (The other groceries didn't cost $100, but I use that number to make the
> transaction clearer for this note.)
>
> BTW, a split _does_ reference only one account. I think you meant to say
> "a transaction" rather than "a split" in your subject line.
>
> Stan Brown
> Tehachapi, CA, USA
> https://BrownMath.com
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