[GNC] Another try at "How to record payments for several items paid with a single transaction?"

[Michael Hendry]

On 24 Jul 2023, at 12:05, Chris Green <cl at isbd.net> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 11:06:26AM +0100, Maf. King wrote:
>> On Monday, 24 July 2023 10:38:35 BST Chris Green wrote:
>>> Maybe I should put this a different way, the answers so far don't seem
>>> to quite address my question, probably because I'm not describing what
>>> I'm trying to do.
>>> 
>>> So, very simply, say I am buying sweets in a shop and I select:-
>>> 
>>>    One bar of chocolate        0.99
>>>    Two bags of pear drops      1.50
>>>    Chewing gum                 1.00
>>> 
>>> Then I pay the shopkeeper       3.49
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I want to record this in GnuCash in a way that shows that it is a
>>> single transaction debiting 'cash in my pocket' and crediting
>>> 'shopkeeper' but I want to detail the items making up the transaction.
>>> 
>>> How do I do this?
>> 
>> Erm... 4 splits?  3 to Expenses:Sweets and one to CashInPocket.   then for the 
>> register, ensure View as... something not auto-expanding splits.
>> 
>> Will truthfully say that I have not followed the thread so far.
>> 
> I've yet to work out how to actually enter a split transaction in a
> sane way.  I just spent several minutes trying to enter a split
> transaction for something like the above and failed miserably.
> 
> Can someone run me through how to do this, i.e. enter something like
> the above where there are three items making up a single transaction

Here’s a real example from my Rotary Club. 

A Member had given me a cheque for £125 - the usual annual subscription - forgetting that we’d reduced it this year because of underspending during Covid.

When this was pointed out, he asked for the £15 excess to be transferred to the charity account.



Above is how I handled this transaction, viewed using View—>Transaction Journal.

Current Assets:Cheques Received is Debited the full £125, but the Income is split between Income:Members’ Subcriptions (£110) and Income:Miscellaneous.

I subsequently scanned the cheque into the Club’s account and recorded it as Assets:Current Assets:Cheques Received —> Assets: Current Assets:Club Current, and transferred the £15 from the Club’s Current Bank Account to the Charity’s Current Bank account.

(the screenshot can be viewed here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/llp6xr0ppbrbuosf93ewi/Screenshot-2023-07-24-at-12.22.47.png?rlkey=vkehv9vsn5612079ux5sjkw1j&dl=0 if it doesn’t  come through as an attachment).

If I’d needed to split the donation three ways, I’d have tabbed across from Income:Miscellaneous to enter £5, and continued tabbing to start another split, recorded a further £5 in Income:President’s Discretionary Fund (or whatever) and again with the final £5 to Income:Something Else.

Regards,

Michael