[GNC] Help with downloading transactions.

[George Riner]

I am completely aware of that. But I have to correct business names, and 
the noise that comes into the memo/notes fields, too. And sometimes 
useless stuff shows up in the 'Num' field.  After I've cleaned up all 
those fields, then I set the transaction to the correct expense account, 
which causes it to leave the 'Unspecified' account.  I know when I'm 
done cleaning up these transactions when the 'Unspecified' account is 
empty of entries. I don't have to search through expense registers or 
bank/credit registers to find them and clean them.

Transactions that match are set to 'P' and flow through without bringing 
any of the stuff I would otherwise clean out. They go to their 
designated expense account right away.


So, downloading is a subset of type 'M'?



:George


On 3/17/2023 5:10 PM, Gyle McCollam wrote:
> George,
> you are probably aware, but just in case, when you use the add you can 
> actually designate the proper expense account within the matching 
> window.  That way you don't have to go back later to 'unspecified" and 
> correct the entries.
> P.S. BTW, entering by hand is type "M".
>
> Thank You,
>
> *Gyle McCollam*
>
> Gyle McCollam
>
> gmccollam at live.com <mailto:gmccollam at gyleshomes.com>email
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* gnucash-user 
> <gnucash-user-bounces+gylemc=gmail.com at gnucash.org> on behalf of 
> George Riner <georgeriner at mycogeo.com>
> *Sent:* Friday, March 17, 2023 7:33 PM
> *To:* gnucash-user at gnucash.org <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [GNC] Help with downloading transactions.
> I'm and 'M' and a 'K'.  I download from banks and I reconcile. I'm also
> a enter-by-hand (I don't know what letter-type that would be).
>
> I like downloading because it catches things I don't get receipts for
> and that I forget to hand-enter. On-line purchases, gas pumps that run
> out of receipt paper, or the receipt didn't get out of my pocket and
> went through the laundry.
>
> I reconcile, because it catches when I enter the charge in the wrong
> credit card acct, and it informs me for when a check I wrote has not
> cleared the bank, or some charge is delayed, or for when I hand-enter
> something and I do a typo.
>
> When I download, I never use the 'U' option - there's too much useless
> noise in the downloaded transactions that gets into my registers that
> only serves to clutter up reports. I'm assuming these numbers are
> meaningful to someone at the bank/creditcard, or maybe the retailer, but
> I've yet to find anything they match. They aren't Amazon order numbers
> or Amazon receipt numbers, nor Amazon invoice numbers. Maybe some
> transaction number that only the bank knows about?  Plus, names of
> businesses rarely match, and even when they do, they're often all UPPER
> CASE and often include misguided attempts by the retailer for Customer
> Relationship Management by adding in "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PURCHASE!!"
> which is totally useless in my accounts & reports.
>
> I wish there was a way to turn off the 'Bayesian" amount matching.
> Because I don't want to be close, I want to be exact. So when
> reconciling I have to carefully watch the matching transactions to make
> sure they're aren't off by $0.02 or some tiny amount.
>
> For downloaded transactions that have to be added, I use the 'A' option,
> but I force all those transactions to go into a special account - I name
> it 'Unspecified' (under Expenses).  I then apply the downloaded
> transaction and then go through all the 'Unspecified' entries in Journal
> view and clean them up and correct the expense account to apply them to.
>
> The Reconcile function also has a really useful way of creating the
> payment transaction and giving it a future date (the payment due date,
> for example), and posting it to my bank acct.
>
> :George
> Windows 10 build 19045.2604
> Gnucash Build ID: 4.11+(2022-06-25)
>
>
>
> On 3/17/2023 1:57 AM, edodd at billiau.net wrote:
> > On Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:38:25 +0000
> > Gyle McCollam <gmccollam at live.com> wrote:
> >
> >> You really should try to download and import transactions.
> > This is a philosophical point.
> > There is group "M" who always enter every transaction first in their
> > books and then use the bank documents to reconcile
> >
> > and
> >
> > There is group "K" who enter some things and use the bank download to
> > keep their accounts.
> >
> > There are pros and cons to each method. Gnucash allows you to make your
> > own choice.
> >
> >
> > Liz
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