[GNC] Have I got my USD accounts set up wrong?

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 11/29/23 10:39 AM, David Kirkby wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 at 15:55, Adrien Monteleone <
> adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
> 
>> If so, I'd rename it.
>>
>> It is possible you don't even need it if that is your book currency.
>> Just stick with the original Assets:Accounts Receivable, but you should
>> verify that. (a single currency book, just has the one account)
>>
>> Either way, I don't think those USD & EUR A/R accounts should be
>> children of a child of A/R. (at least that is how your indentation reads
>> below)
>>
>> Make a copy of your book and test out if one of these does the trick by
>> editing one bill and/or payment accordingly (you might be able to just
>> re-parent the account(s) though:
>>
>> Assets:A/R
>> --Assets:A/R (GBP)
>> --Assets:A/R (USD)
>> --Assets:A/R (EUR)
>>
>> or perhaps more simply:
>>
>> Assets:A/R
>> --Assets:A/R (USD)
>> --Assets:A/R (EUR)
>>
>> Where each child is specifically set to those named currencies and the
>> parent A/R is in your book currency. (assuming GBP here)
>>
>> Your Assets:PayPal account tree has no bearing on the Business Features.
>> They *should* just be generic asset accounts.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
> 
> Unfortunately I don't think I have another option but to start fresh with a
> completely new account and enter all the transactions again. That's a PITA,
> but I don't see another method I would have any confidence in.

Relax, have some more beer. Read over my other replies. And perhaps 
those screenshots I suggested in the other response will clear things up 
for both of us. From what I can tell, you can likely just re-parent your 
accounts to solve this.

You *might* have to unpost/repost *one* set of invoices, but that is a 
worst case. I don't think you'll have to. (fingers crossed for you)

> I did what you said, and moved the accounts. The one with the least
> transactions is the EUR account. After moving them I noticed two problems.
> 
> 1) It is possible to post an invoice, let the customer pay it, then delete
> the transaction from the bank account. Nothing is stopping the fact that
> the invoice has been posted and paid. For GBP transactions it is not
> possible to delete it from the bank account unless the invoice is unposted.
????

First, what transaction are you deleting 'from the bank account'?

Second, WHY would you do such a thing? (though kudos for testing it)

Third, Is that EUR (and the USD) A/R accounts of *TYPE* "Accounts 
Receivable"? (edit the account from the Accounts Tab and check the lower 
left pane for the type)

Fourth, you can certainly *edit* a payment transaction from a register. 
The invoices/bills cannot be edited without unposting.

> 2) The Profit and Loss account is giving both a EUR and GBP amount, but the
> line with
> 
> €1,089.00 £933.27
> 
> has the EUR bit right, but the GBP is wrong.
> 
> I just set up a fresh set of accounts as a demo incase I needed to file a
> bug report.  I actually used USD and GBP, but I don't think that should
> make any difference. What I see is
> 
> a) The P+L does not show a USD amount, but the GBP bit is correct.
> Sales (USD) £100,001.60

Let's get the account structure and types correct first, then focus on 
reports and numbers.

> b) It's impossible to delete either a GBP or USD  transaction without
> unposting it.

> With it impossible to create a reliable report, and possible to delete
> transactions that are posted, I obviously have concerns. I tried creating a
> new transaction, rather than unpost  and post an old one. It is still
> possible to delete it from the bank account, despite it's posted.

Let's get some terminology and workflow straight:

1. Using the Business Features, Invoices and Bills are entered in a 
separate UI, *not* directly in an account register.

2. Posting these results in transactions appearing in the respective A/R 
or A/P accounts.

3. Those transactions are immutable at this point and cannot be edited 
or deleted from either the AR/AP accounts, or the other side of their 
transactions. (Income accounts in the case of Invoices or Expense 
accounts in the case of Bills) At this point, no bank account or other 
'payment account' is involved.

4. Payments can either be entered via the 'Process Payment' function, or 
entered directly into an appropriate account register. (or imported into 
said register) If directly entering or importing, you then have to 
right-click the transaction and choose 'Assign as payment' to bring up 
the 'Process Payment' dialog to formally link the payment transaction to 
an Invoice or Bill. These transactions affect and appear in the source 
account and either AR/AP accordingly. They are always editable and 
delete-able from any affected register. The Invoice/Bill posting status 
has no bearing on this. However, while you can edit them directly, you 
generally should do so by right-clicking and choosing 'Edit payment'.

If any of this does not sound like what you are doing, those affected 
transactions need to be fixed. But let's get the account structure right 
first.

Regards,
Adrien