[GNC] split transaction description field length limit

[timothyscully at yahoo.com]

The descriptions that I enter in GNU cash for split items get truncated. Is
there a way to change this or is this a hard limit?

 

To provide some context, I pay a handyman to work on various projects. When
I write the check to pay him I split the amount among the various projects
(which correspond to line items on his timesheet)that he worked on to
allocated it to the different expense accounts associated with those
projects. I like to enter a fairly long description which includes things
like the date the work was done, the location, and a brief description of
what was done but GNU cash truncates it when producing reports or when I go
back and look at data that I entered earlier.

 

Should I be setting up an account for the handyman in which the line items
of his timesheet would be entered as individual transactions which add up to
the amount he gets paid? I get the impression that I'm probably trying to
misuse GNU cash again as I was when I paid my credit card bills with long
split transactions. I was able to fix that by entering the transactions in
an account for the credit card and then having a single transaction from my
bank account to pay off the credit card. I'm not adept enough at accounting,
to put it mildly, to know if there's something analogous I should be doing
in this case. Can you explain it in a way that a newbie would understand?

 

Thank you