[GNC] Another "multi-account" logical issue - any advice on how to register this?

[R Losey]

By the way, "multi-account transactions" would be better named "split
transactions"; I kept thinking you were writing about accessing GnuCash
from multiple user accounts.

Anyway, it's an interesting concept... I don't know that I keep value of
what things are "worth" to me -- I have some priceless things to me but
that would be actually worth very little. Thus is illustrated
the difference between "worth" and "value" -- the value of something is
what one can sell it for, which may be completely unrelated to the worth to
you.

Upon thinking about your situation, I haven't really used GnuCash to track
my possessions... to use your example, if I purchase a guitar for 200 with
a shipping cost of 20 -- assuming I used my bank account, there would be a
split transaction with my bank decreasing by 220, and the expense accounts
of "Instruments" would increase by 200 and Instruments:Shipping would
increase by 20.  Thus, the total of "Instruments" would increase by 220.
Alternatively, you could have "Instruments:Instruments" and
"Instruments:Shipping" as separate sub-accounts under "Instruments", which
would still track the total value.


On Wed, Oct 2, 2024 at 4:48 AM Boniforti Flavio <boniforti.f at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi David.
>
> Thanks for your feedback - along with all other replies and posts in this
> thread! :-)
>
> I will think about whether I want to consider the shipping expense as part
> of the value of the goods I bought or not. I understand the difference and
> keeping shipping costs separated from the goods value looks correct to me.
> However, I always considered shipping costs as part of the goods value. I
> thought "I paid 220 for this guitar, even though 20 are for shipping, so to
> me it's worth 220" (I know this is wrong, because shipping doesn't add
> value to the goods).
>
> Thanks to everyone!
> F.
>
> https://www.instagram.com/boniforti_music
> https://soundcloud.com/boniforti_music
> https://bonny-j.bandcamp.com
>
>
> Am Mo., 30. Sept. 2024 um 22:32 Uhr schrieb David Cousens <
> davidcousens49 at gmail.com>:
>
> > Flavio,
> >
> > Shipping is a service so it does not add to the value of your assets so
> > it is simply an expense so the transaction becomes:
> >
> > PURCHASE:
> > Increase "Assets:Material:Item #1" of 300
> > Decrease "Checking account" by 300.
> > Increase "Expenses:Postage" of 10.
> > Decrease "Checking account" by 10.
> >
> > then there is no need to account for the shipping at time of sale
> > SALE:
> > Increase "Checking account" by 320.
> > Decrease "Assets:Material:Item #1" by 300.
> > Increase  "Income:Sales"        by  20.
> >
> > The difference between "Income:Sales" and "Expenses:Postage" is your
> > profit on the transaction  and the difference between the balance of
> > the top level Income account and the top level Expenses account will
> > represent your overall profit.  If you needed to know the profit on an
> > individual item you would add a subaccount to the Expenses:Postage
> > :Item #1.
> >
> > David Cousens
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 2024-09-30 at 18:47 +0200, Boniforti Flavio wrote:
> > > Hi all.
> > > I'm again stuck with a specific type of transaction and would like to
> > > have
> > > it validated (or corrected). Suggestions on how you would do it are
> > > welcome
> > > as well - I might not be using the most intuitive way of registering
> > > it.
> > >
> > > So...
> > >
> > > I bought an item for 300. Paid for it from my checking account.
> > > I paid for shipping separately 10. Paid for this as well from my
> > > checking
> > > account.
> > > Sold the item for 320, which was wire-transferred into my checking
> > > account.
> > > I have earned 10 from the transaction.
> > >
> > > I have created an account for that item:
> > > Assets:Material:Item #1
> > > Also, I've added a shipping sub-account to it:
> > > Assets:Material:Item #1:Shipping
> > >
> > > Then I entered the split transaction as follows:
> > >
> > > PURCHASE =
> > > Increase "Assets:Material:Item #1" of 300.
> > > Increase "Assets:Material:Item #1:Shipping" of 10.
> > > Decrease "Checking account" by 300.
> > > Decrease "Checking account" by 10.
> > > As I also have an account for "Postage expenses", how would I have to
> > > register the 10 bucks I spent for shipping, so that it also accounts
> > > towards the postage expenses in general?
> > >
> > > SALE =
> > > Increase "Checking account" by 320.
> > > Decrease "Assets:Material:Item #1:Shipping" by 10.
> > > Decrease "Assets:Material:Item #1" by 300.
> > > Increase "Sales Surplus" by 10.
> > >
> > > Thanks (again) for your help!
> > > F.
> > >
> > > https://www.instagram.com/boniforti_music
> > > https://soundcloud.com/boniforti_music
> > > https://bonny-j.bandcamp.com
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-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8