[GNC] How to record a transaction which covers a time period in the past which is not in GnuCash?

[Stan Brown (using GC 4.14)]

On 2024-09-23 10:24, R Losey wrote:
> It is possible that I am ignorant of "correct" procedure, but it seems to
> me that you really did have an opening balance in your credit card of
> 884.25, and the payment paid that off as well as the subsequent charges.
> 
> In my (admittedly simple) mind, the Opening Balance is a kind of constant -
> it is where you "started", and it doesn't make sense to change that: When
> you pay off a credit card, you are decreasing the amount of credit they
> have extended to you -- not really changing the opening balance, and the
> credit card should show that. But perhaps I am wrong.

I think you are spot on, not wrong. To me, the reconciliation revealed
that an error had been made in recording the opening balances, and the
proper thing to do was to correct the error. The error might be
corrected by going back and fixing the original recording of opening
balances, or by entering a new transaction specifically to correct the
error -- that's a mater or personal preference in keeping one's personal
books (as opposed to business records).

All of this discussion really shows what we often say: this is not a
GnuCash question, it's an accounting question. It's very, very important
to have a good grasp of double-entry bookkeeping then  these questions
become much simpler. In some of these discussions, I fear that people
ask how to record something in GC instead of thinking about how a given
event fits into the double-entry structure. In GC, we need the same
thought process we used to follow before recording a transaction in
leather-bound ledgers with pen and ink.

Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com