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

[Boniforti Flavio]

Thank you Stan for your contribution. I understand that my questions are
not GC-related ones, but instead more related to accounting. As I'm no
accountant and I'm trying to use GC to keep track of my personal finances
and my total wealth, I try to rely on this mailing list for help.
So far it worked very well and of course I also followed the suggestions to
read through some material :-)

Thanks again for the help I'm receiving from the list.
F.

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Am Mo., 23. Sept. 2024 um 20:20 Uhr schrieb Stan Brown (using GC 4.14) <
stan+gc at fastmail.fm>:

> 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
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