[GNC] Do I Have Use for Liability Acounts

[Jim DeLaHunt]

Hello, Griffin:

On 2025-01-17 10:31, Griffin wrote:
> I am using Gnucash for my home accounts. I won't be trading for the foreseeable future as all my retirement money was stolen in a scam.
I am sorry to hear that your money was stolen in a scam.
> Do I need to use liability accounts for any of my home accounting accounts?
>
> If I understand correctly, liabilities are usually, outside of trading purposes, just for companies to track long-term expenses.
>
> Do I not need to use them, or would I use them for contracted expenses, like rent, utilities, etc.
>
> Or are they just overkill for home accounting.

This is a question about accounting, not about GnuCash.  GnuCash is a 
very good program, but it does require the user to understand the basics 
of accounting and of double-entry bookkeeping.

No, liability accounts are not just for trading or for "companies to 
track long-term expenses". Your credit card's expenditures are normally 
tracked in a GnuCash Liability account. So yes, you probably should use 
liability accounts for your home accounting.

You should probably (re-)read the GnuCash Tutorial and Guide, section 
2.1 "Accounting Concepts" and section 2.8. "Accounts" 
<https://gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?rev=5&lang=C&doc=guide>. Also follow 
some of the links at the FAQ, "Can you recommend a book on Accounting?" 
<https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_Can_you_recommend_a_book_on_Accounting.3F>.

You might also want to re-read the answers to your question here on 
Gnucash-user from last November, "Liabilities vs Expenses" 
<https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2024-November/114343.html>. 
I thought Murugan Mariappan's reply 
<https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2024-November/114346.html> 
was especially helpful.

Best regards,
      —Jim DeLaHunt