[GNC] A question about sub accounts...

[Jim DeLaHunt]

Hello, Mike, and welcome to GnuCash!

On 2025-06-05 08:34, Mike Carney wrote:
> If one as a hierarchy of asset sub accounts, are the values of those sub
> accounts added to the parent such that the root account displays the
> total for itself plus its sub accounts?

My most direct answer to your question is, try it. What do you observe?  
That is the answer for GnuCash actually does.

Experimentation is a powerful way to figure out how to use GnuCash. If 
you don't want to put test transactions in your main book of financial 
records, then create a separate book file for test purposes. Enter 
example transactions. Observe the results. Delete, change, start over as 
necessary.

A suggestion for questions like this is to be really clear what you are 
asking about. I think you are asking about the "Accounts" tab, which 
lists all the (unhidden) accounts in your book, and gives a "total" 
value for each. But you could be asking about what appears in reports, 
or in a given account's register, or the "Edit Account" dialogue.

A further suggestion is to give what version of GnuCash you are using, 
and on what OS. Some behaviour changed in later GnuCash versions. Some 
problems only appear on a certain OS.  But I suspect that is not a 
factor for the "Accounts" tab.

> This seems to be the case for
> assets of the same type, but not for mixed assets.
> I've got an asset account that has CD assets plus a couple of sub
> accounts with stock assets, and the parent doesn't appear to show the
> value of the stock (I am keeping the price database up to date).

Ah, you have answered your own question. It seems to be the case for 
assets of the same type, but not for mixed assets.

Now, do you have a followup question?  For instance, do you want to know 
how to see the current value of an asset account that has sub accounts 
with stock assets? There may be a report which gives you that. Do you 
want to express an opinion that the Accounts tab should in fact include 
the value of child stock accounts in the parent currency account at the 
current market value? There is a way to make such suggestions.

I hope this is helpful,
       —Jim DeLaHunt