[GNC] totals for a parent account and all its children

[R Losey]

You make a fair point; users should know their reports and keep the
configuration up to date.

 I wrote the original post, and it was NOT my intention to ask developers
to do any more than they have done already. What I said would be useful is
some documentation on tips for configuring the reports in a standard way.

One development change that would be useful would be to have a button or
buttons for all expense accounts or all income accounts, so that if I added
an expense account, it would get picked up.



On Mon, May 19, 2025 at 2:53 PM G R Hewitt <hewittgr at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think the point being missed here is that everyone is different and has
> need of different reports.
> I don't think it is the job of the developers to make reports other than
> what they have - basic reports that anyone can alter to suit.
> If someone adds a new account to their tree surely it would seem logical to
> adjust the report too at the same time, or at the least leave themselves a
> note to do so.
> It is the responsibility of the user to ensure their reports are correct,
> not the developers.
> They have provided a tool for free, say a chisel, they are not going to
> come round and sharpen it for you when it goes blunt, that is your
> responsibility.
>  Gnucash is free software developed by volunteers who give up their free
> time to keep it running and provide updates as and when they can.
> It must be disheartening sometimes to read comments that it should do this,
> that or the other; no one is forced to use it, it is
> supplied 'as is' and if it is not good enough 'as is' use a different
> program.
>
> On Mon, 19 May 2025 at 20:26, sunfish62--- via gnucash-user <
> gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
>
> > Lost in all the entreaties to experiment with the reports (aside:
> > sometimes people just want a report to work) is the fact that the OP very
> > clearly felt that the account selection feature in most reports is not
> > resilient or helpful.
> >
> > I agree.
> >
> > Selecting accounts in even a moderately complex set of books can be
> > tedious and error-prone. Add in the fact that new accounts in a tree that
> > was previously fully selected won't get added automatically, and you
> have a
> > recipe for bleary eyed users failing to notice that their taxes are off
> > because one new account wasn't properly added to their annual report.
> Then
> > they get the pleasure of filing amended returns....
> >
> > ⁣David T.
> >
> > On May 19, 2025, 8:45 PM, at 8:45 PM, "Stan Brown (using GC 4.14)" <
> > stan+gc at fastmail.fm> wrote:
> > >On 2025-05-19 09:48, R Losey wrote:
> > >> Having come from a Quicken background, where reports work "out of the
> > >box",
> > >> the reports in GnuCash have been difficult.
> > >>
> > >> I know that I have gaps in my understanding of accounting and
> > >bookkeeping.
> > >> I have had very little problems using GnuCash's double-entry method.
> > >>
> > >> But you are correct in that I am lacking knowledge in some of the
> > >report
> > >> areas - I don't think that is a lack of knowledge of double-entry
> > >> accounting, however.
> > >
> > >In my opinion, the best advice for learning to configure reports comes
> > >in three words: experiment, experiment, experiment. When trying a new
> > >report, I make it a point to look at every setting in the Options for
> > >that report and try things until I get what I want on the report. It's
> > >not always obvious from the screen what an option will do; hence my
> > >advice to experiment.
> > >
> > >For instance, I found by experiment that both the Balance Sheet and the
> > >Income Statement worked just fine when I clicked "Select All" on the
> > >account selection one of the report options window. The Balance Sheet
> > >showed Assets, Liabilities, and Equity accounts, not Income and
> > >Expenses
> > >accounts, despite that word "All", and the Income Statement showed
> > >Income and Expense accounts and ignored Assets, Liabilities, and
> > >Equity.
> > >
> > >--
> > >Stan Brown
> > >Tehachapi, CA, USA
> > >https://BrownMath.com
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >gnucash-user mailing list
> > >gnucash-user at gnucash.org
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-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8