[GNC] Newbie: Gnucash credit card payment transactions don't make sense

[Michael or Penny Novack]

For some new users of gnucash who are also new to double entry 
bookkeeping the tutorial will suffice. But others will struggle with the 
fundamental double entry bookkeeping basic concepts. In THAT case I suggest.

a) Finding some entry level guides to double entry. bookkeeping. Gnucash 
is a TOOL that makes doing double entry bookkeeping a LOT easier than 
using pen and ink on special lines paper (either bound in books or 
"loose leaf")

b) IF you are having trouble with the "user friendly" column names 
switch to "formal" where the left column will always be "debit" and the 
right column always
"credit" regardless of where in the ledger you place the account. The 
"user friendly labels" change according to the type of the account.

Assets are accounts that (usually) have a debit balance. << on debit 
side of ledger >>

Liabilities are accounts that (usually) have a credit balance <on credit 
side of ledger >>

Equity accounts  (usually) have a credit balance. Income and Expense 
accounts are temporary accounts of fundamental type Equity (closing into 
Equity being deferred). Expenses normally debit and Income credit (so 
expenses decrease equity, make it less credit, and income increases 
equity, makes it more credit. With gnucash you can defer closing 
indefinitely as it can produce reports "as if you did".

If this debit/credit thing seems strange, double entry bookkeeping is 
older than negative numbers in European math. So the "senses" are 
debit/credit, only addition used as opposed to plus/minus with both 
addition and subtraction.

Michael D Novack