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Double entry philosophy results in entries I don't want

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dhuitema

13 Jun, 2009 12:10 AM

I'm getting entries in accounts for dates that precede the accounts' starting dates.... apparently because other accounts have earlier transactions and the double entry approach creates transactions I don't want. Must the starting dates for all accounts be the same? Is there any other solution?

Thanks!

1. 1 Posted by g on 14 Jun, 2009 06:50 PM

   

   The double entry approach simply means that the money always has to come from somewhere and go somewhere. It can't just appear and disappear. As such each transaction must have two sides. Typically one side is a 'category' used to classify income or expenses, though it could also be a transfer between accounts.

   I am guessing that date of the category side of the transaction is not a concern and the problem you face is with transferring money between accounts. Most of the time (particularly with electronic clearing) this happens at the same time (or nearly). For example, when I pay a credit card bill, it is debited from my checking account and credited to my credit card account on the same day. I have had issues with checks, though where there is a gap between when a check was written and when it is cashed.

   It sounds like you may be having an issue with historical transactions where you are trying to keep a history for one account longer than another and the two accounts have transfers between them. In this scenario, rather than using the actual account for the other side of the transaction, you could create a category for it. I have a category called _ClosedAccount which I use for a similar purpose to represent transfers to/from old accounts that I decided not to transfer from Quicken to Moneydance.

   I hope that helps. If not, perhaps you could provide an example of your problem and the transactions that you don't want. That would make it easier to offer suggestions for solutions.

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2. 2 Posted by Ben Spencer on 21 Jun, 2009 03:50 PM

   

   Hi dhuitema

   Thanks g for posting a reply, I'm sorry I have taken to so long to respond. dhuitema has gs response sufficiently answered your question or do you need further assistance.

   Sincerely

   Ben Spencer

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3. 3 Posted by dhuitema on 21 Jun, 2009 10:31 PM

   

   Ben:

   I'm OK, thanks!

   I decided to make sure all accounts' transactions start on the same
   date, so there will be no entries entered in one account that show up
   in another where they will unintentionally change cleared/reconciled
   balances.

   It strikes me that unless I'm totally missing another option, that it
   would be a good idea to suggest that users do the same to avoid this
   problem. I note on the Create Account screen, near the Start Date
   field, might help.

   BTW, using "g's" approach with a Closed Account category wouldn't fix
   this problem, since a transaction amount that is assigned to it will
   still affect the account balance.

   I appreciate your follow-up and apologize for the delay in answering
   g's June 14 message. I've been trying to get the mortgages on two
   properties refinanced.... lots of paper and back-and-forth.

   Cheers!

   Dick

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