#Gnucash imbalance how to

The same transaction inĪ different account will have a different transaction line, one that The transaction’s effect on the current account. Why is this shown twice?īecause the transaction line is merely a summary of Notice, the transaction line contains the same debit amount as theĬhecking split line. In the example shown above, the totalĭebits equal the total credits, so this transaction is balanced. The last two columns show theĪmount of the split and whether money is coming into or going out of theĪs we discussed in Section 2.1, “Accounting Concepts”, totalĭebits (left-column entries) must equal total credits (right-columnĮntries) for each transaction.

Each split affects anĪccount, which can be selected from a pull-down

Type of split, which you can either type in or choose from a pull-down Information, you need to look at the individual splits that make up theĮach split contains an optional Action, or Transfer column heading disappears, and there is noĪccount name listed in that field. Here), and updated account Balance after theĬurrent transaction. Toolbar while selecting the appropriate transaction.įor split transactions, the first line of the transaction is theĬheck number), transaction Description, totalĪmount affecting the current account ( Tot Deposit Transaction by clicking the Split button in the You can see the individual splits of each For a split transaction, the Transfer column will display - Split Transaction. For a simple transaction, the Transfer column will display the other account from which money is transferred. When the register is in Basic view, you will see a summary of the splits affecting the current account. A transaction with three or more accounts is called a split transaction. A transaction with only two splits is called a simple transaction, since it only involves the current account and a single remote account.

#Gnucash imbalance how to

See also 'How to eliminate automatic entries ending up in the “unbalanced” account?' and How to resolve imbalances and orphan transactions in Gnucash?.Every transaction in GnuCash has at least two splits, but a transaction can have more than two splits. Keep in mind that some research might be needed or consultation with your accountant.ĭespite searching numerous sources of documention, I could find no evidently official mention of 'Imbalance' accounts having any special meaning to GnuCash, although some people are experimenting using this conventional account for purposes such as zero-sum budgeting. What do you want to happen? Have to abort the transaction, create the account(s), and reenter the transaction? Or would you prefer to complete the transaction (using 'Imbalance' or 'Orphan'), create the account(s), and then fix the transaction. Sometimes, in the middle of entering a transaction, you realize that you need an account that does not yet exist in the chart of accounts. For what it's worth, numerous discussions on the GnuCash mailing list seem to indicate that the Imbalance-* accounts are simply a convenience mechanism, a conventional 'uncategorized' account, that GnuCash creates automatically when it cannot automatically balance a double-entry booking transaction.