> > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Mike or Penny Novack <stepbystepf...@dialup4less.com> > To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org > Cc: > Bcc: > Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:35:43 -0500 > Subject: Re: Purpose of Accounting Period? Benefit to closing books? > On 2/22/2018 4:21 PM, Dan Carpenter wrote: > >> Adrien, general accounting principles close the books at the end of the >> fiscal year. This process in most accounting software updates the Equity >> with the profit or loss balances and then zeros the income and expense >> accounts to begin fresh for the new year. I am just starting with testing >> this software, but most software retains “last year data” in a separate >> file or field within the data record for comparative reporting of this >> month/last month ; this year/last year etc. >> > Gnucash (without doing a"close the books") > a) Have last year's data in a separate file << just make a copy of the > file at an appropriate time >> > b) Can still produce the reports for any prior time period << you can (if > you lost them) recreate the previous period's reports from the CURRENT data > file >> > c) And you can close the books in the old pen and ink on paper way too if > that is what you want to do. Either using the function or totally manually. > > This is a matter of understanding the HISTORY of bookkeeping. It was the > PROCESS of closing the books that created the report we call "profit and > loss" << the report WAS another temporary account used in the process of > closing* >> And of course they needed a method of keeping the physical > books small enough to handle << a 10,000 page book would be real awkward >> > > Michael > > * The individual income and expense accounts were not closed directly to > equity. They were closed to this special "profit and loss" account and then > THAT was closed to equity by the net profit or loss. BTW, this wasn't just > back in the "dark ages". I am old enough to have learned doing it this way. > >
Which now-a-days was "the dark ages"! (By the way, I'm probably about your age.) _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
