I was both excited and dismayed to learn that GnuCash has "Fixed
Assets". Excited because that meant an expansion of capability and
dismayed because reading between the lines implied only the setting up
of an accounting structure.
Adding a set of Fixed Asset accounts to the General Ledger system does
not make the General Ledger into a Fixed Assets module any more than
adding a set of Payroll accounts make the G/L into a payroll system.
Accounting Modules (at a high level):
1. General Ledger (G/L). The module that allows a user to maintain a
set of accounting books electronically using generally accepted
accounting practices. This module is also the recipient of JVs (Journal
Vouchers) from other financial systems. Primary purpose is to produce a
Balance Sheet (under various names) and an Income Statement (also having
aliases). It maintains information at a summary level
2. Accounts Payable (A/P). This module tracks to whom, how much, and
when payments are due. It should sent a multi-line JV to the G/L. This
module must track names and addresses and other information that a G/L
does not need (and shouldn't have to worry about).
3. Accounts Receivable (A/R). This module tracks from whom, how much,
and when payments should be received. It also should sent a multi-line
JV to the G/L. It also tracks names, addresses, and other information
that a G/L should ignore.
4. Fixed Assets (F/A). This module tracks the assets of the company
that have a relative long life. (Not inventory that has a short shelf
life). It also knows about depreciation schedules and the past,
present, and potential future value of each asset including the
depreciation amount, etc. It also sends a multi-line JV to G/L. And
again, G/L should ignore a lot of the details involved in Fixed Assets.
5. Payroll (P/R). This tracks employees, how much they are paid, what
deductions to take out of their pay, how often they are paid along with
the accrual of certain benefits (sick leave, vacation bank, etc). It
also prepares certain tax related reports for various governing bodies.
This is one of, if not the, most complicated financial module. It also
sends a multi-line JV to G/L. Generally it prints its own set of checks
but I've heard of cases where it sends that information over to A/P
(overloads A/P in my opinion).
Then there follow other financial modules that may be beneficial to some
entities:
6. Inventory. This tracks certain transitory assets and has
reorder-points, vendors (from whom to order), clients (who can buy and
purchase levels). It also talks to G/L and other systems (A/P, A/R).
7. Purchasing. May be part of inventory or some systems make inventory
part of purchasing. Ideally they talk to each other and this handles
the issuing of the PO (purchase order) to ensure inventory levels are
maintained. It may interface with F/A when the company needs to
purchase additional (or replacement) items for long-term retention. It
also needs to handle items that are directly expensed and not recorded
in inventory nor F/A.
8. Point-of-Sale (POS). I've not done one of these -- it might be more
complicated then payroll (which I have designed and built)!
So, why was I excited? Its always nice to see an application expand and
tackle additional arenas.
Why dismay then? It takes a lot of resources to maintain each one of
the above modules. It is better to pick one module and make it the best
one available ("hit a home run", "gold standard", etc) than to be
mediocre in several ("never get on base" -- even on fouls).
So, what are my credentials? I've seen that one of the Davids on this
forum was a physicist in a prior career and retired as an accountant.
Here is my story:
I was born (I do wonder about some folks if they have even begun to
live) midway through the last century (makes me feel even older
admitting that). Graduated with a BS in Chemistry (though I have more
credits in math) and minors in Physics and Religion. I took every
computer class the college offered -- including Numerical Analysis. It
wasn't much but enough to impress the recruiter from a hospital. So, I
began my post graduation career as a programmer in the now ancient
language of COBOL on a 6-bit computer (Honeywell 115-Mod1) with 32K of
core (real core) based on 556 bpi 7 track tape. Oh, it did have a 10 MB
disk drive. That was the summer of 1975.
Graduated to an HP-3000 in 1978 (still COBOL) with gobs of disk, 9-track
tape, and a two-level network database system called Image. My phone
has more RAM than all those disk drives held! But now I was an analyst
and data modeler. Spent time at Weyerhaeuser ('81-'84) with their
database group brushing up on database theory (CJ Date book). Moved on
to consulting work ('85-'90) (built property tax receipting system,
utility billing, permits, etc). Then spent time with newsprint
distribution for The Seattle Times ('91-'96). They sent me off to
become an Oracle DBA ('93) but didn't have a full-time position as
such. So I moved on (July '96) and did DBA (database administration)
for Washington State's largest PPO (Preferred Provider Organization).
Learned a lot about processing/pricing/adjudicating medical claims and
ended up designing the data model for their new systems.
Became an I.T. Manager (2007) for that company and managed two
development teams plus the DBA (and was the only Korn Shell writer in
the company). Picked up my PMP (Project Management Professional)
certification in 2011 and promptly retired in February 2017.
So, I have over 40 years working with computers. Mostly with those
ancient languages (BASIC, Fortran, COBOL, some Pascal) and some assembly
language/machine language exposure (PDP 11/20, ASM, PAL, PSL) and
database transaction languages (Transact, PL/SQL,, Oracle's flavor of
SQL). But woefully lacking in web and modern day (C, C++, C#, Scheme --
I did read the book last week).
Took time this past year to relax, work on the new property, enjoy the
grandkids and how I had time to go to work all those years.
Well, the greenhouse is built, summer is over, the rains have set in and
I did promise to figure this language called Scheme out enough to get
the basic reports formatted to my wife's demanding specifications.
Her qualifications? MEd secondary education for Business Education.
Took some additional Accounting courses and spend the last 21 years
doing accounting for an architect. Mostly assisted living facilities
but also churches around the world.
So, when I get stuck on which side of the T account the credits/debits
go (and when the default value is negative/positive -- and yes, I know
that both debits and credits can hold both negative and positive values
for the same account so looking at the sign doesn't tell you to which
side it belongs -- it is a really strong hint though) I have an in-house
reference that accepts voice input (not Alexei nor Echo!) and generally
responds rather quickly. Failing that, I contact my daughter who has
her AA in accounting (she specializes in payroll).
Now, it's time for me to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty in
this thing called Scheme. It looks to me that there are just a couple
developers holding down the fort here. And that is way too little to
try to make GNC anything more than a good G/L system. Hopefully by
spring I'll have my thousand hours in and be able to contribute.
Yes, I've noticed that the brain muscle has atrophied along with the
knees and other items since retirement. I think I can still whip out a
data model (ER diagram) but the detailed syntax to create that in an
Oracle database -- well, for the last 10 years I had a DBA to whom I
could assign that task!
Oh yes, C is on the bucket list, I'll have to Scheme my way to it.
--
Stephen M Butler, PMP, PSM
stephen.m.butle...@gmail.com
kg...@arrl.net
253-350-0166
-------------------------------------------
GnuPG Fingerprint: 8A25 9726 D439 758D D846 E5D4 282A 5477 0385 81D8
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