On 10/1/24 10:04, R Losey wrote:
On Tue, Oct 1, 2024 at 11:44 AM Chris Miller via gnucash-user < gnucash-user@gnucash.org> wrote:Hi Folks, These are GnuCash questions; not accounting questions: * How do "Cash", "Bank" and "Asset" accounts different from each other? They are all assets ... * How do "Liability" and "Credit Card" accounts different from each other? They are all liabilities ... Are these distinctions without a difference? Are they here because most users might not know that a "Bank" account is an asset and a "Credit Card" is a liability? Does GnuCash treat them differently? Thanks for the help, -- Chris.Isn't that just a bit like stating that "your brother is a person, and your wife is a person, so what's the difference? They are all persons?" I would suggest that there is a difference <grin>. Yes, they are all assets, but different type of assets... "Cash" (called "Cash on Hand" in my GnuCash list of accounts) is cash lying around the house, or petty cash - it is not kept at an institution and thus only tracked by the user. Bank accounts - checkings and savings - are kept by a bank; they may or may not pay interest. Other assets - such as a house - are different from either of the previous two -- you can't go out to eat and pay for it with your house (at least I hope it's not that expensive! <grin>) In the same way, credit cards are a type of liability; you use these to purchase stuff on a routine basis. I have also had other liabilities; for example, if I needed expensive plumbing work done, they will let me pay it out over the next 12 months. That is a liability, but it is not a "credit card". These are legitimate distinctions in my mind. I think GnuCash may use different labels for the columns (if you are not using formal accounting terms of "debit" and "credit"). Also, the default list of transaction types is different depending on the account type. I hope this is helpful.
I think you missed the thrust of his question -- namely, how does GnuCash treat these differently?
I don't have the answer, but I do know as a software developer that there can be subtle differences. [ I could go out on a limb here -- but prefer not to fall when it is cut off behind me. ]
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