Re: For UK users: Will gnucash get ready for Making Tax, Digital ?
A shared library would even better imo. Similar to what aqbanking does for online bank communications. That would allow for easier integration with gnucash and even other open source applications that wish to interact with HMRC. Regards, Geert Alain Williams schreef op 27 juli 2017 11:01:10 CEST: >On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 12:52:41AM +, Buddha Buck wrote: > >> GnuCash does not currently (to my knowledge) support any >> jurisdiction-specify tax policy or reporting requirements. To do so >for one >> would imply that it should do so for all, and that is a maintenance >> nightmare. As such, I think it more likely that someone would write a >> program that can take reports or data that GnuCash can already >generate >> (CSV exports? OFX exports?) and uploads the necessary info to HMRC. > >A small program that takes a well defined import and can talk the HMRC >Making >Tax Difficult protocol might be the best way forwards; similar programs >could >then also be written to talk to the tax people in other countries - >without >cluttering up the core of Gnucash. > >I am not sure, however, if this would be enough to keep HMRC happy - >they seem >to want verification of the whole accounts program ... I am talking >about a >standalone shim/add-on. > >I know many companies that have their own accounts s/ware, written over >many >years that does just what they need. MTD could cause huge problems if >there is a >lot of effort in getting these certified or if the companies need to >change to >use an off-the-shelf/bought-in package. > >I don't think that HMRC have thought about it from anything other than >their own perspective. > >On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 08:03:45PM -0700, John Ralls wrote: > >> GnuCash can generate TXF files that certain US and German tax prep >software can support. Alex Aycinena maintains the former and Christian >Stimming the latter, but Christian has had real life intervene and >doesn’t at present have time to contribute code to GnuCash so I suspect >that the German version is out of date. >> >> If anyone else would like to contribute a similar report for their >country we’ll be happy to add it to the distribution, but one should >bear in mind that doing so is a commitment to maintain it with >typically annual updates. >> >> That applies to MTD as well: Of our current regular contributors only >Mike Evans is British; if he’s not motivated to develop the support >someone else from the UK will have to step up or it won’t happen. > >I would be willing to help here. > >However: I know nothing about Gnucash, neither as a developer nor a >user. My own >small business accounts are essentially manual; if it were not for MTD >I would >not see any benefit in changing this - so I want what will be least >effort to >keep HMRC off my back. > >-- >Alain Williams >Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, >IT Lecturer. >+44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ >Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: >http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php >#include >___ >gnucash-user mailing list >gnucash-user@gnucash.org >https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >- >Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. Sent from my smartphone. Please excuse my brevity. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Is there a way to set an account's beginning balance AFTER having created it in GnuCash?
I’ve searched the help and can’t find anything that addresses this question. Thanks! Bob Sent from Mail for Windows 10 ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: Accounting for contractors using GnuCash?
I worked for decades as a contractor in IT. Briefly, what I needed as a single entity was pretty simple, and fell well within the capabilities of GnuCash. I assume here you work as a contractor essentially in a 'do the work, get paid' mode. Whether you operate on a b2b direct mode or in a 1099 mode makes some difference, but as I found that difference was mostly in the fine details. As a b2b operation, my cash flow went to a business account, which then paid me and did all the deductions; that made two gnucash files, one for the business and one for me. That was a minor complexity, but dealing with the business side did cost me time and effort. The business side then deals with things like managing retirement contributions (beyond payroll deductions), quarterlies, and so on. Really straightforward. This does have the advantage of various tax provisions, although not as many as I thought; most of those provisions applied to me individually, with less number farming. Eventually I found it simpler to fall back to the simpler mode of working through a 1099 relationship, sometimes directly to a client but more often through headhunters. I worked, got a signed timesheet (usually), submitted and was paid. So long as you can report your wages, you can track as much of the payroll detail as you like. I did rely on the 1099s at tax time as my final total arbiter, which meant that all I really had to track for myself was the cash I got, which I applied as income to (from) a bank account. It's possible to track all the detail of the payment/deduction stream if you like, as well, although I found that unnecessary to my purposes or comfort. After that, it's just a matter of tracking expenses to whatever level of detail is comfortable to you, given the tax implications of some things being more critical than others. One point might be worth considering. When I worked for multiple clients, either sequentially or simultaneously, I did break out both income and expenses as subaccounts for each of them. It adds marginally to the work of record keeping, but everything rolls up cleanly. There are only a few areas that mattered for me as a contractor: travel/entertainment, auto expense, and general business expenses. Each of these are fully covered in IRS documents. I simply made them expense items, with whatever detail was required. I kept receipts for all auto dollars, since they did matter to my bank balance, but frankly I came out better at the end of it using a standard mileage deduction. Same for t&e, using per diem standards. If I had used a portion of my domicile as an office, I would have put that under the general business expense object, and so on. It's that simple. One item that GnuCash does not manage well is mileage. I tracked it in a small notebook in my car, noting that there are various phone apps that might easily suffice (my inner luddite does not care for apps). I did move my numbers into a spreadsheet for an annual summation, which was not an issue. I also tracked days away from home in the same manner. There are IRS rules involved here which require basically showing this material in a recognizable contemporaneous format, if they ever ask directly (they never asked me). It helps to allow a 'petty cash' expense account, where cash expenditures can be marked for business purposes with a split. This very personal sort of accounting fits within GnuCash very neatly. At tax time, my necessary numbers were mostly available by viewing the appropriate accounts. I suppose I could have marked everything for tax linkages, but it just was not that difficult. And my federal return has consistently included forms 1040 and 2106. Boom, done. That simple level of structure in GnuCash covered the basic numbers, and the outstanding calculations took less than an hour. It's a bit more difficult to sort out multiple state returns (the CA version is particularly entangled), but that's where the subaccounts per client can shine. Most of them depend on primary items from the 1040, but there can be some business expenses that are either part of some other sum, or come from the 2106. Of course you'll note that most of this too-long presentation has little to do with GnuCash, and most to do with how your data can be organized. I wish I'd found Gnucash years earlier. hth = On 7/27/2017 1:28 PM, Buddha Buck wrote: I seem to be transitioning from full-time employment to software dev contracting. I don't know really what's involved in that, accounting-wise, in the US. Does anyone know of any resources for how to do the proper accounting as a contractor in the US, especially using GnuCash? Thanks, Buddha ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all yo
Re: Name Does Not Show in Posts
Thanks to all for your comments. My curiosity is satisfied! Affordable Wireless Plans Set up is easy. Get online in minutes. Starting at only $14.95 per month! www.netzero.net?refcd=nzmem0216 ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: Is there a way to set an account's beginning balance AFTER having created it in GnuCash?
Bob, The Opening Balance shortcut that you see when creating an account is not functional after the account is created, as you have seen. That shortcut just creates a transaction to offset the opening balance with an entry in Equity:Opening Balances. You can open that account and duplicate any previous entry changing the transfer account to a different account to create an opening balance in another account. David C On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 3:33 PM, wrote: > I’ve searched the help and can’t find anything that addresses this > question. > > Thanks! > > Bob > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > ___ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > - > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: Is there a way to set an account's beginning balance AFTER having created it in GnuCash?
Hi, On Thu, July 27, 2017 4:33 pm, bob...@gmail.com wrote: > I’ve searched the help and can’t find anything that addresses this > question. An account opening balance is just a regular tranasaction between that account and an Equity account (normally Equity:Opening Balances". During account creation if you enter that amount it will auto-create that transaction for you. But in your case, just create that transaction manually. It's the same end result. > Thanks! > > Bob > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. -derek -- Derek Atkins 617-623-3745 de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com Computer and Internet Security Consultant ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: Is there a way to set an account's beginning balance AFTER having created it in GnuCash?
Just open the account tab and change the opening balance entry - the one at the top. Mark On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 1:33 PM, wrote: > I’ve searched the help and can’t find anything that addresses this > question. > > Thanks! > > Bob > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > ___ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > - > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: Is there a way to set an account's beginning balance AFTER having created it in GnuCash?
A thought, I never, or just the last 40 years, make a beginning entry in account creating. Sometimes I set up my next year before I have closed out my previous year, so I don't have the final transactions for the Asset, Liability and Equity accounts. I have a list of opening balance transactions for those accounts. which I create each year, whether the amounts are zero or not. Keeps me in control vs. the program. John On 07/28/2017 11:48 AM, David Carlson wrote: Bob, The Opening Balance shortcut that you see when creating an account is not functional after the account is created, as you have seen. That shortcut just creates a transaction to offset the opening balance with an entry in Equity:Opening Balances. You can open that account and duplicate any previous entry changing the transfer account to a different account to create an opening balance in another account. David C On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 3:33 PM, wrote: I’ve searched the help and can’t find anything that addresses this question. Thanks! Bob Sent from Mail for Windows 10 ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Preferred Date Format When Importing CSV Files
I set the date format to m-d-y in Edit>Preferences>Date/time When I import CSV files, the date format on the Preview Settings page shows y-m-d. I manually change the format to m-d-y. What do I need to do to have GC automatically show the format I selected. Affordable Wireless Plans Set up is easy. Get online in minutes. Starting at only $14.95 per month! www.netzero.net?refcd=nzmem0216 ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: Accounting for contractors using GnuCash?
I have an interesting solution for recording mileage within Gnucash. I presume you have something like Expenses:Business:Travels already set up in your local currency. You could create an account called Expenses:Business:Mileage in currency XXX, and it will contain only mileage records. It doesn't require double entry recording, therefore all transactions will not balance with an asset or liability account, but with Equity:Mileage, also currency XXX. You can then amend the currency symbol to "mi" or "km". Gnucash will count and report on your annual mileage appropriately. Try and see if it works well for you. Devs, I would hope that XXX does not receive special handling internally. If it does just use any other unused currency. On 29 Jul 2017 2:40 AM, "JHC" wrote: I worked for decades as a contractor in IT. Briefly, what I needed as a single entity was pretty simple, and fell well within the capabilities of GnuCash. I assume here you work as a contractor essentially in a 'do the work, get paid' mode. Whether you operate on a b2b direct mode or in a 1099 mode makes some difference, but as I found that difference was mostly in the fine details. As a b2b operation, my cash flow went to a business account, which then paid me and did all the deductions; that made two gnucash files, one for the business and one for me. That was a minor complexity, but dealing with the business side did cost me time and effort. The business side then deals with things like managing retirement contributions (beyond payroll deductions), quarterlies, and so on. Really straightforward. This does have the advantage of various tax provisions, although not as many as I thought; most of those provisions applied to me individually, with less number farming. Eventually I found it simpler to fall back to the simpler mode of working through a 1099 relationship, sometimes directly to a client but more often through headhunters. I worked, got a signed timesheet (usually), submitted and was paid. So long as you can report your wages, you can track as much of the payroll detail as you like. I did rely on the 1099s at tax time as my final total arbiter, which meant that all I really had to track for myself was the cash I got, which I applied as income to (from) a bank account. It's possible to track all the detail of the payment/deduction stream if you like, as well, although I found that unnecessary to my purposes or comfort. After that, it's just a matter of tracking expenses to whatever level of detail is comfortable to you, given the tax implications of some things being more critical than others. One point might be worth considering. When I worked for multiple clients, either sequentially or simultaneously, I did break out both income and expenses as subaccounts for each of them. It adds marginally to the work of record keeping, but everything rolls up cleanly. There are only a few areas that mattered for me as a contractor: travel/entertainment, auto expense, and general business expenses. Each of these are fully covered in IRS documents. I simply made them expense items, with whatever detail was required. I kept receipts for all auto dollars, since they did matter to my bank balance, but frankly I came out better at the end of it using a standard mileage deduction. Same for t&e, using per diem standards. If I had used a portion of my domicile as an office, I would have put that under the general business expense object, and so on. It's that simple. One item that GnuCash does not manage well is mileage. I tracked it in a small notebook in my car, noting that there are various phone apps that might easily suffice (my inner luddite does not care for apps). I did move my numbers into a spreadsheet for an annual summation, which was not an issue. I also tracked days away from home in the same manner. There are IRS rules involved here which require basically showing this material in a recognizable contemporaneous format, if they ever ask directly (they never asked me). It helps to allow a 'petty cash' expense account, where cash expenditures can be marked for business purposes with a split. This very personal sort of accounting fits within GnuCash very neatly. At tax time, my necessary numbers were mostly available by viewing the appropriate accounts. I suppose I could have marked everything for tax linkages, but it just was not that difficult. And my federal return has consistently included forms 1040 and 2106. Boom, done. That simple level of structure in GnuCash covered the basic numbers, and the outstanding calculations took less than an hour. It's a bit more difficult to sort out multiple state returns (the CA version is particularly entangled), but that's where the subaccounts per client can shine. Most of them depend on primary items from the 1040, but there can be some business expenses that are either part of some other sum, or come from the 2106. Of course you'll note that most of this too-long presentation has little
Re: Accounting for contractors using GnuCash?
Here's what I do, but it might not work for you. I use two pieces of software for accounting, bookkeeping, and compliance: gnucash and prosystemfx from CCH (Wolters Kluwer). gnucash is excellent for tracking expenses, but for income amounts I rely on 1099's, DIV's, etc. Similarly, I sometimes use gnucash for a very rough way to track equities, options, etc., but I rely on the brokerage to figure out valuations in an account, which they do in the US with a year end 1099-DIV. Prosystemfx is not free, open source, or cheap, but I have found it teaches me more about tax and compliance than anything I ever read in an IRS publication. I've seen how other countries handle taxation, and while not pretty, most of them are less convoluted than the US. I hesitate to use gnucash to track any kind of income, dividends and gains other than cash. State and federal tax authorities will compare your return to documentation they get from banks, investment firms, etc., on the various forms (1099, W-2). They will be interested in what you have as deductible expenses, so definitely track those in gnucash and keep receipts. If you want your books in gnucash to reflect your current profit/loss or net worth, then clearly try to include everything in gnucash, including your income, dividends, etc. But you will find that outside of direct payments, gnucash may not be able to mirror closely what your investment account gives you at the end of the year in a 1099 or a 1099 DIV. But that's up to you; definitely track the deductible expenses and cash income with gnucash, but don't get frustrated with the variance between gnucash and an investment account end of year statement (use the statement amounts on your tax returns). This list has lots of advice from individuals who use gnucash to track both realised and unrealised gains; they can let you know how they handle tax and compliance forms. Most people would advise you to take your data to a tax professional and not try to finish a return by yourself. ProSystemFX is expensive (probably north of $500 a year). The learning curve is steep, but I have found it to be an excellent way to understand (at least in part) something I never wanted to: the tax code. I have no complaints about Turbo Tax and the other products out there, but they all have trouble handling anything other than very common situations. Multiple Schedule C's, partnerships, etc. are not their forte. My guess, from reading the list, is that you are extremely intelligent, capable, and are very good at teaching yourself, and self-learning in general. I'm none of those, but I am forced to be something like it when I turn in my tax forms. So don't let the complexity get you down. Use gnucash to track expenses and cash income, and don't freak out if you can't get it to track your other income; use the 1099's, W-2 and DIV forms at year end. Gordon On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 6:23 AM, JHC wrote: > I worked for decades as a contractor in IT. Briefly, what I needed as a > single entity was pretty simple, and fell well within the capabilities of > GnuCash. > > I assume here you work as a contractor essentially in a 'do the work, get > paid' mode. Whether you operate on a b2b direct mode or in a 1099 mode makes > some difference, but as I found that difference was mostly in the fine > details. As a b2b operation, my cash flow went to a business account, which > then paid me and did all the deductions; that made two gnucash files, one > for the business and one for me. That was a minor complexity, but dealing > with the business side did cost me time and effort. The business side then > deals with things like managing retirement contributions (beyond payroll > deductions), quarterlies, and so on. Really straightforward. This does have > the advantage of various tax provisions, although not as many as I thought; > most of those provisions applied to me individually, with less number > farming. > > Eventually I found it simpler to fall back to the simpler mode of working > through a 1099 relationship, sometimes directly to a client but more often > through headhunters. I worked, got a signed timesheet (usually), submitted > and was paid. So long as you can report your wages, you can track as much of > the payroll detail as you like. I did rely on the 1099s at tax time as my > final total arbiter, which meant that all I really had to track for myself > was the cash I got, which I applied as income to (from) a bank account. It's > possible to track all the detail of the payment/deduction stream if you > like, as well, although I found that unnecessary to my purposes or comfort. > After that, it's just a matter of tracking expenses to whatever level of > detail is comfortable to you, given the tax implications of some things > being more critical than others. > > One point might be worth considering. When I worked for multiple clients, > either sequentially or simultaneously, I did break out both income and > expenses as
Re: Accounting for contractors using GnuCash?
I do something like what Christopher suggests. I have several expense accounts (Expenses:1stScheduleC:Mileage, Expenses:2ndScheduleC:Mileage) and the receiving account can be whatever you like. Description for each transaction is something like: 2017 Mileage Rate Business Expenses Memo would be: 39.4 Miles X 2 X $0.535 Correspondence, Deliveries $0.535 is the IRS mileage rate for that year. I then put in $42.15 (which is 39.4*2*.535) in the expense column, and the same amount in the transfer account. You then have to divide the total amount by the mileage rate when you do taxes to give you the number of miles. So maybe Christopher's way is better. Gordon On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 10:29 PM, GWB wrote: > Here's what I do, but it might not work for you. > > I use two pieces of software for accounting, bookkeeping, and > compliance: gnucash and prosystemfx from CCH (Wolters Kluwer). > gnucash is excellent for tracking expenses, but for income amounts I > rely on 1099's, DIV's, etc. Similarly, I sometimes use gnucash for a > very rough way to track equities, options, etc., but I rely on the > brokerage to figure out valuations in an account, which they do in the > US with a year end 1099-DIV. Prosystemfx is not free, open source, or > cheap, but I have found it teaches me more about tax and compliance > than anything I ever read in an IRS publication. I've seen how other > countries handle taxation, and while not pretty, most of them are less > convoluted than the US. > > I hesitate to use gnucash to track any kind of income, dividends and > gains other than cash. State and federal tax authorities will compare > your return to documentation they get from banks, investment firms, > etc., on the various forms (1099, W-2). They will be interested in > what you have as deductible expenses, so definitely track those in > gnucash and keep receipts. > > If you want your books in gnucash to reflect your current profit/loss > or net worth, then clearly try to include everything in gnucash, > including your income, dividends, etc. But you will find that outside > of direct payments, gnucash may not be able to mirror closely what > your investment account gives you at the end of the year in a 1099 or > a 1099 DIV. > > But that's up to you; definitely track the deductible expenses and > cash income with gnucash, but don't get frustrated with the variance > between gnucash and an investment account end of year statement (use > the statement amounts on your tax returns). This list has lots of > advice from individuals who use gnucash to track both realised and > unrealised gains; they can let you know how they handle tax and > compliance forms. > > Most people would advise you to take your data to a tax professional > and not try to finish a return by yourself. ProSystemFX is expensive > (probably north of $500 a year). The learning curve is steep, but I > have found it to be an excellent way to understand (at least in part) > something I never wanted to: the tax code. I have no complaints about > Turbo Tax and the other products out there, but they all have trouble > handling anything other than very common situations. Multiple > Schedule C's, partnerships, etc. are not their forte. > > My guess, from reading the list, is that you are extremely > intelligent, capable, and are very good at teaching yourself, and > self-learning in general. I'm none of those, but I am forced to be > something like it when I turn in my tax forms. So don't let the > complexity get you down. Use gnucash to track expenses and cash > income, and don't freak out if you can't get it to track your other > income; use the 1099's, W-2 and DIV forms at year end. > > Gordon > > On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 6:23 AM, JHC wrote: >> I worked for decades as a contractor in IT. Briefly, what I needed as a >> single entity was pretty simple, and fell well within the capabilities of >> GnuCash. >> >> I assume here you work as a contractor essentially in a 'do the work, get >> paid' mode. Whether you operate on a b2b direct mode or in a 1099 mode makes >> some difference, but as I found that difference was mostly in the fine >> details. As a b2b operation, my cash flow went to a business account, which >> then paid me and did all the deductions; that made two gnucash files, one >> for the business and one for me. That was a minor complexity, but dealing >> with the business side did cost me time and effort. The business side then >> deals with things like managing retirement contributions (beyond payroll >> deductions), quarterlies, and so on. Really straightforward. This does have >> the advantage of various tax provisions, although not as many as I thought; >> most of those provisions applied to me individually, with less number >> farming. >> >> Eventually I found it simpler to fall back to the simpler mode of working >> through a 1099 relationship, sometimes directly to a client but more often >> through headhunters. I worked, got a signed
