2
<ARTICLE ID="XACC-ACCTYPES">
4
<TITLE>Account Types</TITLE>
9
<PARA> GnuCash supports a number of different account types.
10
Always choose the type that is appropriate for what you want to
11
record. If you're not sure, the following explanations should help you
16
<GLOSSTERM><EMPHASIS>Cash</EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
18
<PARA>The <EMPHASIS>cash</EMPHASIS> account type is used to denote the cash
19
that you store in your wallet, shoebox, piggybank, or
24
<GLOSSTERM><EMPHASIS>Bank</EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
26
<PARA>The <EMPHASIS>Bank</EMPHASIS> account type denotes savings or
27
checking accounts held at a bank or other financial
29
Some of these accounts may bear interest.
30
This is also the appropriate account type for check (debit) cards,
31
which directly withdraw payments from a checking account.
36
<GLOSSTERM><EMPHASIS>Credit Card</EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
38
<PARA>The <EMPHASIS>Credit Card</EMPHASIS>account type is used
40
card accounts, both for cards that allow floating lines of
41
credit (e.g. VISA, MasterCard, or Discover)
42
and with cards that do not permit continuing balances
43
(e.g. American Express)
48
<GLOSSTERM><EMPHASIS>Asset, Liability</EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
50
<PARA><EMPHASIS>Asset</EMPHASIS> and <EMPHASIS>Liability</EMPHASIS> accounts are used for
51
tracking things that are of value, but that are not
52
directly translatable into <EMPHASIS>cash</EMPHASIS>.
53
For instance, you might collect the costs of purchasing a
54
house into an asset account entitled <EMPHASIS>My
55
House</EMPHASIS>, or the
56
cost of a car into <EMPHASIS> My Car,</EMPHASIS> or collect together the
57
value of your <EMPHASIS> Computer Equipment.</EMPHASIS>
58
The home mortgage or car loan would be represented by
59
liability accounts, <EMPHASIS> Home Mortgage</EMPHASIS> and <EMPHASIS> Car
60
Loan</EMPHASIS>, to be drawn down as payments are made on these
64
If you hold assets for business purposes, their decline
65
in value over time might be treated as a deduction for tax
66
purposes, that deduction being called
67
<LINK LINKEND="XACC-DEPRECIATION">Depreciation.</LINK>
68
On the other hand, if you own assets that
69
<EMPHASIS>appreciate</EMPHASIS> in value over time, such as real estate,
70
collectibles like paintings, and investments like shares in
71
companies, you may see them appreciate in value, and have to
72
recognize, for tax purposes, what are called <LINK LINKEND="APPR"> Capital Gains.</LINK></PARA>
76
<GLOSSTERM><ANCHOR ID="STOCKACCT"><EMPHASIS>Stock, Mutual Fund</EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
78
<PARA>Securities that you invest in are a form of asset that
79
are normally acquired with the express purpose of receiving
80
income either in the form of dividends, interest, or
81
<LINK LINKEND="APPR"> Capital Gains.</LINK> There are
82
securities markets around the world, and
83
widely traded securities with fairly
84
concrete values may be analyzed on a day-to-day
87
Stock and Mutual Fund accounts are typically tracked in
88
registers having three main columns:
95
<PARA>Number of shares </PARA>
102
<PARA> In order to get <EMPHASIS>useful</EMPHASIS> information out of the
103
register, it is necessary to have multiple "views" on the
104
data so that you may assess such things as:
108
<PARA>Total Values by security </PARA>
111
<PARA>Gains/Losses by security </PARA>
114
<PARA>Return On Investment rates by security </PARA>
118
<PARA>More details may be found in the <LINK LINKEND="xacc-price-editor">price editor</LINK> and
119
<link linkend="xacc-price-sources">price sources</link>sections.</PARA>
123
<GLOSSTERM><EMPHASIS><LINK LINKEND="XACC-INCOMEEXPENSE">Income,
124
Expense</LINK></EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
126
<PARA><EMPHASIS> Income</EMPHASIS> and <EMPHASIS>Expense</EMPHASIS>
127
account types are used to record income and expenses.
128
For example, if you deposit a paycheck in your bank account, you
129
should mark it as a transfer from an 'income' account.
130
Marking income in this way helps balance the books: the change in your
131
net worth in the course of a few weeks, a few months, or a year, should
132
exactly equal your income (minus expenses) for the same period.
133
The value stored in the bank account contributes to your 'net worth',
134
whereas the income contributes to your 'profits'.
140
<GLOSSTERM><EMPHASIS>Equity</EMPHASIS></GLOSSTERM>
142
<PARA><EMPHASIS>Equity</EMPHASIS> accounts are used to
143
store the opening balances when you first start using GnuCash
144
(or start a new accounting period).
145
Assuming that you've had a bank
146
account far longer than you've been using GnuCash, and assuming you
147
don't want to type in old transactions, you will want to type in a
148
non-zero <EMPHASIS> opening balance </EMPHASIS> into your bank account. This opening balance
149
should be marked as a transfer from an account of type 'equity'.
150
Alternately, if you close and reopen all your books at the end of every
151
quarter/year, the 'equity' will be your net-worth at the begining of the
152
period: it equal all assets minus all liabilities.
153
As time passes, you will have income and expenses.
154
At the end of the year, your net
155
worth will be the equity at the begining of the year, plus all income
156
minus all expense. This value then becomes the equity for
157
the next accounting period.
162
<GLOSSTERM><LINK LINKEND="XACC-CURRENCYHANDLING">
163
<EMPHASIS>Currency</EMPHASIS></LINK></GLOSSTERM>
165
<PARA><EMPHASIS> Currency Accounts</EMPHASIS> are used for trading
167
In most ways, they behave like stocks, except that the
168
only way that "income" may be gotten from them is from
169
fluctuations in the relative values of currencies. Note that
170
transfers cannot be made directly between two accounts
171
denominated in different currencies. Such transfers may only
172
be made into currency trading accounts.</PARA>
182
<!-- Local variables: -->
183
<!-- sgml-parent-document: "gnucash.sgml" -->
added
removed
doc/sgml/C/xacc-acctypes.sgml
