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fix up definitions of the equity and the income/expense account types
git-svn-id: svn+ssh://svn.gnucash.org/repo/gnucash/trunk@2224 57a11ea4-9604-0410-9ed3-97b8803252fd
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@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
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<body>
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<h1>Account Types</h1>
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GnuCash supports a number of different account types. You should always
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choose the type that is appropriate for what you want to record. If
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you're not sure, the explanations below should help you decide.
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<dl>
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<dt><b>Cash</b></dt>
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@@ -23,9 +26,8 @@
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<dd>The <b>Bank</b> account type denotes a savings or
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checking account held at a bank or other financial
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institution.</dd>
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<dd>Such accounts sometimes bear interest.</dd>
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institution.
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Such accounts sometimes bear interest.
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<dt><b>Credit</b></dt>
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@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@
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American Express that do <em> not</em> permit you to maintain
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continuing balances.</dd>
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<p>
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<dd>The introduction of <a href=
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"http://www.visa.com/pd/debit/checkcard.html"> Check
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Cards</a> where payments are withdrawn directly from a
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@@ -116,19 +119,36 @@
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<dt><b><a href="xacc-expense.html"> Income,
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Expense</a></b></dt>
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<dd><b> Income</b> and <b>Expense</b> accounts are used to
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collect incomes and expenses.</dd>
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<dd><b> Income</b> and <b>Expense</b> account types are used to
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record income and expenses.
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For example, if you deposit a paycheck in your bank account, you
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should mark it as a transfer from an 'income' account type.
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Marking income in this way helps balance the books: the change in your
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net worth in the course of a few ekks, a few months, or a year, should
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exactly equal your income (minus expenses) for the same period.
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The value stored in the bank account contributes to your 'net worth';
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whereas the income contributes to your 'profits'.
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</dd>
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<dt><b>Equity</b></dt>
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<dd><b>Equity</b> accounts are used to balance the balance
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sheet, indicating the portion of the "corporate" value
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represents <em> the net amount that the owners own.</em></dd>
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<dd><b>Equity</b> accounts are used to
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store the opening balances when you first start using GnuCash
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(or start a new accounting period). Assuming that you've had a bank
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account far longer than you've been using GnuCash, and assuming you
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don't want to type in old transactions, you will want to type in a
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non-zero 'opening balance' into your bank account. This opening balance
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should be marked as a transfer from an account of type 'equity'.
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Alternately, if you close and reopen all your books at the end of every
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quarter/year, the 'equity' will be your net-worth at the begining of the
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period: it equal all assets minus all liabilities. As time passes by,
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you will have both income and expenses. At the end of the year, your net
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worth will be the equity at the begining of the year, plus all income
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minus all expense. This value will become, of course, the equity for
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the next accounting period.
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<dd>On a year-by-year basis, a computed value called <b>
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Retained Earnings</b> indicates the net value of the
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enterprise; it is generally considered a good thing when this
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value increases.</dd>
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</dd>
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<dt><a href="xacc-currency.html"> <b>Currency</b></a></dt>
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