Entering past transactions

Anyone know how to keep track of old transactions? I.e.
we are just setting up money on our system, but want to be
able to add stuff from Jan 04 to present so we have a way
to track daycare spending, etc. Can this be done?

Dick
Fri Aug 13 17:47:35 CDT 2004

You enter past transactions just like any other. The issue you will need to
consider is that transactions are entered in accounts and accounts have
beginning balances that have to be established somehow. For this reason,
what you want to do is **easiest** if you start with, say, your statement
from December and use its balance as the Money account beginning balance and
then enter EVERY subsequent transaction.

If you want to enter historic transactions selectively, you will have to do
something else--either start the Money account with, say, you July statement
balance, enter transactions after that, then enter transactions from before
that AND adjust the Money account beginning balance accordingly.
Alternatively, you can enter the historic transactions in an account you
create just for the purpose.

"Cindy" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5fc401c4817d$de9e2de0$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> Anyone know how to keep track of old transactions? I.e.
> we are just setting up money on our system, but want to be
> able to add stuff from Jan 04 to present so we have a way
> to track daycare spending, etc. Can this be done?

Charles
Mon Aug 30 10:45:29 CDT 2004

Dick Watson wrote:
> You enter past transactions just like any other. The issue you will
> need to consider is that transactions are entered in accounts and
> accounts have beginning balances that have to be established somehow.
> For this reason, what you want to do is **easiest** if you start
> with, say, your statement from December and use its balance as the
> Money account beginning balance and then enter EVERY subsequent
> transaction.
>
> If you want to enter historic transactions selectively, you will have
> to do something else--either start the Money account with, say, you
> July statement balance, enter transactions after that, then enter
> transactions from before that AND adjust the Money account beginning
> balance accordingly. Alternatively, you can enter the historic
> transactions in an account you create just for the purpose.

Dick, so you mean that what Money calls the Starting Balance relates to the
account balance on the first chronological transaction (which can change is
one subsequently enters earlier transactions), as opposed to the account
balance at a fixed date (related to the Starting Balance I entered when
*first* setting up the account)? Thanks, that answers a nagging question I'd
always had. (I set up Money beginning with March 2004 transactions, but was
hoping to eventually enter previous data, once I got everything figured out
and running smoothly.)

Dick
Mon Aug 30 12:27:41 CDT 2004

The account beginning balance is the number that all other transactions are
added to to get the running balance in the register. (This may be called
starting balance in Account Details, but I thought it was called beginning
balance as opposed to the starting balance in the balance account dialog--I
can't check here.)

There is nothing magic about the date that the beginning balance was
current. But every transaction you enter, regardless of date, will add to or
subtract from that balance. So, it has to be adjusted to take ALL of these
transactions into account. As you note, if you go enter transactions from
previous to the account beginning balance, you will have to adjust the
account beginning balance accordingly or you will be out of balance at the
end.

"Charles Blaquière" <blaq@blaqzone.com> wrote in message
news:%23jghbhqjEHA.2652@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Dick, so you mean that what Money calls the Starting Balance relates to
the
> account balance on the first chronological transaction (which can change
is
> one subsequently enters earlier transactions), as opposed to the account
> balance at a fixed date (related to the Starting Balance I entered when
> *first* setting up the account)? Thanks, that answers a nagging question
I'd
> always had. (I set up Money beginning with March 2004 transactions, but
was
> hoping to eventually enter previous data, once I got everything figured
out
> and running smoothly.)