Yes, thanks again.
"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:%230ren%23mEHHA.1304[at]TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
- quote -

Another great reason to try and get a Payee specified--now when you go to
look for that Payee you can see alternate ways of accounting/alternate
categories/alternate accounts associated with the same Payee.

Sounds like you are well on your way.

"Apr" <noreply[at]mail.com> wrote in message
news:eeGkQQmEHHA.4832[at]TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
- quote -

....
"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:u3aZnPbEHHA.4404[at]TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
- quote -

Ok thanks.

So, now I have some transactions with a PAYEE which have been added via the
'Increase' tab. And some which have been entered via the 'Transferred' tab
from the Chq Account.

- quote -

Great, thanks for looking into this for me.
- quote -

This is a loan which is owed to me. The running balance is red and
negative. The You Owe balance is negative and black.

Ok great this sounds good.

- quote -

....

"Apr" <noreply[at]mail.com> wrote in message
news:Osp9dgaEHHA.3520[at]TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
- quote -

Yup.

- quote -

The only reason to fill it in is reporting/future data mining. If you want
to report transactions by Payee or some such, then you need something here.
In my case, I fill it in whenever possible. Comes in handy occasionally.

- quote -

I'm still a little lost because I don't see an Increase/Decrease column
where I'm looking. (But see below. Enough test cases and I catch on.)

====begin digression before I revisited in detail how this worked====
One diagnostic:

The Loans and Liabilities section of the Account List **should** show a
POSITIVE balance for money you are owed for the loan account (you made the
loan and someone owes you) and a NEGATIVE (red) balance for money you owe to
someone you borrowed money from except note the following gotcha.

When you created the loan account, you had the choice to "track transaction
details" or just track the total value (i.e., the loan balance). If you
create a loan, tracked by value, you have about four choices for what to do
next:

Loaning money to someone to pay you back:
Initial balance negative (you will have to do something to make the money go
away if it's in another Money account when you loan it out)
Initial loan balance 0 then transfer money to the loan to represent the
money flow when you lent the money (sounds like what you did--a wise choice)

Borrowing Money that you will owe back:
Initial balance positive (you will have to do something to make the money
show up if it's in another Money account that you deposit the proceeds)
Initial loan balance 0 then transfer money from the loan to represent the
money flow when you received the money

In ALL FOUR of these cases, what I wrote above about the Loans and
Liabilities section of the Account List will be true.

If you create the loan to track transaction details, you will get asked
whether you are borrowing or lending. In that track you enter a positive
loan amount in either case and Money plays around with the sign under the
covers. (No wonder people have a hard time sometimes--Money is just
wonderfully inconsistent in how much it holds your hand/hides details you
ultimately need to understand.) In the case of Lending money, the loan will
show up as a positive balance but NOT in the Loans and Liabilities section
of the Account List. It shows up in the Asset Accounts section instead.
Another difference is that the borrowing case of a transactions Loan Account
has a column heading Payments and the lending case has a column heading
Receipts.
====end digression after I revisited how this worked====

AHA! Finally I see Increase/Decrease!!! That's what they put at the top of
the Loans without transaction details and they do it exactly the same for
borrow/lend cases. In both cases INCREASE ADDS to the balance and DECREASE
SUBTRACTS from the balance.

IF this is a loan you are owed, then the running balance should be negative
(red) and the You owe: total at the bottom will likewise be negative (you
owe a negative amount--that means you are owed!) and Increase will be inflow
to you and you will be owed LESS. Decrease will be outflow from you and you
will be owed more.

Conversely, if this is a loan you owe, then the running balance should be
positive black and the You owe: total at the bottom will likewise be
positive (you owe this amount) and Increase will, likewise, be inflow to you
and you will owe MORE. Decrease will be outflow from you and you will owe
less.

So, yes, I think I agree that what you are seeing reflects what you describe
as your intention.

.....pse see below
"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:%23hHzYV2DHHA.3228[at]TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
- quote -

Thanks, to confirm I can leave the Payee blank and just enter the amount
against the Investment Income: Interest category, and this would be ok, as
you have mentioned above.

But, please could you clarify why I do not need to enter a Payee? I thought
this would be necessary to enter a Payee as I have done this for all my
other accounts....? Would this be good practise to?

- quote -

"Decrease" column within that account. The amount that I have lent to my
friend is in the 'Decrease' column within the "Loan due to me" account. I
think this makes sense because the amount was "Transferred" from the Cheque
Account ("Payment" column) to the "Decrease" column in the "Loan due to me "
account.

....

"Apr" <noreply[at]mail.com> wrote in message
news:e7GHqX1DHHA.3212[at]TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
- quote -

That would work. But you can leave it blank as well.

- quote -

Aha! I read Asset account and think of the subset of accounts that can be
associated with Loans.

Yes, the Interest paid/deposited there would just be something like
Investment Income : Interest. Yes, you should be able to transfer to/from
it. Yes, if you are using Transaction Forms, use the Transfer form.

- quote -

I'm not sure I understand the question. But a Loan Payment, from a loan
made--lent--would reduce the balance of the loan. You will have less of your
money tied up in the loan.

see below please ........
"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:O6gLNo0DHHA.4024[at]TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
- quote -

When I mention Payee, I refer to the Payee column in the Register which is
the 'From' field in the Transaction form (I know that you don't use the
forms..). I would like to track the Payee but I don't know the name of the
Payee unless I use the name of the Building Society?

- quote -

This is a savings account.

- quote -

There wasn't a 'Specail Transfer' option from my cheque account but they
way I did it was click the 'Transfer' tab, then select the Asset[name of
account]. My

- quote -


- quote -

all the transaction lent, in the 'Decrease' column.

see below.

"Apr" <noreply[at]mail.com> wrote in message
news:%23%23RRH9zDHHA.3820[at]TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
- quote -

No one right answer to these quesitons. But Interest (expense or income)
doesn't seem likely to change the value of an asset. That would take more
understanding to give a good answer to.

- quote -

Payee? only if you want to track it. Category is always a good thing. It's
how Money captures/reports why the money is coming ang going.

- quote -

Let's clarify some things. Typically an Asset account is a way to capture
the value of some asset you own whether or not you have a loan against it.
When you say you want to transfer to the asset account, this is the Transfer
: [name of asset account] Special Category. But there are generally a
limited number of cases where this makes sense. Say the Asset is you home.
You add an improvement to it that results in a direct and complete increase
in the home's value. Then a Transfer of the cost of the improvement directly
to the Asset account value makes sense in place of some Expense category for
the money you spent on the improvement.

Now, let's say you have a mortgage for the house. That's a Loan Account. The
Loan Account is a Liability. The value of the Asset - the value of the
Liability = the contribution of the house to your net worth. If you own a
house worth $250,000 but owe $205,000 that's an asset of $250,000 and a
liability of $205,000 or a net worth of $45,000. But both numbers are
relevant. That's why there are two accounts. But paying the loan does not
increase the value of the asset. It just reduces the liability. Say you pay
a $5,000 loan payment. The Loan Payment transaction automatically converts
this to, say, a $4,000 interest expense (an expense--it's money that's just
gone from your books off to make somebody else rich) and a $1,000 Principal
Transfer : [name of Loan Account]. This reduces the liability by the same
$1,000. So, now your liability is $204,000, the value of the asset is still
$250,000. Your net worth for these two is now $46,000. But the account that
made the payment is out the exact same $1,000. So the principal transfer
made you neither richer nor poorer. But the $4,000 interest expense made you
$4,000 poorer.

Now,let's say you are using an Asset Account to track, say, a receivable
like your reimbursable business expenses. (A cash account might be a
slightly better choice, but it probably makes minimal difference.) You incur
some expenses you expect to get reimbursed for. Transfer the money to the
asset account. You get reimbursed.Transfer the money out of that account to
wherever you deposited the reimbursement.

Finally, let's say you want to reflect a loan you made. A Loan Account might
be easier as it will automatically reflect interest payments you receive.
But you can do the same with the asset account. Loan the money? Transfer it
in from the account you took the money out of. Get the money back plus
interest? Transfer it back to the account where you put the deposit in a
split with additional interest income.

Q1. Would it be good practice ... to leave the "From" or "Payee" field
blank in an Asset Account in this scenario: I am adding interest
transactions to the account and these date back a couple of years and I
don't have a Payee setup. I've started with an Opening Blanace and have
been entering "Increase" amounts with various date in the past leading to
today's date. Altenatively should I just start from Today and just enter an
Opening Balance?

Q2. Would it be good practise to leave both the Payee and Cateory blank in
the above scenario?

Q3. Is it possible "Transfer" from my Chq Account (the Payee is my cheq
no.) to the Asset Account? The Asset Account name is in the "To" drop menu
but I am unable to find/use the "Transfer" option. So at the moment, the
Payee is my cheque no. I have put a note in the Memo field as what the item
is.

Thank you in advance.