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Re: Yearend Transactions

Hi Luke,
Your questions are important ones. The sources you quote assume a certain amount of basic accounting knowledge in the areas that your questions reflect. Because you seem not to have that knowledge at the moment, the instructions assuming same are opaque to you.
Because there are different accounting systems part of the answer to your question would be to know are you running your system according to the laws of any of these countries: UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, USA, others?
Since you state that you are keeping records on a cash basis, you will not be seeming to use accounting techniques required by GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles).
Perhaps the fastest way for you to get answers to what you seek is to find a library with a strong accounting/business section. Look for a basic accounting book, one that illustrates with bookkeeping techniques (debit this, credit that) rather than just discusses theories and principles. If you cannot find that in a library near you, try a college or university with a business section. And of course, there is always the net to search.
I don't know if I can help you more specifically until you specify the type of reporting you have to do and to which authority (your country) or for what purpose: government reports, banking loan requests, etc. I assume from your question that you are tracking personal expenditures for family/personal activities. 

Tom

On 4/25/2010 2:22 AM, Luke wrote:

Does LSMB handle Yearend transactions the same way that SL did a few years
ago?

There is even less in the LSMB manual about yearends (year-end) than there
is in the SL manual from a few years ago, although they include slightly
different information.

I have googled up multiple posts to SL and LSMB lists asking for advice
and howtos on Yearend processing, and the various aspects thereof, but for
the most part those messages have gone unanswered.

I found a message from Dieter as follows:

" A yearend may be run at any time, it does not affect any transactions
nor does it remove transactions. A special GL Journal entry is generated
offsetting income and expense accounts to zero. The difference is posted
to a retained earnings account of your choice. You will also have to edit
this GL Journal entry to record dividends, tax payments and adjust
retained earnings accordingly."
(http://www.ledger123.com/archives//msg00503.html)

The LSMB 1.2 manual says:

"Equity drawing/dividend accounts are also moved, but the investment
accounts are not."
Further down the page it says:
"It does not move the drawing account, and this must be done manually, nor
does it automate the process of making adjustments."

Is this talking about two separate types of drawing account?
(I'm using the US Service COA here--what does it consider the "drawing
account" and "drawing accounts" in these two statements to be?)

My question is: what else do I have to do, other than running the yearend?

The case is a service company, which does cash based accounting.

When Dieter says to edit it to record dividends, I assume he's talking
about disbursements to owners from some drawing account as discussed
above?  If so, that is n/a this year, although I'd still like to know how
it is intended to be done.

He also says to edit it to record tax payments.  I am less clear on what
is intended with this step.
First, is he talking about tax payments made in the year being ended?
Which were presumably made via a GL entry/transfer?
Some jurisdictions handle this by quarterly estimated deposits;
others handle taxes with annual payments, etc..

Second, sales taxes are directly collected and paid, so where do they fall
in this?  I have always considered them to be 0-sum income/expense
transactions, with rare exceptions.

Given that I want to use cash basis for these, do I understand correctly
(again from the SL manual not the LSMB one), that I need to post full
payment/receipt to any open transactions, and post new versions of those
with the outstanding amounts, awaiting payment/receipt in the new year?
That is PITA-central, and error-prone.

Luke

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