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Posted by sharx35 on September 23, 2007, 12:38 am
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> Then do yourself a favor - create a single asset account. Keep It Really
Simple Stupid. Dump all your
> asset
> transactions in the ONE account. That way you don't have to trouble yourself
with such complicated
> balancing
> and reporting concepts I'm a power user and have used Quicken since the early
DOS days. I ELECT to
> conform
> to GAAP to a certain extent. THAT'S WHAT WORKS FOR ME. Obviously, it doesn't
work for you. That's the
> great
> thing about Quicken, it allows you to balance your checkbook or all your
accounts. YOU DECIDE.
>
> End of discussion. It's been mildly interesting.
Time to up your Prozac prescription.
>
> sharx35 wrote:
>
>> > Just because a solution doesn't meet your needs doesn't, by default, make
it stupid. Bill asked a
>> > question,
>> > one of the key purposes of this forum. Fred offered a solution. I offered
another solution. You
>> > didn't
>> > like
>> > mine, so in the process of reiterating Fred's solution you bashed a
completely legitimate approach.
>> > I
>> > didn't
>> > force anyone to use my TWO account solution, I simply offered it as an
alternative.
>> >
>> > Take a look at the balance sheets and P&L statements of any publicly held
(and most privately held)
>> > companies. They all account for assets and depreciation this way. It makes
the transactions
>> > "cleaner"
>> > and
>> > conforms to GAAP. It's also more effort to maintain TWO accounts. Since
Quicken is not a true double
>> > entry
>> > accounting system, it will allow you to charge transactions back to the
same account.
>> >
>> > I didn't realize you were speaking for "most" when you pontificated the ONE
account solution. I only
>> > saw you
>> > speaking for yourself.
>> >
>>
>> There is NO requirement or necessity to worry about GAAP when using Quicken.
Power users would be
>> using
>> Excell or Simply Accounting or any other of a number of higher powered
accounting software available.
>> For
>> PERSONAL accounting, ONE account, per asset, works find and dandy. Unless one
has OCD, of course.
>>
>> >
>> >
>> > sharx35 wrote:
>> >
>> >> >I made that very statement (one account would work) in the 4th paragraph
of my response. I use 2
>> >> >accounts
>> >> > because of personal reporting preferences. There is no single correct
answer for a personal
>> >> > tracking
>> >> > system.
>> >> >
>> >> > I also do it this way because when I owned my company the corporate
accounting system tracked
>> >> > assets
>> >> > with
>> >> > corresponding accumulated depreciation accounts and an offseting expense
account to track yearly
>> >> > business
>> >> > depreciation tax writeoffs.
>> >> >
>> >> > sb
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> Obviously, it fit your specific needs. For most, though, one account would
suffice. I use the KISS
>> >> principle, Keep it Simple.......
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > sharx35 wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> >I do something similar to Fred but a little more complicated. Take it
for what it's
>> >> >> > worth. As Fred did, I post all the transactions to the same account
and click Yes
>> >> >> > on the warning.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > I set up 2 asset accounts for each car. The first is called 99 Car
Name with an
>> >> >>
>> >> >> You only need to have ONE account per asset, i.e. ONE account per
vehicle. Start off with cost
>> >> >> price,
>> >> >> as
>> >> >> you did in your first account, and simply insert depreciation, on an
annual basis in that ONE
>> >> >> asset
>> >> >> account. That way, your net worth is always accurate with only ONE
account needed per
>> >> >> depreciable
>> >> >> asset.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> > initial Increase entry for the total amount paid, say $20k. I also
set up a 99 Car
>> >> >> > Name Deprec account. Each Jan 1 I calculate the remaining car value
and
>> >> >> > depreciation from Edmunds or Kelly and enter a Decrease amount in
Deprec as the
>> >> >> > prior year depreciation. On my net worth statement I have the
original amount minus
>> >> >> > the accumulated depreciation leaving the "net" value of the car.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > I traded the car in this year and made a 2nd entry in the Car Name
account as a
>> >> >> > decrease for the trade-in, $2k. Net cost $18k for 8 years. I also
made a
>> >> >> > corresponding Decrease entry in Deprec, in this scenario $1,800 to
"balance" so the
>> >> >> > sum of the two accounts is now zero. In this case I traded the car
for $200 more
>> >> >> > than it's calculated "value."
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > You could potentially put the yearly depreciation charge in the
original asset
>> >> >> > account but I like to see the values separate on my net worth
reports. To be even
>> >> >> > more OCD, I make a 0 amount entry in the Car Name asset account each
Jan 1 called
>> >> >> > mileage and put the current odometer reading as a memo item. I have a
spreadsheet
>> >> >> > that goes back 12 years with cost per mile numbers for each of our
many cars. Not
>> >> >> > extremely useful but fascinating trivia.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > This time though it showed me the cost per mile increasing as I
started to incur
>> >> >> > some repair costs over the past 2 years. Made the decision to trade a
year earlier
>> >> >> > than normal as I ignored this warning in the past and got burned on 2
cars.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Hope this helps.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > sb
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Fred Smith wrote:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> Personally, I would use the same account. You can zero out the old
balance with
>> >> >> >> a transaction which posts to the same account (you'll get a warning,
but say
>> >> >> >> Yes). Or do a balance adjustment. You won't see any income or
expense with this
>> >> >> >> entry.
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> --
>> >> >> >> Regards,
>> >> >> >> Fred
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> > Just got a new car, with trade in of old. Dont want this to show
up as
>> >> >> >> > any type of income when i zero out old car. Have old car setup as a
>> >> >> >> > property asset and a property liability because of the loan. If i
>> >> >> >> > lower the asset account to match the amount left on the loan and
do a
>> >> >> >> > transfer, would that do it?? Need to also setup new loan account
for
>> >> >> >> > new car ==should i also setup a asset account for it??
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Anybody done this?? Whats the best way??
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >
>> >
>
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