Double entry Accounting and Asset, Liability, Expense, and Equity for Home!

[Frank Fiore Jr]

If you can provide insight into any of this I would be grateful, I have read GnuCash help / tutorial, and did some searching online, I have not found the necessary information to understand this. Maybe I need to take an accounting class!

I am trying to sort out how to enter data for my existing 2 family house in GnuCash an accounting software. (If I can understand the basic accounting I don’t think the software is going to matter)

Current I have set up: (in the software)

I have Asset: Home (Need to know what “value” to use)

I have Liability: Mortgage (I am using outstanding principle)

I have Expense: Interest (expense monthly split entry from Mortgage payment in checking account)

Notes / Questions:

N: I have owned the house for 10 years but want to start tracking from this New Year 1/1/2014

Q: When I enter the “Home” as an Asset how do I determine the value to enter? Current Market Value? Or Amount I have paid to date (principle, repairs, etc…)?

Q: Don’t I have to somehow track this as equity? Tie it to Equity?

Q: Liability I am assuming is the remaining Principal? (Opening balance equals existing principal balance)

Q: Interest: monthly payments are made from checking account (split entry (Mortgage & Interest)

Q: Do I add rental income under expenses?

Q: How do I handle the Escrow (taxes and Insurance) they are rolled into the payment, maybe just split entry the Mortgage payment each month to include Loan, Interest, Taxes, Insurance? I think that should do it.