I think this is just one interpretation of many. What's "real" depends on
context and point of view, and also our words are slippery. The friday
night
you purchase a movie ticket (that clears on monday) seems like the "real"
date, but the day your cheque is cashed (and perhaps bounces) is more
"real"
as far as your bank and your account balance is concerned. As you look
at other
kinds of real-world accounting transactions you find more ambiguities.
This comes down to the difference between cash- and accrual-basis
accounting. In cash-basis accounting you record transactions based on
when money actually leaves or enters your account. In accrual-basis
accounting, you record transactions based on when you commit to spending
or earning money (e.g., the day you write the check, or the day your
employer's payperiod ends).
If you're practicing accrual-basis accounting, it is logical to use the
left date for the date you decided to spend money (since that's the date
accrual-basis accounting cares about), and use the right date for the
date the transaction clears.
If you're practicing cash-basis accounting, it is logical to use the
left-date for the date the transaction clears (since that's when you
consider the money "actually spent"), and the right date for the date
you wrote the check (if you record that at all; I'm not sure that date
is important in cash-basis accounting).
I prefer to use accrual-basis accounting, because it pairs very nicely
and naturally with double-entry accounting, eliminating my need for
virtual transactions while providing more information at the same time.
See this thread[1] for info on how I use accrual-basis accounting in
Ledger. Some people mix the two methods together, but choosing one to
use as your primary accounting method can help clarify quantitatively
which date should go where.
[1]:
http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli/browse_thread/thread/cb92be9afa95b691/c03c8cfc2b711315
-Brian
P.S. - My understanding of accrual-basis accounting is limited, since
most articles on the subject I've encountered expect practitioners to be
businesses, and thus contain lots of scenarios, terms, and assumptions
that are beyond be. If I'm incorrect, please let me know.
