Running the CSV importer on the file that had fields: Status, Date, Description, Debit, Credit, MemberName When I mapped Debit and Credit columns could not find "Debit" or "Credit" in the drop down list. I saw "Deposit" and "Withdrawal". I do have my preferences set to use the standard accounting terms but the drop down did not list the standard accounting terms. Rather than expand the list with additional terms, maybe rename the existing items with additional options: "Deposit/Debit/????" "Withdrawal/Credit/???" Or honor the preferences setting and replace "Deposit" with "Debit" and "Withdrawal" with "Credit" when the user indicates they want standard accounting terms.
Seconding this
I understand Deposit and Withdrawal but Debit and Credit seem completely the opposite to me. (No accounting background.)
The terms Deposit and Withdrawal are misleading. And using Debit and Credit would equally be. These are valuable terms, just not for what information the importer is trying to get from the user. Behind the scenes what happens is this: if a column is marked as "Deposit", the importer will use the values in that column unchanged. If marked as "Withdrawal", the importer will sign-reverse the values in that column before using them. Whether these terms make sense depends on the CSV format and on the account type one is importing data in. I have seen csv files that have data as follows: Description Debit Credit Txn 1 100 Txn 2 100 But I have also seen Description Debit Credit Txn 1 100 Txn 2 -100 In the first case the columns should have been set to "Description", "Deposit", "Withdrawal". But for the second case it should be "Description", "Deposit", "Deposit" Note that even using the terms "Debit" and "Credit" would not work consistently because the first example would require a sign reversal where the second wouldn't. Several discussions on this topic have been held in the past (like on bug 796955). While we acknowledge the current situation is definitely suboptimal we haven't come up with a satisfactory alternative yet that can cover all cases.
