SampattiTrackQuantity vs amount
Amount is value in your currency. Quantity is the number of physical units. For cash they are identical; they differ only when you hold shares, fund units, gold or a foreign currency.
Two numbers on every posting
Every posting carries both a quantity and an amount.
- Amount is the posting’s value in your default currency.
- Quantity is how many physical units the posting represents. That is rupees for a cash posting, but shares, grams or units of a foreign currency for a holding.
Both are signed. Positive means flowing into the account and negative means flowing out.
When they are the same number
For a posting in your default currency, such as a bank transfer, an expense or a salary credit, quantity and amount are always identical. There is one unit, a rupee, and its value is 1.
When they differ
They differ when a posting is counted in a Unit other than your default currency. The relationship is:
amount = quantity × price per unit
| What you did | Quantity | Price / Unit | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spent ₹500 on lunch | 500 | 1 | ₹500 |
| Bought 10 shares | 10 | ₹250 | ₹2,500 |
| Bought 5 grams of gold | 5 | ₹6,000 | ₹30,000 |
The shares are counted as 10, but the entry is worth ₹2,500 when it was made. The app reads quantity for what you own and prices it separately. Mixing the two up is invisible day to day but throws off holding values.
How the fields appear when you log
In Simple mode you normally enter only a total amount, labelled TOTAL AMOUNT. Units are mainly a Ledger-mode feature. In Ledger mode, each posting in the Splits view has these fields:
- Unit: leave it on Base Currency for cash, or choose a stock, fund or currency.
- The signed quantity field, for example +10 or −10.
- Price / Unit: shown only when a Unit is chosen.
- Amount: calculated for you as quantity times price.
Worked example: buying fund units
You buy 20 units of a fund at ₹50 each, paying from your bank.
| Account | Quantity | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Asset:Investments:Fund | +20 units | +1,000 |
| Asset:Bank Account:HDFC | −1,000 | −1,000 |
| Total amount | 0 |
Only the amounts must add up to zero. The quantities are in different units, so they cannot be added together.
Common mistakes
- Entering the amount as the quantity. Typing 2,500 as the quantity for 10 shares makes the app think you own 2,500 shares.
- Forgetting the sign. Selling reduces what you hold, so the quantity is negative.
- Using a Unit for plain cash. Keep ordinary money on Base Currency.
Decimals matter for fractional units. Quantities are kept to four decimal places so entries stay balanced, which is especially useful for foreign currencies.
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