GnuCash
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This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (May 2010) |
 Screenshot of GnuCash in Ubuntu |
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| Developer(s) | GnuCash development team |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 2.4.10 (February 6, 2012) [±] |
| Preview release | [±] |
| Written in | C, Scheme[1] |
| Platform | Cross-platform[2] |
| Available in | multilingual[3] |
| Type | Accounting and personal finance |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | www.gnucash.org |
GnuCash is a free and open source accounting software program that implements a double-entry bookkeeping system. It was initially aimed at developing capabilities similar to Intuit, Inc.'s Quicken application,[4] but also has features for small business accounting.[5] Recent development has been focused on adapting to modern desktop support-library requirements.
GnuCash is part of the GNU Project,[6][7] and runs on Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Solaris, Mac OS X, and other Unix-like platforms.[2] A Microsoft Windows (2000 or newer) port was made available starting with the 2.2.0 series.[8]
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[edit] History
Programming on GnuCash began in 1997, and its first stable release was in 1998. Small Business Accounting was added in 2001. A Mac installer became available in 2004. A Windows port was released in 2007.[9]
[edit] Features
- Double-entry bookkeeping[3]
- Scheduled Transactions[3]
- Mortgage and Loan Repayment Assistant
- Small Business Accounting Features[5]
- OFX, QIF Import[3]
- HBCI Support[3]
- Transaction-Import Matching Support
- SQL Support
- Multi-Currency Transaction Handling[3]
- Stock/Mutual Fund Portfolios
- Online Stock and Mutual Fund Quotes
- Built-in and custom reports and charts
- Budget
- Bank and Credit Card reconciliation
- Check printing
[edit] Small business accounting features
- Invoicing
- Accounts Receivable (A/R)
- Accounts Payable (A/P) including bills due reminders
- Employee expense voucher
- Depreciation
- Mapping to income tax schedules and TXF export for import into tax prep software (US)
- Setting up tax tables and applying sales tax on invoices
[edit] Missing features
- Inventory Management[10]
- Payroll Module
- Point of Sale (POS) Module
- Cannot delete a report via the program's User Interface (UI)
- Cannot create an estimate
[edit] Technical design
GnuCash is written primarily in C, with a small fraction in Scheme.[1] One notable[citation needed] feature is the pure fixed-point arithmetic to avoid rounding errors which would arise with floating-point arithmetic. This feature was introduced with version 1.6.[11]
[edit] Users
[edit] Non-profit organizations
Users on the GnuCash mailing list have reported using it for Section 501 (c) 3 non-profit organizations successfully. However, the reports need to be exported and edited.[12]
[edit] Professionals
Slaw, the Canadian legal co-operative, offered this advice to lawyers just starting out in practice, especially those who are trying to pay off student loans, "The GnuCash software...should present a great alternative for lawyers looking for a solid accounting system at low cost. Do not believe that open source software is somehow second-class."[13]
[edit] Lawyers - to maintain client trust accounts
The Minnesota State Bar Association has now made available to anyone their GnuCash trust accounting guide in PDF format.[14]
[edit] In education
Most commercial accounting packages hide the internals believing that they are making the software easier for end users. On the other hand, GnuCash does accounting and transactions in a more transparent manner. This makes it easier for students to learn the basics of double entry bookkeeping. This is why some reviewers say that GnuCash is "good as educational software".[15]
[edit] From Australia
User on this Australia micro business community, "...found gnucash to be one of the easier but more advanced to use. It's user interface is not as 'user-friendly' as others I've seen, but it certainly has all the tools you need to run a small business...Therefore I suggest people starting a small business on a tight budget check this program out before moving on to anything else that may be a bit costly. This program might fulfill your business accounting needs!".[16]
[edit] Download stats
Sourceforge shows a count of 1.71 million downloads of the stable releases starting from GnuCash 2.2 in July 2007.[17] Also, Sourceforge shows that current downloads are running at 13,775 per week.[18] However, this doesn’t include other software download sites as well as Linux distributions that provide download from their own repositories.
[edit] Project status
Ohloh did an analysis of the source code repository and compared the commit activity for the past two years and concluded that the project has a mature, well established code base, with increasing year-over-year development activity and a large active development team.[19]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Why don't you rewrite GnuCash in programming language xyz so that I can contribute easily?". Frequently asked questions. GnuCash website. http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_Why_don.27t_you_rewrite_GnuCash_in_programming_language_xyz_so_that_I_can_contribute_easily.3F. Retrieved 2010-05-14. "GnuCash is a large body of code maintained by a small group of developers who are comfortable in C and Scheme (Guile). Actually, 80% of it is in C and approx. 13% is in Scheme/Lisp."
- ^ a b "Download GnuCash". GnuCash. GnuCash. http://www.gnucash.org/download.phtml. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
- ^ a b c d e f Canterford, Conrad (2006-11-06). "Review: GnuCash 2.0". Linux.com. http://www.linux.com/articles/114189. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ^ "X-Accountant". gnucash.org. http://www.gnucash.org/mirrors/www.cs.hmc.edu/~rclark/xacc/. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
- ^ a b "1.1. What is GnuCash?". GnuCash Documentation. GnuCash. http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v2.0/C/gnucash-help/what-is-gnucash.html. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
- ^ "Index of /gnu". GNU Project FTP Server. GNU Project. http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
- ^ "GNU Readme". GNU Project FTP Server. GNU Project. http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/=README. Retrieved 2010-05-14. "Programs that are directly in this directory are actually GNU programs, developed under the auspices of GNU."
- ^ "FAQ GnuCash". http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_Is_there_a_version.2Fport_for_Windows.3F. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
- ^ "Free Accounting Software - GnuCash". gnucash.org. http://www.gnucash.org/oldnews.phtml. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "What's new in GnuCash 1.6?". gnucash.org. http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v1.6/C/t7204.html. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ "GnuCash for non profits". gnucash.org mail archive. https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-devel/2010-January/027141.html. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ "There’s G’No Cash Like GnuCash". Slaw.ca. http://tips.slaw.ca/2011/practice/theres-gno-cash-like-gnucash/. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ "Keeping Client Trust Accounts with GnuCash". Minnesota State Bar Association. http://practiceblawg.com/2011/04/msbas-trust-accounting-guides-released-publicly/. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ "Featured Reviews". Sourceforge.net. http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnucash/reviews/. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ "Accounting Software". FlyingSolo. http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/forums/working-smarter/5497-gnucash-accounting-software.html. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
- ^ "Download Gnucash software for free at SourceForge.net". Sourceforge.net. http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnucash/files/. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
- ^ "SourceForge.net: Software search". Sourceforge.net. http://sourceforge.net/search/?q=gnucash. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ "GnuCash - Ohloh Analysis Summary". ohloh.net. http://www.ohloh.net/p/gnucash. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
[edit] Further reading
- Garrels, Machtelt (2002-06-08). "Keep Track of Your Money". Linux Journal. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5669. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- "If You Knew Cash Like GnuCash Knows Cash". linux-mag.com. 2008-09-03. http://www.linux-mag.com/id/6779. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
- Barr, Joe (2006-11-08). "Using GnuCash 2.0 to balance your checkbook". Linux.com. http://www.linux.com/articles/58300. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: GnuCash |
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