Rob Walker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> For some reason I think that gnucash is focused too much on the
> non-personal finances, unless you want to do double entry accounting
> for your finances. (which I don't, or at least don't think that I
> do.) Maybe the manual which was mentioned is the answer that I am
> looking for which will help me to understand how I should be using
> this application. That would be nice.
I'm not an accountant, but once I took a minute to wrap my brain
around it double entry accounting seems as natural as it can be. It
just doesn't make sense to do it any other way, especially in the
underlying accounting infrastructure. I don't think it's all that
much of a leap from Quicken's way of doing things, except that gnucash
treats what Quicken calls "Categories" as accounts.
The differences between the meaning and use of asset, liability,
expense, income, and equity accounts can be a little tricky to get at
first, but a tutorial introduction to setting up initial accounts
would go a long way.
I don't think every user should even have to understand what "double
entry" is; they just need to know that the program understands that
money doesn't magically appear and disappear, it only moves around.
If you write a check, you need to note where the money is going. If
you deposit a check, you need to note where it came from. That's just
basic record keeping, and the program should encourage it as much as
possible.
A manual is always a good idea for a complicated piece of software,
which I think gnucash is.
Bill Gribble
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