In Episode 2, I just installed GnuCash and took a peak around. In this episode I actually put GnuCash to the test. I tried making some deposits, paying some bills, and paying an employee. I’m not saying I did everything the “correct” way, but how many of us actually read the instruction manual (linked below)?
GnuCash Pros
- Register is Easy to Get to: In QuickBooks Online, I usually bookmark the Chart of Accounts so I can find it and then get to the Register for the bank account or other accounts. With GnuCash, it seems to start at the Chart of Accounts.
GnuCash Cons
- Double-Entry Accounting: You have to know your debits and credits to use this well. This will limit the number of people who will be able to jump right into GnuCash.
- No “Save and New”: I don’t want to have to hit the “New” button every time. I want to save a click with a “Save and New.” There does seem like way too many clicks besides this one to just post a deposit or expense.
- Checking Limitations: I wish you could just enter a deposit instead of going through the hassle of entering an invoice, posting an invoice, and recording the payment. I wish you could just enter a check instead of entering a bill, posting the bill, and then recording the payment. Way too much work.
- Journal Entry Limitations: I don’t think it is possible to post a journal entry with more than two lines.
- Quantity and Rate for Everything: For the invoices and bills, I want to just enter the amount and not always the quantity and rate.
- Equity Accounts Unusable: I like to run my donor-restricted funds through the Equity section of my Balance Sheet. I can’t receive a donation or make a payment from an Equity account. I get why they have this restriction, but, for churches and very small nonprofits, this is the best way to track donor restrictions.
I’m sure there are some settings that could have fixed one of my issues. Possibly importing the online banking or scheduled transactions could alleviate some of the pain of transaction entry. For me, processing transactions was painful in GnuCash. I’m usually a pretty optimistic guy, but….
Useful Links
- GnuCash: https://www.gnucash.org/
- GnuCash Manual: https://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?rev=5&lang=C&doc=help
- GnuCash Tutorial: https://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?rev=5&lang=C&doc=guide
- How to Hippo Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FSAy3YX_BY