GnuCash 5.9

Overview

GnuCash is a finance manager and organizer. It is a free application designed to help users manage their financial accounts in an easy, streamlined manner. It is a fit for both individual and mid-sized business use. The accounting program is not only free; it is overwhelmingly comprehensive. Users who are not accountants may need business dictionary to sort out everything this exhaustive feature-rich application does. The advanced users, on the other hand, will be able to get the most of its functions and features. It is powerful, flexible and almost omnipotent, allowing users to track their stocks, bank accounts, income and expense.

Installation

The installation wizard offers a choice between full installation and custom, but the truth is the only difference is you can opt out from creating a start menu icon. The installation takes some time, so you need to be patient. It is a free program ample in its compatibility with Win, Mac, and Linux.

Interface

GUI here is Spartan, simple and very accountant-like. Nonetheless, it is functional, and users who are used to online banking won’t have any difficulties finding their whereabouts in this interface. On the left side bar, there are different tree like structures containing checking accounts, stocks, investments and the like.  When you select an entry, the main window displays detailed information about it.

Main menu contains various self-descriptive features and options, reports and tools. Forming a report, or adding a new account in a currency of your choice is easy and intuitive. You can add business partners, clients, customers with shipping addresses and other important data. You can add employees with different access rights.

Features

GnuCash includes the following features: checkbook-style register, double entry, reports, graphs, income/expense accounts, stock/mutual fund portfolios, QIF import, OFX import, HBCI support, improved import transaction matching, statement reconciliation, GUI in 21 languages, transaction finder, general ledger, online stock & mutual fund quotes, check printing, scheduled transactions, mortgage & loan repayment druid, multiple currencies.

Pros

GnuCash offers an exhaustive collection of accounting tools and features ample for a professional accountant. The simplistic GUI helps keep your focus on the task at hand. The extensive FAQs and documentation available on the developer’s website ease your learning curve. The Tutorials outline not only the program’s features, but also the terminology and setup process. In case the number of your personal accounts becomes an issue, give this freeware a try, and you will probably keep it for good because it is convenient, professional and fast. During our test, we did not experience any crash, pop up or error messages.

Cons

We would suggest this software for the average to advanced users, leaving out the novice strata because the program just needs a user who knows what he is doing. Nonetheless, the extensive FAQs and documentation available on the developer’s website will help anyone master this powerful tool.

One obvious con, though, is the absence of a template account which can serve as a testing ground for anyone not familiar with the program, yet. A sample account would be very helpful to check out how the settings and features work, as well as to train and avoid creating a mess with your actual data, or thinking of a sample account on your own.

Alternatives