Managing finances with GnuCash

Business Finances

The uses described above generally suffice for private individuals. However, GnuCash offers other features that match the needs of the small business owner. You can find business accounting functionality under Business . You can manage customers and suppliers, write new orders, and create billing statements, plus monitor their payment status. Data relevant to income tax returns can be exported to the tax program ELSTER (in Europe) and sent to the tax authorities.

Reports

If you are looking to manage your finances, you may need to complete a financial analysis. For example, if you want to know your advertising costs for income tax return purposes, you can set up a new expense account for Advertising costs by right clicking on the Accounts column and selecting New Account . If you need to see your advertising costs in detail, you can simply open this expense account, and it will show all of the entries marked as advertising costs. If you have also assigned a receipt number to each entry, you will immediately know for which receipt to look.

GnuCash can generate numerous other reports. These report possibilities are listed under the aptly named Report menu. Possibilities include things like an overview of your assets and liabilities or your income and expenses. Users operating a business can generate a profit and loss statement or a balance sheet.