![]() You have one file called “Previous Transactions” that contains everything. Just to hammer this point home: You’re not keeping a bunch of separate plain-text logs labeled “Finances 2002-2004” “Finances 2005-2007” and so on. ![]() The only date you have to remember is “This was the last time I switched” which will normally be self-evident. All migration data goes to the same place. You find it in the plain text (or spreadsheet) log that you exported even if you’ve migrated 10 times (I hope not), each time you appended the exported data to your plain-text(-ish) transaction log. Imagine searching for a transaction and you can’t remember how many years back it goes. ![]() But of course, that’s a lot of work! At one point this year I was running 4 systems before I settled on the one I’m going with, because I’m very foolish.īut otherwise, what a horrible downgrade of productivity. If you’re not sure you want to switch, you can run them side by side for a while. (3) Set up your account structure and opening balances in the new software. Generate whatever reports (balance sheet, income statement) you need for your records. When you want to look up any transaction before that date, you’ll use that. (2) On the cut-over date, export your existing transactions to CSV and stick it in a spreadsheet. My general advice for anyone considering a switch in finance software - no matter what software! - is: Even if Quicken seemed to import those QIFs, your confidence that it imported your last 10 (or whatever) years of data correctly should be very low. This is part of where my “Don’t migrate, archive and switch” recommendation that I made to Glenn comes from. No one is trying to make things awful, but they basically are and always will be, because different systems have different data models and QIF is less a file format than a series of vague suggestions about how a file might be organized, maybe. Generally what I’d say is that for both personal finance and accounting software, file formats are a mess. GnuCash can import QIF, and the price - free - makes it mostly harmless to give it a shot. I think one other psychological thing that keeps people locked into one tool is they like seeing a chart that goes back 10, 15, 20 years or whatever – but if you’ve run the reports, it’s easy enough to roll those up in a spreadsheet and do them there, too. And it’s as easy to search for “ConsultingLLC” in Numbers or Excel or your PDF reader of choice as it is in Quicken (I in fact will claim it’s easier.) (2) If you need the transactions, even in the facehuggeryiest software you can typically still get a CSV (or as you say, PDF) out. (1) If you need the reports, you can just print / save those off and refer to them as needed (and in fact, you really don’t want to update a report 6 years later - you want it frozen). Yes, this is exactly the realization that most people don’t reach, and it sounds like you just hit it: Because a PDF is easier to search if I don’t need to generate a customized report, but am just looking for one thing! (All the screenshots in this article are from that installation.) SetupĪfter you install and launch the program, you will see a welcome screen that gives you the option to create a new set of accounts, import QIF files, or open a new user tutorial.As you say this, though, I think I will do a full report dump to have offline at the end of future years. You can also install it from Flathub, which is what I used on my laptop running Elementary OS. On Debian, Ubuntu, or Pop_OS: $ sudo apt install gnucash.On Red Hat, CentOS, or Fedora: $ sudo dnf install gnucash.It doesn't have an integrated payroll system according to the documentation, you can track payroll expenses in GnuCash, but you have to calculate taxes and deductions outside the software. With GnuCash, you can track personal finances as well as small business accounting and invoicing. This makes it easy to convert from other personal finance applications, including Quicken, which it was created to replicate. The application implements a double-entry bookkeeping system and can import a variety of popular open and proprietary file formats, including QIF, QFX, OFX, CSV, and more. GnuCash is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Free online course: RHEL technical overview.
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