Open-source Personal Accounting Software – A Great Success!

Personal accounting software has found a great success and widespread because of the Internet. This success is also because of the open-source concept, among other facts.

First of all, this success is the result of reduced prices. In fact, avoiding licensing and marketing fees, companies would develop high-quality programs at reduced costs. The better the product becomes, the more people use it. Ultimately, your source for personal finance software is open, and traditional providers of accounting software cannot cope with the innovation community.

Before you decide on an open-source product, you should learn about what is available with the product. Most traditional software vendors have a support line that you can contact. Open source products do not provide this service, but there is community support through forums and online tutorials. The forums are generally very good, but the waiting time to the answer can be longer than to give someone a call.

Before you choose an open-source accounting program, you have to take a measure to assess your needs. Some of the main questions you should ask yourself are:

• What kind of work do you do? Services, manufacturing, non-profit, retail or other?

• Do you need the customer support? Will it be integrated into programs or external sources?

• Do you need inventory management? If yes, do you want it standard or customizable? Accounting packages are proposed with varying degrees of inventory management, and you have to know which one fits you the best.

• Do you need to make cost and workflow management?

• Can you do the accounting yourself? Is it easy to use?

• Is the program compatible with your operating system? What is the operating system that you are running?

• Would the program be able to improve your business skills?

After evaluating your needs, you can begin looking for further options. There are two different classes of applications. First, there is accounting software that manages financial data and generates reports. The second type is accounting software that is a part of an enterprise resource planning program (ERP). It manages the internal and external resources of the entreprise. Both types of applications have excellent open-source options.

The best open-source personal accounting software applications are:

• Gnucash – Being double-entry accounting software, this application is open-source and free for personal users and small business owners. It’s a standalone program running on the desktop GNU / Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Gnucash provides several versions of languages for international users, including German, Japanese, Chinese and obviously English.

• Grisbi personal finance – This system is capable of managing multiple accounts, currencies and users. It’s a standalone program running on the desktop GNU / Linux and Windows.

• HomeBank - It is free software and financial accounting program for personal users. It is a standalone program running on the desktop GNU / Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

• Other applications are free or open jGnash, KMyMoney, LedgerSMB, PhreeBooks, and Skrooge TurboCASH.

There are many of them, but here are the most known packages:

• Adempiere - It is free and open source ERP software. It offers jobs such as general ledger accounting, receivable and payable accounts, financial reporting and cash and budget management, just to cite some.

• Other free or open source accounting applications for enterprise resource planning (ERP) include BlueErp, Compiere, Dolibarr, JFire, Apache OFBiz, OpenBravo, OpenERP, PhreeBooks, Postbooks, Tryton, and the GNU project, and webERP.

These applications are not appropriate for personal use, but, who knows, you may need them if you plan to run a business or own an enterprise.