Hello, My name is Roberto and I'm a Microsoft Money user...

[Derek Atkins]

Please be sure to CC gnucash-user on all replies....

More replies inline.

Roberto Leibman <roberto at leibman.net> writes:

> Derek Atkins wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>Roberto Leibman <roberto at leibman.net> writes:
>>
>>
>>
>>>So, for the nth time in I don't know how long, I'm going to try
>>>converting to gnucash. This time I'm not going to try converting every
>>>single account (open and closed) that I've accumulated, in fact, I've
>>>decided to just stick with the accounts I have open and those only for
>>>the past three months or so, and actually, I'm not even exporting them
>>> From Money but will try to recreate them from the bank's QIF.
>>>
>>
>>I'd still recommend you import your data from Money....  But it's
>>of course up to you.
>>
>>
> There's a reason I'm skipping that. I have 20 or more accounts in
> Money of different types, the interconnections between them are huge
> and some pertain to accounts I close years ago. Last time I tried I
> could only export/import one account at a time. It didn't quite work
> and I figured it is not worth as much trouble as it was taking
> me. Maybe I'll do a few of the simpler ones (accounts I only opened
> for a year or so to go through a construction loan or similar things).

Some programs allow you to export the whole data file as a single QIF
file.  I thought money was one of them.  Am I incorrect?

>>> As you can
>>>imagine I have lots of questions, not only about how to do particular
>>>things, but as to good general strategies that other users may be
>>>following. So here's a first round, some of these are just "nice to
>>>have":
>>>
>>>
>>
>>I'll answer whatever I can...
>>
>>
>>
>>>1) Printing. In Money, when I enter a check transaction I have the
>>>   option to choose 'Print' for check number, checks therefore queue
>>>   to be printed. I use checks that come 3 to a sheet, and it is very
>>>   convenient to just enter them all, then print them all, then sign
>>>   them all then stuff all of the envelopes. What is the equivalent
>>>   strategy in gnucash? Is there a way to print more than one check at
>>>   a time? I could see a way to print a single check, and of choosing
>>>   which of the three vouchers to use, but I'd hate to have to reload
>>>   the same page three times unecessarily.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Right now GnuCash can only print one check at a time.  It cannot queue
>>checks to be printed.  It CAN print multiple checks on a single page,
>>but you need to print them one at a time (meaning the paper needs to
>>go through the printer three times).
>>
>>See bug# 86636.
>>
>>
> Thanks, I'll add my email to the CC for that and the other bugs you
> mention.

A good idea..  Not that there's any telling when these bugs will be
closed out, but...  One can always hope.  :)


>>>2) Importing. My bank (BofA) gives me the option to download to
>>>   Quicken Web Connect, Money Active Statement (ofx), 2 digit QIF or 4
>>>   digit QIF. Which is the prefered method for Gnucash?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Any but the first should be fine.  I'd recommend OFX, then 4-digit
>>QIF.  GnuCash does not yet support Direct Connect (because libofx does
>>not yet support it).  Once libofx supports it, integrating into
>>Gnucash should be relatively easy.
>>
>>
>>
>>>3) Forecast. In MSMoney, I can take a look at a nice graph that shows
>>>   (given all scheduled transactions) the curve of available moneys in
>>>   a timeframe. This is very convenient to maximize my interest and
>>>   makes my daily averages look better, it helps me choose the best
>>>   time to send particular payments. Is there something similar in
>>>   gnucash?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Nope.  Bug #87538.
>>
>>
>>
>>>4) MSMoney lets me automatically download my American Express
>>>   transactions. Though I can log into the website and download the
>>>   transactions manually, it's nice that it does it automatically.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>This is the same as #2.  It requires Direct Connect.
>>
>>
>>
>>>Has anyone perchance written a how-to for us poor MSMoney or Quicken
>>>users? How to get through the shock?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Nope.  Care to donate one?
>>
>>
> I'll keep notes: if at some point I find I have enough to make into a
> how-to I'll gladly donate it. Does anyone have notes or ideas to add?

Thanks.  There is also the Wiki/FAQ as a good place to start your
notes.  :)

> Roberto.
>
> P.S. I did try earlier to run MSMoney through wine. I was not
> successful, and I'm not sure I'd trust it with my numbers if it
> was. Reports of earlier MSMoney versions running with earlier Wine's
> mention crippled functionality. I'd rather just bite the bullet.

Yep.

>>>Thanks a lot for your patience and time.
>>>
>>>Roberto Leibman
>>>
>>>
>>
>>-derek

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available