GC for Ecuador?

[Doug Laidlaw]

On Wednesday 17 December 2008 10:11:55 am Frank Marion wrote:
> On 2008-12-16, at 1:06 PM, Steve J wrote:
> > I'm at an eco-lodge in Ecuador where the owners use pen and paper
> > bookkeeping except for mayroll, which they do with Quickbooks. The
> > lodge has a dozen employees and the owner says that the tax
> > situation in Ecuador makes using Quickbooks for bookkeeping
> > inpractical. I've been using GC for personal finace for several
> > years but does anyone have any idea as to whether it would be
> > reasonable for me to encourage them to try it out here. The current
> > system looks awward, not awfully useful and primitive.
>
> I can't speak as to whether GC is good for doing payroll, I've always
> operated on a per-contract basis. I have successfully used GC for
> personal finances, and my business, and have been quite happy with it.
>
>
> Here are advantages that GnuCash ash over Intuit products.
>
> * Use it as you want when you want. Ever try changing an intuit
> product from one hard drive to another over a weekend? You don't have
> to call GnuCash staff to ask for permission (and give all your up-to-
> date contact and personal information) to use your program. Inuit will
> force you to re-activate the software if you change hard drives.
> Calling on a Friday after 5PM EST. Too bad. Wait until Monday, and
> hope it's not a long weekend.
>
> * Updates on a regular basis with useful features. GC does not have
> all the features in the world yet. True. But the team responds to what
> the users ask for. Intuit is still based on a zillion year old system
> where corruption has to be checked for at every quitting time, and
> backing up is not for your safety, but to cover their own butts.
>
> * Feel secure that you you are not being spied on by a company that
> does lots of background checks that may potentially reveal personal
> information so that they can feel certain that they aren't being
> pirated.
>
> *Free you from the incessant attempts to get you to buy GC "add-ons"
> that promote their bottom line, and the bottom line of their
> affiliates, rather than attempting to offer you a genuine service that
> YOU want or need. Has it occurred to you that each time they load an
> ad from their web-server, that they are keeping track of your usage
> patterns?
>
> * Provide you with quick efficient support via a list. Sure, you don't
> get to wait for 40 minutes (long distance) that you've paid for, but
> as you see, the responses here are reasonably quick and accurate. GC
> has a community. Intuit has shareholders. Which do you think care more
> about you?
>
> * Provide you with cross-platform alternatives. For free. And you can
> move your files from one machine to another without having to purchase
> another copy of GC. Try THAT with any intuit product.
>
> I understand that it may *look* primitive-- Unlike Intuit products, GC
> is written by volunteer programmers and responds to the users needs
> and the natural desire to create an excellent product, rather than the
> marketing department's masturbation and shareholder pressure to whip
> something out the door. The fact is, that a pretty colour scheme, ka-
> ching! sounds and self-promotional pop-ups do not really enhance your
> ability to successfully manage your books and run your business
> successfully.
>
> Can GC be improved to *look* nicer and be more candy-like? Yes. Does
> it have lots of little touches that could be added? Sure. Will they
> be? That is most likely based on user demand.
>
> Personally, I'm drawn to GC specifically because it has a hierarchical
> display. What some call "flimsy" I call "light-weight". I've never had
> any calculation issues with it, but I'll admit that I've never used it
> for very heavy lifting. I think the question "Is it reasonable to
> suggest GC" really depends on knowing precisely what the user's needs
> are then checking them off one by one with a yes or no answer.
>
> Programmers have the following saying: 'You can have it fast, you can
> have it good, you have have it cheap". Pick two. With GC, you have
> good and inexpensive. With Inuit...
>
> My 2 cents
>
> --
> Frank Marion
> lists at frankmarion.com
>
>
I think that the question about payroll was asked a while back, and the answer 
was that there is no payroll module as such at this stage.

Doug.