Can GNU Cash keep track of expenses of multiple businesses?

[Shane Litherland]

Hi Yves,

As per Derek's comment, but there is another way to view the scenario:

One GNUcash file, with three top-level accounts (one for each business).

This would NOT be the recommended setup for business reasons, some would
argue there is more transparency/independence in records in having three
separate files.

HOWEVER, there have been comments over the time though in the GNUcash
forums where some people have favoured this way for multiple
'businesses' (or e.g. three separate accounts for three individuals in a
household) because they found the amount of 'internal' txns between said
business units meant having them within one gnucash file was easier for
them to enter/record txns, rather than having to record any 'transfer'
as an expense from one then go and record that same amount as an income
in the other.

It is in a very rough comparison, like having three separate spreadsheet
documents or one spreadsheet document with three pages. Both ways record
the same stuff. but moving info around involves subtly different
processes.

Besides, if you have three separate files, it stops anyone that should
only access one of them from viewing/breaking/tampering with stuff that
they shouldn't!

PS if you are setting up three accts from scratch and they have a
similar acct structure, you might be able to set up one, then save a
copy or create a new one that inherits the same acct tree layout...
you'd have to read up the gnucash info/tips on that but it could be
handy??

-shane.