Using GnuCash to track inventories and stages of completion?

Mark Phillips mark at phillipsmarketing.biz
Tue Feb 2 11:27:02 EST 2016


Allan,

Gnucash does not have an inventory module.

With that said, I have used Gnucash to track a small inventory of a
softball team's uniforms and equipment using the stock method you
mentioned. It is kludgey and I would not use it for any important inventory
that has lots of moving parts. I only used it for a finished goods
inventory and as a way to track cost versus price of the various items, as
well as historically what happened to the inventory. A spreadsheet was just
as good, but did not capture the history very well. There is no WIP (what
you specifically asked about), waste, aging, or any other important
manufacturing type inventory management available with this method. It is
also easy to make mistakes using this method because you have to mentally
translate the stock related labels/functions into inventory equivalents.
Finally, it was several years ago, so I am not sure I still have all those
brain cells rattling around any more! ;) The best way to set this up is to
open a separate testing gnucash file and play with the stock functionality
until you get something that works for what you want. Then make a
cheat-sheet for entering transactions that translates the stock related
labels/actions to the inventory actions. Also, the reports are confusing
because they are labeled as stock transactions and not as inventory
transactions.

There are so many accounting packages with inventory management included
that I would go that route instead. Much easier to use and better inventory
reports. Keep Gnucash for your personal stuff, and if you need inventory go
another route.

Mark

On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 5:10 AM, charles dandridge <chazdiezal at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Allan,
>
> I do not believe that Gnucash is designed for enterprise functionality
> such as inventory management.  Do you have access to a web server and
> database?
>
>
>
> > On Feb 1, 2016, at 5:36 PM, Allan Gray <allan.gray at sunetrike.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi everybody,
> >
> > I've been using gnucash for a few years for my own personal
> bookkeeping.  I
> > like its stripped down approach and so far have found it good for passing
> > back and forth between users.
> >
> > As I start to move into a new business, it has occurred to me that I
> could
> > (in theory) use the stock account to keep track of inventories.
> >
> > I'm new to this sort of record-keeping (especially how inventory moves
> from
> > raw parts to unfinished goods, to completed product for sale).
> >
> > Does anyone know of people who have tried gnucash for this purpose and
> what
> > their experience has been?  Alternatively, maybe there is an open sourced
> > option that is better suited for the task?
> >
> > Take care
> > Allan
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