Any suggestions for UK businesses - program seems quite American

[Mike Evans]

On Fri, 25 Nov 2016 14:13:06 +0000
"Dr. David Kirkby - Kirkby Microwave Ltd " <drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk> wrote:

> I took a look at GnuCash with a view to possibly using it for my business. I've 
> been using Excell, but I'm not happy with that. My account has written to say he 
> had not heard of GnuCash, and his reccomendations are Kashflow (online based) or 
> VT transaction (Windoze based).
> 
> I'm a little concerned about going against his advice, as it might end up 
> costing me more in his time. One possibility is exporting GnuCash into Excel, 
> and giving him Excel sheets again.
> 
> But all the above said, I'd still like to give GnuCash a try.
> 
> However, it seems very American based, and some of the terms, like a "Checking 
> account" mean nothing to me. A Google suggests its not the same as a current 
> account, as we known it here.
> 
> The business account for my company
> 
> * Pays no interest - some business accounts might, but mine does not.
> * Does have a cheque book, although I have never used it.
> * Has a debit card, in which one can make transactions just as any normal debit 
> card
> * No overdraft facility - easy to get if I wanted one, but I don't have the need.
> * Can transfer money from the current account, to other customers accounts, 
> given their account number etc.
> * Does allow transfers to be made in other currencies, although the currency of 
> the bank account is GBP.
> 
> IMHO it would be good if some non-American terms could be added to GnuCash, so 
> it has things like a "current account", which everyone is familiar with in the 
> UK. It is the first bank account someone will get for personal use. Here in the 
> UK at least, I strongly suspect a "current account" is by far the most common 
> account in use.
> 

GnuCash has a British (proper English) translation and there is a specific account structure provided for UK VAT accounts.

When you start up GnuCash and set up a new account/book your locale should be correctly detected as en_GB and you will get the British translations. If you are seeing American phrases/spelling then check your computer is correctly set to the correct locale.

Then click through File -> New File -> Forward, and you should see currency set to GBP. Then 'Forward' twice and scroll to the bottom of the Categories to select the UK VAT accounts. This of course can be customised as you learn to use the application.


Mike E


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