[GNC] Need advice I use Quickbooks and only for personal use. All I do is bank accounts entries & credit cards, just use P&L & Balance Sheet reports

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 8/12/2023 9:02 AM, Brad Morrison wrote:
> Hi Gregory/Susan/Richard/all,
>
> I think that it is important to remember that GnuCash is an all 
> volunteer project and not an accounting system suitable for almost any 
> type of organization, other than a very simple one:
>
> https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash/pull/1623#issuecomment-1583966278 - 
> "But GnuCash isn't suitable for large, or even small, enterprises and 
> never will be. GnuCash is for tiny and simple enterprises; we often 
> say individuals and sole proprietorships. Even having employees makes 
> using GnuCash a dubious proposition (no payroll module), as does 
> carrying more than a very few line items of inventory (no inventory 
> module) or performing any sort of manufacturing (no bill of materials 
> or cost accounting modules). 


I disagree in the sense that in the days of pen and ink on paper all of 
those things were done before we had computers. Using gnucash you can do 
anything you could pen and ink on paper.

What is being said is that gnucash is not an "integrated business 
system" with multiple components sending feeds to each other. Components 
like POS, inventory, payroll, etc. are not PART of ":general ledger" 
(gnucash as normally used). Those other components would be storing data 
that isn't financial as well as what is and is sent to by "feeds".

For example, besides things like unit cost of batch an inventory system 
is dealing with things like shelving location, restock level, primary 
and secondary sources, etc. A POS system is tracking things like the ID 
of the sales person currently at the register. The payroll system things 
like emergency contact, length of service, etc.

MY druthers? I am opposed to "monolithic" systems, much preferring 
"modular" systems << and remember, I used to work on/design LARGE 
systems >> If nothing else, makes changing and testing MUCH easier since 
well defined boundaries and data exchange between components. So while I 
do not think the developers of gnucash should tackle these other 
components PERHAPS it would make sense to make gnucash (the general 
ledger component) a module that could receive "feeds". Then others could 
decide to tackle one or more of these other parts of "a business 
system". Hopefully also keeping them modular (as they might be feeding 
each other as well as feeding general ledger. For example, POS would 
feed both "general ledger" (the money part of the sale)  AND inventory  
(the physical part of the sale).

Michael D Novack