[GNC] New User - 1st Question

[Adrien Monteleone]

Murry, please remember to copy the mailing list on all replies rather 
than to just one person. That way others can help where an individual 
maybe can not or does not have time to, and everyone can benefit from 
the discussion:
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On 12/5/25 8:37 PM, murray at murraycomber.com wrote:
> Thank you for your explanations. I am not a programmer or coder. I have been really good and downloading certain applications, but this one is different than the ones I have worked with. It isn't quite as intuitive as others but still not all that hard...I just made some set up mistakes I think.

No worries. Just be sure to have the Manual and the Tutorial & Concepts 
Guide open while you are learning GnuCash for reference. You'll be fine. 
There is a learning curve for those use to other apps like Quicken or 
Quickbooks.

> Now that I am looking at what is here, I believe it was sourceforge that I used to download the original install. The email address I referred to was probably the one on the Sourceforge page to the right of the download button for being notified of new versions.  

That's reassuring to know! (and I suspected that was also the cause for 
the e-mail reference when I saw it on their website, usually, my 
ad-blocker hides that and I've never given them my address, doing so is 
not required)

> I expected the process to be similar to Quickbooks, both in download and optics which was a wrong assumption on my part. That is probably where I got things wrong. I always start with bank accounts before I look at Expense/Income accounts. I think something got wrong there which created problems with moving forward. When I download this time, I am going to search what I am looking for with video tutorials to walk me through the process. I prefer videos to text instructions where possible. If you are aware of any video training programs, please inform. I am not even sure if GNUCash has something like that.

You'll need to create many accounts to get started entering 
transactions, but those can also be created as you need them. I suspect 
even after your setup, your treasurer will find she will need to create 
some as she enters transactions.

There are some good 'unofficial' YouTube videos out there, but as I 
noted in a separate reply, they don't stay 100% up-to-date, however, 
they cover the basics well, and for the most part, the app is fairly 
stable in how it works and where to find things.

Otherwise, the Manual and the Tutorial & Concepts Guide will be your 
official resources. (and the rest of us here on the mailing list of course)

> Is there a chart of accounts preset that are better for a church setup than the personal one I seemed to have downloaded?

As I noted in the other reply, when you first start GnuCash, you are 
walked through an initial setup. That offers you various Chart of 
Account templates to choose from. A church specific one is not included. 
You can find some on the web I'm sure. (you won't be able to 'import' 
that chart, you'll just have to use it as a reference to create the 
necessary/suggested accounts)

If you were already using Quickbooks, you can duplicate the one from 
there as a start.

> Once again, thank you for taking the time to respond to my email.
You are quite welcome. That's what the list is for!

Regards,
Adrien