GnuCash for Windows

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Editors’ Review

Download.com staffApril 2, 2019

Although users with a solid grasp of financial management basics will get the most from this freeware program, GnuCash proved to be a capable tool for personal and small business accounting.

This freeware program's interface is bland but functional, and presents itself in a way that will be familiar to users who do their banking online. Various holdings (anything from checking accounts, to CDs, stocks and any other form of investment) are listed in a tree along the left side. Selecting an entry displays further details in a larger pane. At the top of the screen are various commands for actions, reports and tools. We found it a simple process to view spending reports, reconcile checking accounts, and other tasks.

Despite the overall simplicity of using the program, the sheer number of terms and actions may require a dictionary for some people. Fortunately, GnuCash has an excellent tutorial that outlines not only the program, but also financial terminology as well. And novice users will appreciate the wizard that walks you through the setup process.

GnuCash is an ongoing project and this isn't the latest release, but the developers warn that the 2.3 series is not stable and is for testing only, so stick with this earlier version. If you're overwhelmed by the number of personal accounts you're trying to manage, or you're trying to keep your small business on track financially, GnuCash is freeware you should try.

What’s new in version 3.5.0

Version 3.5.0 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

GnuCash for Windows

Used GnuCash for Windows? Share your experience and help other users.

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Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: April 2, 2019

Latest update: April 2, 2019

Version: 3.5.0

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Windows

Operating System

Windows 10
Windows XP
Windows 7
Windows Vista

Additional Requirements: None

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 68,360

Downloads Last Week: 6

Report Software

Program available in other languages

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Last Updated

User Reviews

3.1/5

39 User Votes

Is it working?
Ed_TerryNovember 29, 2016
Pros
None so far.
Cons
Seems to freeze...a lot. When (eventually) moving from one dialogue box to the next, buttons don't seem to work at all, until I wait at least 30 seconds. The quicken file import process is very confusing. This software is not even ready for beta testing.
Summary
Works well across all platforms
jafu3457August 4, 2015
Pros
Clean and simple interface with many options to tweak it to your satisfaction. The deal maker for me is that I can put my Gnucash file in Dropbox and use the program in any of my machines which include a pc, an iMac and a Linux box.
Cons
I haven't found anything that doesn't work or displeases me in any way.
Summary
If you're looking for a cross platform finance program and don't need all the glitzy features of Quicken, you're home. And it's FREE.
Straight forward, well thought out.
ally700March 28, 2015
Pros
Simple, comprehensive, no gimmicks, avoids buying into a system which primarily is designed to be a cash-cow, given that main development costs for most types of software these days reached completion years ago and now mainly consists of confusing the user with shop front changes and baffling him or her with complexity.
Cons
Invoice printing is ok after some effort, but could be simpler to manipulate to users preference. 1 star docked for this. Luckily for me, after changing all the pdf preferences to use arial, I have Serif Page Plus 7 and with that I am able to alter the pdf invoices exactly as I like, using templates of my own. One extra process but it is a very effective work-around.
Summary
Somebody thought this was confusing software, but no, I get confused by many softwares, but not this. It is easy and well documented. Well thought out, not perfect but excellent none-the-less.
Hard to learn . Clunky.
jsmth33February 26, 2015
Pros
The price. Longevity. Has some great feature if you can learn how to use them ,
Cons
Needs major ease of use improvements and better tutorials. Counter intuitive.
Summary
Not for me at this point. Maybe later if further development makes it more easier to learn and use.
Best alternative to Quicken yet
techgal27April 19, 2014
Pros
Easy to make corrections Well-written manual with illustrations Straight-forward easy setup Flexibility in account setup Starts you out with a Chart of Accounts that you can easily modify
Cons
Printing reports takes patience in setting styles and is more time consuming that I'd like. Would like it to remember my last choice. Would like more choices in reports, such as comparative statements. Have not used the download features so cannot comment. Requires accounting knowledge (unlike Quicken)
Summary
Coming from an accounting background, I reluctantly switched to Quicken years ago when my original programs were no longer supported by new computers and finally was forced to upgrade to Quicken 2013 from Quicken 2005 over a year ago. Quicken's downloading and dating checks when cleared rather than when written is a disaster. It's also been a total disaster in downloading with personal accounts changing due to security. I "googled" alternatives to Quicken and came up with a website that recommended Gnucash along with a couple of others. After comparing the three, I chose Gnucash to download and couldn't be happier. I am done with Quicken. I don't need all the online downloading from different accounts. It takes me less time to put the entries in manually than it took me to reconcile the automatic downloads in Quicken and still be puzzled at why Quicken was doing what it was. Now I know where everything is going. Gnucash is a breath of fresh air. I can't believe it's been around so long and I hadn't heard of it. I may be lucky that my first try with it is with version 2.6.3 from reports of earlier versions. In one day, I got my complete chart of accounts set up and three months of data entered and reconciled. The only frustration I have is with the printing. Since I don't understand the programming code to write my own style sheets, I have to figure out how to get what I want. The default style sheet fonts take too much room and saving them to pdf isn't a solution. I would have liked to have been able to export to Excel or Word. But by choosing the "Easy" Style Sheet, changing the font to Arial or similar and smaller size, and undoing many of the checkmarks that appear as defaults, I ended up with something I could copy and "past special" over to Excel using unicode resulting in everything placed neatly in columns that I could adjust and print in a format I chose. I haven't used it long enough to see how well it will find items I search for. I did like Quicken's ability to print by payee if I was looking for something over a number of years, but don't see an option for that. I also liked Quicken's ability for comparative statements and hope that this will be an option in this program. Comparative statements would require one column, whereas currently only indented and multiple columns are used for statements. If anything to criticize, it may be the lack of options available without having to write code. The bottom line is this program is definitely worth 4 stars on the sound accounting principles upon which is was written. It is straight forward and clean. You can quickly fix any errors you make. I personally am thrilled after my years of experience with Quicken. My review does not cover any downloading of data or stock price updating since I have not done any.
Using GnuCash 2.6.3 for Windows
tahlekiApril 11, 2014
Pros
Fast and easy setup. I was able to set up the chart of accounts for personal accounts, one business account and rental property in no time. Imported transactions from all of the banks (except for one investment account) easily, updated the transactions with the correct expense accounts quickly and easily. Total setup and transaction import time - under 4 hours. Coming from the nightmare of Quickbooks, I appreciate how quickly this came together. Best part, I will be able to transport this easily when we switch to Linux in the near future. And did I mention, it's free!
Cons
1. Does not provide password support for the data files, which is a big issue. For this, I subtracted one star. 2. It wasn't easy to import one investment account, but since I don't track the underlying investments to the penny, it wasn't that much of a big deal. 3. It doesn't support multi-user access, but we've been living with that with Quickbooks due to the high cost of a multi-user license that Intuit charges.
Summary
All in all, I'll put up with the cons (although they really need to provide password protection for the data files) for all of the functionality GnuCash does provide, plus the fact that it's free!
Presumably powerful but too complex & difficult for me
ememkaiFebruary 13, 2014
Pros
Good reviews and recommendations as a powerful financial program. Free of charge. Extensive documentation.
Cons
Documentation is hard to understand. Concepts and program are counter-intuitive.
Summary
I could not get this program to work as a simple checkbook program with about 30 categories of expense. The documentation is available but complex. Although I understand categories are supposed to be set up as accounts, I could not get any categories of expense established. I gave up and uninstalled after hours of trying -- I guess I'm just too much used to Quicken to use this program.
A good deal as it is free but see cons below.
johntheservantApril 27, 2013
Pros
Is powerful and provides ample scope to develop accounts as required to suit an individual or small business. However, it takes some time to get to understnad how it all works. But with perseverance a workable outcome ensues.
Cons
The script should be written in a programme that interfaces with say Excel or similar spreadsheets. Users should be able to export copy into the spreadsheet programme. You should be able to print any page at will. Such as Screen shots. Only selected pages can be printed currently. The printing of journals with cheque details etc would be especially useful.
Summary
Altogether it must be recognised that this is a work in progress involving a diverse group of people and this must be very demanding on their time. So as it is free one cannot complain and we should be very grateful for the commitment by the originators to aongoing devlopment and for the supply of this programme at no cost. Thank you.
Excellent finance software
MarDel53April 23, 2012
Pros
Easy to use (once learned)/It is free!
Cons
Haven't discovered how to put company's name into each report generated. So I think you can't.
Summary
I needed a finance software and preferably free to take on bookwork for a development that I live in. Previous treasurer did everything by hand on paper. I looked into this and decided to give it a try. I must admit that since I was a bookkeeper and not an accountant, it took a little but then all of a sudden it made sense to me and now I like the way it is set up. The checking account puts everything in their respective places if you set up the chart of accounts correctly. The generated reports are simply great. I have not discovered how to insert the company's name into each report as yet so that is the only con I can think of at this time.
I Wanted to Use this App
gwtx2February 20, 2012
Pros
Free based app which has been around for a while. Regular updates.
Cons
Not very intuitive
Summary
After Quicken 2009 stopped working with my bank, I looked other other alternatives. GnuCash has been around for a while, so I thought I'd give it a spin. First, I tried over a dozen times to import my existing bank files into GnuCash (tried QFX and QIF). Sometimes it would import, sometimes it would not. When it did, it sometimes wanted to make duplicates of entries and record them as both an income and an expense. I'm sure there is a way, but it is not simple.

Developer’s Description

By The GnuCash Project

Track income, expenses, stocks, and revenue for personal or small-business accounts.

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL. It uses a check-book like register GUI to enter and track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. GnuCash is designed to be simple and easy to use but still based on formal accounting principles.