Running Linux, 5th Edition - Matthias Kalle Dalheimer [148]
The Welcome dialog (Figure 8-50) is only displayed the first time you use GnuCash. It gives you the option to create a new set of accounts, import data from Quicken (via QIF files), or open the new user tutorial. In this exercise, you are going to create a new set of accounts, which should be the default option, so click the OK button.
Figure 8-50. The GnuCash Welcome dialog
This launches the New Account Hierarchy Setup druid. A druid in Linux is analogous to a wizard in Windows; both are dialogs that take you click by click through a series of questions and setup screens to perform a complicated task. The first screen you see in the New Account Hierarchy Setup druid is an explanation of the druid. Click Next to go on to the important parts.
Choosing a currency
In Figure 8-51 you see the dialog for currency selection for new accounts. The default currency is USD (U.S. Dollar). If you use a different currency, select it by clicking the down arrow and choosing from the available options in the drop-down list. Click Next to continue.
Figure 8-51. The Choose Currency page
Choosing accounts
Figure 8-52 shows you the list of preset account structures. Each of these options creates one or more accounts for you. You can select multiple options (for example, if you wanted both A Simple Checkbook and Car Loan), but for now just select A Simple Checkbook. Once you select that option, you see a description and a list of the accounts that will be created. Don't worry about the number of available accounts; it may look confusing, but it will become clear by the end of this chapter. Click Next to continue.
Entering opening balances
The dialog in Figure 8-53 gives you the opportunity to give each account an opening balance, that is, the amount of money in that account when you first begin tracking it in GnuCash . If you want to put an opening balance in your checking account, just click that account to select it and enter the opening balance in the text box to the right. Click Next to continue.
Figure 8-52. Account creation page
Figure 8-53. Opening balances page
Finishing your account setup
That's all there is to setting up an account hierarchy in GnuCash. Just click Finish, and the druid will close.
The Account
Fundamental to GnuCash is the account. An account is just what you think it is: a place where money comes in and money goes out. When most people think of accounts, they think of their bank accounts and credit card accounts. GnuCash treats these as accounts, but it treats everything else as an account too. You get a paycheck from work; where does the money come from? It comes from your Income account. You spend $30 at the grocery store; where does the money go? It goes to your Food account.
GnuCash uses the double-entry accounting method to keep track of your money. This is the same method that professional accountants and CPAs use to keep track of billions of dollars in corporate and government assets, and now you're going to use it too (don't you feel important?). In double-entry accounting, money always comes from one account and goes to another account. Always. The value of any account at a given time is either how much money is actually in that account or how much money has passed through it.
Not all accounts are treated equally in GnuCash. There are five types of accounts that will be covered in this introduction: assets, liabilities, income , expenses, and equity.
Asset accounts
Think of asset accounts as keeping track of things you own. Your checking account is an asset. If money is in this account, you own it. If you have a house, it is also an asset. It can also be treated as an account in GnuCash. The value of that account is the current value of the home. In general, you want asset accounts to increase.
Liability accounts
You can also think of liability accounts as keeping track