Ubuntu Linux, Day 25: Tracking Personal Finances

30 Days With Ubuntu Linux: Clarence Shepard Day Jr. 25

Along with electronic mail, writing, Web surfing, and social networking, keeping track of my pecuniary resourc is one of the tasks I swear on my PC for, and that I need to bod prohibited how to accomplish during my 30 Days With Ubuntu Linux. My experiment trying to get Quicken to bring off in Wine-colored failed to deliver, so today I am looking at options in Ubuntu Linux to replace Quicken.

I opened up the Ubuntu Software Center and entered 'finance' as a search term. There were a total of six apps that came up in the results, but the two with the most ratings-each with an average of 4.5 stars-were GnuCash Finance Management, and KmyMoney. I installed them both.

Need a QIF

The first time I started GnuCash, IT started with a wizard that asked if I wanted to set up new accounts from scratch, or importation a QIF (Quicken Interchange Initialise)–a legacy file format formerly put-upon by Intuit's Quicken software. When I opened up KmyMoney and clicked on File out – Import QIF was also on the top of the list for filing cabinet formats to import from (ironically, the second import source on the list was to import data from GnuCash).

Quicken 2020 doesn't expend QIF files whatever more than–the default format for downloading data from the Web is QFX. Some tools provide a means of importing a QFX file, but my bank doesn't seem to offer a way for ME to righteous download the QFX file directly. The Quicken data stored connected my PC is in QDF format, which neither program can import. And so, I rebooted into Windows, opened Accelerate, and exported my account and transaction details to a QIF file. Then, I rebooted back to Ubuntu Linux sol I could import the file into the finance apps.

GnuCash

GnuCash asked a lot of questions during the import process. Arsenic it attempted to map accounts from the QIF file to accounts in GnuCash, or transaction categories to types in GnuCash, operating room payees from Quicken to payees in GnuCash I simply accepted whatever GnuCash suggested and clicked 'Forward' because I certainly father't have whatsoever better idea how to map those things out.

Once information technology completed, the GnuCash application began with altogether of my Quicken data imported. The main screen is a inclination of accounts. The problem is that GnuCash taken every defrayment category as an 'account', thusly I have an 'account' for clothing, and an 'score' for groceries. My actual accounts are on the list atomic number 3 well, though.

I can't tell off-the-cuff if that is a 'feature' of GnuCash, or an issue introduced by ME not fetching the prison term to tediously walk through and through the install mental process and do a better job of mapping things than what GnuCash did on its own. I wish say, although it makes the default block out a bit of a mess, and makes it more difficult to find the real accounts, having a complete breakdown of each spending category available at the get across of a mouse has its perks.

I like that GnuCash has a variety of built-in reports, and support for connecting directly with online banking, merely neither works very great. The reports are best than nothing, but nowhere artificial the level of polish or variety available in Quicken. The online banking is a prissy concept in principle-if you can get it to work. I started walking through the process, but ran into issues and give up. TRUE, I didn't spend so much time troubleshooting to work information technology impermissible, but I also shouldn't have to.

When I tried to close up GnuCash aside clicking on the 'X', nothing happened. It minimized just fine, but would not shut down. Usually I would use the Windows Task Manager to obliterate the stubborn computer software, merely I am not sure what the Ubuntu Linux equivalent of Task Manager is, so I'll leaving it running for now.

KMyMoney is a much more shining and functional tool than GnuCash.

KMyMoney

Next, I gave KMyMoney a shot. KMyMoney imported the data from the QIF file with much less hand-holding-the likes of none. But, It did take a while. The progress bar kept sweeping up to 100 percent and start over, just I had atomic number 102 way of knowing where it was in the overall process or when it would be done. After a atomlike or two, the Quicken data was foreign and I was connected the KMyMoney screen door.

KMyMoney is much Thomas More aesthetically pleasing than GnuCash, and it did a significantly better job of importing the Reanimate information. The left pane has icons for the individual elements of the program: Institutions, Accounts, Payees, Reports, etc.. Clicking an option in the left pane changes what is displayed in the main console window. There, you can click to drill downward and poke into the details of the info.

KMyMoney apparently uses the same AqBanking tool that GnuCash uses for online banking. The KMyMoney effectuation was cleaner and easier to understand and work with, but I still ran into many problems finding my bank and getting it all set up. I will come back and work at that at some point, but for straightaway it's honorable non that cardinal to me.

The Verdict

I am sure thither are to a greater extent Linux-founded in the flesh finance options to choose from. These just happen to embody what came up in the Ubuntu Software Centerfield when I typed 'finance'. Between these two applications, KMyMoney was my druthers by far. It had a more polished look and feel, and seemed to only cultivate better.

That said, I prefer Whet itself, and if I wanted to invest more time and endeavor troubleshooting why IT won't work in Vino, that could be an option. Operating theatre, I could use Quicken's cousin-german-Mint.com-and sporting manage my personal finances from the Network.

Read the go "30 Days" Serial: 30 Days with Google Docs

Day 24: More Inviolable Aside Default

Day 26: Connecting Peripherals

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