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I have asked before and am still trying to find a decent accounting program for Linux/Ubuntu. Not a checkbook program but something for small business accounting. I need to generate year end tax reports and things like a P&L

I have been struggling with Gnucash for years. The program is generally OK but the transactions importer is a nightmare. It adds hours of work to balancing accounts, due to things like mis-categorized transactions, transactions not being imported, and erasing already cleared transactions. And support is difficult to get, the mailing list is only occasionally helpful.

I have searched multiple times and the list of software only reflects Checkbook programs. I am looking for an alternative, not cloud based. If someone has a suggestion of ANY kind, I would appreciate it.

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    I've run a retail business for over 10 years, with complete bookkeeping and accounting for taxes. We use whatever accounting package our professional accountant recommends. It happens to use a different OS so it runs (quite happily) in a VM. For us, there was simply inadequate benefit to using a Linux-based solution, compared with great benefit (and much lower total cost) by using her preferred and already-familiar solution.
    – user535733
    Mar 25, 2020 at 19:24
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    Accounting software is normally geared towards the type of accounting for a specific country. For instance, in UK they have VAT on some items, in US they have state tax, in Germany they have solidarity surcharge. Every country is different. Which country do you need to generate these year end tax reports for?
    – cup
    Mar 25, 2020 at 19:30
  • Please don't spam repeated questions. Post a bounty on your existing question of it hasn't got enough attention.
    – muru
    Mar 26, 2020 at 0:41
  • @muru I agree, but, to be honest, the only answer in the original post was pretty crappy/spammy.
    – Kurankat
    Mar 26, 2020 at 3:54
  • @Kurankat that's no reason to post the same question again. Flag it as spam if you think it's spam.
    – muru
    Mar 26, 2020 at 4:14

3 Answers 3

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I use mmex (Money Manager Ex) downloadable from the Ubuntu Software Center.

I don't use it in a business environment but in a private capacity to handle multi-currency accounts (GBP + Euro) which it does really well.

There are good reporting facilities within the program and I am certain that it can be used to good effect. Sadly not double entry book keeping as a paid business accounting system would be but effective all the same.

There are options as to where the data can be saved - either local drive or (as in my case) Dropbox but the main thing is, the program set is located locally, not in the cloud.

There are options to export the data and it wouldn't take too much effort to export the data to a spreadsheet to provide a Balance Sheet and P&L leaving you more in control of your reuirements.

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    Hi Everyone Thanks for your suggestions. The idea of running a better app in a different OS on a VM is a viable option, but since I have become a Linux convert, I can't go back ;). I used to use Quicken and Moneydance before I switched to Ununtu, but had similar/ worse problems with them. Paul - Thanks for the link to the accounting software, that's the first time I have seen that page - and I done this search dozens of times. As soon as finish last years taxes I will start to demo some of them. I did just see MMEX somewhere, not sure why I passed it by, I'll go look again. Mar 25, 2020 at 21:24
  • I just tried MMEX and it is really buggy.
    – Ivan Perez
    Nov 11, 2020 at 20:09
  • @IvanPerez there are a few 'undocumented software events' for sure but nothing disastrous or uncontrollable. It's FOSS after all...
    – graham
    Nov 11, 2020 at 20:25
  • It's pretty unusable for me as it is. Also, it's accounting software. If you make a mistake in calculations, you could get in trouble with HMRC/IRS, or make a really bad financial decision. It's one of those things that just has to work.
    – Ivan Perez
    Nov 11, 2020 at 23:55
  • @IvanPerez I manage 8 accounts in it and all I can say is it works for me and has done so for some time.
    – graham
    Nov 12, 2020 at 6:52
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There's loads of accounting software for Linux out there. This webpage should provide at least one suitable accounting package, which isn't all 'checkbook'.

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idempiere and dolibarr is ERP but they have proper account maintenance and all the reports that you might be needing .

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  • Just realized I never answered with my solution. I went with KMyMoney and am very happy with my decision. Took just a little effort to adapt to the workflow and has been a definite improvement in how I manage my financial info Jan 12, 2023 at 23:14

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