These budget reports aren’t the prettiest you will ever see, but you can customize the reports if you’re willing to do a bit of hacking. Then you can configure the report to better match your specific needs from the other options.įigure G There are plenty of options to define for your budget report. From the Budget Report tab, click the Edit Report Options button in the main toolbar and, in the General tab ( Figure G), select the budget you created from the Budget drop-down.

When the report generates, you need to set some options. You can run a budget report by selecting Reports | Budget | Budget Report. (Click the image to enlarge.) Creating a budget report in GnuCash In the resulting popup, enter the start date and the significant digit.Īfter you click OK, GnuCash will use transactions from that account (based on the dates) to auto-populate the budget data ( Figure F).įigure F Estimating budgets based on numerous accounts.Click the Estimator icon in the toolbar (it’s the second icon from the right).Select the account you want to use (within the Budget tab you created).To manually enter data, double-click a cell and enter the data. There are two ways you can do this: input data manually or use the GnuCash Budget Estimator. With your options set, click OK, and you’re ready to populate the budget with data. Not only are you setting up the budget’s start date (you can backdate it), you are also defining the interval for a period and how far out you want to track the budget.įigure E Name the budget appropriately, so it’s easier to find later. The Budget Period section of the options is important. The options include: Budget Name, Notes, Budget Period, Number Of Periods. In this new window ( Figure E), you need to configure the necessary options for the budget you want to set up. Right-click anywhere in the Budget tab and select Budget Options. Now you have to set up the budget.įigure D A Budget tab has been created. This will open a tab with your accounts open in an empty budget format ( Figure D). With GnuCash open, select Actions | Budget | New Budget. I’ll demonstrate this with a dummy account I created and associate the budget with the National City account ( Figure C).įigure C My dummy Chart of Accounts is ready for action. In GnuCash, select the account with which you want to associate the budget. You can create budgets based on any accounts included in the data file. Although there are no user-configurable home screen buttons, GnuCash has user-friendly drop-down menus and expandable navigation trees ( Figure B).įigure B shows a New Budget. GnuCash has a tab-based interface and is quite simple to use. Depending on your business, the following accounts might be necessary: When you select Business Accounts, the setup wizard will display all of the accounts and sub-accounts that will be created.ĭuring the setup wizard, you can add as many accounts as you need.

(The instructions for this section are from my 2011 post about using GnuCash to do accounting on a shoestring budget.) Instead of just setting up a standard checking account, you should add Business Accounts from the Categories table ( Figure A). Setting up your accounts in GnuCashĪfter installing GnuCash, one of the most important steps is selecting the types of accounts to set up for your company. GnuCash is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.īefore you create your budget in GnuCash, you need to consider what you’ll be budgeting for, what accounts you’ll use, the budget’s date range, the budget period (monthly, quarterly, etc.), and more depending on what you want to track and report on in your budget.

As of version 2.4, GnuCash offers an incredibly helpful budget tool. Small business budgets tend to get relegated to spreadsheets, word processor documents, or even old-school ledger books. If your small business needs a budgeting solution but doesn't have much or any money to spend on one, you should try the open source, multi-platform solution GnuCash. Create your small business budget and reports in GnuCash

Gnucash getting started