So for the past year or so I’ve been working on tracking my personal finances before actually heading off into the real world. I have been using GNU Cash for the entirety of that period, but have wondered if there might be something like it that I could host on my domain so all of my devices could easily access and edit it.
Summer is finally here, work has never been so busy and Immich has been finding more love from the community. I’ve found so much joy in developing and learning new skills for this project. Below are some big updates for the app since my last update
Open-source personal finance software is a great way to learn more about your open source finances, especially if you have been looking for a way to track your expenses better. This article will provide you with information about some of the best open-source budget software available, as well as tell you how to use it effectively to help you manage your money. To be financially successful, one needs to know how to manage their funds. There are high chances of making mistakes while calculating expenses manually within spreadsheets. Probably, this is why you would tend to look for an automated personal finance tool to do your bidding.
Personal finance tools like the ones listed below can go a long way in helping you manage your costs. Each of these tools can help you create budgets, track your spending, and much more. Keep track of your money, and spend wisely to enhance your savings.
Best Open Source Accounting Software
1. GnuCash
GnuCash is a free accounting software offering some basic yet essential accounting features. It’s ideal for small businesses, startups, and individuals who like to track their finances effectively. Unfortunately, GnuCash continues to be a single-user tool, which means you won’t be able to add any more users to your account.
Given this constraint, this product is an ideal addition to a sole proprietor’s financial kitty, but not capable of supporting a growing business. Despite being open-source software, its features are pretty extensive for a free offering.
GnuCash
GnuCash is a somewhat full featured accounting software that is used to track bank accounts, expenses and income. It is designed for personal and small business financial needs and is available for GNU/ Linux, Solaris, BSD, Mac OS X and Windows. If you are looking for features and customization, GnuCash is a good option although many features are designed keeping businesses in mind. The features it provides include multi-entry bookkeeping, powerful reports and graphs, financial calculations and scheduled transactions. GnuCash can also be used as a checkbook register. This accounting software is based on professional accounting principles.
What is more exciting about GnuCash is that, the app is also available in Android. The mobile version makes it easier for you to keep track of your financial transactions on the go. The direct syncing of both desktop and mobile versions is not made available yet but importing is possible.
Here’s what you can look out for with GnuCash:
- Double-entry
- Accounting functionality
- A checkbook-style register to track both income and expenses
- Multi-currency conversion standards
- Automatic banking transactions download and reconciliation
- Bill payment reminders
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While small businesses and individual users can use the aforementioned features, medium-sized and large companies can make use of these exclusive features:
- Accounts payable (A/P)
- Accounts receivable (A/R)
- Customer and vendor management
- Budgeting and reporting
2. HomeBank
HomeBank, being a personal finance software, houses some user-friendly reports to help people figure out where they’re spending their money. It also helps individuals set up rules for importing transactions. Probably the best part is that it supports almost all modern formats for importing reports into the platform.
Some widely used reporting formats include, but are not limited to, OFX/QFX, QIF, and CSV. This is not all, for this open-source tool is equipped to handle multiple currencies too. HomeBank is available on most Linux distributions by default, so you can rest assured the installation is not going to be too complex.
When you log in, you need to create an account, especially if you are accessing the portal for the first time. Once you create an account, you can either import compatible files or start entering transactions.
Unlike some of the other options available in the market, you don’t have to master double-entry bookkeeping to manage your expenses with HomeBank.
Some additional features include:
- Pre-applied categories to segregate and analyze your daily transactions
- Excellent budgeting features allow you to plan for your future
- Exhaustive reporting features, like bar charts, pies, budget spending, trend reports, and a balance report, amongst others.
3. KMyMoney
What makes KMyMoney stand out is its widespread usability, along with its familiar user interface. If you have been a Windows user before moving to Linux, there is a high possibility you might have used Quicken and MSMoney for balancing your checkbook and tracking finances.
If yes, then KMyMoney will be a cinch to master and access. Transfer your existing records gracefully or start with a fresh slate. This tool’s clean interface proves to be an effective personal finance management tool with a flat learning curve.
One size doesn’t fit all; and for this reason, KMyMoney is not best suited for business transactions. On the contrary, it is an ideal solution for individuals and SMBs.
Setting up the software is relatively straightforward; define your banks and transaction centers, followed by your most commonly used accounts. Each of these groups into savings, current, and credit cards.
KMyMoney
KMyMoney is a native KDE personal finance management tool. The three main objectives of this application is providing accuracy, ease of use and familiar features. The features include different account types, categories of import and export, online banking support and the ability to align brokerage and investment accounts.
It is easy to set up a new account using the account setup wizard in KMyMoney. You can create an account according to your requirements within a few steps. You can also select account types for specific tax needs. KMyMoney too is designed for Linux but can be ported to Mac and Windows.
Some features worth reckoning:
- KMyMoney supports different account types, along with income and expense categories.
- Reconcile your bank accounts with the help of online banking support and statement downloads within the OFX and HBCI protocols.
- Align brokerage accounts with their respective investment accounts.
- KMyMoney scheduler’s feature offers numerous options for handling recurring transactions.
4. Money Manager Ex (MMEX)
Finance software may not sound like one of the most exciting software you can install on your computer, but it’s undoubtedly one of the best. Money Manager Ex (MMEX) aims to try and be simple enough for a layman, yet, it continues to be powerful enough to keep demanding users happy.
If you’ve been using a spreadsheet to manage your money until now, then rest assured, Money Manager Ex’s import feature will get you up and running in no time at all.
Some plus points of this software are its approachable interface, easy-to-access SQLite database with AES encryption, and unending support for various currencies, which is ideal for overseas transactions.
Unlike some of the other software, Money Manager Ex is an entirely offline application. You can’t pull in bank statements automatically or make online payments.
Once you have all the basic setup directions out of the way, you might be able to get around to using the tool for managing your finances. The program provides you with a raft of tools to analyze your spending and make future predictions, all with simple maintenance.
5. Skrooge
Skrooge is an excellent tool for devising budgets, tracking income/expenses, and running simulations drawn from different decisions despite its uncanny name. For a layman used to using spreadsheets, Skrooge is an enticing alternative for managing personal finances.
6- HomeBank
HomeBank is a free user-friendly accounting manager for personal use and small companies, It works on Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. It has a multilingual user interface as it has been translated to more than 50 languages.
Accounting features
Importing data from Intuit Quicken, Microsoft Money or other software, Import bank account statements (OFX/QFX, QIF, CSV), automating operations as payments, transactions and reporting, and support multiple account types ( bank asset, credit, cash, liability), scheduled transaction, simple Month/Annual budget, dynamic automated reporting powered with charts and graphs.
- Platforms: Linux, Windows and Mac OSX.
7- Grisbi
Grisbi is a free, open-source personal accounting and finance manager, It supports multiple currencies, has a user-friendly interface, and supports budget management, with advanced reporting.
Platforms: Linux, Windows and Mac OSX.
8. Odoo
Key Highlights:
- Web-based app
- 15-days trial (not completely free)
- Bunch of 3rd party integrations
If you might have read about the best open source CRM software, you could have noticed the suite of open-source web apps offered by Odoo.
Fortunately, they also offer something for accounting. If you do not mind paying for accounting software (maybe for your enterprise) while having an open-source solution, this can be your choice.
Try it out or check out their GitHub page to learn more about their suite of apps available.
9. HomeBank
Key Highlights:
- Cross-platform
- Simple and easy-to-use
HomeBank may not be a popular choice – however, if you want just another alternative to take a look at, HomeBank is a decent tool.
Just like some others, you can also find it in the software center. However, if you want the latest version installed, you can follow the official download instructions for Ubuntu by adding a PPA.
10. LedgerSMB
Key Highlights:
- Dead simple open source ERP
- Optional commercial support is available
- Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, and macOS)
A powerful yet simple open-source accounting solution. It has been tailored to small and medium-sized businesses. Starting from managing invoices to inventory – you also get the ability to translate (up to 45 languages supported). You can try the pre-release version or just get the latest stable build to test it out yourself!
11. GNUKhata
Key Highlights:
- GST, VAT compliant Invoices if you are based in India (tailored for Indian users)
- Easy to use
- Simple user interface
- Cross-platform (Windows and Linux)
We already covered an article on GNUKhata, if you want to dive into the details.
However, it is simple and robust accounting software that is available for free. From the looks of it, the setup is easy and anyone can get used to it. Feel free to try it out and explore.GNUKhata
12. KMyMoney
Key Highlights:
- Simple and functional
- Cross-platform
- Easy-to-use
KMyMoney happens to be yet another free and open-source software managed by KDE. You can easily utilize this for managing accounts, transactions, ledgers, and a lot more.
It offers a simple user interface but gets the job done. As you can see in the screenshot above, it appears to be a full-fledged (if almost) solution. You can get it installed from the software center – however, you can also choose to install it from git if you want the latest version.
Disclaimers
- The list does not include any smaller libraries solving very specific problems. We envisage adding those in due course, especially via contributions!
- Does not include open source projects/tools that can incidentally be used for financial applications (such as Libre Office components)
- The list is limited to financial applications and management, not general business applications (e.g. POS, ERP, CRM etc) or project management
- The list does not include any type of trading oriented software
Conclusion
There are many commercial paid programs for personal finance management, While they come with certain features to serve a wide range of users, there are powerful free, open-source competitors which are used by millions all over the world, they don’t just compete in the features, but they compete in the options they are giving to their users.
While it can be a struggle to make ends meet, it is possible to make life easier through better money management. Financial management is about planning income and expenditure and making informed decisions that enable you to survive financially. With increasing financial turbulence it’s as important as ever to look after your finances if only to make sure there are no nasty surprises when you receive your next bank statement.