What is GnuCash? GnuCash is a personal and small business finance application. Its designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible. GnuCash allows you to track your income and expenses, reconcile bank accounts, monitor stock portfolios and manage your small business finances. It is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports. Getting Started Running GnuCash for the first time The very first time you run GnuCash you will be presented with the Welcome to GnuCash! menu with three choices. The following table describes the contents of the menu.

Table 1. Menu Item Description Create a new set of accounts Runs the New Account Hierarchy Setup Druid. Import my QIF files Open the new user tutorial Runs the Import QIF Files Druid. Opens the GnuCash Tutorial and Concepts Guide. This menu is intended for you to use to get quickly up and running. The Cancel button is used to exit the dialog. It will then prompt you to uncheck the checkbox if you do not want to see the Welcome to GnuCash! menu again. The default is to have the Welcome to GnuCash! menu run again. The OK button is used to confirm your selection. You can either use a preset hierarchy of accounts, import Quicken files (QIF files) or view the GnuCash Tutorial and Concepts Guide. Each of these choices will be explained in more depth in the following sections. If you wish to have a basic set of accounts to add account transactions into choose Create a new set of accounts. If you already have Quicken files (QIF files) from another financial application and wish to import them then choose Import my QIF files. If you are a new to GnuCash and just want to be guided though setting up GnuCash then choose Open the new user tutorial. It is possible to run these items after you have made a choice here but this Welcome to GnuCash! menu will not reappear. To try one of the other choices later, use the following sections to start the other items from the GnuCash menu. New Account Hierarchy Setup This druid helps you to create a set of GnuCash accounts. It will appear if you choose Create a new set of accounts in the Welcome to GnuCash! menu. To start this druid manually go to File -> New File. This will create a new blank GnuCash file and then automatically start the New Account Hierarchy Setup druid. The New Account Hierarchy Setup druid opens with a screen that briefly describes what this druid does. The three buttons at the very bottom of the screen will not change while using the druid.

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