When I started a consulting company in 2006, I decided to use GnuCash for my business books, since I was already familiar with it from home use. It is very well-suited for business accounting, since it uses standard accounting terminology and double entry. When it was time to prepare my corporate taxes, I called my dad (an accountant) to explain basic business accounting to me… closing out the books for the year, and all that jazz. I really wanted to share my GnuCash file with him, but that was not possible, since he uses Windows.

Today, I discovered that GnuCash has been ported to Windows (since version 2.2.0 in August of 2007). This is HUGE. With the whole “interoperability” stumbling block out the way, small businesses have one more reason to use open source software like GnuCash and Linux. I imagine that soon, if not already, business owners will be able to send their GnuCash data files directly to their accountants, just like they do today with their QuickBooks files.

Today, in preparation for March 15th (tax day for corporations), I installed GnuCash on my dad’s Windows PC, and he took a look at my books.

GnuCash, FTW!

I do have one question, though. During the installation, the GnuCash installer mentioned something about “Installing Windows firewall rules.” That scares me a little. If you know why it does this, leave a comment below.