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GnuCash User Survey Results

The first GnuCash user survey has ended, and the results are shown below. For those too busy to read through the results, we preface the results with a summary.

It has 45 questions, and its broken into six sections:

  • General
  • Commercializing GnuCash
  • Using GnuCash
  • Future Features
  • Online Banking
  • Personal Profile
The summary results and conclusions are below, by section.

General and Personal Profile
There were 828 respondents during the 67 days that the survey was active. Of these, 415 responded in the first 13 days. The later respondents mirrored the early responses almost exactly (see the early results here), and thus this summary is identical to the one before. The fact that the averages changed so little seems to indicate that there was no ballot stuffing, or that the stuffers were very very clever.

Respondents are overwhelmingly male (97%), with a median age in late-20's, early-30's. They are highly educated: more than 80% have college or post-grad degrees. They're highly technical: better than 2/3rds are programmers, engineers or scientists. And they are old-hands at GNU/Linux/BSD: more than 2/3rds have been using Linux for over 3 years. This sample is very, very far from what one finds for the average Internet/computer user, nearly half of which is a woman (the left half, presumably), and most of which is non-technical (no surprise here, the brain weighs much less than the muscles, guts and bones). At a later date, I hope to publish the results as they would look if we surgically removed the geek elements.

Nearly 90% have used accounting programs before. Less then 20% find that GnuCash meets all their needs. Nearly half wish it had more features, and about 25% can't use GnuCash because its missing critical features.

Commercializing GnuCash
Half of all respondents would buy a cdrom and a book. $20USD is the sweet spot for the CDROM price. Support is not an issue. There is little interest in a 'GnuCash magazine' or in a general-financial-advice website.

Using GnuCash
About 80% use gnucash for core accounting, 10% for incidentals, and 10% for small-business. 25% would use an MS Windows version.

Future Features
Top requests: more features, better documentation, all aimed squarely at the home user. Top picks for each feature category are below:

  • Home users: scheduled transactions (integrated into dayplanner/calendar), budgeting, more reports, online banking.

  • Financial: interest-bearing accounts, better general stock & bond support.

  • Interop: export reports to spreadsheet.

  • Online banking: 80% of respondents want to do this. Top picks: view balances, reconcile accounts, pay bills. Little demand for alternative payment systems, and of those, paypal is the winner. 25% have used quicken/msmoney for online banking. Security, privacy and reliability are all hot issues.

  • Business Accounting: support invoicing/billing, accounts-payable, receivable. However, the results are sort of bizarre: users are not that interested in an integrated address-book/contact manager/to-do list. I find this is bizarre, since things like billing/invoicing/checkprinting is almost useless if you don't have addresses and phone numbers to go with your invoice system. And accounts-payable is basically a fancy to-do-list, rendered all-the-more useless without good checkprinting (i.e. print address on check) support. So I'm tempted to conclude that respondents have little/no actual experience in using a small-business accounting package. Indeed, we should filter results for those who have actually used Peachtree/quickbooks or other business package.

  • dot-com accounting: there is little interest in GnuCash as a back-end/tie-in to merchant systems. Again, maybe that's because the respondents are primarily home users.

GnuCash Features Survey

1. I've been using GnuCash since
(pick one only)
-- version 0.9/1.0 81 (9.8%)
-- version 1.2 131 (15.8%)
-- version 1.4 274 (33.1%)
-- version 1.6 88 (10.6%)
-- never used GnuCash 247 (29.8%)
TOTAL 828 (99.2%)
2. I've bee using Linux for about
(pick one only)
-- 6 months or less   9.3% (77)
-- 1 year   8.2% (68)
-- 2 years   17.3% (143)
-- more than 3 years   63.4% (525)
TOTAL   98.2% 828
3. Other Accounting Packages
(check all that apply)
-- I have never used accounting software before 114 (13.8%)
-- I use a spreadsheet for my accounting 137 (16.5%)
-- I use Quicken or MSMoney regularly 229 (27.7%)
-- I used to use Quicken/MSMoney but stopped 258 (31.2%)
-- I use Peachtree, QuickBooks or another MSWindows accounting package 73 (8.8%)
-- I GnuCash almost exclusively 271 (32.7%)
-- I use another Linux/Unix-based accounting package 28 (3.4%)
TOTAL 828 (134.1%)
4. My Favorite Accounting Package of all time is
(check all that apply)
-- GnuCash 357 (43.1%)
-- Kapital 6 (0.7%)
-- MoneyDance 7 (0.8%)
-- Quicken 219 (26.4%)
-- MSMoney 92 (11.1%)
-- QuickBooks 32 (3.9%)
-- Peachtree 7 (0.8%)
-- AppGen 2 (0.2%)
-- Great Plains 3 (0.4%)
-- ACCPAC 5 (0.6%)
-- Other (write in below) 53 (6.4%)
TOTAL 828 (94.6%)
5. Did we miss your favorite accounting program? Write it in!
#Response
1a cardboard box and a spouse with a knack for organizing ;-}
1a pen and a piece of paper... it's amazing what modern technology can do :)
1all the ones i've used suck!
1also liked cbb
1Any good spreadsheet
1BankVX : Freeware for OS/2
1BasisPro (GLOWS)
1BMS
1Cashbook
1Catagories
2cbb
1checkfree software
1Davicash
1Davilex and abcmuis
1Electronic Teller for OS/2
1Emma
1gcalc. no, seriously.
1Geldprofi
1gnofin
1harmony
1I don't like any
1I wrote my own some time ago using MSAccess
1InCharge
1InCharge on OS/2
1It isn't a PC package!
1Manage Your Money (Mac)
4managing your money
1Mind Your Own Business (aka MYOB - yes, it's an accounting package)
1MoneyCounts
1MoneyCounts (Bob Parsons)
1MoneyPlex
1MoneySmith
1Morningstar Portfolio Manager
1msmoney 96
5MYOB
1MYOB (Australian)
1MYOB - it's available in australia
1MYOB Accountedge for the MAC
1never used one
1No - good job so long
1No favorite, but would prefer using GnuCash.
1None
1none yet
1Notebook and Pen hidden under my pillow :o)
1one that works, is intuitive, and doesn't lose data files
1Pastell
1pencil and notebook
1postgresql
1Quicken about 5 years ago
1quicken before all the garbage features.
1Quickpay--not that good but simple and fast
1Real World
1RMRBank on Psion PDA
1SQL-Ledger
2StarMoney
1TIMS
1UltraSoft Money (Palm)
1Xinvest
6. How Good is GnuCash?
(check one only)
-- GnuCash is overkill for my accounting needs.   3.4% (28)
-- All of my accounting needs are met by GnuCash.   12.0% (99)
-- I use GnuCash but wish it had a few more features.   49.6% (411)
-- I wish I could use GnuCash, except that it doesn't have a feature that is really important to me.   26.0% (215)
-- GnuCash is really just not right for my accounting needs, and I just don't see how it ever could be.   0.7% (6)
TOTAL   91.7% 828

7.

Commercializing GnuCash

If GnuCash came on a CDROM, with an easy-to-install interface, would you buy a copy?
Yes 423 (51.1%)
No 383 (46.3%)
TOTAL 828 (97.3%)
8. What is the most you'd be willing to pay for an easy-to-install CDROM version of GnuCash?
$5 US 134 (16.2%)
$10 US 180 (21.7%)
$20 US 260 (31.4%)
$40 US 106 (12.8%)
$80 US 18 (2.2%)
TOTAL 828 (84.3%)
9. Would you buy a book on how to use GnuCash?
Yes 391 (47.2%)
No 408 (49.3%)
TOTAL 828 (96.5%)
10. Would you buy commercial support for GnuCash?
Yes 68 (8.2%)
No 732 (88.4%)
TOTAL 828 (96.6%)
11. Which of these support options would be reasonable?
-- $50 per incident 34 (4.1%)
-- $50 per month flat rate 20 (2.4%)
-- $50 per hour till problem resolved 13 (1.6%)
-- $300 retainer with per incident billing 7 (0.8%)
-- $300 retainer with per hour billing 4 (0.5%)
-- $300/year with 3 incident maximum 8 (1.0%)
-- some other kind of pricing that is more reasonable for home users 194 (23.4%)
-- I wouldn't buy support 552 (66.7%)
TOTAL 828 (100.5%)
12. I would purchase confidential/secure data backup for my files
Yes   16.3% (135)
No   78.7% (652)
TOTAL   95.0% 828
13. I would hire an accountant who knows GnuCash
Yes   35.0% (290)
No   58.3% (483)
TOTAL   93.4% 828
14. I would purchase custom (state-by-state, national) tax schedules
Yes   49.0% (406)
No   45.8% (379)
TOTAL   94.8% 828
15. I would buy a monthly subscription to 'GnuCash Magazine'
Yes 128 (15.5%)
No 660 (79.7%)
TOTAL 828 (95.2%)

16.

Using GnuCash

My main interest in GnuCash is for:
-- Keeping track of occasional miscellaneous expenses only (e.g. business travel reimbursements, cost of personal hobby, personal loans to friends, treasurer for small club/society, etc.)   1.8% (15)
-- Keeping track of online shopping expenses.   0.2% (2)
-- Preparing a quarterly or annual networth or cashflow or income-expense report only.   0.5% (4)
-- Getting records straight to make tax filing easier.   2.4% (20)
-- Keeping track of all personal/home finances/budgets in detail.   79.1% (655)
-- Keeping track of Portfolio Value (Stocks/Mutual Funds/Bonds)   2.4% (20)
-- Small Business Accounting.   12.3% (102)
TOTAL   98.8% 828
17. Areas I would like to see GnuCash to evolve into:
-- Easier to use for average home user   34.9% (289)
-- More features for the home user   67.8% (561)
-- Small Business Features   28.6% (237)
-- Better Investment (Stock/Mutual Fund/Bond/Option/Futures) support   30.0% (248)
-- Better PDA (PalmPilot/etc) integration   30.9% (256)
-- The ultimate web-integrated online banking/shopping/billpay tool.   33.9% (281)
-- Technically cutting edge (eWallet, MicroPayments etc).   12.0% (99)
TOTAL   828
18. I would use a version of GnuCash for Microsoft Windows if it was available
Yes   27.1% (224)
No   71.3% (590)
TOTAL   98.3% 828
19. If you are interested in Windows, which version?
-- MS Windows 98 base edition   4.2% (35)
-- MS Windows 98 second edition   12.9% (107)
-- MS Windows NT   5.2% (43)
-- MS Windows 2000   19.7% (163)
-- MS Windows ME (Millenium Edition)   4.0% (33)
TOTAL   46.0% 828

20.

Future Features

Features I would most like to see in GnuCash (sorted by category)
(1==very important 3==nice to have 5==don't need this)

General
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Easier to Use   (2.7)
Better Documentation   (2.2)
Better Support   (3.5)
More Features   (2.1)
Easier Installation   (2.9)
Monthly (Paper) Newsletter/Magazine   (4.3)
Financial Advice and Information on GnuCash Website   (3.8)
21. Home
(1==very important 3==nice to have 5==don't need this)
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
More basic/overview reports for home use   (2.2)
Home Inventory   (3.1)
Insurance Records Organizer   (3.3)
Scanner/photo support (for attached photos/images of home inventory, or scanned paper receipts/invoices)   (3.6)
Vital Records Organizer (bank account and investment account names, addresses, numbers, passport number, D/L number, insurance policy names, numbers)   (3.1)
Income Tax Return preparation support   (2.6)
Online banking (statement review, account reconciliation)   (2.2)
Online billpay (pay bills/ authorize transfers)   (2.6)
Better integration with online shopping venues (e.g. amazon.com)   (3.7)
Better support for online payment methods (e.g. paypal, Qchex, egold)   (3.4)
Budgeting and budget reports for home use   (2.1)
Scheduled/regular/recurring transactions   (1.8)
Use of calendar/dayplanner type interface for scheduled transactions   (2.3)
Support for alerts/popups for upcoming transactions   (2.5)
22. Financial/Investment
(1==very important 3==nice to have 5==don't need this)
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Improved support for international currencies   (3.2)
Better support for stock/bond info   (2.9)
Support for bonds, mortgages, interest bearing instruments and accounts.   (2.7)
Support for Business-oriented budgets   (3.4)
Support for graphs of prices, moving averages, etc.   (3.0)
Support for volume, beta, buy/sell indicators.   (3.6)
Support for real-time trading abilities   (3.9)
Support for on-line/breaking news access   (4.1)
Support for financial research (reports on companies, historical price graphs, etc).   (3.8)
Investment (Buy/Sell) alerts, limit-order alerts   (3.8)
Cost-basis/FIFO accounting   (3.6)
Simplified split/spinoff/merger support   (3.7)
Enhanced split/spinoff/merger support   (3.7)
23. Interoperability
(1==very important 3==nice to have 5==don't need this)
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Ability to Import IIF Files (Intuit Interchange Format)   (3.4)
Ability to Export IIF Files (Intuit Interchange Format)   (3.5)
Ability to Export QIF Files (Quicken Interchange Format)   (2.8)
Ability to Import QFX Files (Quicken OFX Format)   (2.9)
Ability to Export QFX Files (Quicken OFX Format)   (3.0)
Ability to Import Peachtree/comma-delimited files   (3.4)
Ability to Export reports to spreadsheet   (2.5)
24. Other Import/Export Function (write in)
#Response
1Ability to atore report in some word processor format (e.g. AbiWord, OpenOffice, ...) and presentation programs (e.g. impress, MagicPoint, OpenOffice). This allows for better formating and give it the look you like. Company sometimes have strict design rules for presentations. This gives the end user a last chance to 'correct' the data, of course ;-)
1Ability to automatically connect to a bank and import QFX files like Quicken does for Discover. Better QIF import functionality. For example, allowing keyboard navigation to pick an account when importing.
1Ability to connect to SQL backends on accounting databases like Great Plains
1Ability to export .TXF files. Or any other method to export tax related information
1Ability to export data to comma delimited and export to gnumeric
1Ability to export in some sort of column delimited format to load to databases and also to ability of gnucash to operate with a database in the backend.
1Ability to export reports to plain text files or to html files.
1Ability to handle weird QIF formats (downloaded from bank for account reconciliation). Version 1.4 can't handle my bank's files.
1Ability to import archival data in Quicken backup data sets
1Ability to Import From Microsoft Money
1Ability to Import MYOB Accounting file format
1Ability to Import/Export MYOB files
1Ability to read/write a Quicken file from a Windows/DOS partition (provided, of course, that your system was properly set up with both DOS & Linux partitions)... so that I could manage my finances from 'either side of the fence', so to speak, at any moment I chose.
1Ability to synchronize with PocketQuicken
1Able to export to a format TurboTax can read.
1All Import/Export functionality is of a high priority. If everyone can use GnuCash seamlessly from their old product, then GnuCash will become standard.
1All Linux-based programs
1All major format import/export is important.
1Anything remotely Microsoft related!!
1Barclays Bank Online Export Format
1Being able to import directly from MS Money would be nice.
1better support for deleting redundant transactions imported by QIF
1Better, more colorful, easier to use GUI. I love the software but it is not pretty to look at.
1Bug fixes
1CBB (gnucash 1.6 can't read the qif files I get from cbb 0.8.1) I want to merge two gnucash files
1Check printing! Quicker updated from Ximian for GnuCash (they still don't have 1.6 available yet)
1client list, vendor list, inventory list,
1Converting actuel Currency to EURO!!! All my entries are DEM, switching to EURO does not change the value!
1CSV, common database formats
1Easy "envelope style" budgeting. So you can allocate $X/month for purpose foo and if you don't spend the full $X, it carries over to the next month. At any time, you can see how much is in your envelope. (kindof like savings goals in Quicken)
1Excel format, MS Money and MYOB.
1Export graphs/reports. I can't get this function to work. It exports the html, but not with the Guppi plots.
1Export to comma-delimited would be very nice
1export to gnumeric on account basis with an extra sheet for destination accounts (booking categories) one per account
1Export to HTML. Maybe 1.6 allows this but I haven't searched for this feature in 1.6 yet.
1export to text
1Export to text files for simple scanning by Perl (or other) scripts.
1Export/import (tab,comma) delimited files.
1External Program to Import/convert an MSMoney file into GNUCash format.
1Exxport of accounts to a file Re-Import of those accounts into a different GNU-Cash file!!!
1from and into MS Money
1Generally be able to import/export data to/from delimited files (.CSV and likes), ability to exchange data with and use RDBMs to store data, for example DB2, Oracle, ODBC sources.
1german BTX / HBCI
1Get my credit card transcation information from those websites.
1Get zlib compiled in and out for the main xml file, no need to take up 2.8 megs instead of 200k. You gzip -d it if you need to go into it by hand. Also, gnucash doesn't seem to have an autobackup cleaner. Perhaps something similar to the logrotate commands would be ideal. (I am a sysadmin so perhaps this should not be a default).
1Girotel (Dutch online banking system)
1Gnumeric spreadsheet support specifically
1Graphing the effects of scheduled/re-occuring transactions on accounts.
1I am *desperate* to find a Linux alternative to Peachtree Complete Accounting, which is just too costly on multiple Windows stations. I absolutely will go with GnuCash if you allow easy import!
1I am not really sure of the name of the interchange format I need, I need to exchange with the home version of quicken going back about 5 years.
1I see no reason to abandon QIF, but, generally speaking, it doesn't matter which format you use. The most important thing for me is to mate gnucash with my palm in an easy fashion. Why not write gnucash for palmOS?
1I want a view like the Portfolio Manager Performance view of the Morningstar.com And I do want the function to get Japanese stock and mutual fund information from Yahoo.japan automatically.
1I would like to have msmoney-96 interface... The lists of accounts make me unsure of how much do I have :-) (Maybe I didn't explore the interface too much , lol)
1I would really dig a quick fill function to make entering transactions easier.
1I'd like to see some sort of export to an open exchange format. This is really critical. I'm not sure if QFX is it (I don't know enough about it).
1I've got 8 years of personal data in Quicken now in about 40 accounts. Importing with QIF means generating 40 different files. It'd be wonderful if Gnucash would inhale the actual quicken data file.
1If the data was saved in a more human-readable type of ascii than the xml .xac file, that would be nice. Say straight scheme lists, pretty-printed. However this is very low in priority.
1implementing some kind of scripting would allow many more formats based on text files in a traditional *NIX sense. I'd really like to be able to do e.g. a "cat myexpenses | awk -f prog.awk | gnucashimport". This would be real fun!
1import account statements designed for use with Quicken
1Import crash logs ;-) Import online banking data
1Import from Managing Your Money for Windows.
1Import MS Money
1Import MS Money files
1Import MS Money files.
1Import MSMoney .mny Files
1Import MSMoney97 files
1Import old gnucash files, i can open file but i have this error: Error: gnc_mbstowcs: bad multi-byte conversion Error: gnc_mbstowcs: bad multi-byte conversion so my old file is not useable :((((
1Import Quickbooks
1Import/Export to Emma files(http://rainbow.mimuw.edu.pl/~la181249/emma/home.php3)
1Import/Export to sql backend (can be handled via csv files also...)
1importing accounts from a gnucash file
1Improved QIF import
1Integration with PocketMoney (Palm Pilot)
1It would be nice to support automatic downloads from online banking institutes - specifically sites like etrade that have alliances with Microsoft Money and Quicken, and don't support simple QIF downloads.
1M$Money and Business
1Maybe even some sort of 'live update' with Gnumeric. So if I wanted some feature that wasn't in Gnucash I could have it automatically put certian data into a Gnumeric sheet, and then generate the report from there. I think that most people understand a spreadsheet better than Scheme (even though personally I really like Scheme)
1Microsoft Money
1Microsoft Money 2000
1Moneydance, kapital
1More reports. More detailed reports. More complete reports. Easier-to-customize reports. More reports! Note, I haven't yet use 1.6, so I'm sure these are already better than what I'm using now.
5MS Money
1MS Money .dat import and export ability.
2MSMoney
1MsMoney can export QIF/QFX as I remember, so QIF/QFX seems to be enough...
1MSN Money
1Musr be able to universaly inmport/export data
1My online bank has no functionality at this time to export data - it would be nice to have some ability to define how to extract it from a saved html page.
1MYOB
1MYOB
1MySQL database integration to the same level as the PostgreSQL integration
1mysql import/export--very important
1NACHA Presumably this might be part of an online system
1No ultra-deep chains of dependencies. I stopped downloading/building/installing dependencies after about 4 levels. Come on! I want source, but package up all the dependent source with it please.
1Not familiar with above-mentioned formats, but it's essential I can export my data as plain text, or preferably XML. I don't want my data locked up in some binary format.
1OFX OFX OFX OFX OFX OFX OFX (not just quicken, banks, too!) (getting the picture? :)
1OFX support.. for bank reconciliation
1OFX...
1Once off Quicken, don't need it!
1Palm Intergration / Multiple Users or Accounts
1Palm Pilot Conduit
1PalmOS Integration!
1Pay more attention to (and try to fix) the array of Quickens. I have been trying to import data from Mac versions of Quicken and it is a futile task!
1PDA Module for Palm Pilot/Handspring Visor
1PDA Sync. Freecoins (PalmCoins).
1perhaps export tax information for whatever format turbotax reads.
1Perhaps not an import function ... but better report writing tools (keep in mind: I am running the first copy od GnuCash I ever received - the Debian Stable 1.3.4-3 version (which I now see as being quite dated).
1Perl interface for writing custom import/export filters.
1Quattro Pro & Star Office 5.x
1Quickbooks
1Reports to PDF
1Sales transactions in XML-RPC
1Some form of XML (or eventually structured text) and please! an Euro converter for proprietary file format
1SQL Database connectivity via unixODBC or better yet Gnome-DB
1sql databases i.e. postgresql, Interbase
1SQL import/ export
1StarMoney
1Subsets of data far managing your current month's worth of data on a Palm or other PDA.
1Support for Gnumeric and Excel exports. A really easy way of me transfering all my Small Business accounts from Quickbooks Pro to Gnucash.
1Support for mortgages and loans generally, along with recurring transactions and preentry of bills are by far the most important "must haves".
1Support for on-line banking. ie I can pay bills and transfer money between accounts on-line at Royal Bank of Canada.
1Sync with Palm apps or gnucash mini-app for Palm
1The ability to export back to quicken has been missing for some time. If users knew they could export their data back to quicken if they did not like gnucash then I think more people would give gnucash a chance! This is the one feature I long for!
1The ability to import/sync with other Schedual/organizer/contactmanagement type programs. on PDA or Windows platform. So payments due and can be entered on the road and imported/synced at home.
1The thing that is holding me back is that windows based software can integrate databases with a palm pilot. This is important for the reason that I use the windows based software as my main bd, but when I travel I like to have a mobile version that is easily updated when I come back to the main db.
1This is for Q25: The addressbook/contact/todo stuff should be able to use teh stuff from evolutiuon. I think this is why bonobo was first started. time to make use of it.
1Tool for automatic conversion of existing transaction from one currency to another (i.e. ITL -> EUR).
1True MSMoney file and not qif. Qif sucks with MSMoney.
1Use arbitrary gnc-prices Stock sources (like vwd, not only the ones offered from the gui in gnucash 1.4).
1Use of or export/import to/from SQL data base so I can write my own code in SQL instead of your scheme interface (looks like that is beta in 1.6).
1Web Interface
1whatever makes it possible to work with people using mainstream systems. Otherwise, they will tell you what to use, and you may have to consider switching to MicroSoft products.
1When Standard formats are supported my bank will be likely to provide its import/export functionality
1Why no QIF import listed?
1Wizard to import an entire Quicken Database "intact" from an existing quicken directory.
1Write the XML standard for Home Accounting Programs. Be the lead that other programs want to follow.
1XML
1XML/ HTML
25. Traditional Business Accounting:
(1==very important 3==nice to have 5==don't need this)
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Integrated/interoperable addressbook   (3.5)
Integrated/interoperable contact manager   (3.7)
Integrated todo list   (3.6)
Integrated time-tracker/bill-by-the-hour feature   (3.5)
Accounts Payable   (3.0)
Accounts Receivable   (3.0)
Invoicing/Billing (basic)   (3.0)
Invoicing/Billing (sophisticated)   (3.3)
Shipping/Receiving   (3.6)
Job Cost Estimation/Bids   (3.6)
Job Cost Tracking   (3.6)
Sales Orders/Job Orders/Pick Lists/Packing Lists   (3.7)
Purchase Orders   (3.6)
Inventory Management   (3.7)
Assembly/Manufacturing Inventory   (4.0)
US Payroll   (3.9)
European Payroll   (4.0)
South American/Asian/Other/Generic Payroll   (4.2)
Bill of Materials   (3.9)
US Depreciation/Amortization Schedules   (4.0)
European Depreciation/Amortization Schedules   (4.0)
Generic Depreciation/Amortization Schedules   (3.8)
US Tax Modules   (3.6)
European/Other Tax Modules   (3.6)
Accrual Accounting   (3.6)
Cost Accounting   (3.6)
Fund Accounting   (3.7)
Audit Trails   (3.5)
26. Modern Business Accounting:
(1==very important 3==nice to have 5==don't need this)
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Credit Card Processing   (3.5)
Online credit card verification/authorization/debit   (3.6)
Interfaces to other data sources (e.g. ISP customer bandwidth usage)   (3.8)
Streamlined data entry by multiple users   (3.6)
Ability to handle large (>50K transactions) datasets   (3.6)
Sophisticated Reports/Projections   (3.2)
Better multi-user support   (3.3)
Support for SQL databases other than Postgres   (3.3)
Support for on-line purchasing/delivery/billing protocols   (3.7)
ASP-like Web-based client-server system   (3.9)
MS Windows Support   (3.9)
Macintosh Support   (4.1)
Integration with web shopping carts (e.g. Zelerate/OpenSales)   (4.1)
Automated e-mail or web-based bill presentment   (3.7)
Merchant support for paypal/checkfree/banking   (3.7)
Integration with document scanners/image handling features   (3.9)
Integration with Point-of-Sale systems   (3.9)
Modular, reusable components that can be used in other apps   (3.3)
ERP features (e.g. integration with gnuE)   (3.8)
Workflow   (3.8)

27.

Online Banking

Would you like to do Online Banking with GnuCash?
Yes 673 (81.3%)
No 140 (16.9%)
TOTAL 828 (98.2%)
28. Do you know the name of the online banking interface you would like to see supported?
-- OFX (US) 240 (29.0%)
-- HBCI (Germany -- Home Banking Computer Interface) 85 (10.3%)
-- Don't know 424 (51.2%)
TOTAL 828 (90.5%)
29. Other banking interface
(write in)
#Response
1(don't know - but I'd be willing to move to a bank[UK] that you did support)
1ABN Amro, Netherlands
1ABSA - South Africa
1Australian
1Bank of Ameria (I dont know what they use)
1bank of america & bank of Austria (unknown interfaces)
1Bank of America's
1Barclay Bank (UK)
1Barclays.com - if it's possible to integrate with it.
1BofA -- QIF, unknown OFX support
1BroadwayBank.com
2BTX
1BTX (DATEX-J, T-Online)
1BTX (German)
3BTX (Germany)
1Check Free
3CheckFree
1Commerce Bank, U.S.
1Commonwealth Bank of Australia Netbank(www.netbank.com.au) it's a web browser interface that works on all browsers and OS's
1Dutch Postbank (Girotel) and Belgian BBL or UN/EDIFACT
1ESP-Link
1ETradeBank
1Existing web-based interfaces
1File download not supported - would have to parse HTML
1fortis pcbanking (France, Belgium, Netherlands) http://www.fortisbank.be & webbanking
1France - Banque Populaire
1Föreingssparbanken (sweden), and SEB (sweden too). But they are web interfaces...
1German T-Online?
1Girotel(Dutch)
1HTML Form Scraping
2https
1I don't think my bank supports online banking yet :-(
1I would like to like on download for Quicken and have gnucash receive my accounting information. Like Quicken would.
1I would like to see integration with Swiss Banks, some allow download of SWIFT type files for transactions. UBS is used by Quicken Swiss Edition via http for Stock price infromation (it doesn't work though...)
1interface into the checkfree system
1Internet PIN/TAN
1Interpay / AbnAmro
1KeyBank
1My current bank do not yet have this functionality
1NACHA
1new zealand ones
1No sure of the name, it's used by Canadian credit unions
1Not sure precisely, but my bank (The Bank of Ireland) would be a useful
1Not Sure with current institution
1OFX (EU)
1PFM
1PIN/TAN Germany
1QIF
1QIF downloads
2Quicken
1Quicken's QXF (related to OFX I think)
1Rabobank (Netherlands)
1Royal Bank
1See www.westpac.com.au
1SSL
1ssl-support like in StarMoney
1Suncorp (Australia)
1t-online (German BTX)
1t-online (germany), web formulars
1use Royal Bank of Scotland
1used in Switzerland (UBS-CS,etc.)Consors
1Using PIN/TAN numbers
1Wachovia Bank
1Web based forms
1Web interface (HTTPS)
1webdox
1Wells Fargo
1Whatever Barclays Bank (UK) use
1Whatever Chase Online is
1Whatever CIBC uses.
1whatever UK uses
1whatever university federal credit union uses
1Whatever used in UK
1www.dcu.org
1yellownet (swiss post)
1ZKA(Germany)
30. Online Banking features that you would most like to see in GnuCash
-- View bank balances 671 (81.0%)
-- Reconcile bank statements 611 (73.8%)
-- Review credit card statements 548 (66.2%)
-- Transfer funds within one bank 510 (61.6%)
-- Wire funds between banks 330 (39.9%)
-- Pay bills online 538 (65.0%)
-- Transfer funds between brokerage/mutual fund and bank 231 (27.9%)
-- Buy/sell mutual funds 150 (18.1%)
-- Buy/sell/place (limit) orders for stocks/options/futures 161 (19.4%)
-- Integrated with retail online shopping (amazon.com, etc). 135 (16.3%)
TOTAL 828 (469.2%)
31. Would you be willing to pay a fee for these some of these services? How much? (Yes, we would all like it to be free, of course, but if there was a service charge, what is the most you would pay?)
-- no 278 (33.6%)
-- $3 US/month 306 (37.0%)
-- $10 US/month 161 (19.4%)
-- $20 US/month 15 (1.8%)
TOTAL 828 (91.8%)
32. Who would you be willing to engage for such a for-fee service?
-- A dot-com   17.4% (144)
-- A large, well-known, name-brand company   31.3% (259)
-- My immediate bank/credit card provider only   56.5% (468)
TOTAL   828
33. I would like to see GnuCash interfaces for the following 'non-traditional' payment systems:
-- PayPal   30.6% (253)
-- E-Gold   4.2% (35)
-- Qchex   1.9% (16)
-- Achex   1.6% (13)
-- Checkfree   10.3% (85)
TOTAL   48.6% 828
34. Other payment system
(write in)
#Response
1 Any anonymous, e-cash system.
1bartering
1Bidpay
1Billpoint (it's a good replacement for paypal that supports Canadian users better)
1BPay
1BPay (Used in Australia)
1BPay. It's used in Australia. See bpay.com.au I think.
1chek by phone
1Dutch and Belgian payment systems
1eBucks
1fatshoe.com
1GnuCash ... err... GnuDigiCash ... errr... GNU community-backed funny-money.
1I desperately want an anonymous or psuedononymous payment system to protect my privacy. I'll gladly pay anyone who can provide such a solution.
1I didn't understand question #32. And #38 - I don't use all the features because there are extra charges when I can easily do it on the web for free.
1I don't know much about this stuff
1I'm writing here because there's no box later on. I'm running gnome 1.4 on a linuxPPC box, but I bet this goes for x86 users as well. The *first* time gnucash tells me I need to download additional libraries, you've lost half your potential users. A lot of this is caused by the mess that is RPM, and a good bit by Gnome being out of control. The only solution I see is to sell CDs of gnucash with ALL the needed cruft. A static package. I promise you, whatever faults Quicken has, It never expected me to spend hours chasing down ridiculous, circular RPM dependencies. As a mac/linux user, I'm also pretty much stuck with Ximian for gnome stuff-a bad thing indeed: defacto proprietary, actually. That having been said, gnucash is looking pretty good. There needs to be docs that don't teach double entry bookkeeping first, but just tell the user how to think Quicken->gnucash. Something like: Expenses = Catagories thanks for reading, Rloef@interfold.com
1international payments, as a means of short-circuiting the current bank rip-off policies allowed by their respective monopolies.
1Kagi
1mybills.com
1Not familiar with
1Not sure
1Paybox
1Print on Quicken 0r MS Money checks
1SET
1swiss postcheque In Europe many national post offices also offer a kind of banking which is usually very good and cheap for small amounts.
1There has got to be an XML standard for this typ of thing. If not., GNUCash should start it.
1This is actually answering q 38: i do use online banking and bill pay with my bank, not intuit or ms money
1We use PayPal for our website since we feel our customers already trust it. If we could manage our PayPal account with a small/mid-sized business version of GnuCash, I would love you forever and recommend GnuCash to every business owner I meet!!!
1Yahoo Bill Pay
35. Have you used Quicken/MSMoney for bill pay or online banking?
Yes   26.4% (219)
No   69.6% (576)
TOTAL   96.0% 828
36. If you use the online banking features in Quicken/MSMoney or through a Web interface, how often do you check account balances?
-- daily   14.0% (116)
-- weekly   26.7% (221)
-- monthly   5.6% (46)
-- never   13.4% (111)
TOTAL   59.7% 828
37. If you use the online banking features in Quicken/MSMoney or through a Web interface, how often do you pay bills or transfer funds?
-- daily   3.7% (31)
-- weekly   22.1% (183)
-- monthly   14.5% (120)
-- never   17.5% (145)
TOTAL   57.9% 828
38. If you don't use online banking features now, which of the following are your reasons?
-- I didn't know I could do that 28 (3.4%)
-- I don't care for it/ just plain not interested. 62 (7.5%)
-- My bank does not offer online banking 68 (8.2%)
-- I haven't gotten around to trying it, but would like to. 121 (14.6%)
-- Ease of use (these systems are too complex, not worth the effort). 41 (5.0%)
-- Security concerns (hackers/crackers/theft/fraud) 132 (15.9%)
-- Privacy concerns (others accessing my financial records) 126 (15.2%)
-- Reliability concerns (lost records, late payments, mistakes, confused billing) 120 (14.5%)
TOTAL 828 (84.3%)
39. Would you use an online-banking feature inside of GnuCash, in the future (next 6-24 months) if the above concerns concerns were fixed?
Yes   66.7% (552)
No   10.0% (83)
TOTAL   76.7% 828
40. If you do use online banking features, do you still have some nagging concerns about it?
-- Security concerns (hackers/crackers/theft/fraud)   31.5% (261)
-- Privacy concerns (other accessing my financial records)   28.0% (232)
-- Reliability concerns (lost records, late payments, mistakes, confused billing)   29.5% (244)
-- Ease of use (website/special client are confusing/hard to use).   16.4% (136)
TOTAL   828

41.

Personal Profile

OK, this is the end of this long survey. Tell us about yourself.

Sex
Male   95.5% (791)
Female   2.2%