[plug] finance under linux

[Bernd Felsche]

On Tue, Sep 02, 2003 at 09:54:09AM +0800, Adam Hewitt wrote:
> After cracking the shits that my mother-in-law is forever telling
> her friends that I work with computers and ending up coming home
> every night to fix someone elses computer problems, I have decided
> to get myself and ABN and start charging for the privilege (and as
> I found out 4 weeks ago that I am having my first baby the money
> will come in very handy too).

Get yourself all the BAS info you can get.

> Now I guess most of this will only come in useful when/if I get
> Debian running fully under my ibook, but is anyone running their
> business finances under linux? I am not registered for GST as this
> will only be a part time thing, but is there any GST software
> under linux?

> I would be very interested in finding out how/if people are doing
> this, to what extent it works for them, any problems or advise
> about using this software under linux and what software they are
> using?

You don't need any fancy software at all.

You can do it all ledger-style in a spreadsheet.

I've been using a Psion PDA for over 4 years for time-logging and
accounting purposes. The main tool is the spreadsheet. I use 3
sheets; one for outgoing expenses, another for receivables
(invoicing) and a third for superannuation and pay. Assign tax codes
per line item; if necessary split across several rows to allow for
multiple codes.

Reconcile accounts at quarterly BAS time; takes under an hour to
enter in those expenses like account charges and taxes. Then it's a
matter of drag-select to add up numbers for each tax code to suit
the BAS.

There's another application that makes it easier to keep track of
billing times. Any sort of diary will serve the same purpose.

-- 
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