Hacker News Reader

Comment by thomasstuttard | Hacker News Reader

What accounting software would you recommend for first-time entrepreneurs? Are their any open-source solutions that can be self hosted that integrate with existing solutions?

I am just starting my journey into entrepreneurship, and have yet to choose a bank or accounting software, and would appreciate guidance. I am based in the UK, and will only be conducting business in the UK to start off with.

View on HN

Not OP but there are a few open source options. GNU cash is friendlier for beginners due to the GUI. I like plain text accounting, specifically beancount.

As far as integrations, GNU cash lets you import from various formats like quicken while beancount has lots of plugins from the community like importers for various banks. I don’t believe either offer invoicing but you could integrate it yourself or just manually record.

IMO, the hardest part of keeping your own books is learning double entry accounting.

Thanks for the recommendation for GNU cash will give that a look. What resources would you recommend for learning double entry accounting?

Starling Bank as the bank, and FreeAgent as the accounting software - it'll handle personal tax (self-assessment), corporation tax, VAT, and payroll. If you need an accountancy practice, I very much recommend Maslins - they'll provide FreeAgent access in that case as part of their fee.

Thanks for the recommendation, will take a look at Starling Bank and FreeAgent.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com