<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE chapter SYSTEM "gnc-gui-C.dtd">
<!--
      (Do not remove this comment block.)
  Version: 2.2.0
  Last modified: 2014-09-22 (fell)

  Maintainers:  Tom Bullock <tbullock@nd.edu>
               Chris Lyttle <chris@wilddev.net>
  Author:
  		Jon Lapham <lapham@extracta.com.br>
  	Updated	Bengt Thuree <bengt@thuree.com>
  Originally written by Carol Champagne.
  Translators:
               (translators put your name and email here)
-->
<chapter id="chapter_oview">
  <title>Overview</title>

  <sect1 id="oview-intro1">
    <title>Introduction</title>

    <para>&app; is the personal finance software package made for you. It is versatile enough to keep track of
      all your financial information, from the simple to the very complex. It is one of the few
      financial software packages that supports global currencies, and it is the only open-source
      program of its kind. Best of all, &app; is easy to learn and use!
    </para>

    <para>So, what can &app; do for you? It can keep track of your personal finances in as much detail as you
      prefer. If you are just starting out, use &app; to keep track of your checkbook. You may then
      decide to track cash as well as credit card purchases to better determine where your money is
      being spent. When you start investing, you can use &app; to help monitor your portfolio.
      Buying a vehicle or a home? &app; will help you plan the investment and track loan payments.
      If your financial records span the globe, &app; provides all the multiple-currency support you
      need.
    </para>

    <figure>
      <title>A Chart Of Accounts With Multiple Currencies And Investments</title>
      <screenshot id="oview-intro">
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/oview_intro.png"
                       srccredit="Bengt Thuree"/>
          </imageobject>
          <caption>
            <para>This image shows a Chart of Accounts with multiple currencies and investments.
            </para>
          </caption>
        </mediaobject>
      </screenshot>
    </figure>

    <para>While &app; is well suited for personal finances, it is also powerful enough for business use. There
      are many business features, from integrated accounts receivable and payable systems, to tax
      table construction. You will find these and the many other business features surprisingly
      powerful and easy to use.
    </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="oview-features1">
    <title>Features</title>

    <sect2 id="oview-featureseasy2">
      <title>Easy to Use</title>

      <para>Within a matter of minutes you will be able to enter your personal finance information and generate
        color graphs that represent your financial status. If you can use the register in the back
        of your checkbook - you can use &app;! Type directly into the register, tab between fields,
        and use quick-fill to automatically complete transactions. The interface is customizable
        from within the application itself.
      </para>

      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Easy to Use Menus</emphasis>: &app; menus conform to the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines.
            This means that they are simple and similar in appearance to many other GNOME
            applications.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Documentation</emphasis>: &app; has built-in Help and extensive User&rsquo;s Guide
            documentation.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Import Methods</emphasis>: &app; supports many ways to input transactions besides manual
            entry. If you can access your bank accounts on-line, this is especially useful, as most
            banks and credit card companies support one of the following import methods. You will
            spend less time entering data and more time analyzing results.
          </para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para><emphasis>Quicken Import File (QIF)</emphasis>: Import Quicken <acronym>QIF</acronym> style files, a
                popular file format with many commercial personal finance software packages.
              </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><emphasis>Open Financial Exchange (OFX)</emphasis>: &app; has been the first free software
                application to support the Open Financial Exchange protocol. Many financial
                institutions are moving towards this format.
              </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><emphasis>Home Banking Computer Interface (HBCI)</emphasis>: &app; has been the first free software
                application to support the German Home Banking Computer Interface protocol. This
                protocol includes statement download, initiates bank transfers, and makes direct
                debits possible.
              </para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Reports</emphasis>: &app; comes with over 30 prebuilt reports, including Account Summary,
            Income, Expenses, Transaction Report, Balance Sheet, Profit&amp;Loss, Portfolio
            Valuation, and many others. Reports support graphical views of the data, including pie
            charts, bar charts, and scatter plots. The reports can be exported to
            <acronym>HTML</acronym> files, and are easily customized.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Scheduled Transactions</emphasis>: &app; now has the ability to automatically create and
            enter transactions, or remind you when these transactions are due, giving you the choice
            of entering, postponing or removing the automated transaction.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Mortgage and Loan Repayment Assistant</emphasis>: Used to set up a variable payment loan
            scheduled transaction.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Easy Account Reconciliation</emphasis>: Integrated reconciliation makes reconciling your
            &app; accounts with statements simple and effective.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Multi-platform Compatibility</emphasis>: &app; is supported on a variety of platforms and
            operating systems. The list of fully supported operating systems (and platforms) is for
          </para>

          <variablelist>
            <varlistentry>
              <term>&app; &vers-stable;</term>

              <listitem>
                <para>&lin; (x86, x86_64), FreeBSD (x86, x86_64), OpenBSD (x86, x86_64), &mac; (64-bit Intel), and &win;
                  (Windows 7 and later).
                </para>
              </listitem>
            </varlistentry>

            <varlistentry>
              <term>&app; &le; 2.6.21</term>

              <listitem>
                <para>&mac; (32-bit Intel, PPC) and &win; (XP and Vista).
                </para>
              </listitem>
            </varlistentry>

            <varlistentry>
              <term>&app; &le; 2.2.9</term>

              <listitem>
                <para>&win; (2000).
                </para>
              </listitem>
            </varlistentry>

            <varlistentry>
              <term>Previous versions of &app;</term>

              <listitem>
                <para>have been known to work with SGI IRIX (MIPS), IBM AIX 4.1.5 (RS/6000), Unixware 7 (Intel), SCO
                  OpenServer 5.0.4 (Intel), and Solaris (SPARC) but their current status is unknown.
                </para>
              </listitem>
            </varlistentry>
          </variablelist>
<!-- Platforms -->
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="oview-featuresinvest2">
      <title>Tracks Your Investments</title>

      <para>&app; includes a number of investment features that allow you to track all your investments. With
        &app; you can track stocks individually (one per account) or in a portfolio of accounts (a
        group of accounts that can be displayed together).
      </para>

      <para>&app; supports online stock and mutual fund quotes. This means you no longer need to look up stock
        prices one at a time. The process can be automated, and you can see the latest value of your
        stocks.
      </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="oview-featuresintl2">
      <title>International Support</title>

      <para>&app; is truly an application that works with and understands users from all around the world. There
        are many built-in features to facilitate interaction with the international world we live in
        today.
      </para>

      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Native Languages</emphasis>: &app; has been translated into over 55 languages. Full translated
            are are Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Dutch, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, and
            Ukrainian. Almost as good, with over 90% translated, are Catalan, Chinese (simplified),
            German, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish.<!-- Latvian, Serbian, Russian, Turkish --><footnote>
              <para>If you want to create or improve the translation of your language see
                <ulink url="&url-wiki-L12N;"/>.
              </para>
            </footnote>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>International Format Handling</emphasis>: &app; understands that different countries
            display the date and numbers differently. You are able to work with the date and number
            formats you are accustomed to.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Multiple Currencies and Currency Trading</emphasis>: All in
            <ulink url="&url-wp-en;ISO_4217">ISO 4217</ulink> defined currencies are supported and
            can be bought and sold (traded). Currency movements between accounts remain fully
            balanced if "Trading Accounts" is enabled.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>On-line exchange rates</emphasis>: With &app;, you no longer need look up your exchange
            rates one at a time. The process can be automated, to always present you with the
            account values converted to your preferred currency using the latest exchange rates.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="oview-featuresbus2">
      <title>Business Support</title>

      <para>&app; has many features to support the needs of the business accounting community.
      </para>

      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Accounts Receivable/Payable</emphasis>: &app; has an integrated Accounts Receivable and
            Accounts Payable system. You can track Customers, Vendors, Invoicing and Bill Payment,
            and use different Tax and Billing Terms in a small business.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Depreciation</emphasis>: &app; can track depreciation of capital assets.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Reports</emphasis>: &app; offers a wide variety of ready-to-use business reports.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="oview-featuresaccounting2">
      <title>Accounting Features</title>

      <para>For those knowledgeable in accounting, here is a list of &app;&rsquo;s accounting features.
      </para>

      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Double Entry</emphasis>: Every transaction must debit one account and credit others by an
            equal amount. This ensures the <quote>books balance</quote> - that the difference
            between income and expense exactly equals the sum of all bank, cash, stock and other
            assets.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Split Transactions</emphasis>: A single transaction can be split into several pieces to
            record taxes, fees, and other compound entries.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Chart of Accounts</emphasis>: A master account can have a hierarchy of detail accounts
            underneath it. This allows similar account types such as Cash, Bank, or Stock to be
            grouped into a master account such as <quote>Assets</quote>.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>General Journal</emphasis>: One register window can display multiple accounts at the same
            time. This eases the trouble of tracking down typing/entry errors. It also provides a
            convenient way of viewing a portfolio of many stocks, by showing all transactions in
            that portfolio.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><emphasis>Income/Expense Account Types (Categories)</emphasis>: These categorize your cash flow and,
            when used properly with the double-entry feature, will provide an accurate
            Profit&amp;Loss statement.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="oview-about1">
    <title>About this Book</title>

    <para>This manual&rsquo;s goal is to save you time. It will get you started using &app; as quickly as
      possible.
    </para>

    <para>Each chapter follows a simple format. A chapter begins with a <quote>Concepts</quote> discussion
      which introduces general themes and terminology, addressed and used within that chapter.
      <quote>How-To</quote> sections, which address specific procedures follow. Finally, a
      <quote>Putting It All Together</quote> section ends the chapter by giving detailed, concrete
      examples.
    </para>

    <para>Beginning users will find the <quote>Concepts</quote> sections very helpful. They provide a
      reference for good ways to track your finances, and serve as a general introduction to
      financial background and terminology. Experienced users can flip to the <quote>How-To</quote>
      sections to quickly scan procedures. These sections provide to-the-point steps for
      accomplishing specific tasks. The <quote>Putting It All Together</quote> sections present
      real-world examples in the form of a tutorial. Beginning with creation of a file in
      <xref linkend="chapter_basics"></xref>, each successive chapter builds on the previous
      chapter&rsquo;s tutorial.
    </para>

    <para>This manual is organized into 3 main parts:<itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <simpara><xref linkend="part.getting_started"/></simpara>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <simpara><xref linkend="part.managing_personal"/></simpara>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <simpara><xref linkend="part.managing_business"/></simpara>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>

    <para><xref linkend="part.getting_started"/> provides you with the most basic information needed to begin
      using &app;. The chapters in this part explain concepts that are fundamental to using
      &app;. New users of &app; should familiarize themselves with the information in these chapters
      to get you up and running:<itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_oview"></xref> - (this chapter) gives a general overview of &app;
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_basics"></xref> - gives users a very brief introduction to accounting
            principles, and then provides information about how &app; structures its data. There is
            also information on basic interface elements in &app;. Finally, this chapter explains
            how &app; stores and manages your data.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_accts"></xref> - gives further information about accounts and how to organize
            them.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_txns"></xref> - gives basic information about transactions and how to enter
            them.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>

    <para><xref linkend="part.managing_personal"/> addresses common applications and features of &app;
      in greater detail. You will see more specific cases, based on frequently asked questions about
      applying &app; to everyday situations. Here are the applications and features covered in this
      part:<itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_cbook"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_cc"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_loans"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_invest"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_capgain"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_currency"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>

    <para><xref linkend="part.managing_business"/> discusses the use of &app; in business accounting:<itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_bus_features"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_budgets"/>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_other_assets"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="chapter_dep"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="ch_python_bindings"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><xref linkend="ch_import_bus_data"></xref>
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>

    <para>This manual also includes several appendices, which contains extra information you might want to
      know:
    </para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para><xref linkend="gnc-gloss"></xref> - Glossary of terms used in &app;
        </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para><xref linkend="appendixa"></xref> - Guide for former
          <trademark
             class="registered">Quicken</trademark>, MS Money or other
          <acronym>QIF</acronym> users
        </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para><xref linkend="appendixd"></xref>
        </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para><xref linkend="fdl"></xref>
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>Last, but not least, a glossary and index help you quickly locate topics.
    </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="more_help">
    <title>Getting More Help</title>

    <para>&app; offers help in many ways, including the <link linkend="basics-tip2"> <guilabel>Tip of the
      Day</guilabel></link>, context help, a website, a wiki, the mailing lists, and IRC chat.
    </para>

    <sect2 id="online_help">
      <title>Context Help</title>

      <para>The context help provides detailed instructions for using &app;'s menus, windows, and controls. To
        open online help, select <menuchoice>
          <guimenu>Help</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Contents</guimenuitem>
        </menuchoice>.
      </para>

      <para>The <guilabel>&appname; Help</guilabel> window also acts as a simple web browser, so you can pull up
        a website for additional information. You can open any website under this window by clicking
        the <guibutton>Open</guibutton> <emphasis>Toolbar</emphasis> button and then typing in the
        URL. Use the <guibutton>Back</guibutton>, <guibutton>Forward</guibutton>,
        <guibutton>Reload</guibutton>, <guibutton>Stop</guibutton>, and <guibutton>Print</guibutton>
        buttons as you would in a standard browser.
      </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="website">
      <title>&app; Website</title>

      <para>The <ulink
      url="&url-www;"><citetitle>&appname; website</citetitle></ulink>
        contains helpful information about the program and about any updates to it. It also contains
        links to other online resources.
      </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="wiki">
      <title id="wiki.title">&app; Wiki</title>

      <para>An immense amount of less-formal documentation, both of &app; itself and its maintenance and
        development may be found in the <ulink url="&url-wiki;">&appname; Wiki</ulink>.
      </para>
    </sect2>
        
    <sect2 id="oview-faq">
        <title>&app; Frequently Asked Questions</title>    

        <para>
            <ulink url="&url-wiki-faq;">&app; Frequently Asked Questions</ulink> (<acronym>FAQ</acronym>) page 
            is also on the <xref linkend="wiki" endterm="wiki.title" />.
            It should be a first stop whenever you encounter difficulty using &app;.
            It is now translated into German and Simplified Chinese. If you'd like to access to the translated page,
            see tabs on the top of the <ulink url="&url-wiki-faq;">&app; Frequently Asked Questions</ulink> page.

        </para>
    
    </sect2>
        
        

    <sect2 id="on-line-assistance">
      <title>&app; On-line Assistance</title>

      <bridgehead>
        Mailing List
      </bridgehead>

      <para>The primary source of user support is the <ulink
    url="mailto:gnucash-user@gnucash.org">user
        mailing list</ulink>. If you prefer a web forum-like presentation, you can use it via
        <ulink
    url="&url-mail-nabble;">Nabble</ulink>.
        One must
        <ulink
    url="%url-mail-li;gnucash-user">subscribe</ulink>
        before posting, even if using Nabble.
      </para>

      <bridgehead>
        IRC
      </bridgehead>

      <para>Several of the developers monitor the <ulink url='&url-irc;'>#gnucash channel at &srv-irc;</ulink>.
        They are usually busy with other tasks and of course are not always at their computers.
        Log in, ask your question, and stay logged in; it may take  several hours before your question is noticed and responded.
        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <simpara>If you got disconnected <ulink url="&url-logs-irc;">check the IRC logs</ulink> to verify that you
              missed nothing related.
            </simpara>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <simpara>Requirements, netiquette, and other details are explained in the <ulink url="&url-wiki-irc;">IRC
              wiki page</ulink>.
            </simpara>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>

      <para>The <ulink url="&url-www;">&appname; website </ulink> has more details on these channels.
        You will also find pointers there to additional useful resources such as the &app; wiki and
        bug tracking system.
      </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="topic-search">
      <title>Topic Search</title>

      <para>The online manual also provides a search function. To search for a particular topic, click the
        <guilabel>Search</guilabel> tab at the bottom of the help window and type in your topic in
        the field provided. Click the <guibutton>Search</guibutton> button to complete your search.
        A list of choices should appear in the box below, clicking a choice will bring up its text
        on the right.
      </para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="oview-install1">
    <title>Installation</title>

    <para>Installation of &app; is usually simple.
    </para>

    <para>The <ulink url="&url-www;download.phtml"><citetitle>&app; download
      page</citetitle></ulink> contains detailed instructions on how to install &app; for each
      operating system supported.
    </para>
  </sect1>
</chapter>
