To set up GnuCash to handle accounts receivable for a company two
preliminary things must be done. The first is to build an appropriate
Account Hierarchy and the second is to register the company in
GnuCash.
There are many different ways to set up a business account
hierarchy. You can start with the Business Accounts setup which is
available from the New Account Hierarchy assistant, or you could build one
manually. To access the prebuilt Business Accounts, start GnuCash and
click on → and
proceed until you see the list of available accounts, select Business
Accounts.
The prebuilt Business Account hierarchy will not meet your needs exactly. You will need make adjustments for the hierarchy to function well with your particular situation. It should be close enough that it is recommended you begin with it.
Accounts Receivable (or A/R) refers to products or services
provided by the company on credit for which payment has not yet been
received. This is represented on the balance sheet as an asset, because
you expect to receive payment soon. To use GnuCash’s integrated accounts
receivable system, you must first set up an account (usually a
sub-account under Assets) defined with account type
A/Receivable. It is within this account that the
integrated A/R system will place transactions.
Basic A/R Account Hierarchy:
-Assets
-Checking
-Accounts Receivable
-Income
-Sales
You need to add additional asset, expense, and income accounts to this hierarchy for it to be useful. The important aspects of this hierarchy are the use of an income account and the Accounts Receivable asset account, with account type set to A/Receivable.
 | Note |
|---|---|
You do not need to create an individual A/R account for each
customer. | |
After you have built the account structure, register the GnuCash
file as belonging to your company. To register your company, select
→ :
Enter the name of your company along with contact information such as your phone number, fax number, e-mail address and website URL.
Enter your company’s tax payer id number in the Company ID field.
Select default tax tables applicable to your most common customers and vendors.