Compatibility of Open Source Accounting Solution for Small Businesses in India–GNU Cash

The contribution of micro, small and medium industries in the panorama of Indian business is huge both in terms of share in GDP and total employment. Financial accounting is an indispensible function for any business and Most of the companies have shifted toward computerized Accounting System. Yet only around 5% of the companies in MSME sector use computerized accounts. This research explores the feasibility of using GNU Cash, a free and open source accounting software, developed by bunch of MIT people around 9 years back for Indian companies. This research paper is based on primary study of the software GNU Cash and its benchmarking to popular accounting softwares prevalent in Indian markets. This paper finds the merits of GNU Cash and makes recommendations on specific issues/features which would make the software more suitable for Indian use. Also the paper considers the key areas of accounting information generation in the real life scenarios at the voucher level. The features compared and suggested in this research paper are all relevant from business perspective in our country.