Copyright © Carol Champagne 2001
This document is released under the terms of the Free Document License.

Chapter 2  Basic Structure and Setup

The main building blocks of GnuCash are files, accounts, and transactions.   Creating a file to store your data is the first step, and this chapter will walk you through that process.  Before you get started with files, it is also helpful to understand how GnuCash helps you organize your data using accounts and transactions.  We will cover accounts and transactions in more detail in the next few chapters, but for now let's take a look at the basic structure.


2.1 Data Entry Concepts (Discussion)

Entering data in GnuCash is not that much different from entering data in your checkbook register.  At its core, GnuCash is a computerized checkbook, and you can choose to use it for that purpose.  But GnuCash can provide so much more information to you if you categorize your data.   To do that, you need to understand a few concepts about how data is organized in GnuCash.

	2.1.1 Files, Accounts and Transactions 
GnuCash provides three types of files for storing information: data files, backup files, and log files.   The main file that you will use to store your data is a data file.  You will probably have only one data file that you use for your home data, but GnuCash will automatically save a backup copy for you each time you save that data file.  GnuCash also provides log files which can be used to help reconstruct data.  Backup and log files are described later in this chapter.

Although you only have one main data file, that file will contain many accounts.    An <emphasis> account</emphasis>  is a record for keeping track of what you own, owe, spend or receive.   You probably already think of money you own or owe as being in an ?account.?  For example, at some point you opened checking and savings accounts at a particular bank, and that bank sends you monthly statements showing how much money you *own* in these accounts.  Credit card accounts also send you statements showing what you *owe* to a credit card company, and the mortgage company may send you periodic statements showing how much you still *owe* on your loan.  

In GnuCash, accounts are also used to categorize money you receive or spend, even though these are not ?physical? accounts that receive statements.  As we will cover more in (?Chapter 3), income type accounts are used to categorize money received (like a paycheck), and expense type accounts are used to categorize money spent (for pizza, to pay a bill, etc.)    These accounts function much like ?categories" in some other financial programs, with a few advantages discussed in (?Chapter 3).

A <emphasis>transaction</emphasis>  represents the movement of money from one account to another account.  Whenever you spend or receive money, or transfer money between accounts, that is a transaction.  In GnuCash, as we will see in the next section, transactions always involve at least two accounts.   Examples of transactions are: paying a bill, transferring money from savings to checking, buying a pizza, withdrawing money, and depositing a paycheck.  (?Chapter 4) goes more in depth on how to enter transactions in GnuCash.


	2.1.2 Double Entry
You've probably heard the saying, "Money doesn't grow on trees." It means that money must come from somewhere---it doesn't just "appear." <emphasis>Double entry accounting </emphasis>  is a method of record-keeping that lets you track just where your money comes from and where it goes.  Using double entry means that money is never gained nor lost---an equal amount is always transferred from one place to another.   When you withdraw cash, you are transferring money from your bank account to your wallet.  When you write a check to the grocery store, you are transferring money from your checking account to the grocery store.  And when you deposit a paycheck, you are transferring money from your source of income to your bank account.  

In GnuCash, these transfers are known as transactions, and each transaction requires at least two accounts.   To enter the cash withdrawal, for example, you would enter a transfer of money from a bank account to a cash account.   You would record the grocery check as a transfer from a checking account to a groceries expense account.   And the paycheck deposit is recorded as a transfer from an income account to a bank account.

Unlike traditional accounting packages, GnuCash makes it very easy to enter your double entry  transactions.   Chapter (?4) gives more detail on entering transactions, but for now let?s take a general look at how they work.  For a basic transaction like writing a check, you first create two accounts: a checking account and an account for the expense.   For example, if you write a check to pay for groceries, then you need both a checking account and a groceries account.  (See Chapter (?3) for more detail on creating accounts.)  To record the check, you simply enter a transaction to transfer money from the checking account to the groceries account.  In this example, if you write a check for $50 to pay for groceries, the GnuCash transaction looks like this when viewed from the checking account:


(?insert basictxn.png)



In this transaction, a check is written to ?ABC Grocery Store? for $50.    Since this is a double entry transaction, at least two accounts are affected and must be part of the transaction.  GnuCash automatically enters the current account name (?My Checking?) for you, though, so you only enter the other account name affected (?Groceries?).   

What about your paycheck?  You can see that money goes into a bank account, but where does it come from?  In double-entry, the money has to come from somewhere.    Technically, that money comes from your employer, but you don?t care about tracking your employer?s accounts.  So how do you account for money coming in?  In GnuCash, you create a special income type account to track your incoming paychecks.   (See Chapter (?3) for more information on creating income accounts.)  To record the paychecks,  you simply enter a transaction to transfer money from the income account to a bank account. 

Here's what a paycheck deposit looks like in GnuCash. 
(insert basictxn2.png)

 
In this example, $800 is transferred from a ?Salary? income account to the ?My Checking? account.  Because of the special nature of income accounts, discussed in (?Chapter 3), this transaction increases both the checking account balance and the income account balance by the amount transferred.  

So what if you want to record your gross pay and all the deductions that come out of your check as well?  You enter a transaction with <emphasis>multiple splits</emphasis>, which we will cover in section (?4.3).    In this type of transaction, you are transferring a sum of money from one location to several locations.  For any double entry transaction, the <emphasis>total</emphasis> amount of money transferred <emphasis>from</emphasis> accounts must equal the <emphasis>total</emphasis> amount transferred <emphasis>to</emphasis> other accounts.    

For example, your gross pay might be $1000, but only $800 of that gets deposited in your checking account.  The remaining $200 is split between your deductions, such as federal taxes, FICA and health insurance.   How do you account for this in GnuCash?  First, you should have accounts set up for the gross income, checking, and each of the deductions. (See Chapter (?3).)  Then you enter a transaction to transfer $1000 from the gross income account to the other four accounts: checking, federal taxes, FICA and health insurance.  Because this  is a double entry transaction, the total amount transferred to these four accounts must equal the original $1000 total coming from the income account.    We cover this type of transaction in more detail in Chapter (?4), but for now here?s a peek at what it looks like:

(?insert multitxn.png)


The main principle to remember is that there are at least two parts to every transaction, and the total amount transferred from a set of accounts must equal the total amount transferred to another set of accounts.  When a transaction transfers an equal sum from accounts to other accounts, that transaction is said to be <emphasis>in balance</emphasis>.  In GnuCash, as in double-entry accounting, you want to have all of your transactions in balance.  

Why is this important to you? If all of your transactions are in balance, then your money is all accounted for.  GnuCash has a record of where that money came from and where it was used.   By storing the names of all accounts involved in each transaction, you provide data that can be sorted and viewed in report form later.  Reports allow you to see things like how much money you made for the year and where it all went, what your net worth is, and what your taxes might be for the year.  The more information you provide when entering transactions, the more detailed your reports will be.  

(?SIDEBAR)
Double entry accounting has been around since the late 15th century, when it was described by an Italian friar, Luca Pacioli.  Traditional double entry accounting involves recording each transaction in a book called a ledger, then copying each part of the transaction to separate books called journals.  This method is still used in businesses today as a way to avoid entry errors and to track the source of those errors.  GnuCash simplifies this traditional accounting by copying part of each transaction for you, so it may not catch some of the entry errors that would show up in traditional accounting.   But it will flag transactions that are not balanced, and it will let you know when an account name is missing.   As (?Chapter 4) will show you, you then have a choice of either correcting these out-of-balance transactions or ignoring the flags.   (Of course, you can get around the double entry requirements by simply ignoring the out-of-balance flags or by categorizing everything in a ?Miscellaneous? account, but then you lose a lot of GnuCash?s functionality in tracking where your money goes.)
(?/SIDEBAR)

GnuCash offers an advantage over traditional accounting packages because it does a lot of the double entry work for you while still giving you the informational benefits of double entry accounting.   Chapter (?4) explains more about how to enter transactions in GnuCash, but first you will need to create a file and a few accounts. 

(?SIDEBAR)  Accounting Terminology  

Accountants use the terms <emphasis>debit</emphasis> and <emphasis> credit</emphasis> to describe whether money is being transferred <emphasis> to</emphasis> or <emphasis> from</emphasis> an account.   Money is recorded in the debit column, which is always the left column, when it is being transferred <emphasis>to</emphasis> an account.  Money is recorded in the credit column, which is always the right column, when it is being transferred <emphasis>from</emphasis> an account.   Money always flows from the right column of one account to the left column of another account.

The main rule of accounting is this:  <emphasis>For every transaction, total debits must equal total credits. </emphasis>  This is just another way of repeating the double entry rule, that for each transaction, the amount of money transferred *from* accounts must equal the amount transferred *to* other accounts

You don?t have to use the terms ?debit? and "credit" to use GnuCash, however.  GnuCash account registers default to "common" column headings such as "deposit" and "withdrawal"---if you are more comfortable with those headings, use them.  If you prefer the credit and debit headings, you can change the column headings to "use accounting labels? from the menu item <guimenuitem>Settings|Preferences...General</guimenuitem> (see section (?2.5) for more detail on setting preferences).

(?/SIDEBAR)

2.2  The GnuCash Interface (Discussion)

When you first open GnuCash, you will see the New User dialog.  From there, GnuCash provides other tools to help you easily find what you are looking for.  Let?s take a look at some of the common screens and dialog boxes you will see.

	2.2.1 New User Setup
	(?Describe this more when finished)
The New User Setup wizard allows you to create several accounts at once.  When you open GnuCash the first time, you will get this dialog:

(?insert newuser.png)
    

Click [Next] and follow the instructions provided in the dialog.   The dialog provides a default set of accounts with predefined account types, and you simply select the accounts you want.  For more information on account types, see (?section 3.2).    

(?NOTE: If you intend to import your data from another program and you want to keep the same account names you used in that program, you may want to delay setting up default accounts at this time.   You can simply import the data and the account names into GnuCash from the other program.  ?Section 2.7 explains how to do this.) 

	2.2.2 Tip of the Day
GnuCash provides a Tip of the Day dialog to give helpful hints for using the program:

(?Insert tipofday.png)


These tips provide useful information for beginning users.  To view more of the tips, click [Next] to continue.  If you do not wish to see this dialog box on startup, deselect the box next to ?Display this dialog next time.?   When you have finished viewing the helpful tips, click [Close} to close the ?Tip? dialog. 

	2.2.3 Main Window
 You should now see the main window, which looks like this:
(?Insert mainwin.png)


The main window provides an overview of the data contained in the current file.  It contains your list of account names and their current balances.  From this main window, you can open any of your account windows, which are called <emphasis>registers</emphasis>.  GnuCash allows you to have as many registers open as you wish.    

At the top of this window is the title bar, which displays the file name (once you have saved the file.) Below that is the menu bar.   You can access the menu options by either clicking on these menu headings or by using shortcut key combinations, covered later in this chapter.    Next is the tool bar, which contains buttons for the most common functions.    Below that is the status bar, which tells you information about what you own (Net Assets) and how much money you have made (Profits).  

The main window headings appear below the status bar.  Once you have started creating accounts, the account names will appear under the ?Accounts? heading.  You can customize which headings show up on this line in the Preferences menu, which we will cover later in this chapter.

(??More documentation needed here once the paned window is completed.)

	2.2.4 Register Window

Register windows are the account windows.   As the name suggests, they look similar to a checkbook register.  When you double-click an account name in the main window, the account?s register window will open.  

(?insert registerwin.png)


 (?Chapter 4) explains more about register windows and how to enter data into them.   For now, note that the parts of a register window are similar to the parts of the main window described earlier.  The title bar at the top contains the account name.  Below that, the menu bar contains menu options related to the register.  Tool bar buttons simplify common data entry functions.  The status bar appears below the tool bar, and it displays four types of account balances covered in (?Chapter 4).  At the bottom of the register window, information appears about the current location of the cursor.

	2.2.5 Tool Bar Buttons
Both the main window and the register window contain tool bar buttons.  In this book,  buttons appear enclosed in brackets like this: [Button].  These buttons provide quick access to common functions such as [Save] and [Import] in the main window and [Record] and [Delete] in the register window.  If you are not sure what a button does, move the mouse pointer over that button, and you should see a description of the function appear.    

Here is a summary of the main window buttons: 
--[Save] and [Import] are functions related to files, and these functions are discussed later in this chapter.  Use the [Save] function often to save the current file to disk.  The [Import] function allows you to bring over a file from another program that uses QIF (Quicken Interchange Format).  
--[Open], [Edit], [New] and [Delete] are functions related to accounts, and they are discussed in (?Chapter (?3).) 
--[Find] allows you to search for transactions, and it is discussed in (?Chapter (?4).)  
--[Exit] closes your GnuCash session.

Register buttons are discussed in (?Chapter 4).

	2.2.6 Menu Options
The main window and register window both contain menu headings  in a menu bar.  Clicking on a menu heading brings up the menu options for that heading.  This book displays menu headings and options separated by a straight line, like this: File|Save.  

You can click on the main menu headings and then move the mouse pointer over the menu options to see what they do.  As the pointer moves over a menu option, a description of the option appears in the lower left-hand corner of the window.  To select a menu option, click on it.

You can also access the most common menu options in a window by right-clicking the mouse anywhere in that window.  In the main window, this will bring up the Account menu options.  In the register window, this will bring up the Transaction menu options.

Other ways of accessing menu options are through keyboard shortcuts, described next.

	2.2.7 Menu Shortcuts
Most of the menu options have keyboard shortcuts, and these are marked by underlined characters in the menu names.  Pressing the Alt key with the underlined character in the menu heading will bring up the menu options for that heading.  Once the menu options are displayed, type the underlined character in the menu option to activate it.  For example, typing Alt+F in the main window brings up the File menu, then typing S will save the file.  A few of the menu options use Control key and function key shortcuts as well, and these are listed next to the options.   

GnuCash, as a Gnome application, also allows you to define your own menu shortcuts.   To define a shortcut, click on the menu header and move the mouse pointer over the option.  While the option is highlighted, press a key or key combination to set the shortcut.  You should now see your shortcut choice next to the option in the menu.  To delete a shortcut, press the Delete key while the option is highlighted.

2.3 Setting Preferences (Discussion)

GnuCash allows you to customize your session by setting several preference options.  From the menu select Settings|Preferences, then make your desired changes using the available tabs shown below.  Once you have finished making your preference changes,  select [Apply] or [OK] to apply the changes to your session.  (Selecting [Apply] applies the changes while leaving the Preferences window still open.   Selecting [OK] applies the changes and closes the Preferences window.)  At any time, you can click on any option?s [Default] button to return the option to its default preference setting.

In this section, we will discuss some of the tabs that relate to setting up your session and using files:  General, Main Window, Network and QIF Import.  The International tab relates to currencies and is discussed in (?Chapter 9).  The Reconcile, Register and Register Colors tabs relate to transactions and registers, and they are discussed in (?Chapter 4). 

In the General tab, you will see the default settings shown here:

(?insert preference.png here)



* Save Window Geometry---When this is selected, GnuCash automatically saves the window position and size you selected and recalls it the next time you open the window. 

* Toolbar Buttons---Select whether to display icons, text, or both on the tool bar.  

* Account Separator---The account separator is the character that separates a parent account from its subaccount, for example Utilities: Electric.  The default is a colon (:), but you can also select a slash (/), backslash,(\) dash(-) or period(.).  Parent accounts and subaccounts are discussed in section (?3.4)

* Reversed-Balance Accounts---This option lets you determine whether account balances will display as  positive or negative numbers:   
	--?None? shows all credit balances as negative and all debit balances as positive.  (See ?"Accounting Terminology? sidebar in this chapter for more information on debits and credits.)  
	--"Credit Accounts" (default) displays a positive  balance for account types that would normally carry a credit balance (income, credit, liability, equity).   See ?Chapter 3 for more information on these account types.
	--"Income and Expense" assigns a positive credit balance to income account balances and a negative debit balance to expense account balances.  See ?Chapter 3 for more information on these account types.

* Accounting Labels---Select this option if you want column headings to refer to "debits" and "credits" instead of the default informal headings. (See ?"Accounting Terminology? sidebar in this chapter for more information on debits and credits.)

* Display Tip of the Day---You can turn on or off the option to display the Tip of the Day dialog on startup. 

* Display negative amounts in red---If you turn off this option, GnuCash will display negative numbers in black. 

* Automatic decimal point---This option will automatically insert a decimal point into numbers you type in.  

* Auto decimal places---If you select the ?automatic decimal point? option, this option allows you to set the number of decimal places to be used.

The Main Window tab affects which headings display in the main window.  Here are the default settings:
(?insert prefmainwin.png)



* Double click expands parent accounts---Double clicking on an account name in the main window normally opens the account register.  If you select this option, double clicking on the account name will display its subaccounts in a register.  (See ?Chapter 3 for discussion of accounts and subaccounts.)

*Reports appear in main window---Reports automatically open in the main window unless you turn off this option.  If the option is turned off, reports appear in their own windows.
* Account types to display---This allows you to choose which account types will be shown in the main window.  For example, if you do not want to display income and expense type accounts, you can click on those account types here to turn off the option.  (See ?Chapter 3 for discussion of account types.)

* Account fields to display---Select the headings to be shown for each account in the main window.   Press the [Select All] button to choose all headings, or select them individually.

The Network tab contains options for network access, and it allows you to turn off network access if you choose to do so.  GnuCash offers special services through this network, such as (?list these when completed).  

(?insert prefnetwk.png)



* Allow http network access---This option allows access to the GnuCash network.

* Allow https connections using OpenSSL--- This allows OpenSSL to be used.

* Enable GnuCash Network---This turns on the network services offered by GnuCash.

* GnuCash Network server---The selected server is www.gnumatic.com.  This is where the GnuCash network resides.

The QIF Import tab contains only one option, ?Verbose Documentation.?  The first time you use the importer (discussed later in this chapter), you may notice that the importer has detailed instructions on how to import a file.  Once you have become familiar with using the importer, you might want to turn off this option.  Turning off the option gives you less detail in the importer dialogs.

2.4 Getting Help (Discussion)
GnuCash offers help in many ways.    We have already covered the Tip of the Day dialog that gives you helpful hints upon startup of your GnuCash session.  GnuCash also offers an extensive help manual and online support, and it offers additional services to users who register with the GnuCash network. 

	2.4.1  Manual
Once you have opened GnuCash, you will see the main window Help menu heading, which opens an online manual.   The online manual is organized by topic, and you can expand each topic into its subtopics.   You can also use the manual window as a web browser if web access is enabled.

Manual topics are listed on the left side below the GnuCash Manual heading.  To select a topic or subtopic, click on it, and you should see the text for that topic appear on the right.     Use the [Back] and [Forward] buttons to navigate through your topic choices,  and print any text using the [Print} button.

Within other GnuCash windows, the Help menu heading will bring up context-specific help.  For example, if you are in a register window and click on Help, the online manual will open with the register-specific help page.

	2.4.2  Web Access
The GnuCash Help window also acts as a simple web browser, so you can pull up the GnuCash web site for additional information or help by clicking on gnucash.org below the ?URL Tests? heading.  You can also open any web site under this window by clicking the [Open] tool bar button and then typing in the URL.    Use the [Back], [Forward], [Reload], [Stop], and [Print] buttons as you would in a standard browser.  

The gnucash.org web site contains helpful information about the program and about any updates to it.  It also contains links to the GnuCash mailing lists for developers and users, and you can search the archives of these mailing lists for discussions on a particular topic.  If you don?t find the answers you are looking for, you can post your question to the user list, and someone on the list will have the answer for you. 

	2.4.3 Network Registration
GnuCash offers special services under its GnuCash Network.   (?Describe more when available)  To access this network, complete the short registration by clicking on ?Register GnuCash? below the ?Support? heading.   

	2.4.4 Topic Search
The online manual also provides a search function.  To search for a particular topic, click the ?Search? Tab at the bottom of the Help window and type in your topic in the field provided.    Click the ?Search? 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.

	


2.5 Creating and Saving Files (How-To)

If you are using GnuCash for the first time, it will automatically open a new file when you begin.  Follow these steps to save the file under a new name:

	1) Choose File|Save As... from the menu bar or select the Save toolbar button.  GnuCash will bring up this window:

(?insert filesave.png here)
	



	2) In the text box below "Selection" type your chosen file name (e.g. gcashdata).
	3) Click the [OK] button to save the file.

If you are keeping track of finances for a single household, you need only one file.  But if you are also tracking business finances or want to keep data separate for some reason, then you will need more than one file.  To create a new file:

	1)  From the main menu, choose File|New File.
	2)  Follow the steps above for saving a file under a new name.

Before ending each GnuCash session, be sure to save your data changes using File|Save or the Save toolbar button.   In fact, it is a good idea to save your data changes often, since GnuCash does not permanently record your changes until you save them.  To open an existing file, select File|Open and choose your file from the list.


2.7 Importing QIF Files (How-To)

<emphasis> This  section tells you how to initially import data from other financial programs that use QIF (Quicken Interchange Format).   Section (?11.5)  addresses importing QIF data from online bank statements. </emphasis>

To import data from Quicken, MS Money, or other programs that use QIF(Quicken Interchange Format),  you must first export your data to a QIF file.   One way to do this is to export each account as a separate QIF file.  An easier way, available in Quicken 98 and beyond, is to export all accounts at once into a single QIF file.  Check your program?s manual to determine if this option is available.

Once your data is in QIF form,  follow the easy 3-step import process described below.   Before you get started, though, please note that part of the import process involves checking for duplicate transactions, so it is very important that you load *all* of your QIF files before importing.   Duplicate transactions result when more than one account is involved.  For example, if one of your transactions transferred money from savings to checking, you would end up with this same transaction recorded twice---once in the savings account and once in the checking account.

To import QIF files:

1) Load all of the QIF files containing data you wish to import.  
To do this, click on the [Import] button from the toolbar or select File|Import QIF... from the menu.   When the QIF import dialog box appears, click [Next] and follow the instructions to guide you through the process of loading your files.  

(?insert import.png)


You will be prompted for a filename to load.  Use the Browse feature to select your QIF file and click [Next] to load it.  Once the file is loaded, select [Load Another File] if you have more files to load.    When you have loaded all your QIF files, click [Next] to continue with the import process.

2) Review the GnuCash accounts to be created.
The importer then matches up your QIF accounts and categories with GnuCash accounts and gives you a brief description of the matching process.  Clicking [Next] will bring you to a view comparing your QIF accounts with the corresponding GnuCash accounts created.   To change an account name, select the row containing that account name and edit the name in the dialog box provided.  Click  [Next] when you have finished making changes, and proceed through a similar category matching process.  QIF income and expense categories import as GnuCash income and expense accounts (see section ?3.1 for more on this).  Make changes to these account names if necessary, and click [Next} to continue. 
 (?Note: If you are not sure what changes are needed, it is safe to accept the GnuCash account names.  It is easy to edit the accounts later if you find you need to make a change.)

From the drop-down list,  select a standard currency to be used for imported accounts and click [Next] to continue.  If you have stocks, mutual funds, or other (?securities), you will be prompted for additional information.   The importer dialog will ask  for the exchange or listing (i.e. Nasdaq), the (?security's) full name, and the ticker symbol.  If you do not have this information handy, you can edit the account information later, once the import is complete.    Click [Next] to continue.

3) Tell GnuCash to import the data.
The last step is the import.  Once you have verified your account names and (?investment) information, click [Finish] in the "Update your GnuCash accounts" page to complete the import process.   Depending upon the size of your file, the import might take a few minutes to complete,  so a progress bar displays the percentage finished.  When the import process is complete, GnuCash will return you to the main window, which should now display the names of the accounts you imported.

2.8 Backing Up and Protecting Data (How-To)
GnuCash creates several types of files to help ensure that your data is not lost.  You may see the following file extensions:  xac, log, LCK, LNK.    Each time you save your data file, a backup copy will also be saved with the extension ?xac.?   This backup file is a complete copy of your data file, and the filename format refers to the data file, year, month, day and time of the backup.  For example, the filename ?gcashdata.20010404185747.xac? indicates this is a backup copy of the file ?gcashdata? saved in the year 2001, April 4, at 6:57:47 p.m.

Each time you open a file in GnuCash, a ?.log? is created and saved with the same name format as the ?.xac? backup files.   As you make changes to the open data file, the log file saves only those changes.  Log files are not a full backup of your data file---they simply record changes you have made to the data file in the current GnuCash session.

You may occasionally see ?.LNK? and ?.LCK? files appear.  These do not store any data, but they are created to prevent more than one user from opening the same file at the same time.  These files are automatically created when you open the file, to ?lock? it so no one else can access it.  When you close your GnuCash session or open another file, GnuCash ?unlocks? the first data file by deleting the ?LCK? and ?LNK? files.   

If GnuCash crashes while you have a data file open, the ?LCK? and ?LNK? files are not deleted.  The next time you try to open GnuCash, you will get a warning message that the file is locked.  The warning message appears because the ?LNK? and ?LCK? files are still in your directory.   It is safe to choose ?Yes? to open the file, but you should delete the .LNK and .LCK files (using a terminal window or your file manager.)  Once those files are deleted, you will not get the warning message again unless GnuCash crashes.
So which files should you keep around?  Keep your main data file, of course---data files do not have an automatic file extension.   It?s a good idea to keep some of the more recent ?.xac? files, but you can safely delete the ?.log? files since they are not complete copies of your data.  You should also delete any ?.LCK? and ?.LNK? files that you see after closing GnuCash.   If you decide to manually back up your data file to another disk, you only need to back up the main data file---not the ?.xac? files.

2.9 Putting It All Together 

<emphasis>This section begins a tutorial that will continue throughout this book.  At the end of each chapter, you will see a "?Putting It All Together"? section that walks you through examples to illustrate concepts discussed in that section.  Each ?Putting It All Together? section builds on the previous one, so be sure to save your file for easy access. </emphasis>

Let's get started!  

1) First, let?s create a file to store your ?real? data.  Open GnuCash and go through the New User Setup dialog.    You will create a file and accounts to be used for your home finances, so choose the accounts that pertain to you.  If you are not sure what accounts you will need, select the (?Full setup) option to create all of the accounts provided.    When you have completed the setup, save this file with a filename you want to use for your home data.  

2) Next, create a file to store test data.  This is the file that will be used in the tutorials throughout this manual.   Click File|New to create a new file, and name it gcashdata.  Your main window should now look something like this:
(?insert gcashdata.png here)


2) Now, adjust some preferences in this main window.  Select Settings|Preferences and change the tool bar buttons so that they display only text, not icons.  Click [Apply] and look at the tool bar buttons in the main window.  Return to the Preferences dialog and change the tool bar buttons back to the default setting by clicking {Set to Default].    Next, on the Main Window tab, select all of the account fields to display in the main window.   
From the menu, select Settings|Preferences and change the "Main Window" option that will add the " Type" account field.  The main window should now look like this:
(?insert gcashdata2.png here)



Save your file.

3)  If you plan to import QIF data from another program, let's try a practice file first.  (If not, skip to the next chapter on account setup.)  First, create a new file called (?gcashimport).  From the main menu, select File|Import QIF... or the [Import] button to start the import.   When you are prompted for a filename, select (???GnuCash should have a sample QIF file available for this tutorial---can that be done easily?)  Load the file and look at the results of the account match.  Complete the import and take a look at the results.  The main window should now look like this:

(?Insert a screen shot here that corresponds to an imported test file)

Save your file.

