[ale] GNUCash "ecosystem?"

[Derek Atkins]

Ken Cochran <kwc at shell.TheWorld.com> writes:

>> Unfortunately Payroll is a perfect example of a very complicated system.
>> You have so many deductions, withholdings, limits, etc that all interact
>> with each other, and each locale has its own rules for how each item gets
>> handled.  Doing that in a general way is nearly impossible, and keeping it
>> up to date for every locale even moreso.
>
> I'd just be doing something "simple" - most complicated part
> would be calculating withholdings, just need a place to "hold"
> them for later payment.

Nothing in payroll is "simple".  :(

However, GnuCash can certainly "hold" them for later payment.  It just
can't compute them for you.

>> Yes, Payroll is an oft-desired feature in GnuCash, but I don't see it
>> happening.  It hasn't happened in the past decade, and I don't see anyone
>> stepping up to the plate to implement and donate it.  Personally if I were
>> going to write it, I would ask for a subscription payment model if I were
>> being expected to keep it up to date.
>
> Indeed; yup a massive can of worms.  :(  Guess that's why
> I thought there might be some kind of plugin "market" a la
> Photoshop - different add-ons/plugins depending on your payroll
> locale.  In this case, not many employees; maybe could sorta
> "simulate" PR with typical accounts, part I'd need to write
> would be the calculations & I've done that before.

The payroll architecture I've had in mind for GnuCash would sort of
enable this kind of market.  It would be a payroll "framework"..  But
it's useless without at least one plugin, and even the simplest of
plugins gets complicated very quickly.  :(

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
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