How to Setup Online Stock Price Retrieval on GnuCash

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports.

GnuCash is my favourite finance software to record and track down my daily expenses and monthly income, in furthering to analyze money usage with financial reports - income statement, balance sheet, and etc.

With the capability to retrieve security quotes online, GnuCash helps me easily to track my investment portfolio. Below is how to setup online stock price retrieval for GnuCash:

1. Click Start > All Programs > GnuCash > Install Online Price Retrieval. The script will install perl module Finance-Quote which is necessary for online retrieval of prices. Please allow access to networks if Windows Firewall has blocked Perl interpreter.
2. Wait till you see the screen below. Press any key to continue/exit.

3. Open GnuCash > Tools > Security Editor.
4. Click Add to stock information.
5. Go to http://finance.yahoo.com/ to look for the security you want to maintain in GnuCash. For example, I want to add Malayan Banking Berhad of KLSE. Simply key 1155.KL into Symbol/abbreviation. Checked Get Online Quotes and use Yahoo USA as source. As shown as the pictures below:


6. Click Tools > Price Editor > Add and select the stock.

7. Click Get Quotes and GnuCash will retrieve stock prices accordingly from Yahoo Finance.