With only 15 odd days left before taxes are due, I think I’ll try something a little risky in the spirit of learning. I will be creating a database using Open Office Base to manage my books. With my business, things just got a whole lot more complicated, and I need something to track the flow of money.

You may ask: Why not just use one of the dozens of business programs out there (e.g. MYOB, Simply Accounting, etc..). Answer: I’m a computing scientist, not an accountant.

I actually have Simply Accounting, but got frustrated because it seemed way too complicated. I figure all I need is a simple database to track my income and expenses, and categorize it into the prescribed tax categories.

My ulterior motive is to get a little dirty with Open Office to see if it is a good as I think it is. If I am to find a slick way of integrating Dataface with Open Office, I must first get good at just using Open Office..

What do you think… is this foolish?