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Self-hosting ERPNext is a truly excellent FOSS solution to replace accounting apps like QuickBooks, if you do your own accounting or are at least able to choose

Self-hosting ERPNext is a truly excellent FOSS solution to replace accounting apps like QuickBooks, if you do your own accounting or are at least able to choose the software your business uses for accounting: https://erpnext.com/open-source-accounting https://erpnext.com/open-source-accounting ERPNext is a full ERP with a bunch of modules, but you only have to use the ones you need and it's easy to ignore the ones you don't. As nice as GNUCash is for offline accounting, ERPNext is much more convenient for accounting if you need to attach files and notes to your journal entries, or provide multi-user access to the books. Frappe Cloud is the easiest way to self-host ERPNext: https://frappecloud.com https://frappecloud.com A third-party Docker image on your own server (or local computer, if you prefer) is the second-easiest way: https://github.com/pipech/erpnext-docker-debian https://github.com/pipech/erpnext-docker-debian

mkr-hn 5y ago
This seems like a lot of complexity unless "just spin up a Docker image" is something you normally do and are comfortable enough with to fix when it breaks. Not everyone is a developer, even on HN. Frappe Cloud's pricing page says "simple," but the numbers don't mean anything to someone who doesn't know what all this stuff is and how it relates to the software's resource requirements. And that's if you're Good With Computers. Most small businesses are not run by people who grew up messing with EMM to get games going.
- commoner 5y ago
  This recommendation is for people who are willing to use the free trial on Frappe Cloud to gauge how much their usage would cost before switching to ERPNext, or for people who are comfortable with running ERPNext on Docker on their own server or local computer. Sure, the latter group isn't everyone on HN, but I know there are many people on HN who would appreciate a free and open source accounting solution with plenty of features to replace QuickBooks. The developers of ERPNext also released Frappe Books, a desktop application with only the accounting-related features of ERPNext. It's also FOSS and does not need to be self-hosted, but unlike ERPNext, it's no longer being updated: https://frappebooks.com https://frappebooks.com https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23091005 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23091005

mkr-hn 5y ago

This seems like a lot of complexity unless "just spin up a Docker image" is something you normally do and are comfortable enough with to fix when it breaks. Not everyone is a developer, even on HN. Frappe Cloud's pricing page says "simple," but the numbers don't mean anything to someone who doesn't know what all this stuff is and how it relates to the software's resource requirements. And that's if you're Good With Computers. Most small businesses are not run by people who grew up messing with EMM to get games going.

commoner 5y ago
This recommendation is for people who are willing to use the free trial on Frappe Cloud to gauge how much their usage would cost before switching to ERPNext, or for people who are comfortable with running ERPNext on Docker on their own server or local computer. Sure, the latter group isn't everyone on HN, but I know there are many people on HN who would appreciate a free and open source accounting solution with plenty of features to replace QuickBooks. The developers of ERPNext also released Frappe Books, a desktop application with only the accounting-related features of ERPNext. It's also FOSS and does not need to be self-hosted, but unlike ERPNext, it's no longer being updated: https://frappebooks.com https://frappebooks.com https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23091005 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23091005