Small entrepreneur and Open Source Software?

[gregory house]

Yes, maintainability is an issue regarding custom apps. But, consider this fact - the science of accounting / double entry book keeping has not changed in the five centuries since it was first invented by Luca Pacioli. And it is hardly going to change within my lifetime. This is one area where accounting software companies are seriously astray. They have tried to include everything in a single system - accounting, inventory, taxation and compliance. And that only complicates matters. Ideally, these would be completely separate modules which can be linked up without creating a mess. But that is not the case with most apps on the market.

Medium and big companies with enormous transaction volumes cannot afford any kind of duplication. But the smaller lot can afford some amount of that. Someone with about five thousand transactions a year can use one system for inventory management and re-enter the accounting related stuff into the accounting system over the weekend or something. That is something that needs to be thought over - one app for accounting that won't need to be changed, ever and the other one for inventory which can be modified depending on requirements.

why do u think those apps you mentioned are still using DOS, they know there wont be any changes to it so ppl could in theory use it for yrs
Yes, they still make plenty of money peddling the same stuff to lots of people. But I was more concerned with the user interface the offer, the 16-bit limit of DOS that can seriously affect record keeping if you are not careful, and the inability of suppliers to modify the system as per requirements.

 

[blr_p]

Medium and big companies with enormous transaction volumes cannot afford any kind of duplication. But the smaller lot can afford some amount of that.

Something does not make sense there...i'd have thought the bigger companies would demand specialisation ie seperate apps which would be tied in via the database..whereas the smaller companies could not afford such specialisation and would therefore have to put up with a jack of trades of sorts.

You are in the unenviable segment where you ahve outgrown the software but not needing the extra bells & whistles along with the price tag the more specialsied stuff offers.


Someone with about five thousand transactions a year can use one system for inventory management and re-enter the accounting related stuff into the accounting system over the weekend or something. That is something that needs to be thought over - one app for accounting that won't need to be changed, ever

..i think this never happens in the world of software, ppl are always agitating for more features of some sort or the other 😀

Yes, they still make plenty of money peddling the same stuff to lots of people. But I was more concerned with the user interface the offer, the 16-bit limit of DOS that can seriously affect record keeping if you are not careful, and the inability of suppliers to modify the system as per requirements.

you'd think that was a niche just waiting for some willing entrepreneur to get into.

 

[gregory house]

Something does not make sense there...
I speak only regarding capturing data. Amazon.com will go mad if it maintains one system only for order processing and inventory management, then takes the entire data out of it, processes it again, and puts it into a pure accounting system. In smaller cases, it is very much possible - generate your bills from one system, and post the journal entries when you have the time. But every one wants to offer end-to-end solutions. Want inventory management? Sorry, you have to use our accounting system as well.

i think this never happens in the world of software...
Software features wise, it is a pointless race. The principle of - a thing is complete not when you cannot add anything to it, but when you cannot remove anything from it - needs to be followed. But who adheres to it? Gold plating and adding pointless features that no one is ever going to use is what most companies do.

you'd think that was a niche just waiting for some willing entrepreneur to get into.
Entrepreneurship is very difficult as it is. If you have to deal with people who are not tech savvy but still need to use software daily, you might go mad trying to solve their problems. On a serious note, companies do exist that cater to a niche clientèle. But that does not cover all sectors, yet. Maybe the lack of a viable market forces people to go the generic way.

 

[blr_p]

I speak only regarding capturing data. Amazon.com will go mad if it maintains one system only for order processing and inventory management, then takes the entire data out of it, processes it again, and puts it into a pure accounting system.

I bet they have seperate systems if for anything to scale them up if required. Those databases are not walled gardens however, they have apps that access them and tie all the data in a way that makes sense.

But every one wants to offer end-to-end solutions. Want inventory management? Sorry, you have to use our accounting system as well.

i think thats the only way for them to sell, chances are you will require both.

But i think i understand what you are saying , you want to pick & choose best of breed and mix & match. That i suppose isn't possible yet.

Software features wise, it is a pointless race. The principle of - a thing is complete not when you cannot add anything to it, but when you cannot remove anything from it - needs to be followed. But who adheres to it? Gold plating and adding pointless features that no one is ever going to use is what most companies do.

i'm not sure companies could justify adding things for the sake of it, i'd like to think its customer driven to a large extent. They then pick what the majority wants and somehow tie that in with what they want to do.

 

[gregory house]

The point is this - accounting and inventory are two separate issues entirely. Invoices may deal with a hundred items and thousand discounts and taxes and what not. But accounting for a sales invoice is very simple - You sold something to someone and collected taxes from him? Ok. Then taxes go to a liability account coz I have to transfer it to to the government, sales are my revenue and the customer is my debtor. It does not concern itself with anything other than debit or credit.When the two are merged, everything becomes a mess. You have to set up the application to manage taxes, discounts, items, sales and purchase order processing and what not. And that is huge complication. Big companies employ some kind or ERP system with multiple modules. The system presents a different view from the same data depending on who is asking for the information. This is overkill for 99/100 people and frankly speaking, a technical nightmare both for the implementer as well as the user.Another thing is, I can't understand what people in the open source community are doing? On one end of the spectrum, you have TurboCash and GnuCash. And on the other end, you have erp systems. What happened to the middle layer - a modularised accounting and/ or inventory system that can run on the desktop?

 

[netfreak]

Probably a dumb question but why can'y you simple use tally?It costs just 5k i guess and is pretty decent as double entry system.

 

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[kindofblue]

^Isnt that where he started off? I am out of my depth here so could not understand many parts of the discussion but GnuCash works extremely well for my home book keeping purposes. So, what's wrong with GnuCash - you don't find it scalable?

 

[gregory house]

He is already using Tally for accounting and inventory in conjunction with my system. Even with a new inventory system, he will continue using Tally for accounting because it is one of the very few systems that mimics the actual accounting process from vouchers to journal entries to ledgers to trial balance to final accounts. It is Tally's inventory system that is the irritant. While its generic nature meets the demands of a single tier taxation/ discount system, using it in his case is akin to trying to force a square plug into a round hole - it doesn't hold up very well.Nothing wrong with GnuCash except the fact that it is more of a single entry accounting system than a double entry one. Most accountants would go mad figuring out what the hell it does with their transactions. Professional accounting has very specific demands from its software and Tally is the de facto standard as far as double entry accounting systems are concerned, at least in India. The second thing is that it is not an inventory system, which is what I am interested in.The sheer agony of editing 2500 inventory items if either the price or discount changes (some of it is unavoidable, but a lot of it is not) is what is the cause of a massive headache. A configurable system that takes care of the entire inventory process from order management to billing is what the situation demands, and I am working on it as time permits.

 

[kindofblue]

Nothing wrong with GnuCash except the fact that it is more of a single entry accounting system than a double entry one. Most accountants would go mad figuring out what the hell it does with their transactions.

GnuCash *IS* a double entry book keeping software. Each transaction results in one account being credited and another one debited, if thats how you meant it.

 

[gregory house]

Any accounting application that works on a transaction model is using double entry system. In that sense GnuCash is a double entry application. But it uses a single entry system of recording entries rather than a full voucher system. That is, if you have spent 5000 bucks on various items in cash during a week, you go to the cash account and start listing various expenses and marking withdrawals and GnuCash does the double entry thing in the background for you. It even lets you complete transactions without balancing the same if you do a split entry.On the other hand, traditional accounting applications follow a voucher model of entry. In those apps, you start by creating a voucher and then specify which accounts will be debited and which will be credited. Even in cases where single entry may be used (like invoices), things happen within the confines of a voucher. The entire transaction model is different.That is why GnuCash is easy to use for personal finance and simple services based business accounting. But retailing and mass retailing at that is an entirely different ballgame. Haven't used it much. So don't know if I am missing any compelling features.