Hi everyone,
i have build a D7 site functioning as an accounting software (simple version of QuickBooks or equivalent).
I am a sole trader (builder/handyman) and for the last year or so I have managed to get enough of a functions from QB that I could become totally dependent on it and ditch QB altogether. By no means it is as robust as QB or Xero, but it seems to be pretty functional for small traders like myself.
Main features are:
- NO CUSTOM CODE (I can't code :)), site build on Views/Panels/Pages/Rules/VBO. I prefer to use modules only in stable version. So some of the functionality has been sacrificed in order to keep the site as lean as possible.
- double entry accounting
- journaling of every change made (not implement yet, as I don't need it personally, but easily implementable)
- reporting (accrual or cash) - balance sheets and income/expense reports - reports are very basic, but do the trick
- semi automatic sync with my bank account (at this point I have to export my bank transactions into CSV and than import that into my system)
- automatic categorization of transactions based on matching by a keyword found in transaction details
- invoicing (either by adding transactions manually or automatically generated based on tracked work hours)
- invoices accessible to my customers online
- time/job tracking (I invoice my customers by the hour)
As I mentioned above, I have been using this system for over a year, and all seems to work as expected. I have run it for a while as a duplicate to my QB, just to see I am getting the same numbers. And I do :).
Now, finally to my questions:
1/ is there out there anyone who would find such website useful?
2/ if so, how would I go about showing it off / getting feedback?
3/ I consider myself pretty advanced Drupal user (can do pretty much anything to the point of coding - which I can't do) however I could use help in terms of security audit of the system - we are talking sensitive data being exposed to the elements of the Internet.
4/ would such system have the potential to be released as a service similar to QB or Xero? Obviously, the functionality is limited compared to the two, but I think there is a lot of people like myself (tradies) who wouldn't mind paying less money for their accounting sw.
5/ One thing that bugs me a lot is the semi manual bank feed, which I would need a person with coding skills to tap into my Bank's API and make the feed directly into the system.
6/ any other question I am forgetting to ask?
I could fairly easily copy my production site into a sandbox and make a demo, if people would be interested (in fact, i'll do it now, as I expect that people will wanna try it out). Obviously, I don't want to give access to my live site.
Any feedback / questions / points / thoughts are very welcome.
Cheers,
Martin
Comments
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I commend you on taking this on. I had a couple clients come to me asking if I could build something like them. I told them that a dedicated system would be better. That said , the best way to get eyes on it would be to release it as a distro https://www.drupal.org/docs/7/distributions
Thanks nicoz,
Thanks nicoz,
yes, distro would be nice and make a lot of sense. I will have look into it (well I already did, and at first it seemed like a pretty steep learning curve for me at the moment) once I get a little more time.
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The only way anyone would be up for using it is if it is in the form of a distro. We haven't passed around databases since the drupal 4/5 days. If you had a sandbox site to setup, I wouldn't mind poking around in it, as long as it doesn't require setting up a new dev box on this end.
Understood.
Understood.
Well, poke around the demo site first, and I'll do my distro building homework asap. Although asap can easily turn into weeks / months...
demo site
Ok, so i took some time getting the demo site going. I have to say that although I have been using it happily for a while now, only when I started on the demo site, I realized how much of a prototype this project is. Since I created it, it all makes sense to me. But lets see how much it will work for others.
Anyways, the try out is hanging here demo.lecart.com.au. The login username is "Accountant" and password is "accountant".
It is pre-populated with some dummy transactions, accounts, customers and what not. Feel free to mess around (to an extent). If it gets into a real mess, I got a backup, so can always just bring it back to square one.
Again, any comments, suggestions or questions are most welcome.
Thanks!
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I have had a quick poke around and I have a few suggestions:
That is just some suggestions on a cursory review.
also take a look at https://www.drupal.org/project/pm While it isn't the same, there is some crossover.
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I would also add some theme recommendations:
Get rid of the right sidebar and put the menu into an admin bar and widen the layout to 90%. this will allow more breathing room for the tables and they are very scrunched up.
that's exactly how I have it
that's exactly how I have it on my "live" instance. :) I couldn't be bothered setting up the admin bar for the demo, so just wacked it to the sidebar. The whole thing could definitely use some neatening up including a help from a themer. My thinking was to get out the minimal working site, no bells, no whistles, no coloring in. Yet. Just the core doing the maths and displaying the right numbers. Look at the Reports. Absolutely hideous, but, it is giving the results it should. (I hope).
My priorities were:
* crunch the numbers correct
* make a bulk import possible (semi automatic feed from the bank exports)
* set up the node edit pages in such a way, that punching in the transactions when I do my tax returns will be easy/fast. (I even tried some module for using keyboard shortcuts - but that didn't pan out)
* automatize matching transactions as much as possible.
* possibility to reconcile against bank statements (which is what the running total is for).
Having all that as a foundation, phase two would be theming and optimizing the UX.
* adding a header/footer
* adding a header/footer count in your views so it shows you the number of records per result.
- ok, done that for "transactions". definitely useful and if it wouldn't be 1:59 am, I'd do it for the rest of views as well.
* exposing more filters on other fields (e.g. date range) and then putting them into a collapsible fieldset using the better exposed filter module.
-yes. absolutely. These filters are enough at the moment for myself, however I realize that other people might need other filters. I was actually adding the filters on the go, as I needed them when I was doing my accounting. The very first version had an exposed filter on anything that was filterable, but I figured I don't need most of them. So in order to reduce clutter, I removed them and left only the essentials for my own use. But the collapsible fieldset set would be nice compromise.
I could even do few of them, say basic and advanced filtering, which would do both - reduce clutter but give the option for those who want.
* add the views calc module to calculate the amounts per view
- here Im not sure what you mean by "amounts per view" . A running total/balance? If so, that is implemented where it makes sense. If you click on any account (say the Bank account), it will give you the running total for each distinct day. Under the "transactions" list, it doesn't make much of a sense to do it, as it is a collection of all Transactions saved.
The view of all transactions is there more to be able to quickly search for a particular transaction. Not to check running balance.
*add the views export module so users can export their views result to csv
- yap, good idea, can be done easy
*adding the views save module so users can build their own custom reports
- hey, this is an awesome module that I didn't know before. I'd love it even for my own use - thanks for the tip. Implementing tomorrow, as the clock says now 2:12 am and my brain is close to fried.
thanks for the input!
intrested in accounting app
Hi, just came to this post via google search.. We are looking for accounting and invoicing app for our business model.. Would like to know more about your app.. You can contact me @ anil_kumar@techawk.in
what are your questions?
Hi Anil,
the demo link has been down for maintanace, but it is back now.
https://www.drupal.org/node/2895048#comment-12174578
Feel free to log in and try things out. Once you have a look, feel free to ask anything.
Looks very promising! The
Looks very promising! The first thing I actually checked was the presence of a journal / journal entry / ledger / balance sheet / profit & loss reports. Maybe thats a suggestion?
Yes, cannot wait for this
Yes, cannot wait for this project to take off!
Any news about the development of this project
Hello,
I found such website/project very useful and i would like to know how can i get a copy of it ?
Thank you,
I can create a demo site if
I can create a demo site if you like, And you can copy it from there.
Sorry for the late response. I've been up to some other stuff in since the new year.
Is this project still being worked on?
Would love to see it grow.
Well, yes.
Well, yes.
There has been no new feature development, as I don't really need any new features. I got few ideas how I could improve it, but nothing too crucial - so I haven't done it. However, I do still use it (a lot). And it all seems to work. So all I do is to keep the thing updated.
And every now and then (like now for example), I entertain the thought of making a distro out of this. But I have to say not much luck - I just can't seem to find the right docs that would walk me through the process.
Looks really interesting -
Looks really interesting - any news of when a release might happen?
Yap, just trying to find out
Yap, just trying to find out how to learn to make a new distro, but no luck so far. There seems to be no "drupal distro making for dumbheads" out there.
Wanna give a hand and teach me how to make a distro? The project as such is live and kicking, as I use it now as my primary accounting software and it all seems to work just fine.
Certainly would if I could
Certainly would if I could but I'm oldstyle and still do databases, modules and tar... sure you've googled - I found
https error but looks useful - https://www.drupalwatchdog.com/volume-3/issue-1/creating-drupal-7-distri...
https://www.drupal.org/docs/7/creating-distributions
https://www.drupal.org/docs/develop/packaging-a-distribution/how-to-pack...
https://www.drupal.org/docs/develop/packaging-a-distribution
There is a WikiHow but it's for 8 https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Drupal-8-Distribution
I sure did see all of these,
I sure did see all of these, but for some reason, just couldn't follow the instructions. Don't really know why. Maybe, I didn't give it enough time to understand... Should try again one day.
Can understand that! Have a
Can understand that! Have a long list of 'must do one days!' trouble is real life gets in the way!
Sounds like it's reasonably stable - Drupal still allow sandbox projects?
Or could it be released as a module release off the demo site if you can't meet the distro requirements yet?
Well, I pulled the finger out
Well, I pulled the finger out of my ass, and apart from building a tree house for my kids, I installed git, created sandbox and got things going. At the moment, I'm just blindly following instructions, not really knowing what's happening. But will eventually get there.
I'm pretty sure it's got to be released as a distro, not as a module.
So patience, one day it will happen.
Trying the tricky balance of
Trying the tricky balance of patience and excitement.... can see the project which is great...
Stick with the patience
... but the excitement is building up. I've had my in-laws in house for the last few weeks - which generally just turns me into an alcoholic. But they are gone now, and this arvo, I managed to create a duplicate of my test site (locally only) using profiler_builder, drush and features.
So theoretically, I'm not far off. Hang on brother, will get there one day.
Progress
Ok, some progress has happened. I learned features and I managed to create a distribution. However, during this process, I learned the site I have build is not really appropriately build for features (issues with exporting views and role based permissions). So Will create some suite rewrites, package it and post it as a distro.
Eventually, it'll come.
Sounds like definite progress
Sounds like definite progress - thanks. Will keep watching with interest...
Transactions
Is the advice still to wait for the transactions release before starting - or should I make a start anyhow?
Thanks!
Hey csc4,
Hey csc4,
i have to say I got stuck creating a distro. After the site got more complex, my process for creating a distro failed. (Well, process worked, but the installation failed). I really have no skill or time to debug this, so I chose plan B.
Plan B:
Brilliant - thanks so much!
Brilliant - thanks so much!
Welcome. I have updated the
Welcome. I have updated the documentation a little. So more to come again once I find more time...
I'd be real interested
Wow, I had considered doing this myself because intuit and the people who bought quicken (consumer version of Quick Books) from them ruined a product I relied on. They deliberately inserted themselves between the bank and users with their servers as a way to make your software quit working at will (aka to force you to upgrade). Most offensive of all they relied on internet explorer to make the bank api calls, instead of writing their own reliable connector. To me that was like opening the hood of a Rolls Royce and seeing a Yugo engine.
People want these legacy formats that worked as opposed to shiny new interface every six weeks where every menu has changed. I swear to god someone needs to goto a development company's parking lot for people who don't understand changing a gui like that is like reversing the brake and gas pedal on a car and do so every six weeks until they get the hint. There is a reason Brits still drive on the wrong side of the road... changing convention would be a nightmare.
Believe it or not, MINT (Intuits new way to screw people over) is a SaaS product built on DRUPAL! I don't like SaaS, it's another way to put a ball and chain around someone the way Microsoft did with Windows. Even though I am a software developer and need to get paid too, SaaS is like making light bulbs that are designed to burn out so people have to buy all over again. I'm doomed to be a Nicolas Tesla or Louis Pasteur, not a Thomas Edison or Pharma Guy.
I can write the code for custom modules and do all the GIT, Distro, deployment systems, DevOps, plus do the super-scrummy-agile-istic-so-excessive-complicated-we-can-surely-take-D8-and-make-it-way-too-precocious (it's a Mary Poppins tune and I'm a bit snarky).
I think there are plenty of companies that would pay for an open source Quick Books, I have two interested right now...
Would you be willing to share a DB and code? I'm sure I'd do some enhancements that I would be willing to give back to the community. Some of the features might be able to be accomplished by building a connector to drupal and using some Bash or other languages, Drupal is so phenomenal at pulling it all together into one interface
And even though I know a lot of the in demand skills, I'm not one of those techier than thou types. Recently disabled, might be a little slow to reply due to that. I have a few business owners that I know would test it. My brother is one, I also have a landscape company for a client that has come to loathe Intuit. Being able to mod the software to your business is what makes open source so great.
Don't let my sarcasm scare you, I am serious and you have a good start. Been looking for a chance to give some things back. I'm in, let me know what you need and I'll see what I can offer
Hi chriskind,
Hi chriskind,
well, yes. So there is no custom code in this, as I can't code. It's all pure Drupal 7. It is available for a free download, so yes, you can get the DB, the source, all of it. And yes, you can definitely help. What would be useful is to write some code that would import transactions from banks into this software. I guess this would be different for each bank, as their APIs would differ, but hey, you might do your bank, and sooner or later, somebody will add another one.
I'm currently on long overdue holidays, so don't have so much time to spend on my PC, but will try to make a new release soon. It's always helpful to know somebody is interested in my module. Gives me a kick to do things.
downloaded your modules. Maybe I can make a distro
I've been busy being real sick, so well have to see...
Basic Reports like Trial Balance, Balance sheet, Cash flow
Hey Guys Thanks for this great effort, It would also be very good if on the reports basic accounting reports like Trial Balances, Balance Sheets, Statement of accounts, cash flows statements. I tried to achieve some thing similar with just entity reference in some cases, then References in others, and the views Modules plus a few custom lines of code but it sure was not pretty.
Basic reports available
Hi Lule,
yes, it already does. Well, there is no need for Trial Balance as such, as by definition, this software is build in a way that the errors caught by a traditional TrialBalance sheet can't even exist.
Balance sheet/ Statements of accounts and Cash Flow statements are all achievable out of the box, using the reporting function.
If you need help learning how to make them, let me know.
Suggested module for D8
As far I can see, this new distro is planned for D7. In case of a D8 version, the Transaction module could be very helpful, it provides a balance workflow with draft/executed status, operation templates and works with generic numeric fields.