Changeset - 214f85b47ee9
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Merge
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Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 10 years ago 2013-11-15 17:02:10
bkuhn@ebb.org
Merge branch 'master' of oak.sfconservancy.org:npo-acct
6 files changed with 90 insertions and 5 deletions:
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ExistingProjects/EvaluationTemplate.mdwn
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## Evaluation of [Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports] UseCases
 
## Evaluation of [[Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports]] UseCases
 
- [[Trial Balance Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#trial-balance]]: FIXME
 
- [[Bank Reconciliation Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#bank-reconcilation]]: FIXME
 
- [[Chart of Accounts|UseCases/GeneratingReports#chart-of-accounts]]: FIXME
 
- [[Cash Disbursements Journal|UseCases/GeneratingReports#cash-disbursements]]: FIXME
 
- [[Income Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#income-report]]: FIXME
 
- [[Expense Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#expense-report]]: FIXME
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports] UseCases for Fund Accounting
 
## Evaluation of [[Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports]] UseCases for Fund Accounting
 

	
 
Can each of these reports be generated, confined to a specific temporarily
 
restricted asset type?
 
   
 
- [[Trial Balance Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#trial-balance]]: FIXME
 
- [[Bank Reconciliation Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#bank-reconcilation]]: FIXME
 
- [[Chart of Accounts|UseCases/GeneratingReports#chart-of-accounts]]: FIXME
 
- [[Cash Disbursements Journal|UseCases/GeneratingReports#cash-disbursements]]: FIXME
 
- [[Income Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#income-report]]: FIXME
 
- [[Expense Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#expense-report]]: FIXME
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [[Fund Accounting|UseCases/FundAccounting]] UseCases
 

	
 
- [[Fund-only View|UseCases/FundAccounting#fund-view]]
 
- [[Funds as part of whole org View|UseCases/FundAccounting#fundless-view]]
 
- [[Ignore Funds for operations|UseCases/FundAccounting#fundless-view]]
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/Collaborating]] evaluation
 
- [[Simultaneous Editing of Ledger|UseCases/Collaborating#simultaneous-ledger-edits]]: FIXME
 
- FIXME: Other uses cases need rewrite.
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[Double-entry Accounting|UseCases/DoubleEntryAccounting]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system implement pure double-entry accounting?
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[TrackingDocumentation|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system [[link up to external documentation|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation#document-link-up]]?
 

	
 
- Does it have a [[the ability to explore transactions via documentation linkage|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation#document-link-explore]]?
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[Handling multiple currencies|UseCases/MultiCurrency]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does it support the concept of
 
  [[a single functional currency|UseCases/MultiCurrency]], while still
 
  permitting multi-currency entries?
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[draft transaction|UseCases/DraftTransactions]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system allow
 
  [[generally for draft transactions|UseCases/DraftTransactions#draft-general]]
 
  that can be later approved before officially being posted to the books? 
 

	
 
## Evaluation of WorkFlow UseCases
 
- Is a [[specific workflow dictated by the system|UseCases/WorkFlow#workflow-dictated]] ?
 
- Is a [[the workflow configurable|UseCases/WorkFlow#workflow-configurable]] ?
 
- [[Unaccrued Invoice|UseCases/WorkFlow#unaccrued-invioice]] ?
 

	
ExistingProjects/Frontaccounting.mdwn
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## Links
 

	
 
- [[!wikipedia Frontaccounting]] - Wikipedia
 
- <http://frontaccounting.com> - Project homepage
 
- Source Code Clone: hg clone http://hg.code.sf.net/p/frontaccounting/mercurial frontaccounting-mercurial
 
   (Found only by chasing
 
   [Wiki](http://frontaccounting.com/fawiki/) link from homepage, which
 
   led to [Sourceforge page](http://sourceforge.net/p/frontaccounting/mercurial/ci/default/tree/)
 

	
 
## Technical
 

	
 
- PHP
 
- MySQL
 
- GPLv3 or later
 

	
 
## Preliminary evaluation
 

	
 
### Positive
 

	
 
- [Most recent release 2013-09-05](http://frontaccounting.com/wb3/pages/posts/release-2.3.18193.php)
 
- Themable
 
- Seemingly easy to deploy (Looking at their source release, structure looks similar to wordpress, for good or worse)
 

	
 
### Negative
 

	
 
- It seems to be built from scratch and not leverage any frameworks.
 
- Seems like a messy codebase: Table-based design. No templating, HTML is `echo`-ed to stdout.
 
- Uses the [deprecated](http://php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-connect.php) PHP `mysql_*` functions.
 

	
 
## Detailed Evaluation
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports] UseCases
 
## Evaluation of [[Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports]] UseCases
 
- [[Trial Balance Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#trial-balance]]: Yes
 
- [[Bank Reconciliation Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#bank-reconcilation]]: Yes, seems ok
 
- [[Chart of Accounts|UseCases/GeneratingReports#chart-of-accounts]]: Yes
 
- [[Cash Disbursements Journal|UseCases/GeneratingReports#cash-disbursements]]: Yes, looks like GL Account Transactions works for this
 
- [[Income Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#income-report]]: Not obviously
 
  there, but should be easy given the number of reports available.
 
- [[Expense Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#expense-report]]: Not obviously
 
  there, but should be easy given the number of reports available.
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports] UseCases for Fund Accounting
 
## Evaluation of [[Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports]] UseCases for Fund Accounting
 

	
 
It seems FrontAccounting's "Dimension" feature likely can do all of these,
 
since it seems you can limit any of the above reports by "Dimension".
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [[Fund Accounting|UseCases/FundAccounting]] UseCases
 

	
 
- [[Fund-only View|UseCases/FundAccounting#fund-view]]: No, seems to be no way to
 
restrict a user to a specific Dimension.
 
- [[Funds as part of whole org View|UseCases/FundAccounting#fundless-view]]:
 
  Yes, dimensions appear to be purely informative.
 
- [[Ignore Funds for operations|UseCases/FundAccounting#fundless-view]]:
 
  Yes, dimensions appear to be purely informative.
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[Double-entry Accounting|UseCases/DoubleEntryAccounting]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system implement pure double-entry accounting?  Yes, it appears to
 
  do so.
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[TrackingDocumentation|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system
 
  [[link up to external documentation|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation#document-link-up]]?
 
  Not that I can find.  It doesn't seem to allow addition links to external documents.
 

	
 
- Does it have a [[the ability to explore transactions via documentation linkage|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation#document-link-explore]]?
 
  Not that I can find.
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[Handling multiple currencies|UseCases/MultiCurrency]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does it support the concept of
 
  [[a single functional currency|UseCases/MultiCurrency]], while still
 
  permitting multi-currency entries?  It probably could be beat in submission
 
  to work.  It does have the knowledge of a default currency and converts to
 
  it based on stored rates and reports come in the default currency.
 
  However, it doesn't appear that you can confine those to a single
 
  transaction.
 

	
 
## Evaluation of WorkFlow UseCases
 
- Is a
 
  [[specific workflow dictated by the system|UseCases/WorkFlow#workflow-dictated]]
 
  ?  It does appear that there are certain automated operations that occur
 
  upon creation of invoices, and purchase orders are required.
 
  
 
- Is a [[the workflow configurable|UseCases/WorkFlow#workflow-configurable]]
 
  ? No.
 
- [[Unaccrued Invoice|UseCases/WorkFlow#unaccrued-invioice]] ? Seems you
 
  can't generate an invoice without accruing it.
 
- [[Purchase Order required|UseCases/WorkFlow#purchase-order-required]] ?
ExistingProjects/GNUEnterprise.mdwn
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Links
 

	
 
- [[!wikipedia GNU_Enterprise]] - Wikipedia
 
- <http://www.gnuenterprise.org> - Project homepage
 
- <http://www.gnu.org/software/gnue/gnue.html> - FSF's GNUe page, which http://gnuenterprise.org redirects to.
 
- <http://bzr.savannah.gnu.org/lh/gnue/> - Source code
 

	
 
<http://www.gnuenterprise.org> and <http://gnuenterprise.org> has been unreachable on 2013-10-22, 2013-10-23, 2013-10-24.
 
<http://www.gnuenterprise.org> and <http://gnuenterprise.org> has been unreachable on 2013-10-22, 2013-10-23, 2013-10-24. It is reachable as of 2013-11-15.
 

	
 
## Technical
 

	
 
## Preliminary evaluation
 

	
 
- GNUe-dev mailing list is not very active: <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnue-dev/>
 
- GNUe mailing list is not very active: <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnue/>
 
- No GNUe announcements since 2009: <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnue-announce/>
 
- I can get the bazaar repo and then get all the GNUe packages by running `./bin/bzr-get-all`, each of the GNUe packages then have an `INSTALL` file in its subdirectory but I cannot find meta-installation instructions for GNUe anywhere on the web, nor in the main GNUe bazaar repository.
ExistingProjects/OpenPetra.mdwn
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Links
 

	
 
- [Project homepage](http://openpetra.org)
 
- [Source code](https://code.launchpad.net/~openpetracore/openpetraorg/trunkhosted)
 
- [ohloh](http://www.ohloh.net/p/openpetraorg)
 

	
 
## Technical
 

	
 
- C# [.NET, Mono]
 
- SQL [SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL]
 

	
 
## Preliminary evaluation
 

	
 
- [Started in 2009](http://www.ohloh.net/p/openpetraorg)
 

	
 
### Positive
 

	
 
- i18n, l10n
 
- Supports server-client deployments as well as standalone deployment.
 
- [Actively developed](http://www.ohloh.net/p/openpetraorg)
 
- [35 contributors](http://www.ohloh.net/p/openpetraorg)
 
- [Well-commented source code](http://www.ohloh.net/p/openpetraorg)
 
- [Extensibility is core](http://www.openpetra.org/organisation-benefits)
 
- Ledger-specific access control, three access levels.
 
- using fixed point arithmetic: System.Decimal data type for all money related variables (changed from Double to Decimal in end of 2010: [commit](https://github.com/openpetra/openpetra/commit/a1717237825a6c8f0d5e032c843241ed918e2344))
 

	
 
### Negative
 

	
 
- In BETA state, presently used by at least two organizations, one for accounting, one for contact management.
 
- [Decreasing Y-O-Y commits](http://www.ohloh.net/p/openpetraorg) <pre>2013-11-13 16:10:00     christiank      joar: I have checked for the source of increased commits in January 2011: It is a mixture of a huge bug-fixing spree and the result of a merge-into-trunk of a Sideline Branch, which then still needed more development</pre>
 

	
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/FundAccounting]] evaluation
 

	
 
- Supports multiple ledgers
 

	
 
<pre>
 
2013-11-13 16:09:36     robp    quick reply re: fund accounting (and, to clarify, I'm not a "finance expert" but do have a good understanding of what the finance module in Petra - the percursor to OpenPetra - does)...as Tim points out we need to know from our finance users where Petra falls short of the requirements for fund accounting. Based on my rudimentary understanding of the term, I would think that much of what is needed for fund accounting can be achived with out Cost Centre structu
 
2013-11-13 16:09:36     robp    re (eg. production of BS and I&E reports on a specific part of the CC structure)
 
</pre>
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/Collaborating]] evaluation
 

	
 
- Possible to have a central application server with multiple ledgers, access control per ledger
 
- Multiple users can work on the same or separate ledgers at the same time
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/GeneratingReports]] evaluation
 

	
 
<pre>
 
2013-11-13 16:25:25     joar    and then about generating reports: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/UseCases/GeneratingReports/, ping robp
 
2013-11-13 16:26:36     TimIngham       Open Petra generates a lot of different types of reports
 
2013-11-13 16:27:17     TimIngham       At first it may be difficult to see which are the "standard" accounting ones, but I expect they're there.
 
2013-11-13 16:27:31     TimIngham       And if they're not, it's certainly our intention to add them.
 
2013-11-13 16:28:22     christiank      The Finance Module of (Open)Petra is very much written so that it is 'auditor-friendly' AND easy to use.
 
2013-11-13 16:28:48     christiank      - even for not-trained book-keepers.
 
2013-11-13 16:29:23     christiank      I mean users who aren't trained accountants, but learn accounting in the organisation on-the-job.
 
2013-11-13 16:31:57     christiank      joar: Not sure if numbers are important, but a quick check revealed that there are at least 32 Reports in the Finance Module of OpenPetra.
 
2013-11-13 16:34:30     christiank      joar: It has to be mentioned that OpenPetra is developed as a 'global solution' and hence some terms perhaps esp. in the Finance Module might deviate from US-specific terms.
 
2013-11-13 16:36:25     christiank      A bookkeeper (read: bkuhn in your case) would need to have a close look at what functionatlity in the Finance Module of OpenPetra does what to find those potential differences.
 

	
 
</pre>
 

	
 
## Comments
 

	
 
    │15:48:14      christiank [\n]
 
    | In case you or bkuhn want to read up for yourself what OpenPetra will be  │
 
    | covering in its Finance Module when it is completed then you can have a   │
 
    | look at the Petra Finance User Guide                                      │
 
    | (http://www.openpetra.org/en/user-manuals). OpenPetra is based on Petra   │
 
    | in terms of functionality.      
ExistingProjects/Postbooks.mdwn
Show inline comments
 
### Comments
 

	
 
Josh Berkus: PostBooks is the pure-OSS GL module from xTuple, which was renamed from OpenMFG.  It is an ERP system, very strongly aimed at manufacturers, so would require some substantial adaptation to NPOs.  However, it benefits from a strong API in the form of PostgreSQL stored procedures, which would make adapting the basic GL functionality to a more complex NPO module feasible, since interaction with the PostBooks GUI would not be required.  One possibility would be to use PostBooks as the backend for a system which also supported ledger-cli; that way users could have the choice of SQL or Git backend.
 

	
 
Daniel Pocock:
 

	
 
* I've recently packaged it for Debian and Ubuntu, this may help it achieve wider usage than some of the more heavy weight Java-based ERP solutions as they are not easily packaged
 
* Backend is exclusively PostgreSQL for now
 
* No server processes required other than PostgreSQL itself
 
* Front end is C++ Qt client that each user installs,
 
* it seems to run OK over VPN (IPsec) to a remote PostgreSQL
 
* It has a permissioning system, the PostgreSQL users are Postbooks users
 
* it can be customised by adding fields and buttons to forms and adding custom logic using JavaScript
 
* The developers are also making a full web/mobile Postbooks solution that works with the same database, it is not packaged yet
 
* the developers (xTuple) operate as a software development company maintaining the code, running an annual conference, supporting business deployments, etc
 
* the CPAL license is potentially not GPL compatible, although it is agreed that CPAL is a free license
 

	
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [[Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports]] UseCases
 
- [[Trial Balance Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#trial-balance]]: FIXME
 
- [[Bank Reconciliation Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#bank-reconcilation]]: FIXME
 
- [[Chart of Accounts|UseCases/GeneratingReports#chart-of-accounts]]: FIXME
 
- [[Cash Disbursements Journal|UseCases/GeneratingReports#cash-disbursements]]: FIXME
 
- [[Income Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#income-report]]: FIXME
 
- [[Expense Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#expense-report]]: FIXME
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [[Reporting|UseCases/GeneratingReports]] UseCases for Fund Accounting
 

	
 
Can each of these reports be generated, confined to a specific temporarily
 
restricted asset type?
 
   
 
- [[Trial Balance Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#trial-balance]]: FIXME
 
- [[Bank Reconciliation Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#bank-reconcilation]]: FIXME
 
- [[Chart of Accounts|UseCases/GeneratingReports#chart-of-accounts]]: FIXME
 
- [[Cash Disbursements Journal|UseCases/GeneratingReports#cash-disbursements]]: FIXME
 
- [[Income Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#income-report]]: FIXME
 
- [[Expense Report|UseCases/GeneratingReports#expense-report]]: FIXME
 

	
 
## Evaluation of [[Fund Accounting|UseCases/FundAccounting]] UseCases
 

	
 
- [[Fund-only View|UseCases/FundAccounting#fund-view]]
 
- [[Funds as part of whole org View|UseCases/FundAccounting#fundless-view]]
 
- [[Ignore Funds for operations|UseCases/FundAccounting#fundless-view]]
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/Collaborating]] evaluation
 
- [[Simultaneous Editing of Ledger|UseCases/Collaborating#simultaneous-ledger-edits]]: FIXME
 
- FIXME: Other uses cases need rewrite.
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[Double-entry Accounting|UseCases/DoubleEntryAccounting]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system implement pure double-entry accounting? YES
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[TrackingDocumentation|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system [[link up to external documentation|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation#document-link-up]]?
 

	
 
- Does it have a [[the ability to explore transactions via documentation linkage|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation#document-link-explore]]?
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[Handling multiple currencies|UseCases/MultiCurrency]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does it support the concept of
 
  [[a single functional currency|UseCases/MultiCurrency]], while still
 
  permitting multi-currency entries?
 

	
 
# Evaluation of [[draft transaction|UseCases/DraftTransactions]] UseCases
 

	
 
- Does the system allow
 
  [[generally for draft transactions|UseCases/DraftTransactions#draft-general]]
 
  that can be later approved before officially being posted to the books? 
 

	
 
## Evaluation of WorkFlow UseCases
 
- Is a [[specific workflow dictated by the system|UseCases/WorkFlow#workflow-dictated]] ?
 
- Is a [[the workflow configurable|UseCases/WorkFlow#workflow-configurable]] ?
 
- [[Unaccrued Invoice|UseCases/WorkFlow#unaccrued-invioice]] ?
 

	
 
# Evaluation of the [[Reading and Reporting API|UseCases/ReadingAPI]]
 

	
 
FIXME: This is assessment of what the API for manipulating the accounting
 
data does, so I think it's tough to do it as a list of questions.
 

	
 
# Evaluation of the [[Storage API|UseCases/StorageAPI]]
 

	
 
Using PostgreSQL as the back-end
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/WorkFlow]] evaluation
 
- [[Unaccrued Invoice|UseCases/WorkFlow#unaccrued-invioice]]: FIXME
ExistingProjects/Tryton.mdwn
Show inline comments
 
Tryton is a fork of [[OpenERP]]. A comparison of Tryton and OpenERP is available at [[!wikipedia Comparison_of_Tryton_and_Open_ERP]]. Another comparision can be found on <http://www.openerp2tryton.com/>
 

	
 
List of companies that offer services based on tryton: <http://www.tryton.org/services.html>
 

	
 
Based on a comunity with it's own foundation. <http://www.tryton.org/foundation/index.html>
 

	
 
Mailing Lists: 
 

	
 
- <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/tryton> General discusion group
 
- <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/tryton-dev> Technical discusion group
 

	
 
Links:
 

	
 
- [[!wikipedia Tryton]] - Wikipedia
 
- <http://www.tryton.org/> - Project homepage
 
- <http://hg.tryton.org> - Source code
 
- <http://www.ohloh.net/p/tryton>
 

	
 
## Technical
 

	
 
- Python for server
 
- Python/GTK+ for desktop client 
 
- Web client in development (Repo: <http://hg.tryton.org/sandbox/sao>  Demo: <https://demo.tryton.org:8000>(there is some issues with certificates))
 
- Application to manage user portals connected to erp. <http://openlabs.github.io/nereid/>
 
- Forked from [[OpenERP]] in 2008 -- [[!wikipedia Tryton#Origin_and_history]]
 
- Migrations from versions are full supported. 
 

	
 
## Preliminary evaluation
 

	
 
### Positive
 

	
 
- Documented modules
 
- Modular application, wide range of modules
 
  - Official modules: <http://hg.tryton.org/modules/>
 
  - Comunity modules available on bitbucket, see
 
    - <http://bitbucket.org/trytonspain>
 
    - <http://bitbucket.org/zikzakmedia>
 
    - <http://bitbucket.org/nantic>
 
    - <http://bitbucket.org/pokoli>  (and others).
 
    - Also avaiilable on pypy  <https://pypi.python.org/pypi?%3Aaction=search&term=tryton&submit=search>.
 
- Separated client and server presumably making collaboration easy
 
- Can create reports -- [[!wikipedia Tryton#Technical_features]]
 
- Using fixed point in Accouting. Decimal is used on server layer and numeric on the database layer. 
 

	
 
## [[UseCases/GeneratingReports]] Evaluation
 

	
 
### Positive
 
- Capable of Trial Balance and Chart of Accounts reports.
 
- Probably capable of Expense, Income reports with minor, semantic[report templates] development effort.
 
- Possible to create [custom reports](http://doc.tryton.org/3.0/trytond/doc/topics/reports/index.html)
 

	
 
### Negative
 
- Does not seem to support funds, thus it is not possible to generate reports for a specific fund.
 

	
 
### Examples
 
- Generated [[General_Ledger.odt]].
 

	
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