Looking For Simple Accounting/Inventory Management System - Was OpenERP

[Kevin Fries]

On 05/11/2011 08:56 AM, Mark Phillips wrote:
> Stephen,
>
> Thanks for your replay. I have been reading and playing with it, and 
> it seems that it might be over kill for what I need. I should have 
> started this thread with what I need to get some suggestions, so I 
> will hijack my own thread and start again....
>
> I have the following requirements to track the business operations for 
> my non-profit company:
> 1. track donors and donations by donor. Don't need a complex 
> relationship management application - just track how much each person 
> has donated for end of the year reports.
> 2. inventory - small, maybe 100 items at most
> 3. sales
> 4. a/r
> 5 a/p
> 6. asset tracking - we run on a cash basis, so everything is expensed 
> when purchased. I just need a way to know which volunteer has which 
> asset to keep track of them. No depreciation or write-offs. Could 
> probably do this in the inventory.
> 7. generate an end of the year income statement and balance sheet for 
> the IRS.
> 8. reconcile against my bank statements
>
> I have been doing all this with spreadsheets, but it is cumbersome. I 
> have tried gnucash, but it does not have inventory management. Also, I 
> have several times messed up my debits and credits, so I am spending 
> too much time learning accounting fundamentals for it to be useful.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

Mark,

I generally start my search for a Linux based accounting system with two 
packages.  Both have extreme strengths, and weaknesses.

The first one is free except for the retail sales module, which it looks 
like you probably won't need, but not open source.  It is the best I 
have seen for SOHO operations, and sounds like a good starting place for 
you.

Package: Quasar
WebSite: http://www.linuxcanada.com/quasar.shtml

Generally if this package is not up to the job, I up the ante to a much 
more complex package.  This one sounds like it may be a little over the 
top for your business side, but would handle the donors much more elegantly.

Package: Compiere
WebSite: http://www.compiere.com

I have rarely seen a situation that could not use the upgrade up from 
GnuCash to Quasar, or complicated enough to need more than Compiere and 
looking for outside help.  I hope this gives you some more options on 
your search.

Good Luck
Kevin Fries