Thoughts on free accounting software
Recently, I ran through the topic of existing open products in the field of accounting systems (CRM, ERP, automation of accounting records, etc.). I did not participate in the discussion, which was hot in places, but different thoughts were spinning in my head. As a result of all reflections this topic was born. In order not to bother readers with the course of thoughts, I’ll bring out their summaries to Kata:
Give us (developers of accounting systems) a convenient tool (platform, framework) - and open accounting systems (including automation systems of Russian accounting) will appear!
Subject and reasoning relate to automation systems for small and medium businesses. I do not discuss giant corporations and their automation systems (SAP and others) (this is a separate big topic, with specific issues, approaches and problems)
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The development of automation systems has its own specifics. To create a truly high-quality product, developers must have a very large amount of knowledge and experience in this particular area. Warehouse accounting - warehouses, nomenclature, average cost, FIFO, LIFO, batch accounting, work with re-grading, inventory, etc. - this is the simplest. Try to develop an accounting system for production - you will have much more bread. And if you strike at the full automation of accounting - you can safely lay a couple of years to understand the accounting rules, the tax code and other documents. And yes, regularly read all amendments and comments min. finals and other departments, otherwise in half a year all your knowledge will be obsolete, and the system you are developing will not be necessary for anyone.
What we have now in the field of automation systems? A lot of things to eat. However, the most common system is 1C. A lot of enterprises work on it, thousands of programmers write on it (there are among them both bad and good developers, I suggest not to holivarit). Why? Because development on this platform for accounting purposes (automation) is very convenient . The platform allows you to develop a simple program (if in terms of 1C - configuration) of accounting, for example, cash and settlements with customers (with the ability to generate reports) in 5 minutes. After that, the program can be used and it will work and perform its functions. The product - the program - albeit with limited functionality - in 5 minutes! Really! Moreover: to create such a program you will not have to write a single line of code. (Developers on the 1C platform often also perform the design function, but this is again a separate topic)
The main advantage of this platform for the development of accounting and automation systems, in my opinion, is that the developer is given a tool in which this development is most convenient . You can call 1C - a powerful framework for creating automation systems. 1C allows you to engage directly in the development of the accounting system and not to waste time on implementing client-server interaction, supporting different DBMS, architectures and much more.
The idea is that two teams should work on developing an accounting system : the first is to develop the platform, and the second is the accounting system on this platform. The product of 1C is, in my opinion, the most successful demonstration of the advantages of this approach. If we talk about the creation of open source software in this area, then it seems to me that the product that will be created in this approach will achieve success.
I think that the time for such products has already come. If 7 years ago, when I selected an automation system (platform) for an organization where I worked as an IT specialist, the problem was not even that there were no 1C alternatives, but that there was no proven technology to quickly create something like this (I consider technologies in the web as the most promising). Now we have a lot more tools, both from the server side (starting with django and other frameworks, ending with cloud platforms) and from the client side (js frameworks like ExtJS, canvas, html5) (my experience in this area is small, therefore I don’t exclude that there is a lot of what I don’t even suspect).
Now, I think it is absolutely realistic to create a platform for developing accounting systems that is close (at least a little bit) to the functionality and capabilities of the 1C platform by a small development team (and maybe even one developer) for the deadlines (several months). If such a platform appears, there will definitely be developers of accounting systems that will make the final product on it. At the output, you can get a system that can compete (even for a start in a small segment, for example, warehouse accounting for small firms) with both 1C and existing web (SaaS) products in this area (“ My warehouse ” is an example) .
This is real.
Give us (developers of accounting systems) a convenient tool (platform, framework) - and open accounting systems (including automation systems of Russian accounting) will appear!
Subject and reasoning relate to automation systems for small and medium businesses. I do not discuss giant corporations and their automation systems (SAP and others) (this is a separate big topic, with specific issues, approaches and problems)
')
The development of automation systems has its own specifics. To create a truly high-quality product, developers must have a very large amount of knowledge and experience in this particular area. Warehouse accounting - warehouses, nomenclature, average cost, FIFO, LIFO, batch accounting, work with re-grading, inventory, etc. - this is the simplest. Try to develop an accounting system for production - you will have much more bread. And if you strike at the full automation of accounting - you can safely lay a couple of years to understand the accounting rules, the tax code and other documents. And yes, regularly read all amendments and comments min. finals and other departments, otherwise in half a year all your knowledge will be obsolete, and the system you are developing will not be necessary for anyone.
What we have now in the field of automation systems? A lot of things to eat. However, the most common system is 1C. A lot of enterprises work on it, thousands of programmers write on it (there are among them both bad and good developers, I suggest not to holivarit). Why? Because development on this platform for accounting purposes (automation) is very convenient . The platform allows you to develop a simple program (if in terms of 1C - configuration) of accounting, for example, cash and settlements with customers (with the ability to generate reports) in 5 minutes. After that, the program can be used and it will work and perform its functions. The product - the program - albeit with limited functionality - in 5 minutes! Really! Moreover: to create such a program you will not have to write a single line of code. (Developers on the 1C platform often also perform the design function, but this is again a separate topic)
The main advantage of this platform for the development of accounting and automation systems, in my opinion, is that the developer is given a tool in which this development is most convenient . You can call 1C - a powerful framework for creating automation systems. 1C allows you to engage directly in the development of the accounting system and not to waste time on implementing client-server interaction, supporting different DBMS, architectures and much more.
The idea is that two teams should work on developing an accounting system : the first is to develop the platform, and the second is the accounting system on this platform. The product of 1C is, in my opinion, the most successful demonstration of the advantages of this approach. If we talk about the creation of open source software in this area, then it seems to me that the product that will be created in this approach will achieve success.
I think that the time for such products has already come. If 7 years ago, when I selected an automation system (platform) for an organization where I worked as an IT specialist, the problem was not even that there were no 1C alternatives, but that there was no proven technology to quickly create something like this (I consider technologies in the web as the most promising). Now we have a lot more tools, both from the server side (starting with django and other frameworks, ending with cloud platforms) and from the client side (js frameworks like ExtJS, canvas, html5) (my experience in this area is small, therefore I don’t exclude that there is a lot of what I don’t even suspect).
Now, I think it is absolutely realistic to create a platform for developing accounting systems that is close (at least a little bit) to the functionality and capabilities of the 1C platform by a small development team (and maybe even one developer) for the deadlines (several months). If such a platform appears, there will definitely be developers of accounting systems that will make the final product on it. At the output, you can get a system that can compete (even for a start in a small segment, for example, warehouse accounting for small firms) with both 1C and existing web (SaaS) products in this area (“ My warehouse ” is an example) .
This is real.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/116705/
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