INTRODUCTION

 What is ERPNext?
EPRNext is a free and open-source integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software
developed by Frappe Technologies Private Limited.1 It manages all business information in
one application and use it to not only manage operations but also enables to take informed
decisions well in time to remain ahead of competition. It forms a backbone of business to add
strength, transparency and control to enterprise.2 ERPNext was initially released in 2008.

 About Developer
Frappe Technologies Private Limited is a Private incorporated on 22 July 2008. It is
classified as Non-government Company and is registered at Registrar of Companies,
Mumbai.3 Rushabh Mehta is the original author of ERPNext and founder of Frappe
Technologies Private Limited.

 Written In
ERPNext is written in Python and Javascript, MySQL as the database backend. The
underlying web app framework is called Frappe and is a separate platform for development
and deployment of rich web applications.

 Logo
This is the Official Logo of ERPNext. The brand name ERPNext and the logo are trademarks
of Frappe Technologies Private Limited.

 License
ERPNext is released under the GNU GPLv3 license. GNU is also known as GPU (General
Public License) that is widely used free software license, which guarantees end users the
freedom to run, study, share and modify the software.4

 Developed For
ERPNext software is built for freelancers, large enterprises, mid-size and small businesses,
nonprofit organizations and public administrations with very low price.

 Source Code and Documentation

The source code of ERPNext is hosted on Github, using the Git revision control system.
Github is a web-based Git or version control repository and internet hosting service.

 Website
www.erpnext.com is the official website of ERPNext software which is under the control of
Frappe Technologies Private Limited.

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 AREA OF SERVICES
ERPNext is the perfect example of the software that will help company to organize and manage
the work of each department. ERPNext is an open source web-based system aimed at small and
medium sized businesses. It assists companies with the following modules:5
1. Accounting: Billing and receivables tracking in ERPNext helps to stay on top of finances.
Project based accountings helps to get the profitability of each project on fingertip.

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Users can track communication with Leads
or Customers. Keep engaging with them by sending newsletter once in awhile and send
specific Quotations when they are ready to order.

3. Human Resource Management (HRM): Employees can apply for leaves and claim
expenses directly through ERPNext. It helps to manage recruiting, appraisals, and trainings.

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4. Point of Sale (POS): ERPNext has touch-friendly Point of Sales interface which is linked to
billing, payments and Inventory. POS works offline and syncs when users have internet.

5. Production Order: Track the orders for production floor, automatically track material
movements as ERPNext interlinks production orders, bill of materials and inventory.

6. Sales and Purchase Management: Make purchase requests for all materials required for
production. Send automatically to concerned suppliers. Manage inventory of finished goods
at the end of production and automatically link it to sales and accounting.

NOTE: All of these screenshots are collected from www.erpnext.com/services. These

screenshots only show how ERPNext can be used. It’s not containing any real data.

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 FEATURES OF ERPNext
ERPNext is built using Python and MySQL as the database backend. It has a Model-View-
Controller architecture that together with metadata modeling tools provides flexibility. Users are
able to adapt the system to unique purposes of their business without the need for custom
programming. They can use ERPNext as a Software as a service or host it on their own. So, the
main features of ERPNext are given below:
 Desktop: A familiar sight for any smartphone user. It gives you quick access to all features.

 Setup: ERPNext is designed for self-implementation. The Setup Wizard helps you get
started with your Company, Items, Customers, and Suppliers.

 Projects: Define and allocate Tasks for Projects and make Time Log entries for work done
against Tasks. Track orders, invoices and inventory against Projects, and bill your Customers
using Time Logs.

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 Helpdesk: Capture Issues reported by your Customers, communicate via Email, assign it to
your team and track its status.

 Website and Shopping Chart: Users can generate a fully functional and styled website with
their product catalog and shopping cart.

 Reporting: Reports for all company’s sales, quotations, newsletters, and communication
with both existing and potential customers.

 70+ Languages: Translated by our growing community using translate.erpnext.com

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 Mobile/Tablet Friendly: Carefully designed to allow using all ERPNext features on a
mobile browser.

 Customize: Add Custom Fields, write Custom Scripts to modify behavior, hide non-required
fields and features, design your own Print Formats or extend ERPNext features using Frappe
Apps.

 Role-Based Permissions: Use a combination of Role and User Permissions to restrict access
to a document. Bypass permission rules for specific documents using the document's Share
feature.

NOTE: All of these screenshots are collected from www.erpnext.com/services. These

screenshots only show how ERPNext can be used. It’s not containing any real data.

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 BENEFIT OF USING ERPNext SOFTWARE
ERPNext shows that ERP does not need to be complex and heavy to be effective. This system is
simple, powerful, and full of features. It allows departments of small or medium sized companies
to run smoothly and communicate with one another using resources of one unified solution.
Moreover, Frappe helps to extend ERPNext and implement custom functionality via the
Application Programming Interface (API) or creation of fully featured extensions for specific
business needs. By using ERPNext, a user can get many benefits which are shown below:6

 ERPNext tracks all Invoices and Payments.

 It knows what quantity of which product is available in stock.

 It Identifies and tracks Key Performance Indicators (KPI's).

 It identifies open customer queries.

 It manages payroll.

 It assigns tasks and follow up on them.

 It maintains a database of all your customers, suppliers and their contacts.

 It prepares quotes.

 It tracks user’s budgets and spending.

 It determines effective selling price based on the actual raw material, machinery and effort

cost.

 It gets reminders on maintenance schedules.

 It publish on website.

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 WHY SHOULD AN ORGANIZATION NEED ERPNext?
The main purpose of ERPNext system is to improve productivity, and to enable easy
communication with clients and partners. There are many organizations that got increased ROI
(Return on Investment) after ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation and there are
many organizations that do not find the software was helpful. It is very important for
organization to set up priorities before software implementation.
We mentioned below some purposes of ERPNext that increases productivity, work efficiency
and good communication of an organization.7
1. Needed Budget: The software is available in needed budget.
2. Requirements: It should provide features to meet the present and future requirements of the
organization.
3. Supportive: It should be able to support the number of users.
4. Reliable: It should be secure and reliable.
5. Data Transfer: It should have the features to enables easy data transfer and to be integrated
to applications previously owned by the organization.
6. Enable New Business to Grow: A growing organization finds it easy to handle a number of
tasks efficiently through this software. The business processes can be integrated and the
understanding of complete work flow enables the organizations to remove loopholes in
functioning.
7. Reduce Expense: This software enables the organization to improve work efficiency and to
easily maintain the inventory which reduces wasteful expenses on stock. It enables
scheduling and shift management.
8. Improve Accuracy: Software enables cost effective transactions, which are more accurate as
compared to manual systems.
9. Reduce Need of Human Resources: Automated systems reduce the need for human
resource and also the need for transferring data from one department to other.
10. Promote Easy and Effective Decision Making: The management can take decision based
on previous data for the company and the decision regarding a work can be taken from
anywhere through online services.

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 USERS OF ERPNext SOFTWARE8
Customers of the software include businesses of all sizes and types. Most commonly, the
software has been deployed in such industries as retail and sale, financial services, accounting,
manufacturing, service sector, business process outsourcing, automation, and others. Some
notable clients of the software are:

1. Union Global Marketing, Philippines: Union global is one of ERPNext’s first customer
who introduced the bounty system. They use ERPNext for understanding product
profitability, inventory turns, and customer purchase behavior.

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2. Rohit Industries Group, India: Rohit Industries Group Pvt Ltd, is a manufacturing
company that develops cutting tools. Aditya confirms that the best part about the
software is that, it is easily customisable. He is very satisfied with the speed and
accuracy of the service and the support he gets .

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3. Alcon Telecommunications, Philippines: Alcon Telecommunications, Philippines is
engaged in the distribution, supply, and implementation of various state-of-the-art telephone
system equipments, wireless broadband connectivity, security solutions, and information
technology. They use ERPNext software mainly for sales and customer services which can
ensure them a good business results.

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4. Dogs Love It, Netherlands: ‘Dogs Love It’ is a Dutch firm that sells frozen dog food. This
company was formed based on the emerging trend in western countries to move away from
processed dog food and Kibble. This company using ERPNext software for recording
inventory, sales and purchases.

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5. Fritzing, Germany: Fritzing is an open-source hardware initiative to support designers,
artists, researchers and hobbyists to work creatively with interactive electronics. They

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 discovered ERPNext in 2012 and integrated it with their software to manage manufacturing,
inventory, support, sales and billing.

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6. Neural Integrated Systems, India (Bookmarked): Started in 2003, Neural is into the
business of providing various customised electronic security and automation systems. They
using ERPNext software for importing, designing and integrating security solutions such as
access control systems, CCTV, various alarms and many more.

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7. City Glass, Egypt: City Glass is a manufacturer and exporter of handmade and automated
glass tableware in Egypt. It is a major player and valued supplier of glassware products. They
maintain their accounting transaction, different operational processes and numerous
employee record through ERPNext software.

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8. Grupo Realize De Móveis, Brazil: Grupo Realize is a furniture company that started with 1
furniture store and 10 employees. They confirm requirements with the customer, purchase
the raw materials, arrange and schedule transportation with the help of ERPNext software.

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 ERPNext SOFTWARE PRICING
ERPNext is an open-source software that can be easily used by freelancers, large enterprises,
mid-size and small businesses, nonprofit organizations and public administrations. The price of
ERPNext Software stars at an unbelievable price of Rs. 299 ($5) per user month. Followings are
the price for this software based on users:

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We compare the price of ERPNext software with some other cloud ERP/CRM according to
broad features which are shown below:18

YES NO ADD-ON

Product Accounting Inventory Sales Manufacturing Open Source Pricing (month)

Zoho CRM $12
Xero $30
Odoo $80
Work etc $40
Netsuite $100
EPRNext $5
From the above table, we show that four cloud ERP/CRM software have some limitation. Odoo
and ERPNext software are providing all features, but the price of Odoo is higher than ERPNext.

Price Comparison Chart

$12.00
$5.00
$30.00
Zoho CRM
Xero
$100.00
Odoo
Work etc
$80.00
Netsuite
ERPNext

$40.00

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 GETTING STARTED WITH ERPNext19
There are many ways to get started with ERPNext.

1. See the Demo

If you want to check out the user interface and feel the application, just see the demo at:
http://demo.erpnext.com
Some functionality is disabled for the demo and the data will be cleared regularly.

2. Start a Free Account at ERPNext.com

ERPNext.com is managed by the organization (Frappe) that publishes ERPNext. You can
start with your own account by http://erpnext.com
You can also decide to host your application at erpnext.com by buying the hosting plans.
This way you support the organization that develops and improves ERPNext. You also get
one-to-one functional (usage) support with the hosting plans. Hosting plan means a web
hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations
to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web.

3. Download a Virtual Machine

To avoid the trouble of installing an instance, ERPNext is available as a Virtual Image. You
can use this on any platform including Microsoft Windows. Virtual machine is a software
computer that, like a physical computer, runs an operating system and applications. The
virtual machine is comprised of a set of specification and configuration files and is backed by
the physical resources of a host. You can download from https://www.virtualbox.org/

4. Install ERPNext on your Unix/Linux/Mac Machine

If you are familier with the installing application on nix platforms, read the instructions on
how to install using Frappe Bench (https://github.com/frappe/bench)

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REFERENCES
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERPNext
2. http://frappe.github.io/erpnext/user/manual/en/introduction/
3. https://www.zaubacorp.com/company/FRAPPE-TECHNOLOGIES-PRIVATE-
LIMITED/U72300MH2008PTC184937
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gnu_general_public_license#cite_note_blackduck2015-6
5. https://erpnext.com/services
6. http://frappe.github.io/erpnext/user/manual/en/introduction/
7. http://www.erpchronicle.com/purpose-of-erp-software.htm
8. https://erpnext.com/stories
9. http://union.ph/
10. https://erpnext.com/stories/rigpl
11. https://erpnext.com/stories/alcon
12. http://www.dogsloveit.nl/
13. https://erpnext.com/stories/fritzing
14. http://www.neuralindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/logo-with-text.jpg
15. https://erpnext.com/stories/city-glass
16. https://erpnext.com/stories/grupo-realize
17. https://erpnext.com/pricing
18. https://erpnext.com/compare
19. https://frappe.github.io/erpnext/user/manual/en/introduction/getting-started-with-erpnext

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