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Mid-Range Accounting Solutions for Linux?
markdavis asks: "For Linux to really succeed in business, it must first have support by vendors for the core financial applications: General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Payroll/HR. I am the IT Director for a long-term-care medical facility (400 employees) and found out a few weeks ago that the vendor that supplies our GL, AP, HR, and Payroll software is dropping support for Linux, in November (after using them for four years). They code in Progress and have decided to convert to a proprietary web GUI (IIS + IE6 + ActiveX) rather than use Progress + Apache + any browser. This means we either abandon Linux, or we are in the market for new accounting software modules (I bet you know which is my preferred choice). Does anyone use Linux server AND client (or web browser under Linux) software for financials in a medium or smaller/medium sized organization? If so, what do you use? Do you like it? What problems did you have in using it? What other advice can you give to someone trying to use Linux in this manner?"
All businesses require the core accounting functions, mentioned above. Most companies also require 'industry specific' software which is customized for their industry. For example, in healthcare, AR (Accounts Receivable) is VERY different from all other industries. It is 2007, so hopefully the Linux choices for at least the core, non-industry specific financial software have improved since our last search, four years ago.
have been working on an RFI/RFP (Request for Information/Proposal) and identifying as many possible vendors as possible. I have searched through hundreds of vendors so far and identified 39 possibilities, but could always use more."
have been working on an RFI/RFP (Request for Information/Proposal) and identifying as many possible vendors as possible. I have searched through hundreds of vendors so far and identified 39 possibilities, but could always use more."
"the Job"
:)
....blah..blah...blah....first born son....blah....pentagram....blah blah blah blahallyourbase....blah, blah blah.
The best tool for "the Job" is "the Mac".
j/k
Seriously. Let's say the perfect tool for the job is a 31.25 kg ball-pien hammer. You go to the hardware store, and they have that 31.25 kg ball-pien hammer, but in order to use it, you have to purchase a special glove with which to hold that hammer. The glove costs...$300? Per hand? If you buy the glove, it comes in a box. When you open the box, and go to put on the glove it has a slip of paper that blocks you putting your hand in the glove. It reads:
End User License Agreement
By putting on this glove you agree to
On the shelf next to that glove is a 31 kg ball-pien hammer that can be used with the glove of your choice. You know, it might not be the PERFECT choice, or the BEST tool for the job, but sometimes it's not just the tool that you have to consider, but the work environment you create by choosing that tool.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Well if he's picking tooling for the accounting dept does he periodically wander down to theatre and tell the surgeons what implements they can and cant use during surgery?
Accountants are users not admins, they get trained on one thing and probably would prefer to still use it. One I know was a big fan of Peachtree and wanted to install it wherever she went even though in some situations it was inadequate for the size or not suited for th type of the business she was working for.
But also you sould choose a system with sonone who knows the financial end of the business so they can tell you if it will work or not (or what problems you might face) before you roll it out.
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
1% is an astounding success if your goal is 0.01%.
Yes, it'd be nice to see more Linux on the desktop. I run two desktops at work -- one XP, one Linux. I run XP, OS X, and two Linux desktops at home. So for me personally, it's 50% of the machines I use on a regular basis.
As for accounting specifically, that's one area that's less suited to OSS than other areas. The IRS doesn't look kindly on "well, there's a bug report filed". Your accounting needs to work 100% of the time. Accounting software could very well be Open Source, but it's a bit more liability than if the GIMP crashes. Lots of business owners won't feel comfortable with accounting software without some guarantees.
Sure, and the answer is that I use FreeBSD and MacOS X Server on servers, and Linux and OSX on workstations.
FreeBSD is typically advanced enough as to be confusing to an end user for a Desktop system. Kubuntu Linux is the Desktop OS of choice for us on PC hardware. When we need to use Linux on a server, we use Gentoo. When putting a server at a customer site, we lobby hard for an OSX Server, if not, then it winds up being FreeBSD, but customers tend to pale when they realize that they get black screen and white text, since we don't install X11 usually.
Just a matter of taste really. I have no problem installing FreeBSD on someone's Desktop, but Kubuntu is quick, simple, and done well.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).