I know that in older versions of ERPNext there were differing opinions of the best “order” to use to configure a fresh system. For example, you must create warehouses before you create Items because Items require default warehouses, and you must create suppliers before you create Items because Items are sourced from suppliers, etc.
So for a fresh v13 setup what is the best order to configuring a business in the system?
For older versions I remember there was some official docs about how to go about this by my old link to those docs is broken and I have nothing to work from now.
Can anyone point me to newer documentation that discusses the best order of configuration for a fresh ERPNext setup?
If that order for importing works without breaking anything, then doing the same with a new setup should be safe.
There used to be a document that detailed all of the prerequisites in order so you could setup your business without having to trip over them the hard way. Just wish I could have found it again. I have been at this for a long time and still need to reference old docs to make sure I am not making mistakes, so I am sure it would be helpful for the next new user as well.
Instead of irretrievably “filing away” old notes, I find it’s best to prepare information as an easily found forum question and answer, and just sock it away here. Kinda wish everyone would do that!
Just out of curiosity … how do you go about getting all that data into ERPNext?
Haha… and now you see the reason for my forum question
For new configurations, I usually have to spend a great deal of time taking client information from spreadsheets, or other systems in the form of CSV files and then re-aligning them to fit the ERPNext import models.
On some locations we wind up hand keying everything because we are taking people from an all paper system to a cloud system.
The way I see it, I could take weeks of my time to train someone how to transition their own data and hope they can figure out any hiccups on their own.
– or –
I could have that same person watch as I do it myself and then they at least have an idea of what questions to ask when problem happen down the road. This method usually ends with a mostly trained person and all of the data already done.
The first method usually ends with a mostly trained person and someone still having to go back and do the work for them taking up valuable time.
I have coded up a kind of plugin based “data pump”:
It iterates that list I posted and loads a “plugin” script file of the same name for each DocType.
For shorties like Email_Domain, Fiscal_Year, etc. those scripts can simply ram the data in through the REST API. For big stuff like Customers and Address they can upload a CSV file and call the “Data Import” method on the REST API.
I see there is a way to import from Google Sheets. I haven’t figured out how to automate the outbound call from ERPNext to Google. But that definitely looks like the way to go if I had to do it all over again.
Hmm… That actually sounds pretty good as a way to get data moving faster intoa new system. I might have to contract out something like that myself so we could have a set of script tools for pushing the data in.
I am looking to start a new company and bring in an already existing company from quickbooks. I am at a loss of even how to start. Any assistance or how to get in contact with someone would be appreciated.
The best thing to do is start everything EXCEPT the accounting functions in ERPNext. Do the minimum needed to let ERPNext function and then start using it!
Print out reports from ERPNext to help you put data into your old quickbooks. Do not get rid of QB right away because it is great at keeping trak of accounting numbers and paying bills. Let it continue to do that while you cut your teeth on how the rest of an ERP system is supposed to run.
Over time you will learn exactly how ERPNext accounting work simply by looking through the reports and the ledger entries that are handled automatically for you. You will learn where you can adjust how ERPNext works to make the reporting better for you and better for business in general.
Once you have been at it for a year or so, then and only then consider moving your accounting to ERPNext.
Attempting to jump everything into ERPNext all at once is the leading cause of failure. You really have to get used to how a system works before you take a chance on messing up your financials in a new accounting package. QB is great at what it does. I have several companies that decided to NEVER move their accounting to ERPNext becasue they like having the ability to “massage” their data from ERPNext before they make ledger entries in QB for the accountant.
I have had the highest success with telling people to get used to the ERPNext workflows and functions before they attempt to change their accounting package. Likewise, Ihave seen the many failures of folks that insist on doing it all at once.
BTW… I didn’t properly welcome you to the community.
Let me rectify that now and ask that you continue to read all you can, ask questions when you are confused, and be patient with everything here. We are all community volunteers and we helps when we can. There are no “owners” per se and no real customer service unless you subscribe to the ERPNExt.org system and have them host your site for you.
Enjoy your time learning and try everything at least once. If nothing else sharing your results will be helpful, and sometimes entertaining to the rest of us. Read enough here and you will surely come across many of my mistakes in the admissions of my own posts.
Have fun with the learning part, and you will enjoy working with the rest of the system.
Thanks for your advice…it does seem daunting to do this all at once. I do have inventory items and finished goods items that I would like to bring in and then continue to use quickbooks for the accounting like you suggested. Not sure if there is an easy way to import this…any thoughts here? ty in advance!
For anyone else trying to figure out how to get data converted to import data for ERPNExt, I will share this one method I used in the past.
I was converting a customer away from a Canadian company’s software called inFlow Inventory system. The inFlow system allowed exporting data out to excel files.
I went looking on Craigslist and other such sites for people that offered “expert” help with MS Excel. I found one that was a whiz at taking data from one spreadsheet and massaging it into another in the format that could easily be dropped into the ERPNext import templates. I think I spent about $1000 US for the automated spreadsheets from this contractor so that I could drop in my inFlow exports and get output ready to drop in the ERPNExt templates.
I used those converter excel files to convert inFlow data multiple times per week so I could constantly update the ERPNext database with up-to-date data for training the new ERPNExt users how to work with the system with their own data. On the final day before the switch-over to ERPNExt I ran the converter files one last time and shut down the old inFlow system.
That was the smartest money I ever spent. It allowed me to fully train people on how to use ERPNext with data that they recognized and were familiar with on a daily basis.
Haha….okok….just hate the thought of trying to manage and pay for both…….i’m very comfortable with the workflow and have been using QuickBooks for years….was just thinking since it’s the beginning of the year it would be better to jump in now…….
Guess what folks – the pointlessly heavy-handed forum administrator has blocked me from editing my original post from Mar 15, so now that I have another edit I have to make a new post.
Shouldn’t there be another entry between your “Item_Price” and your “Customer” ??
I would normally define my “Customer Groups” at that point because they are so hard to change later if you have them in the wrong groups and then already have transactions against them.
