Ask Slashdot: How To Run a Small Business With Open Source Software? 195
First time accepted submitter ahree writes "I'm starting up a restaurant with my wife and a few friends and, well, I'd like to support the OS community and hope that this is a way to do it. Simply put, we need to take care of bookkeeping, accounting & payroll and I'd rather not use QuickBooks. I've heard of some options that are open source (GnuCash), some that are cheaper & simpler (WaveAccounting), but I'm wondering what your experience with them (and others) has been like."
Re:My first thought (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, unless you're able to actually devote time to fixing issues within the code its too risky to actually do accounting yourself. I do it myself, but that's do to the specific requirements I have that most people do not have.
I still wouldn't do it, unless his partners are also fluent in the open source package, what he's done with it, and how everything works.
Hit by a bus, etc, etc. You can get on the phone and get a quickbooks or peachtree expert to your business by later the same day to sort out your inventory and payroll when the techie has a heart attack and nobody else knows what the hell is going on.
While I've never owned a restaurant, I've watched enough Restaurant Impossible to realize that most people starting and running restaurants cant sort out food and service issues, let alone fix a broken application...
Re:My first thought (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, unless you're able to actually devote time to fixing issues within the code its too risky to actually do accounting yourself.
What a load of crap.
I set up Floreant POS and Gnucash for a local Cafe a couple of years ago with the help of their accountant. They've had fer fewer problems than most people with commercial products.
The hard bit is finding a decent accountant, not working with the software.
Re:lots of options (Score:4, Interesting)
A spreadsheet is asking for problems if you ever get audited.
To the OP, a couple things are missing from your request. What do you want to track? Do you want your solution to help with running the business, or just maintaining records? How are you going to do payroll? Are there any regulatory issues you need to address (sales tax, liquor laws, etc.)?
I hate Quick Books. Our small business used it for five years, and only last year switched to an industry-specific ERP system. The new system requires 50-100% more work to maintain, is completely inflexible, and cost over $50k to get implemented. It is a huge improvement. (I have to keep telling myself that, in hopes I will really believe it some day.) The improvement it made was that timesheets were now integrated into project accounting, so we had better profit visibility at a project level. Unfortunately, far too much of the workflow still ends up being pivot tables in Excel.
My advice would to be to keep things simple as you start out, and avoid lock-in. A small business generally has more time than money, so inefficient workflows aren't a huge problem. Don't get a POS until you have made enough profit to pay for it. Break down and get QuickBooks, but don't integrate your workflow with it; it makes switching harder.
Re:SQL Ledger (Score:5, Interesting)
Or try the less cathedral-like approach of LedgerSMB [ledgersmb.org] which was forked from SQL-Ledger a few years ago. We moved then and haven't looked back.
Re:lots of options (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't cheap out....get a good CPA to help keep you honest on your taxes....a good one will help you squeeze out every penny to keep for yourself legally, while being conservative enough to keep you off the IRS' radar.
This is business...and $200-$300 invested on this....will help you out in the long run...and hey, you can write the QB purchase off on your taxes.
I'll second this. Get quickbooks. Put it in a VM and do everything else in Linux if you want to. X2 on the accountant that will back you in an audit.
I have NEVER EVER seen any small business use anything other than quickbooks.
When you get QB back that shizzle up. Keep track of your QBW file(s). Have the default file location in Dropbox or something.
Don't update it right away either if it is working. I have seen updates break stuff beyond belief.
You can get a free version of QB as well, it is limited. I think it's called simple start. Not that you're looking for free.
I've tried GnuCash and the other Open Source financials. I couldn't make heads or tails out of it. I tried QB and that is what I use, and it is very intuitive and powerful (pun not intended). I don't know about the "Wave" online free accounting SW but it looks interesting.
Don't take any chances and mess around with the IRS, they will bust your kneecaps quicker than the local mob shaking you down for protection money - especially now that their take is down due to less economic activity.
You are in business to make money. QB helps you track your money and will SAVE YOU TIME. Owning a small business especially in FoodService is terribly time consuming. You don't want to spend hours DINKING AROUND trying to figure out some open source money software that was created with the sole purpose of making a money program and not with the purpose of tracking money.