WingNews logo WingNews GitHub [2]
top | item 37649811

Show HN: Bigcapital - A open-source alternative to QuickBooks

93 points| abouolia | 2 years ago |github.com | reply

32 comments

order
[+] RagnarD|2 years ago|reply
It may be in there somewhere but I don't see a mechanism for talking to banks using standard protocols to at least retrieve bank transactions. Without that, an accounting system is an unusable toy.
[+] Tokumei-no-hito|2 years ago|reply
I’ve seen some tools with plaid integration. Idk how plaid cornered the market but it seems to be the only option available for oauth with banks.
[+] deepak_sozial|2 years ago|reply
We have been using wave apps for the last couple of years. Do you have a comparison page?
[+] aetherspawn|2 years ago|reply
Wave looks really nice, though it’s a shame they only support US tax. For Australians the accounting package has to support “STP2” which is the governments API for reporting payroll and super, otherwise it’s borderline illegal to use.
[+] daft_pink|2 years ago|reply
We desperately need an alternative to qb
[+] candiddevmike|2 years ago|reply
I tried to evaluate Bigcapital but it's kind of a mess to deploy via self hosting. The docker-compose setup is really hard to break apart, the stack is bizarre (mongo, multiple myql databases, and redis), and the way you do upgrades and migrations left me feeling very uneasy. Additionally, my accountant wouldn't use anything this thing exports from what I can tell. For now I'm sticking with GnuCash, but I have my eye on some open source ERP systems--they're extremely complex though, with every screen being customizable. All I want are HR and finance functions in one place without having a dozen Google Docs and Sheets floating around. I couldn't care less about the level of customization most ERPs provide.
[+] badrequest|2 years ago|reply
Anecdotally, we've seen a number of larger "open-source alternative to X" projects posted on HN of late that are technically self-deployable, but require so much up-front knowledge that it's not actually accessible to those who might truly be liberated by such software.

I mean no slander or disrespect to anyone involved, but there was a DataDog alternative posted sometime in the last few weeks that had a docker-compose with like 15 containers in it. Required running a few different Typescript servers, a Clickhouse instance, Redis, MySQL, the lot of it. I'm sure it was a fully-featured service that made adequate use of those resources, but it also reminded me of why people pay out the wazoo for DataDog: nobody wants to manage all that stuff!

EDIT: the repo linked in the GP contains 3 instances of what you could call databases: MariaDB, Mongo, and Redis. There doesn't appear to be any explanation in the deployment docs for why all three are necessary.

[+] lovasoa|2 years ago|reply
When I come across this scenario, I often ponder whether it's part of the business strategy for those who offer open-source software for free alongside a paid hosted version. There seems to be a conflict of interest at play here: the more user-friendly the software becomes in terms of installation and operation, the less appealing the hosted version appears.

I'm currently working on an open-source software project with a hosted version of my own (https://sql.ophir.dev). It's a website builder, and my aim is to turn the ease of deployment and operation into a competitive advantage, which is prominently highlighted on the homepage. However, I recognize that it might be overly idealistic to expect the same from others. My target audience mainly consists of individuals who will need to manage the software themselves. In contrast, in many other domains, the decision-makers selecting the software and the individuals responsible for its operation are not one and the same.

[+] abouolia|2 years ago|reply
The deployment is really easy to do and well documented with some FAQs you may face, yes there were some issues in setup before couple of months ago but we fixed them even the database migration now is automated. that is acceptable especially when you use a new technology. you can join to our Discord and the team will help you to deploy it on your machine.
[+] bibstha|2 years ago|reply
I second this to how difficult it is to deploy the app.

My feature request is to be able to deploy sth like this on heroku or other paas and to string all of the dependencies with env variables.

[+] nonrandomstring|2 years ago|reply
What's the most important features in an accounting system in your opinion?

Are they of a kind, or are there some killer features on expensive commercial tools that the free fare can't match?

[+] chromaton|2 years ago|reply
I ran a business successfully for many years with GnuCash. I only switched because I wanted to offload bookkeeping to a professional for a couple hundred bucks a month, and she was only familiar with QuickBooks.