Using GnuCash to track inventories and stages of completion?

[Mark Phillips]

Allan,

There are several open source web based ERP systems that you can either run
yourself or pay for a hosted system. Some also include integrated CRM. I
looked at a lot of them when I was managing our softball league, and I was
impressed with what they offered. They were overkill for my needs, and I
was already a long time user of Gnucash. Depending on the size of your
organization, you may be able to host one of these systems on a modest
server/deskside system running Linux, Apache, and Postgresql that sits
under your desk. Just keep the machine off your shop floor and have well
***tested*** backups.

Mark

On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 6:36 PM, Allan Gray <allan.gray at sunetrike.com> wrote:

> Mark and Charles,
>
>     Fair enough,  Some searching after my question made me quickly realize
> that GnuCash will not meet these requirements without a lot of extra work
> for the user and it would likely be error prone as you mentioned.
>
>     Establishing a committed server and database is in the plan but right
> now we are just working off of cloud space and shopping around for
> options.
>
> I'll keep working with it for now while we keep looking at our options.
>
> Thank you for both for your input.
> Allan
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 8:27 AM, Mark Phillips <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>
> wrote:
>
>> Allan,
>>
>> Gnucash does not have an inventory module.
>>
>> With that said, I have used Gnucash to track a small inventory of a
>> softball team's uniforms and equipment using the stock method you
>> mentioned. It is kludgey and I would not use it for any important inventory
>> that has lots of moving parts. I only used it for a finished goods
>> inventory and as a way to track cost versus price of the various items, as
>> well as historically what happened to the inventory. A spreadsheet was just
>> as good, but did not capture the history very well. There is no WIP (what
>> you specifically asked about), waste, aging, or any other important
>> manufacturing type inventory management available with this method. It is
>> also easy to make mistakes using this method because you have to mentally
>> translate the stock related labels/functions into inventory equivalents.
>> Finally, it was several years ago, so I am not sure I still have all those
>> brain cells rattling around any more! ;) The best way to set this up is to
>> open a separate testing gnucash file and play with the stock functionality
>> until you get something that works for what you want. Then make a
>> cheat-sheet for entering transactions that translates the stock related
>> labels/actions to the inventory actions. Also, the reports are confusing
>> because they are labeled as stock transactions and not as inventory
>> transactions.
>>
>> There are so many accounting packages with inventory management included
>> that I would go that route instead. Much easier to use and better inventory
>> reports. Keep Gnucash for your personal stuff, and if you need inventory go
>> another route.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 5:10 AM, charles dandridge <chazdiezal at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Allan,
>>>
>>> I do not believe that Gnucash is designed for enterprise functionality
>>> such as inventory management.  Do you have access to a web server and
>>> database?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> > On Feb 1, 2016, at 5:36 PM, Allan Gray <allan.gray at sunetrike.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Hi everybody,
>>> >
>>> > I've been using gnucash for a few years for my own personal
>>> bookkeeping.  I
>>> > like its stripped down approach and so far have found it good for
>>> passing
>>> > back and forth between users.
>>> >
>>> > As I start to move into a new business, it has occurred to me that I
>>> could
>>> > (in theory) use the stock account to keep track of inventories.
>>> >
>>> > I'm new to this sort of record-keeping (especially how inventory moves
>>> from
>>> > raw parts to unfinished goods, to completed product for sale).
>>> >
>>> > Does anyone know of people who have tried gnucash for this purpose and
>>> what
>>> > their experience has been?  Alternatively, maybe there is an open
>>> sourced
>>> > option that is better suited for the task?
>>> >
>>> > Take care
>>> > Allan
>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
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