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Posted to user@ofbiz.apache.org by Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se> on 2013/11/14 22:39:38 UTC
Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Hello, I'm working for Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. on their
Non-Profit Accounting Software project[1].
I am currently assessing existing open-source projects[2] for their
fitness as financial software for non-profit organizations according to
the use cases[3] contributed by conservancy, others.
I would greatly appreciate help to assess OFBiz. If you have knowledge
about the capabilites and caveats of OFBiz, please take a look at the
use cases and add your assessment to the OFBiz wiki page[4] in the format:
> ## [[UseCases/<pagename, e.g. GeneratingReports>]] evaluation
>
> - Supports Chart of Accounts
> - Does not support Fund Report
> - [...]
alternatively, reply to me on this email with your assessment. Be sure
to include my email address as Cc: or To:.
Thank you,
Joar
[1]: http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/
[2]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/
[3]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/UseCases/
[4]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/ApacheOFBiz/
Re: Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Posted by Jacques Le Roux <ja...@les7arts.com>.
Joar,
Oops, indeed I must have only previewed. I added my changes back, please review.
Jacques
On Friday, November 15, 2013 10:46 PM Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se> wrote:
> Thank you Jacques, I cannot see your changes in the wiki however, are
> you sure you saved your edits? If so I'll check the revisions to try to
> recover your edits.
>
> - joar
>
> On 11/15/2013 12:15 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>> I already 2 noticed points and removed the 1st :
>> 1. OFBiz is no longer "In transitional phase". Apache OFBIz is an ASF (Apache Software Fundation) TLP (Top Level Project) since
>> July 2006
>> 2. You (Josh Berkus rather it seems) say: "More importantly, it would never be installable in standalone mode on a desktop
>> machine; it would always need to be a server install. ". This is untrue you can run OFBiz as a standalone application on a
>> desktop machine as well. Of course if you use a server, people, through their browsers, can access to this server instance which
>> allows to *share information* and minimize resources consumption. As I'm not quite sure I understood you well, I did not change
>> that point.
>>
>> I have updated the Technical session from
>> * Java
>> * Jython
>> * Groovy
>> to
>> * Java
>> * XML
>> * Groovy
>> * Freemarker
>> * Javascript
>> * CSS
>> * Ant
>> You can rely on https://www.ohloh.net/p/Apache-OFBiz/analyses/latest/languages_summary for details
>>
>> I have also updated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OFBiz#Open_Source_Libraries that you used as ref. See my comment on the
>> link in Wikipedia: this OFBiz wiki page is deprecated but gives updated links (I did no update more than that, I mean not the
>> Wikipedia table in the Open_Source_Libraries section)
Re: Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Posted by Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se>.
Thank you Jacques, I cannot see your changes in the wiki however, are
you sure you saved your edits? If so I'll check the revisions to try to
recover your edits.
- joar
On 11/15/2013 12:15 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
> I already 2 noticed points and removed the 1st :
> 1. OFBiz is no longer "In transitional phase". Apache OFBIz is an ASF (Apache Software Fundation) TLP (Top Level Project) since July 2006
> 2. You (Josh Berkus rather it seems) say: "More importantly, it would never be installable in standalone mode on a desktop machine; it would always need to be a server install. ". This is untrue you can run OFBiz as a standalone application on a desktop machine as well. Of course if you use a server, people, through their browsers, can access to this server instance which allows to *share information* and minimize resources consumption. As I'm not quite sure I understood you well, I did not change that point.
>
> I have updated the Technical session from
> * Java
> * Jython
> * Groovy
> to
> * Java
> * XML
> * Groovy
> * Freemarker
> * Javascript
> * CSS
> * Ant
> You can rely on https://www.ohloh.net/p/Apache-OFBiz/analyses/latest/languages_summary for details
>
> I have also updated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OFBiz#Open_Source_Libraries that you used as ref. See my comment on the link in Wikipedia: this OFBiz wiki page is deprecated but gives updated links (I did no update more than that, I mean not the Wikipedia table in the Open_Source_Libraries section)
Re: Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Posted by Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se>.
On 11/18/2013 06:10 PM, Joar Wandborg wrote:
> On 11/15/2013 12:15 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:> Hi community,
>>
>> Who would be inclined to answer on detailled accouting aspects?
>> Since it's wiki based, there are no needs that only one person takes
> all the burden, we can share.
>> But maybe then it should be reviewed by OFBiz-accounting knowledgeable
> persons.
>
> Dear OFBiz-users, I have added an evaluation template to
> <http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/ApacheOFBiz/#evaluation>.
> The wiki is editable and OpenID-enabled, I would greatly appreciate
> contributions from people with experience in OFBiz accounting to help me
> fill in the FIXME's in that template.
>
> Best,
> Joar
I have not seen any activity from anyone in the wiki so far. I will do
an evaluation based on my knowledge of NPO accounting, seeing how far I
come being entirely unfamiliar with the OFBiz interface. I will send you
a request for comments when I'm done with my evaluation.
- joar
Re: Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Posted by Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se>.
On 11/15/2013 12:15 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:> Hi community,
>
> Who would be inclined to answer on detailled accouting aspects?
> Since it's wiki based, there are no needs that only one person takes
all the burden, we can share.
> But maybe then it should be reviewed by OFBiz-accounting knowledgeable
persons.
Dear OFBiz-users, I have added an evaluation template to
<http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/ApacheOFBiz/#evaluation>.
The wiki is editable and OpenID-enabled, I would greatly appreciate
contributions from people with experience in OFBiz accounting to help me
fill in the FIXME's in that template.
Best,
Joar
Re: Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Posted by Jacques Le Roux <ja...@les7arts.com>.
Hi community,
Who would be inclined to answer on detailled accouting aspects?
Since it's wiki based, there are no needs that only one person takes all the burden, we can share.
But maybe then it should be reviewed by OFBiz-accounting knowledgeable persons.
Hi Joar,
I already 2 noticed points and removed the 1st :
1. OFBiz is no longer "In transitional phase". Apache OFBIz is an ASF (Apache Software Fundation) TLP (Top Level Project) since July 2006
2. You (Josh Berkus rather it seems) say: "More importantly, it would never be installable in standalone mode on a desktop machine; it would always need to be a server install. ". This is untrue you can run OFBiz as a standalone application on a desktop machine as well. Of course if you use a server, people, through their browsers, can access to this server instance which allows to *share information* and minimize resources consumption. As I'm not quite sure I understood you well, I did not change that point.
I have updated the Technical session from
* Java
* Jython
* Groovy
to
* Java
* XML
* Groovy
* Freemarker
* Javascript
* CSS
* Ant
You can rely on https://www.ohloh.net/p/Apache-OFBiz/analyses/latest/languages_summary for details
I have also updated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OFBiz#Open_Source_Libraries that you used as ref. See my comment on the link in Wikipedia: this OFBiz wiki page is deprecated but gives updated links (I did no update more than that, I mean not the Wikipedia table in the Open_Source_Libraries section)
HTH
Jacques
On Thursday, November 14, 2013 10:39 PM Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se> wrote:
> Hello, I'm working for Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. on their
> Non-Profit Accounting Software project[1].
>
> I am currently assessing existing open-source projects[2] for their
> fitness as financial software for non-profit organizations according to
> the use cases[3] contributed by conservancy, others.
>
> I would greatly appreciate help to assess OFBiz. If you have knowledge
> about the capabilites and caveats of OFBiz, please take a look at the
> use cases and add your assessment to the OFBiz wiki page[4] in the format:
>
>> ## [[UseCases/<pagename, e.g. GeneratingReports>]] evaluation
>>
>> - Supports Chart of Accounts
>> - Does not support Fund Report
>> - [...]
>
> alternatively, reply to me on this email with your assessment. Be sure
> to include my email address as Cc: or To:.
>
> Thank you,
> Joar
>
> [1]: http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/
> [2]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/
> [3]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/UseCases/
> [4]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/ApacheOFBiz/
Re: Assessment of OFBiz as an NPO accounting application
Posted by Gavin Mabie <kw...@gmail.com>.
Hi Joar
This short answer to your question is that Ofbiz does not cater for
Non-profit organizations Out-of-the-box. Its genesis is the trading for
gain organisation with a huge emphasis on eCommerce. Having said that and
from a framework point of view, Ofbiz has the basics in place to deal with
your required functionalisties. Lets's have a check-list look at your
requirements to see how Ofbiz measures up:
1. GeneratingReports (Yes - Ofbiz can generate the traditional accouting
reports - BSheet, IStatement, CFlowStatement etc plus like any good
application Ofbiz allows you to create custom reports.)
2.Collaborating (Yes - check out the Project Management and SFA
applications)
3.Fund Accounting (Not out of the box - but if your emphasis is
accounatbility and deliverables that the Requirements App might be able to
cater for this)
4. Double-entry Accounting (Yes)
5. TrackingIncomeType (Yes)
6. TrackingDocumentation (Not like a traditional EDMS - but there are
possibilities)
7. Handling expense reports and reimbursement requests (Yes)
8. ?Handling contractors and contracts (Yes)
9. Handling multiple currencies (Yes)
10. Draft transactions and approval (Yes)
11. Workflow for Non-Profit Accounting (Not OOTB)
12. Chart of Accounts (Yes)
>From a capability point of view - The framework, being highly customizable
and extensible plus the OOTB functionalities can definately handle your
requirements;
>From a caveat point of view - A not for profit implemention is a
specialized rather than a generic requirement and as such will demand some
cutomisation. It is highly possible but will require some investment in
time and money.
Regards
Gavin
On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 11:39 PM, Joar Wandborg <jo...@wandborg.se> wrote:
>
> Hello, I'm working for Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. on their
> Non-Profit Accounting Software project[1].
>
> I am currently assessing existing open-source projects[2] for their
> fitness as financial software for non-profit organizations according to
> the use cases[3] contributed by conservancy, others.
>
> I would greatly appreciate help to assess OFBiz. If you have knowledge
> about the capabilites and caveats of OFBiz, please take a look at the
> use cases and add your assessment to the OFBiz wiki page[4] in the format:
>
> > ## [[UseCases/<pagename, e.g. GeneratingReports>]] evaluation
> >
> > - Supports Chart of Accounts
> > - Does not support Fund Report
> > - [...]
>
> alternatively, reply to me on this email with your assessment. Be sure
> to include my email address as Cc: or To:.
>
> Thank you,
> Joar
>
> [1]: http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/
> [2]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/
> [3]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/UseCases/
> [4]: http://npoacct.sfconservancy.org/ExistingProjects/ApacheOFBiz/
>
>
>