The ERPNext Newsletter August 2020

January 25, 2022

“An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing” - Dale Carnegie


Hey everyone, welcome to the monthly ERPNext newsletter.

Thanks for joining!


This month, we bring you answers to questions like—Where is version 13? Why was ERPNext started? How is Frappe doing and what can you learn from us? What more can you do with bill of materials and multi-currency accounting? Oh, there's also an upcoming hackathon for all you developers out there. Read on to know more.


ERPNext updates

I know it has been a while since you first saw “version 13” but it’ll be worth the wait! Why it's taking so long you may ask. You see, the code being public, you immediately know that the next version is up but there are a lot of rough edges with the flood of features being added. Nabin from product and the team is working hard to bind these features and keep them stable before they reach you for production.


Ok, that’s pretty standard, tell me more! Fine, I’ll let you in on a secret. ERPNext version 13 is going to look very different for the better (shhh, there’s a new design and you didn’t hear that from me).


Perhaps, the most important one other than a new design is that version 13 will change the way you look at data and the way you handle them. (random fact: datum is the singular for data)


Here are two things new in version 13:

  1. The old healthcare module in ERPNext could be a lot better. So Rucha from engineering worked in developing a refreshed Healthcare system that brings more features, faster execution, and better data security. Read her blog about the new healthcare system.
  2. You all saw what dashboards looked like in version 12. In version 13, they'll be more polished and ready-made for every module.

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Blogs

Read on for blogs on BOMs, multi-currency accounting, GST, and how we took down some fake Facebook pages. 

  1. You know what a bill of materials is but ever had specific questions around BOMs? Like do I need software for it? How is BOM costing or comparison done? Questions around the actions before and after creating a BOM. In this blog, read more about all you need to know about bill of materials.
  2. Multi-currency accounting is a bit complicated, even in ERPNext. Setting your base currency, the currency for transactions, exchange rates, the revaluation, well it’s not straightforward. To help you get started, take a look at Mastering the basics of multi-currency accounting.
  3. For our Indian users, automating GST in ERPNext will save a lot of time. Read this blog to know how.
  4. You must’ve heard that imitation is good flattery but impersonation is not. Recently, Kenneth from sales came across a bunch of fake ERPNext accounts on Facebook. So he decided to take those pages down and share his experience in this blog. 

Note: ERPNext doesn’t have any country-specific websites or services yet. There’s only “erpnext.com”.

Videos

We also have a couple of new videos published every month. 

  1. True fans will agree that ERPNext is awesome for its simplicity and open source values. But did you ever wonder how it was created or why? Well, who better to tell the story than the founder, watch Rushabh talk about the origins of ERPNext
  2. Recently, Rushabh also talked about the business of open source at one of the top business schools in India, IIM Bangalore. Check out this video to watch his talk.
  3. We also have a series of educational videos where we teach you how to use ERPNext. This month let’s understand the foundations, doctypes and fields.

FOSS United and FOSS hackathon

Over the last few months, the joint efforts from Frappe and Zerodha made something wonderful for the open source community—the FOSS United Foundation. There have been very few open source projects in India. Hence, FOSS united, as a nonprofit organization aims to help foster the spirit of open source and software development. 


What better way to bring you hackers and open source lovers than a hackathon. Mark your calendars for India's biggest FOSS hackathon that'll span 2 days in September and have a cash prize up to ₹10 Lakh.


What are you waiting for? Register your team and show us your code!

Convinced yet? Maybe these people can convince you better.

Webinars

Amidst this lockdown, we’ve been hosting some webinars. 


Coming this month, Scaling ERPNext with a logistics company, ElasticRun. Scaling any ERP is a challenge with the multitude of parameters that need configuration. In this upcoming webinar, watch folks from ElasticRun talk about how they are scaling ERPNext to huge levels.

Go ahead and register for it.


To know more about upcoming and older webinars, check out the webinars page.

Help articles

The product documentation is a good place to learn about features, but if you’re someone who likes step by step examples, here is a roundup of help articles that answer some common questions:

  1. Setting up Buy 1 get 1 free product discounts
  2. Temporary account has balance even after updating opening balances

What’s up at Frappe

In April, we had an appraisal discussion. It was drawn long, and everyone participated. That's right! Everyone had a say in each other's compensation. A bit unusual but a cool experiment, things started out calmly as they do usually, then got uneasy later. But transparency is something we value and Rushabh takes this a step ahead. Read his blog for some insider information on what happened during the appraisal discussions. After so many continuous discussions, we were all so tired that we decided to skip an open day.

How is Frappe doing?

The pandemic looks like it’s flattening, countries are still under lockdown, and we like everyone else are embracing the remote culture. 


At Frappe, we’re coping in different ways. Some feel lazy, some lazy people have turned into workaholics, while some feel lost. Few got so bored that they went to the office. Well, that was until they realized how serious the virus is and decided to hang back at home instead. To make some sense out of our days, we’re making daily plans to manage our time better. But plans change and that’s ok, the important to do here was to create a plan and organize our days. Without a plan, it’s easy to squander your energy and get caught up in doing random things.


The past few months have been tough for everyone. But it looks like things are getting slightly better, slightly is also an exaggeration at this point but hey this lockdown has given people more time. It gets gloomy sitting at home all day but with all this extra time, you could do all the things that you couldn't before. This applies to both professional and personal lives. Sort your paperwork that you've been putting off since January, explore new processes you didn't have the time for, or pick up the book that was gifted and ever since collecting dust on your shelf.


Hang in there, even make the most of this extra time.


We're trying to help our customers in our capacity. Hit us up via the support app for any assistance. If you’re new, say hello using the contact form.


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Cheers,

Prasad from Frappe

erpnext.com