On 14/10/06 22:09 +0530, Saswata Banerjee & Associates wrote:
Hi Everyone,
First, I am against the concept of cloning tally. Because tally is a very unsafe software. We refer to it as a "Time Bomb". I have explained this in the past on the group, but let me explain again.
In tally, you can insert an accounting transaction at any point of time behind in date. It will automatically renumber all vouchers and documents. There is no trail or any indication showing that it has been done. Similarly, you can delete an acccounting transaction at any point of time. Again, no one will be any wiser. In a corporate (or even SME Segment), this is dangerous as the accountant may manipulate the data for his own purpose, causing a loss to the organisation. I have made good money in the past by explaining this to the clients and sold them our services and moved them to alternate software.
That is precisely why most SMEs like Tally. Accountants like Tally because they can input data quite fast.
Second, I think we should build web-based software. It is easier to run
I disagree. Web stuff is far harder to get right than a plain, simple client/server thing.
(everyone has broadband connection today), easier to maintain (you do not have to go to the clients office to solve the problem). It is also more popular platform. An added fact is that it works in case of multiple branch scenario and also allows owners to see the data from home.
X works for that.
Third, with all respects to Kenneth, there are already existing accounting software that is good, but not designed for India. The 2 I like best is CKERP and WebERP. I have used both. Both have some faults and problems which can be solved. The advantage is that they are stable software and already used by people. You will need to add a few modules for taking care of Indian Tax Laws and providing for Indian GAP rules. It will be much faster than starting from scrap.
I say we use the backends, but put the frontends on regular applications. X is designed to run over the network, and you don't need to bother about the complexities of web apps. For Windows users, there is NX or VNC.
We may even strip down the software to remove things we dont plan to use (eg. CKERP has a small CRM module). and add things they dont have (Fixed Asset Register and automatic depreciation computation). Using this route, with a team of 5 programmers, in 3 months we will be ready to
What kind of programmers? Personally, my architecture would look something like this:
DB -> stored procs for data insertion/modification/reporting/logging -> application layer API -> GUI frontend.
Devdas Bhagat