Accounting System for Winforms / SQL Server applications

Question

If you were going to write a vertical market C# / WinForms / SQL Server application and needed an accounting "engine" for it, what software package would you chose ?

By vertical market, I mean the application is intended to solve a particular set of business problems, not be a generic accounting application. Thus the value add of the program is the 70% of non-accounting related functionality present in the finished product. The 30% of accounting functionality is merely to enable the basic accounting needs of the business.

I said all that to lead up to this: The accounting engine needs to be a royalty-free runtime license and not super expensive. I've found a couple C#/SQL Server accounting apps that can be had with source code and a royalty free run time for $150k+ and that would be fine for greenfield development funded by a large bankroll, but for smaller apps, that sort of capital outlay isn't feasible. Something along the lines of $5k to $15k for a royalty-free runtime would be more reasonable. Open-source would be even better.

By accounting engine, I mean something that takes care of at a minimum:

• General
• Ledger
• Invoices
• Statements
• Accounts Receivable
• Payments / Credits

Basically, an accounting engine should be something that lets the developer concentrate on the value added (industry specific business best practices / processes) part of the solution and not have to worry about how to implement the low level details of a double entry accounting system.

Ideally, the accounting engine would be something that is licensed on a royalty free run-time basis.

Suggestions, please ?

Answer 1

Here is one suggestion: www.objacct.com

Answer 2

Microsoft Dynamics GP comes to mind. I have not heard of anyone licensing it for repackaging, but I know you can adapt it and extend it for different markets.

It might fit your need of allowing the developers to concentrate on the value ad.

It might be a bit heavy for your needs though. I mention it since a lot of my clients are using it.

Another option which might be closer to your needs is AdaptAccounts

Answer 3

One that is excellent and of good reputation around the globe is Sage Software Accpac

The Sage Accpac ERP's SDK makes it simple to integrate via COM objects, and is working on different DBRM engines such as Pervasive SQL and SQL Server, just to name these two.

Plus, you may choose what module you buy for your company's needs. Now, it all depends on your budget as it is a commercial solution that is renown to be a little expensive, but definately reliable and stable.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

TRAVERSE from Open Systems, Inc. may be an option. .net,SQL,C# Accounting and Business software. Integrates easily with third party verticals.

Answer 6

Check XERP.Net @ http://xerpdotnet.codeplex.com , It looks promising (It's free but rely on XAF which will cost you 2,000$ per developer initially and around 800$ a year later and you will get a fully loaded DevExpress tools anyways).

Answer 7

I have looked around in the past for this type of thing and have always came to the conclusion of using a commercial accounting package and doing as much integration as possible. There are several reasons for this including:

1. With a common commercial accounting package, you can usually find someone who is able to use it without much effort and/or cost of training.
2. If your vertical app is built to integrate with an external accounting app, and it is successfull, you can build integration to additional packages that potential customers may already have in place.
3. Generally, external accountants (CPAs) for most companies like to be able to know that the accounting application that their client is using is well known and supported. There are a lot of reasons for this including cost savings on doing annual tasks (such as corporate taxes). With a common application, the CPA often can request very specific reports/info that already exist.

There are many more advantages, but I am sure you get the picture.

Depending on the needs of you clients in terms of accounting, you can start as basic as QuickBooks and go up from there. There is always someone around that knows how to work within QuickBooks and it has a decent integration API. From there you can step up to many of the Sage solutions and/or Microsoft solutions as they are very common and widely used.

I know that you stated that you want and API/Engine to build on, but I would highly suggest considering the integration option with a standard commercial package.