Is ERPNext suitable for web studio project management needs?

Good day, everyone!

I am looking for a right solution for PM system for a small web studio. The main business is developing websites, doing SEO and supporting websites. I do not want to limit myself with the just PM solution, because I want to have CRM, accounting, profits and losses repots by project, payrolls.

I have evaluated OpenERP for that purpose, and I really like its modularity and the declared ability to fit in any business model. ERPNext seems to be more of a real Open Source spirit, but It is said to fit best for production and retail. It seems it is not so modular (you cannot turn manufacturing off so all related buttons and documents disappear from everywhere).

What do you suggest? Can ERPNext be the right solution for my use case? Is there anything that prevents me from using ERPNext as PM for web studio? Are there any real-world examples of similar usage?

Thank you!

Hello,

Being into services business, ERPNext uses ERPNext for themselves. Learn more about it here. Umair Sayyed on how ERPNext uses ERPNext - YouTube

You can hide unwanted modules from:

Setup >> Settings >> Show/Hide Modules

Also you can set permisions in a way that only user with permission for the specific form will be able to access that module.

https://erpnext.com/user-guide/setting-up/permissions

ERPNext lacks a true collaborative portal to manage projects (like Basecamp). Other than that, yes it should work!

Thank you for your answers. I played around with the program a little bit, but:

  1. I could not understand the relation between task and todo. This is essentual to PM. Could you explain it or share a link.
  2. I also had trouble logging work. Can it be done from task or todo and not from the dedicated form?
  3. Did not get how to manage permissions. Can I allow a user to see only task related to his todos (as it seems to be the way things work)? Can I add a user to the project and then let him see only the projects he is added to? And Only task he is assigned to?
    Sorry for a bunch of questions ))
  1. Task is linked to a project, and a todo can be linked to any transaction (click no “Assign” in the footer)
  2. Time Logs are separate entities right now.
  3. You will add a Custom Field called owner and check “apply user permissions” for Task in User Permissions

@rmehta, do we have more updates in ERPNext since this post (2014) to use it for a software consultancy ?

Which can provide a better solution to manage company through a single system, mainly for functions like : Project management, CRM, Accounts, Admin, HRMS, etc…

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@abhed: we as a software development consultancy (http://www.digithinkit.com) use ERP Next for our internal operations. We would even migrate our site to this platform soon (the current prototype is at http://erp.digithinkit.com).

We actively use the current capabilities in CRM, Sales, Accounting, Admin, and HRMS. We use Project Management but still do not manage tasks there in production mode yet (using a different platform for it meanwhile). We consider an internal project to integrate some of the third-party ERP Next apps (Kanban Board, interactive time tracking self-service by a worker) into the instance of ours to build the full cycle of project, task, and time management inside ERP Next.

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Can I ask where we could find kanban board, and interactive time tracking self service by worker 3rd party apps?

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@fblauer: the kanban view app is being developed by one of the community members under https://github.com/aruizramon/erpnext-kanban

you may want to review a special forum topic [WIP]: Kanban view for Frappe where the progress and issues on that app are discussed.

“interactive time tracking self service by worker” is something we are prototyping internally. This is on early stages, and unfortunately priorities on the commercial projects often hibernate the progress on it.

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@gvyshnya thank you for your updates and use cases. It is really good to know a similar use case. The Kanban board & self service HRMS for employee will be really good apps to integrate to. I hope down the line ERPNext will incorporate them as core modules.
We will soon start an Alpha rollout of ERPNext to use at our company as well. Thank you.

@Ivan, will you be able to share your experience ? Did you implement it at your Web studio ?

Thanks,
Abhed Dekavadiya

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@abhed Sorry, but I got nothing to say here. We are using Redmine for internal project management. But it is interesting to see this thread alive once again. I am sure ERPNext community will make anything possible it it set it as its goal)