ERPNext is a free and open-source ERP system that covers accounting, stock, manufacturing, sales, purchase, CRM, projects, HR and payroll, assets and customer support in one application. It is released under the GPLv3 licence, maintained by Frappe Technologies in Mumbai, and used by thousands of companies worldwide.
Because it was built in India, GST, e-invoicing and e-way bills are handled by a dedicated India Compliance app rather than bolted on later. Because it is open source, there is no per-user licence fee: the cost of running it is implementation, hosting and support. This page describes what is inside the software, how version 15 is organised, and how Thirvusoft implements it.
The Frappe Framework underneath ERPNext
ERPNext is an application built on the Frappe Framework, a web framework written in Python and JavaScript with MariaDB as its database. Every screen in ERPNext, from Sales Invoice to Salary Slip, is a DocType: a definition of fields, permissions, validations and print formats that the framework turns into a form, a list view, a report and a REST API endpoint automatically.
This matters to a business owner for one reason: changes are cheap. Adding a field to record the vehicle number on a delivery note, making a field mandatory, or building a new document type for a process ERPNext does not cover natively is framework-level work, not a rewrite. It is also why a Frappe developer can extend ERPNext without touching the core code, which keeps upgrades safe. Thirvusoft's own products for tyre service centres, paver block manufacturers, event management and distribution were built this way.
ERPNext modules and the business function each covers
The table lists the modules as they appear in ERPNext version 15 and the day-to-day work each one handles. Most companies start with accounts, sales, purchase and stock, then add manufacturing or HR in a second phase. All modules share the same customer, supplier and item masters, so a quotation raised by sales becomes the sales order, delivery note and invoice that stock and accounts work from.
| Module | Business function it covers |
|---|---|
| Accounts | Chart of accounts, GST invoicing, receivables and payables, payment entries, bank reconciliation, cost centres, budgets, balance sheet and P&L |
| Selling and POS | Quotations, sales orders, delivery notes, sales invoices, pricing rules, credit limits and retail point-of-sale billing |
| Buying | Material requests, requests for quotation, supplier quotations, purchase orders, purchase receipts and supplier scorecards |
| Stock | Multi-warehouse inventory, batches, serial numbers, valuation, reorder levels, stock entries and reconciliation |
| Manufacturing | Multi-level BOMs, work orders, job cards, operations and workstations, subcontracting and production costing |
| CRM | Leads, opportunities, follow-ups, campaigns and conversion to quotation |
| Projects | Projects, tasks, timesheets, project-wise costing and billing |
| HR and payroll (Frappe HR) | Employee master, attendance, shifts, leave, salary structures with PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS, expense claims and appraisals |
| Assets | Fixed asset register, depreciation schedules, maintenance and asset movement |
| Support | Issues, service level agreements, warranty claims and maintenance visits |
| Website and e-commerce | Product catalogue, shopping cart, online orders and customer portal |
| Domain apps | Education, healthcare, agriculture and loan management, installed as separate apps in version 15 |
What changed in ERPNext version 15
The most visible change in version 15 is structural. Functions that used to sit inside the main ERPNext codebase, such as HR and payroll, education, healthcare, agriculture and loan management, are now separate apps installed alongside it. HR and payroll live in Frappe HR, which is why you will see 'Frappe HR' and 'HRMS' used interchangeably. A trading company that never needs payroll installs a lighter system; a school installs the education app on top.
The practical effect is a cleaner core and independent releases for each app. It also means an implementation plan should list which apps are installed and why, rather than assuming everything arrives in one bundle. Thirvusoft implements on ERPNext version 15 and Frappe Framework version 15 as standard, with the India Compliance app for GST and Frappe HR for payroll, and can upgrade older installations.
- ERPNext core: accounts, selling, buying, stock, manufacturing, CRM, projects, assets, support and website.
- Frappe HR: attendance, leave, payroll, expense claims, appraisals and employee self-service.
- India Compliance: GST invoicing, e-invoice IRN and QR code, e-way bill, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, TDS and HSN summaries.
- Domain apps as needed: education, healthcare, agriculture and lending.
Hosting options: cloud in India or your own server
ERPNext runs on a Linux server and is used through a web browser or mobile app, so the same software can be hosted wherever suits the business. Thirvusoft offers two arrangements: cloud hosting on servers located in India, which suits multi-branch companies and anyone who does not want to manage hardware, and on-premise installation on the customer's own server for plants with unreliable internet or a policy of keeping data in-house.
Whichever you choose, the software and your data remain yours. There is no vendor-hosted-only edition, and a full database backup can be restored on any other server running the same version. That portability is one of the quieter advantages of open source: the business is never tied to one hosting provider or one implementer.
Security, permissions and backups
Access in ERPNext is controlled at three levels. Roles decide which document types a user can read, create, submit or cancel. User permissions narrow that further, so a branch manager sees only their branch's invoices or a salesperson only their own customers. Field-level permissions hide sensitive fields such as cost price or salary from roles that do not need them.
Every submitted document carries a version history showing who changed what and when, and cancelled documents are retained rather than deleted, which is what an auditor expects. Scheduled database backups are part of a standard deployment; on Thirvusoft's cloud hosting they run automatically, and on-premise customers are set up with the same schedule and a tested restore procedure. Access over the internet is served over HTTPS, and two-factor authentication can be switched on for users who need it.
Licensing: GPLv3 and no per-user fee
ERPNext is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3. In plain terms, you may use it for any purpose, on any number of servers, for any number of users, without paying a licence fee. You may modify it, and if you distribute a modified version you must share the source under the same licence. Running it inside your own company, with your own customisations, is not distribution.
For a business, the result is that headcount growth does not change the software bill. Adding a second company, a new branch or twenty shop-floor users is a configuration task, not a procurement one. This is the main reason ERPNext compares well against per-user licensed products for companies that want everyone, not just the accounts team, working in the system.
Who uses ERPNext, and how Thirvusoft implements it
ERPNext is used by thousands of companies worldwide. Among the businesses Thirvusoft has implemented it for are Vishal Agro Industries in cattle feed, Bahola in homeopathy healthcare, Global Safety Enterprises in safety equipment, Laboni and Rakhi Pvt Ltd in manufacturing, and Juzgo Holidays in travel. Across more than fifty customers and seventeen modules, the pattern is consistent: the system suits companies that want accounts, stock and operations in one place without a per-seat bill.
Implementation follows five steps. Discover: consultants map the current process on site. Configure and customise: masters, workflows, print formats and any custom fields or apps. Migrate data: masters and opening balances from Tally, Excel or a legacy ERP. Train: role by role, in Tamil or English, at your premises. Go live and support: a hyper-care period, then an annual maintenance contract. Trading and service companies usually go live within four to eight weeks; manufacturers with BOMs and costing within eight to fourteen.
- Consultants based in Coimbatore who visit sites across Tamil Nadu, with remote delivery across India.
- In-house Frappe (Python and JavaScript) developers for customisation and Flutter developers for mobile apps.
- Integrations delivered regularly: WhatsApp, biometric attendance devices, e-way bill and e-invoice, IndiaMART leads, cloud telephony and Razorpay payments.
- More than 270 ERPNext articles on the Thirvusoft blog and six published case studies.