====== Introduction to SQL-Ledger ======
   

======Why SQL-Ledger======

=====Advantages of SQL-Ledger===== 

  * Flexibility and Central Management
  * Accessibility over the Internet (for some users)
  * Data is in a relatively open format
  * Integration with other tools
  * One of the best accounting options for Linux users.
  * Open Source
  * A flexible, open framework that can be extended or modified to fit your business.
===== Key Features =====

  * Accounts Receivable
    * Track sales by customer
    * Issue Invoices, Statements, Receipts, and more
    * Job costing and time entry for customer projects.
    * Manage sales orders and quotations
    * Ship items from sales orders
 
  * Accounts Payable
    * Track purchases and debts by vendor.
    * Issue RFQ's Purchase Orders, etc.
    * Track items received from purchase orders.
  
  * Budgeting
      * Track expenditures and income across multiple departments.
      * Track all transactions across departments.

  * General Ledger
  
  * Inventory Management
      * Track sales and orders of parts
      * Track cost of goods sold using First In/First Out method
      * List all parts below reorder point.
      * Track ordering requirements.
      * Track, ship, receive, and transfer parts to and from multiple warehouses.
  * Localization
      * Provide Localized Translations for Part Descriptions
      *  Provide Localized Templates for Invoices, Orders, Checks, and more.
      * Select language per customer, invoice, order, etc.
  * Manufacturing
      * Track cost of goods sold for manufactured goods (assemblies)
      * Create assemblies and stock assemblies, tracking materials on hand.
  * Multi-company/Multiuser
      * One isolated database per company
      *  Users can have localized systems independent of company data set.
  * Point of Sale
      * Run multiple cash registers against main SQL-Ledger installation.
      * Suitable for retail stores and more.
      * Supports some POS hardware out of the box.
      * Third party add-ons available for more functionality.
  * Price Matrix
      * Track different prices for vendors and customers across the board.
      * Provide discounts to groups of customers per item or across the board.
      * Store vendors` prices independent of the other last cost in the parts record.
  * Reporting
      * All basic financial statements supported.
      * Customer history, sales data, and additional information can be easily displayed.
      * Open framework allows for ODBC connections to be used to generate reports using third party reporting tools.
  * Tax
      * Supports Retail Sales Tax and Value Added Tax type systems
      * Flexible framework allows one to customize reports to change the tax reporting framework to meet any local requirement.

===== Limitations of SQL-Ledger =====

    * No payroll module (Payroll must be done manually)
    * Some integration limitations
    * Further development/maintenance requires a knowledge of a relatively broad range of technologies.
===== System Requirements of SQL-Ledger =====

  * PostgreSQL
  * A CGI-enabled Web Server (for example, Apache)
  * Perl with the DBI and DBD::Pg modules
  * An operating system which supports the above software (usually Linux, though Windows, MacOS X, etc. do work).
  * LaTeX (optional) is required to create PDF or Postscript invoices.

**Next:** [[:User Account and Database Administration Basics]]

//(First version from: An Introduction to SQL-Ledger by Chris Travers, 2006)//