Your questions, answered

It depends on how much setting up and moving you need. A 12-person machine shop and a 60-person manufacturer with three sites aren't the same job. What we can give you on a first call is a range, before you've committed to anything.

You're paying for three things: the setup work, the hosting, and ongoing support.

No. Add your tenth user or your fiftieth; it doesn't change the price.

Your bill tracks the computing power the system actually uses, not headcount. There are no per-seat licence fees.

It's open-source software, so the system isn't locked to us. You can take your data and have someone else host it.

That's the practical difference between open source and a proprietary system: no vendor lock-in, and no licence that stops working the day you stop paying.

It can. If your business grows and the system needs more power behind it to stay quick, that costs more. We'll tell you before it changes, and it's tied to something real rather than how many people you've taken on.

Fair question to ask a small supplier. The software is open source and the community behind it is large: hundreds of contributors, in development since 2008.

If we disappeared tomorrow, another provider could take over your system. You're not dependent on us the way you would be with a proprietary vendor.

Us. Log it on our helpdesk, and a real person will pick it up, or call if your system is down

They become the person who runs the new system. In our experience the people who know the current process best get the most out of the new one. They're the only ones who know why things are done the way they are.

They should be on the demo from day one.

Not on its own. ERPNext handles the HR side, so people records, leave, timesheets and attendance, but it has no built-in UK PAYE tax engine and RTI submissions to HMRC aren't part of the standard product.

In practice most businesses keep their existing payroll and we connect it, so hours flow out of the system and the payroll figures come back into the accounts. There's a UK add-on that does RTI submissions if you want everything in one place. Ask at the first call and we'll tell you whether it's worth it for a business your size.

If your staff won't use it, the project has failed — whatever it cost and however good the software is. That's true of every system, not just this one. So we try to find out before you've spent anything. Your production manager and whoever runs the office should be clicking around the demo before a contract is signed. If it's awkward for them, that's worth knowing in week one rather than month six. And if something isn't working after go-live, tell us. Usually it's a screen laid out wrong or a step that doesn't match how the job actually runs, and those are fixable.

Yes, automatically, and the backups are stored in the EU alongside the system itself. The schedule and how long copies are kept get confirmed in your support agreement, so it's written down rather than assumed.

Because the software is open source, those backups are yours. You can take a copy of your database whenever you want.

Your staff, with whatever permissions you set, and the people on our team who need access to support your system. Not the whole company, and not anyone outside it. How we handle and protect your data is set out on our privacy page.

It moves with you.

We take a sample of your existing data first, run the migration on a demo system, and see what breaks while it's still cheap to fix. Nothing touches your live system until you've seen the migration work.

On servers we rent from Hetzner in the EU and manage ourselves. We're not reselling someone else's platform.

The UK recognises the EU as providing an adequate level of data protection, so there are no additional transfer safeguards for you to put in place under UK GDPR. If you need it held physically in the UK, say so at the first call and we'll tell you whether we can do it.

Yes. We'll set up a demo system with your own login for a week. Your data, your workflows, your people clicking around it. No slides.

Ask them, and involve them early, because they'll be in the system too. The accounts are standard double-entry, the VAT returns go to HMRC the same way, and you can give your accountant their own login rather than emailing exports around.

If they've not come across ERPNext before, we're happy to get on a call with them. Most of the questions accountants ask are about VAT handling and year-end, and those are quick to answer.

Usually, yes. Most systems can be connected through their API, or through webhooks that sync data across automatically, so you're not keying the same thing into two places.

We start by looking at what you're running now and what actually needs to talk to what. Not everything does. Then we design the connections, build them, and test that data flows properly before go-live.

Bring a list of your current software to the first call and we'll tell you what connects easily, what takes work, and what isn't worth connecting at all.

Access to the data you want moved, someone who can make decisions, and someone who'll actually test the demo and tell us where it doesn't match how you work. That's it.

We can usually build round the way you work rather than asking you to change it. That's the advantage of open source.

If a process isn't agreed internally in the first place, no software will fix that, and we'll say so before you commit to anything.

MTD isn't part of core ERPNext. It comes from a UK add-on, and we install an HMRC-recognised one.

It builds the nine-box VAT return from the sales and purchase invoices already in your books and submits it through the Government Gateway. You can see your obligations, liabilities and previous returns in the system.

If you're coming off another accounts package this is usually the first thing people check, so we set it up during the demo.

Depends on the scale. A hosting-only setup with nothing to move is quickest. A migration with custom work built around your process takes longest.

You'll get a date at the first call once we've seen what's involved, and it goes in writing.

The code is public, which means anyone can inspect it and independent security audits are possible. Problems get reported openly and fixed by contributors rather than sitting in one company's queue.

What open source doesn't give you is someone accountable when it breaks at four o'clock on a Friday. That's what you're paying us for.

An open-source ERP system covering accounts, stock, manufacturing, sales, purchasing and HR in one place, instead of separate tools that don't talk to each other.

Think of it as the Linux of business software: no licence fee, developed by a large community rather than a single company. It's been in development since 2008 and is used by thousands of businesses worldwide.

It covers more ground than a standard accounts package. Accounting software handles your books; this also covers stock, production and job costing in the same system, so the numbers come from one place.

And it costs a fraction of what tier-one ERP costs to license.

Whether it's the right move depends on your business, not on ours. If it doesn't fit, we'll tell you at the first call.