QuickBooks → ERPNext, Parity + Cutover Assessment¶
URL: https://mkdocs.justinsforge.com/memory/handoffs/quickbooks-to-erpnext-parity-2026-06-07/
Date: 2026-06-07 · Author: [Claude Code] · Goal: operationalize ERPNext and cancel QuickBooks by end of June 2026.
Verdict¶
Yes, ERPNext covers everything you use QuickBooks for, and you're on the most basic tier (Simple Start), so ERPNext actually meets or beats it on every axis. One piece must be built (bank feed), one is a real gap with a workaround (automated sales tax), and payroll is not a QuickBooks question at all (it's Gusto, handled separately). ERPNext also hands you cross-company consolidation across all 5 LLCs, which Simple Start cannot do at all (each of your 5 files is an island today).
Your setup: 5 × QBO Simple Start at 50% off (~$80/mo, likely jumping to ~$175/mo when the promo ends), separate books per LLC. Stated usage: bank feed + categorize, tax reports, customer invoicing, expenses/receipts, automated sales tax.
Parity matrix¶
| What you do in QuickBooks | ERPNext capability | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bank feed (auto-import transactions) | Bank Transaction + Bank Reconciliation Tool. No built-in US bank aggregation. | BUILD — forge_plaid_sync.py (Plaid → ERPNext). The core unbuilt piece. |
| Categorize transactions (queue → click) | Bank Reconciliation Tool + matching rules (auto-suggest by payee/amount) | Native once transactions land. |
| Customer invoicing + getting paid | Sales Invoice (email, payment links, recurring, statements) | Native, strong. |
| Expenses + vendor payments | Purchase Invoice + Payment Entry (full A/P) | Native, exceeds Simple Start (which has no bill management). |
| Receipt capture | File attach on any document; Expense Claim | Partial — attaching works; mobile snap/OCR is weaker than QB. |
| P&L, Balance Sheet | Financial Statements (per company + consolidated) | Native. |
| Reports for your CPA | General Ledger, Trial Balance, Cash Flow, exportable to Excel/PDF | Native. |
| 5 separate company books | 5 companies already seeded (WIEB group + 4) | Native, already structured. |
| Multi-company consolidation | Group company + Consolidated Financial Statement | Native (WIEB is the group parent). |
| Automated sales tax | Sales Taxes & Charges Templates (manual rates). No auto-jurisdiction lookup or filing. | GAP — see below. |
| 1099 contractor tracking | Supplier ledger + payment history; manual 1099 totals | Partial — tracks payments; doesn't file. |
| Bank reconciliation | Bank Reconciliation Tool | Native. |
| Recurring transactions | Auto Repeat | Native. |
| Audit trail | Document versioning + immutable submitted ledger | Native (stronger than QB). |
The one real gap: sales tax¶
QuickBooks' automated sales tax (rate by jurisdiction + filing-ready reports) has no native equivalent in ERPNext. How to close it:
- Nova Design (Shopify): Shopify Tax already calculates and collects sales tax at checkout and produces liability/filing reports. Let Shopify own ecommerce sales tax; ERPNext just records the collected liability via a tax template + periodic journal. This is arguably cleaner than routing it through QB.
- Other entities with taxable sales (Sip 'N' Serve, Gus Outdoor physical goods?): if they have multi-state nexus, a dedicated tool (TaxJar/Avalara, ~$20+/mo) may be needed regardless of QB. If sales are single-state or de minimis, ERPNext manual tax templates suffice.
- This is tax-compliance territory — the chosen approach should be blessed by your CPA before cutover.
Not a gap: payroll (Gusto, not QB)¶
You pay yourself ~$40k/yr W-2 once a year via Gusto ($50/mo = $600/yr). ERPNext does not do US payroll tax filing or direct deposit, but that was never in QuickBooks, so it does not block cancelling QB. Separately, $600/yr for one annual payroll run is wasteful: - Cheaper W-2 options exist (e.g., Patriot Payroll ~$17/mo + filing) for an S-corp owner running payroll a few times a year. - Switching payroll providers mid-year is messy (prior wages + tax deposits already filed under Gusto). Safest to evaluate this at year-end / next Jan, not now. - Do not let payroll hold up the QB cancellation. Track it as a separate cost-cut.
Cost reality (confirmed)¶
5 × QuickBooks Online Simple Start at 50% off ≈ $80/mo today. Two implications: - The 50% is almost certainly the 3-month intro promo. When it expires, 5 × Simple Start at full ~$35/mo = ~$175/mo. Confirm the renewal date; it likely more than doubles the cost soon, which sharpens the end-of-June cutover. - Simple Start is the lowest QBO tier, so your real feature surface is small and ERPNext meets or beats all of it (see matrix). Notably, Simple Start has no true accounts-payable / bill management (that starts at Essentials) and no cross-company consolidation (each of your 5 files is an island). ERPNext gives you both for free. - Export path: QBO Simple Start exports lists (customers, vendors, chart of accounts) and reports (Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, General Ledger) to Excel/CSV. For opening balances, pull the Trial Balance as of the cutover date from each of the 5 files (5 manual exports, or via the Intuit QBO API per realm if we want it automated).
Decisions (resolved 2026-06-07)¶
- History depth: FULL transaction history, done the robust way (export-archive-all-now → build foundation → import + reconcile to the penny per entity → cut over only when verified). ~1 year of QB runway, so the gate is correctness, not the calendar: target end of June, slip a couple weeks if reconciliation isn't clean.
- Personal/business mixing:
- Historical business costs paid personally → owner equity contribution (no cash back).
- Going forward → Telegram capture the moment it happens + monthly accountable-plan reimbursement.
- Reclassify any personal spend that ran through business accounts → owner distribution (caught during reconciliation).
- Business costs paid personally that never hit QB → surface from personal statements (manual; Forge provides easy intake).
- Sales tax: Shopify owns Nova's collection/filing; ERPNext records the liability only.
- CPA sign-off still needed on the equity/distribution treatment before cutover.
QB product: 5 × QBO Simple Start at 50% off (~$80/mo, likely → ~$175/mo when promo ends). Full-history export via per-file General Ledger to Excel/CSV.
Path to end-of-June (high level)¶
| Week | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 (Jun 9-15) | Lock decisions above. Build the Plaid bank-feed bridge. Fix infra: static IP on CT 104, ERPNext health monitoring, correct ERPNEXT_URL. |
| 2 (Jun 16-22) | Import opening balances (trial balance per company as of cutover) into all 5 ERPNext companies. Set up tax templates + sales-tax approach. Recreate active customers/vendors/items. |
| 3 (Jun 23-29) | Parallel run: enter real transactions in ERPNext, reconcile bank feeds, confirm P&L / Balance Sheet match QB for the period. |
| 4 (Jun 30) | Cutover. Set QB to read-only / cancel subscription. |
Critical path = Plaid bank feed + opening balances + sales-tax decision. Payroll is out of scope (Gusto stays for now).
Next step¶
This is a multi-step code + data-migration project. Recommend running /feature-plan to turn it into a spec'd, file-by-file task list (Plaid bridge, opening-balance import scripts, tax templates) before any implementation.