Re: The basics

["Chris Travers" <..hidden..>]

Hi Geoff,

Sorry about the delay in the reply to the original email.

If you haven't done so, you should probably familiarize yourself with
the contents of the manual.  It is fairly task oriented and will
(hopefully) help make my reply clearer. :-)

On 3/17/07, Geoff Wright <..hidden..> wrote:
> Hello everyone:
>
> I am wondering if someone can give me a shove in the right direction...
> From what I can tell, ledgerSMB will do
> everything that we need and the two big advantages for us are cost
> and integration.  We have built an online registration system that
> could eventually be linked directly into our accounting app, hopefully.)

We are going to support a RESTful web service API in 1.3.  That should
be of great help :-)

Also, I would suggest that you run your final setup by any CPA for
suggestions.  IANACPA.
<snip>
> A typical transaction for the club:
>
>         There is a family of four (Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter).  The family
> purchases a "Family" membership ($100).  The family also purchases
> "Bunnyrabbit" classes for Son ($30) and "Jackrabbit" classes for
> Daughter ($40).  Mom joins the "Masters" program ($50).

There are a couple ways to do this.  In 1.1/1.2, I think yu would
probably have to have the family be the customer, and maybe note who
got what elsewhere on the on the invoice.
> What is the correct way of setting this transaction up?
>
>         1. Add customer - should I add each member of the family separately
> or should I enter it as one single family unit? We tend to think
> about a family as one unit because the parents often pay for their
> children. There can also be multiple transactions over the course of
> the year as a child could be involved in other activities from time
> to time.

I would suggest doing this as a family for now.  1.3 will have an
ability to add each of these as contacts, which will make things
easier.
>         3. What are our products?  The memberships and classes are our
> "products".  Should I set these up as "Services" in ledgerSMB?

I would set those up as Services.

> Thanks in advance.  Would there be interest if I wrote this up as a
> "Case Study" to be included in the documentation?  Perhaps as a
> complement to the example, "Retail with Light Manufacturing".

Absolutely :-)  And if you (or anyone else) wants to contribute a case
study/testimonial to the web site, let me know.
> (I realize that this request is going above and beyond the call and
> would be interested in hiring a consultant to help us set up our
> accounts and processes correctly ... if the price is not too high = ~
> $200. Please contact me if you have the time to help us out.)

I personally have too much of a backlog to take on that task at the
moment.  I can provide high-level assistance via the email list, or
you could hire others.  Contact me off-list if you would like some
recommendations.  Otherwise, I hope others take this opportunity.
> Cheers. And I just want to say that you have all done an amazing job
> on this program (as have the folks over at sql-ledger prior to the
> port)! I trully respect the job that you have done so far!

Thanks.

Chris Travers