Most ERP quotes are written for companies ten times your size.
You asked three vendors about ERPNext. You got back a forty-page scope document, a six-month plan with a Gantt chart nobody will ever look at again, and a number somewhere between six and thirty-five lakh rupees. All of it payable before anyone has proved they understand your business.
But you do not need a digital transformation programme. You need GST invoices that go out on time, stock figures you can trust, and a profit and loss statement that does not take your accountant eleven days to produce.
That is a few weeks of work by people who have done it before — not a capital expenditure decision.
Four steps. No surprises in any of them.
Two things to buy. That is the whole price list.
We agree the hours before we start. Every time.
Hourly billing usually means you find out the cost afterwards. Not here.
Here is exactly where the core pack stops.
Most vendors tell you what is included. The interesting part is the other list.
- —Accounting, GST setup, financial reports
- —Sales cycle: quotation to invoice
- —Purchase cycle: request to payment
- —Inventory, warehouses, batches, serials
- —Installation, user roles, dashboards
- —One data import session, opening balances
- ·Custom print formats and invoice designs
- ·Custom scripts and automated calculations
- ·API integrations — biometric, bank, payment gateway, e-commerce
- ·Data cleaning and complex migrations
- ·Multi-level approval workflows
- ·Extended training and post-go-live support
We have done this for businesses like yours.
One system instead of nine spreadsheets.
What it actually took.
Went live in 42 hours
Then added custom invoice format (4 hrs), biometric attendance (8 hrs)
— Owner
Went live in 68 hours
Then added shop-floor job card formats (5 hrs), production summary report (3 hrs)
— Plant head
Went live in 40 hours
Then added milestone invoice formats (4 hrs), timesheet approval flow (6 hrs)
— Director
The questions everyone asks.
What if a customisation takes longer than you estimated?+
We absorb it. The estimate we give you is a cap. The only thing that changes the number is you changing the requirement — and then we re-quote before doing anything.
Do my customisation hours expire?+
No — hours in a customisation pack stay on your account until you use them.
Can I see how my hours are being used?+
Yes. Every hour is logged against a named task, and you get a work note for each customisation showing what was done and how long it took.
What happens after we go live?+
Nothing forced. Some clients keep a 10-hour pack topped up for support and small changes. Others go months without needing us. There is no mandatory annual contract.
Where will our data be hosted?+
Wherever you want it. Frappe Cloud in your own account, AWS, DigitalOcean, or your own server. We are independent, so we do not push you onto any one platform — and the account stays in your name.
Is ERPNext really free?+
The software is genuinely open source and there are no per-user licence fees, ever. You pay for hosting and for people's time. That is it.
How long does it take?+
Most small businesses go live within 6–10 weeks of starting. The limiting factor is almost never us — it is how quickly your team can clean up master data and make decisions.
We are only a few users. Are we too small for this?+
No. That is specifically who this model is built for. The large firms need a six-figure project to be worth their time. We do not.
Thirty minutes. No slide deck.
Tell us what you run today and what is breaking. We will tell you whether ERPNext fits, roughly how many hours it takes, and what it will cost. If it is not a fit, we will say so.