{"slug": "show-hn-a-local-first-modular-replacement-for-your-accounting-software", "title": "Show HN: A local-first, modular replacement for your accounting software", "summary": "Celerp, a self-hosted accounting and ERP system created by a developer with 20 years of experience building ERP systems for factories, wholesalers, and gemstone & jewelry businesses, launches as a desktop app with a bundled Postgres server and browser-based access for office teams. The modular system supports 16 industry presets, in-place field editing, and an AI operator, with an open-core license (BUSL-1.1 core converting to Apache, MIT for default business modules). The project is early and seeks feedback on self-hosted business software adoption.", "body_md": "Celerp is a self-hosted accounting and ERP system that runs as a desktop app, starts a local server with bundled Postgres, and lets people in the office connect from their browsers.\n\nDevelopers can also run it with: pip install celerp && celerp init\n\nThe structure is modular. New modules can be built and imported without forking the repo, so someone using AI coding tools can describe what their business needs, build a module around it, and import it directly into the system.\n\nI have spent about 20 years building ERP systems for factories, wholesalers, and gemstone & jewelry businesses. Celerp is my attempt to take everything that I’ve learned and turn it into a system that is simple to deploy, self-hosted, and can easily be expanded upon.\n\nOn install, users can choose from 16 industry presets, which load the relevant default modules and configuration. Many fields can also be edited directly in-place, closer to a spreadsheet than a traditional ERP screen. I hope this makes the system more familiar for small business owners than the menu-driven inputs typical of larger enterprise systems.\n\nCurrent modules include inventory, purchasing, invoicing, manufacturing, accounting, barcode labels, CSV import/export, role permissions, an AI operator, and an immutable audit trail.\n\nMy thesis is that the long-term trend will be toward companies taking greater ownership of both their infrastructure and their data. I hope that Celerp can help some companies make that transition.\n\nThe licensing model is open-core: the core is BUSL-1.1 (converts to Apache), and the default business modules are MIT. The official UI is source-available, with free use for single-user deployments.\n\nThe project is still early. I’m especially interested in feedback on three areas: 1. Where do you think self-hosted/local-first business software breaks down in practice? 2. How would you get self-hosted business software directly into the hands of SMEs without relying on implementers? 3. What’s missing for your own business use case?\n\nAll feedback is welcome.\n\nDownload: [https://celerp.com/download.html](https://celerp.com/download.html)\n\nComments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49237633](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49237633)\n\nPoints: 1\n\n# Comments: 0", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-local-first-modular-replacement-for-your-accounting-software", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/celerp/celerp", "published_at": "2026-08-10 00:04:37+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-10 00:35:01.036017+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "ai-agents", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Celerp", "Postgres", "BUSL-1.1", "Apache", "MIT"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-local-first-modular-replacement-for-your-accounting-software", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-local-first-modular-replacement-for-your-accounting-software.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-local-first-modular-replacement-for-your-accounting-software.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-local-first-modular-replacement-for-your-accounting-software.jsonld"}}