Show HN: A local-first, modular replacement for your accounting software

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.

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. Developers can also run it with: pip install celerp && celerp init The 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. I 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. On 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. Current modules include inventory, purchasing, invoicing, manufacturing, accounting, barcode labels, CSV import/export, role permissions, an AI operator, and an immutable audit trail. My 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. The 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. The 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? All feedback is welcome. Download: https://celerp.com/download.html https://celerp.com/download.html Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49237633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49237633 Points: 1 Comments: 0