Glossary
Quick definitions of key terms
ERPNext Glossary
Explore our comprehensive guide to business, functional, and technical terms used across ERPNext. Designed to help business users, implementation teams, and developers perfectly align their understanding.
| Term | Category | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Finance and Accounting | A financial record used to classify transactions under assets, liabilities, income, expenses, or equity in ERPNext. |
| Accounting Dimension | Finance and Reporting | A classification such as cost center, project, branch, or department used to analyze financial transactions in more detail. |
| Accounts Payable | Finance and Accounting | The business process and ledger area that manages supplier invoices, vendor credits, and payments due. |
| Accounts Receivable | Finance and Accounting | The business process and ledger area that manages customer invoices, receipts, and collections outstanding. |
| Accrual Entry | Finance and Accounting | An accounting entry used to record income or expenses in the correct period before cash is actually received or paid. |
| Advance Payment | Finance and Accounting | A payment received from a customer or paid to a supplier before the final invoice is issued. |
| Aging Report | Finance and Reporting | A report that groups receivables or payables based on how long the amount has been outstanding. |
| Amended Document | Controls and Workflow | A document that has been revised after cancellation, with a new linked version retained for audit trail purposes. |
| Asset | Fixed Assets | A long term resource owned by the company, such as equipment, vehicles, or computers, managed in the asset register. |
| Asset Category | Fixed Assets | A grouping used to define common depreciation method, useful life, and accounting treatment for similar assets. |
| Attendance | Human Resources | The record of employee presence, absence, late arrival, or shift based working status in ERPNext. |
| Authorization Rule | Controls and Workflow | A rule that controls who can approve a transaction based on value, role, or business conditions. |
| Batch | Inventory and Warehouse | A specific lot of stock received, produced, or stored together for traceability and expiry tracking. |
| Batch Pricing | Sales and Inventory | Pricing logic applied to a particular batch of items, often linked to special inventory situations. |
| Bill of Materials | Manufacturing | The structured list of raw materials, subassemblies, and operations needed to make a finished product. |
| Budget | Finance and Planning | A financial plan set for an account, cost center, project, or department to control spending and track variance. |
| Capital Work in Progress | Fixed Assets | The accounting treatment for assets under construction before they are capitalized and depreciated. |
| Cash Flow | Finance and Reporting | The movement of cash into and out of the business, tracked through receipts, payments, and cash flow reports. |
| Chart of Accounts | Finance and Accounting | The structured list of all ledger accounts used by the company for recording and reporting financial transactions. |
| Company | Core Setup | The legal entity configured in ERPNext for which books, transactions, taxes, and reports are maintained. |
| Cost Center | Finance and Reporting | A business unit such as a department, branch, or team used to allocate and monitor cost and profitability. |
| Credit Limit | Sales and Credit Control | The maximum outstanding receivable exposure allowed for a customer before further sales are restricted. |
| Credit Note | Finance and Sales | A document issued to reduce a customer invoice due to returns, corrections, discounts, or overbilling. |
| Currency Exchange Rate | Finance and Treasury | The rate used to convert transactions from one currency into another in multi currency accounting. |
| Customer | Sales and CRM | A master record representing a buyer of goods or services from the company. |
| Customer Group | Sales and CRM | A classification of customers by segment, type, channel, region, or pricing structure. |
| Daily Timesheet | Projects and Services | A daily record of employee or contractor time spent on tasks, projects, or billable work. |
| Dashboard | Reporting and Analytics | A visual summary of business metrics, charts, reminders, and operational indicators displayed in ERPNext. |
| Debit Note | Finance and Procurement | A document used to increase the amount due from a supplier or record adjustments related to purchases. |
| Delivery Note | Sales and Logistics | A stock and dispatch document confirming that goods have been delivered to a customer. |
| Department | Human Resources | An organizational unit used to group employees, control workflows, and analyze staffing or payroll costs. |
| Depreciation | Fixed Assets | The systematic allocation of an asset’s cost over its useful life. |
| Designation | Human Resources | The job title or role assigned to an employee, such as accountant, manager, or engineer. |
| Direct Expense | Finance and Costing | An expense that can be specifically attributed to a product, project, or service. |
| Document Naming Series | Core Setup | A rule based numbering pattern used to auto generate unique document IDs in ERPNext. |
| Drop Shipment | Sales and Procurement | A fulfillment method where goods are shipped directly from supplier to customer without entering company stock. |
| Employee | Human Resources | The master record representing a person employed by the organization. |
| Employee Advance | Human Resources and Finance | An amount paid to an employee in advance for travel, project, or business spending. |
| Expense Claim | Human Resources and Finance | A reimbursement request submitted by an employee for approved business expenses. |
| Fiscal Year | Finance and Accounting | The official accounting year used for reporting, statutory compliance, and closing books. |
| Fixed Asset Register | Fixed Assets | The detailed list of fixed assets including acquisition cost, depreciation, location, and current value. |
| General Ledger | Finance and Accounting | The complete financial book that stores all posted accounting entries across all accounts. |
| Goods Receipt | Procurement and Inventory | The transaction that records receipt of items from a supplier into stock. |
| Gross Profit | Finance and Reporting | Revenue minus direct cost of goods sold, used to evaluate business margin. |
| Holiday List | Human Resources | The calendar of approved holidays used in attendance, leave, and payroll processing. |
| Income Account | Finance and Accounting | A ledger account used to record sales, service income, or other business revenue. |
| Installation Note | Sales and Service | A document used to confirm installation of delivered equipment or products at the customer site. |
| Inter Company Transaction | Finance and Group Accounting | A transaction between two related companies configured within the same ERPNext environment. |
| Inventory | Inventory and Warehouse | The stock of raw materials, work in progress, finished goods, or trading items managed in warehouses. |
| Inventory Valuation | Inventory and Finance | The method used to determine inventory cost, such as FIFO or moving average. |
| Item | Inventory and Sales | A product, raw material, spare part, or service defined in the item master. |
| Item Attribute | Product Management | A defining property such as size, color, capacity, or model used to create variants. |
| Item Group | Product Management | A structured classification used to organize items by product family or business line. |
| Item Variant | Product Management | A version of a base product created through combinations of attributes such as size or color. |
| Journal Entry | Finance and Accounting | A manual accounting transaction used to post adjustments, accruals, or non standard entries. |
| Landed Cost Voucher | Procurement and Inventory | A document used to allocate freight, duty, insurance, and related costs to the value of imported or purchased stock. |
| Lead | Sales and CRM | A potential customer or inquiry captured before qualification into a business opportunity. |
| Leave Allocation | Human Resources | The assignment of leave balances to employees under a defined leave policy. |
| Leave Application | Human Resources | A formal request by an employee to take leave for a defined period. |
| Material Request | Procurement and Inventory | An internal request to purchase, transfer, or issue stock for business use. |
| Manufacturing Order | Manufacturing | A production instruction to manufacture a specified quantity of an item. |
| Monthly Distribution | Finance and Budgeting | A method of spreading budget amounts or expense recognition across months in a planned pattern. |
| Multi Currency Accounting | Finance and Treasury | The capability to record transactions in different currencies and translate them for reporting. |
| Opening Balance | Finance and Setup | The starting balance entered when a company begins using ERPNext or opens a new fiscal year. |
| Opportunity | Sales and CRM | A qualified sales prospect with identified need, value, and potential for closure. |
| Payment Entry | Finance and Treasury | The document used to record money received, paid, or transferred between accounts. |
| Payment Terms | Sales and Procurement | The agreed conditions for due dates, installment structure, or credit period on invoices. |
| Payroll Entry | Payroll | A processing document used to generate salary slips and payroll accounting for a defined period. |
| Price List | Sales and Procurement | A structured table of item prices used for selling or buying under defined business conditions. |
| Pricing Rule | Sales and Procurement | A configurable rule that applies discounts, margins, or special pricing automatically. |
| Procure to Pay | Procurement | The full cycle from purchase request to supplier invoice and final payment. |
| Product Bundle | Sales and Product Management | A group of multiple items sold together as one commercial offering. |
| Production Plan | Manufacturing | A planning document that schedules manufacturing requirements based on demand, forecasts, or sales orders. |
| Profit and Loss Statement | Finance and Reporting | A financial statement showing revenue, expenses, and profit for a period. |
| Project | Projects and Services | A defined body of work used to track costs, tasks, milestones, and profitability. |
| Purchase Invoice | Procurement and Finance | The document used to record a supplier’s invoice for goods or services purchased. |
| Purchase Order | Procurement | The official order issued to a supplier to procure goods or services. |
| Purchase Receipt | Procurement and Inventory | The document that records actual receipt of purchased goods into stock. |
| Quotation | Sales and CRM | A pricing proposal sent to a prospective customer. |
| Quality Inspection | Quality and Manufacturing | A verification record used to confirm whether materials or products meet quality standards. |
| Reorder Level | Inventory Planning | The stock threshold that triggers replenishment planning when inventory falls below the set quantity. |
| Reorder Quantity | Inventory Planning | The quantity suggested or ordered when stock reaches the reorder level. |
| Retention Amount | Projects and Contracting | The portion of invoice value retained until contract milestones or warranty obligations are fulfilled. |
| Return Material Authorization | Sales and Service | The process used to authorize and control return of goods from customers. |
| Salary Component | Payroll | A defined earning or deduction element such as basic pay, HRA, tax, or bonus. |
| Salary Slip | Payroll | The employee level statement showing gross pay, deductions, and net pay for a payroll cycle. |
| Sales Invoice | Sales and Finance | The customer billing document for goods sold or services rendered. |
| Sales Order | Sales | The confirmation of customer demand for goods or services under agreed terms. |
| Sales Person | Sales and CRM | A user or employee linked to sales performance, customer assignments, and incentive tracking. |
| Serial Number | Inventory and Asset Tracking | A unique number assigned to an individual unit for traceability, warranty, and lifecycle tracking. |
| Service Item | Product Management | A non stock item used for billing consulting, maintenance, support, or other services. |
| Shift Type | Human Resources | A work schedule template used for attendance, timing, and workforce planning. |
| Source Warehouse | Inventory and Warehouse | The warehouse from which stock is issued, transferred, or consumed. |
| Stock Entry | Inventory and Warehouse | The transaction used for material issue, receipt, transfer, repacking, or manufacturing movement. |
| Stock Ledger | Inventory and Warehouse | The system record showing item wise stock movements and balances over time. |
| Stock Reconciliation | Inventory Control | The process of correcting system stock to match physical stock and updated valuation. |
| Supplier | Procurement | The master record representing a vendor that supplies goods or services. |
| Supplier Quotation | Procurement | A pricing and commercial proposal received from a supplier. |
| Target Warehouse | Inventory and Warehouse | The destination warehouse to which stock is received or transferred. |
| Task | Projects and Services | A defined work unit assigned to an individual or team within a project. |
| Tax Template | Taxation | A predefined set of tax rules and rates used on sales or purchase transactions. |
| Territory | Sales and CRM | A geographical or market based grouping used for customer segmentation and sales assignment. |
| Timesheet | Projects and Services | The document used to log hours worked against tasks, projects, or activities. |
| Trial Balance | Finance and Reporting | A report showing the closing debit and credit balance of each ledger account to validate bookkeeping accuracy. |
| Unit of Measure | Inventory and Sales | The standard measurement unit such as piece, kilogram, meter, or liter used for items. |
| Valuation Rate | Inventory and Finance | The calculated cost per unit of an item used in stock accounting and margin analysis. |
| Warehouse | Inventory and Warehouse | A physical or logical storage location used to track stock quantities and values. |
| Work Order | Manufacturing | The production control document used to manufacture items based on a BOM and routing. |
| Workstation | Manufacturing | A machine, labor center, or work point where a manufacturing operation is carried out. |
| Workflow State | Controls and Workflow | The current approval or processing stage of a document, such as draft, approved, or rejected. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ERPNext?
ERPNext is an open source enterprise resource planning platform built on the Frappe Framework. It supports accounting, inventory, CRM, manufacturing, HR, payroll, procurement, projects, and reporting.
Why is an ERPNext glossary useful?
An ERPNext glossary helps finance teams, implementation consultants, developers, and business users understand system terminology consistently during ERP implementation and operations.
What is the difference between functional and technical ERPNext terms?
Functional ERPNext terms relate to business operations such as sales, purchase, inventory, finance, manufacturing, and HR. Technical ERPNext terms relate to development, customization, hosting, APIs, database structure, security, and deployment.
Who should read an ERPNext glossary?
CFOs, finance managers, ERP consultants, business owners, IT teams, developers, system administrators, and implementation partners can all benefit from a structured ERPNext glossary.
