Okay, since this in now my headquarters for all things .NET this is probably a good place to ask :



I have a client ( a CPA ) who wants to hire me to write a fund-based accounting package - a low priced vertical. He wants me to write it in VFP since that is what he's familiar with but wants a big selling point to be interface - themes etc.



Of course two things strike me immediately : writing an accounting package is reinventing a wheel - with no points for creativity or deviating from accepted practices. And while I love the Fox and can make it do just about any trick it can do and even teach it some new ones ... this isn't even a contest between VFP and .NET.



Soooo.... this may be my first .NET job. My thought is I'd like to buy serious VB .NET 2005 source code - including fund accounting - and then do whatever is needed to make it dance with Strataframe, Infragistics, DDT.



I have found http://www.integralaccountingenterprise.com/ ( company is SFTB ) which certainly looks like everything I ever dreamed of and probalby cost effective at about $10k with a very good developer licensing agreement. Anybody know of it or of other options.



This really seems like a better fit in .NET with prebought and tested accounting modules so any suggestions anyone has will be quite welcome.



TIA



Charles

I situations like this, buying a tested product certainly a great help.  I'm not saying that you couldn't write your own, but by the time you write the logic modules and then write all of the unit tests for the modules, you're going to have your work cut out for you (and when dealing with other people's money, it's always better safe than sorry ).  As for the product itself, the UI is certainly going to be better with .NET.  I'm not even sure how you would "theme" the app with VFP.  And since it will probably require a database, there's no contest between VFP and SQL Server; especially with freebie Express.

Just my $.02.

Well, all my Foxpro apps use SQL server backends too - no arguement there.



The STFB thing looks interesting - it's $10k with a very developer friendly license so even one use for one customer client pays for it and for a vertical it would be pretty much a no-brainer. So far that seems like what's out there.



I agree I can't imagine anything more cost effective than buying tested accounting stuff - especially since it will cut down on the expenses resulting from me putting a gun in my mouth if I have to spend more than about an hour thinking about accounting