When companies think about ERP systems, they usually picture powerful applications that cover a wide range of business processes: accounting, HR, sales, procurement, production, and more. Modern ERP solutions such as ERPNext are built as web applications, which means they can be accessed on a wide range of devices—from desktops to tablets and smartphones. This is a great starting point because it ensures that business data and processes are available anywhere, anytime. However, anyone who has ever tried to process transactions on a smartphone screen quickly realizes the challenge: ERP transactions are often comprehensive and complex. Their design follows the logic of the ERP system, not the expectations users have from mobile apps.
While a traditional ERP interface works perfectly well on a laptop or large tablet, it does not always offer the simplicity and speed we have all come to expect from mobile applications. Everyday mobile apps are designed to complete specific tasks with just a few taps, minimizing friction and maximizing usability.
Why Built a Mobile App for ERPNext
Let’s take a simple example: submitting a leave application. In ERPNext, this transaction includes several fields and options that reflect all the HR requirements a company may have. That’s entirely appropriate in a business context—but for an employee who simply wants to request a few vacation days, it can feel unnecessarily complicated.
This is why we decided to build a truly mobile application for ERPNext. The idea is straightforward: streamline frequent, simple processes into mobile-first experiences that users can access anytime, without needing to navigate through the full ERP transaction screens.
Direct Development Inside ERPNext
One of ERPNext’s strengths is its flexibility and openness. Instead of developing a completely separate mobile app that communicates with ERPNext via APIs, we chose to build the application directly within ERPNext. This has a few key benefits:
- Direct backend access: Our app can immediately use the ERPNext business logic and data structures.
- Unified development stack: Everything remains in one system, simplifying deployment and maintenance.
- Consistent security: User rights and roles are automatically respected, just like in ERPNext itself.
Technically, we make use of ERPNext’s page framework. The backend functionality is implemented in Python, while the user interface is built with JavaScript and HTML. This allows us to create lightweight, task-focused mobile screens while staying fully integrated with the ERP environment.
A Look at Our First App
Our first project was the Leave Application App, which we have built for our colleagues here at Informatik DV. Instead of opening a full transaction form, employees are now greeted with a clear and mobile-friendly interface:
With just a few taps, users can select the dates, confirm their request, and submit the application. The process is quick, intuitive, and reduces the risk of errors.
More Apps on the Horizon
The leave application was just the beginning. At the moment, we are working internally on an app for travel expense reporting. The idea is to let employees record and upload expenses and receipts (e.g. via camera) right on their smartphones, directly after a trip. This not only saves time but also ensures more accurate data, as details are captured immediately instead of days later.
And we see even broader opportunities: the same technology can be used to develop portal solutions for customers or partners, or even monitoring systems for industrial environments such as factory equipment. Anywhere a simplified, mobile-first interface makes sense, we can leverage ERPNext’s flexibility to build it.
Conclusion
ERPNext already offers a powerful, web-based platform that runs well on mobile devices. But by going one step further and creating dedicated, task-specific mobile apps inside ERPNext, companies can unlock new levels of usability and user satisfaction. Our approach combines the best of both worlds: the full functionality and robustness of ERPNext, together with the simplicity and speed of modern mobile apps. And since development happens directly within ERPNext, these solutions are fast to implement, easy to adapt, and fully secure.
Whether it’s leave requests, travel expenses, portal pages, or monitoring dashboards—the possibilities are wide open. And we are excited to continue exploring them together with our clients.