kintone × ERPNext Combined Guide — The Best Combination for Making the Most of Your Data

kintone means "you don't have to throw it away"

By implementing kintone, we were able to automate on-site daily reports, project management, and inquiry handling into applications. The employees have gotten used to it, and work has certainly become easier to manage.

—But doesn't it end up like this at the end of the month?

• The inventory counts don't match within kintone. Ultimately, I had to recalculate them in Excel.
• Invoices and order data are being manually cross-referenced one by one.
• The accounting department is re-entering the same numbers into the accounting software by hand
• I've installed more than 10 plugins, and now nobody understands the whole picture anymore

If this task takes 20 to 40 hours per month, that means 600,000 to 1,200,000 yen in labor costs are being wasted annually on "data entry".

This is not kintone's fault. There are tasks that kintone excels at, and tasks that it struggles with. That's all there is to it.

kintone is a flexible tool that allows you to quickly create apps on-site. However, managing the entire process from order placement to shipment, invoicing, payment, and accounting is the job of an ERP system.

You don't need to abandon kintone. Simply by adding ERPNext as the "backend", Without changing the way you use kintone, that end-of-month hell will disappear.

Many small and medium-sized enterprises have already begun to adopt this "combined" approach.

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What are the differences between kintone and ERPNext?

Understanding this point will help you fully grasp "why combining these treatments is effective."

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Three Combination Patterns

"How could this be used in our company?" Try to find a pattern that is similar to your own company's.

Pattern A: Field data entry is done using kintone, and back office operations are handled by ERPNext

Suitable Companies: Companies where sales and field staff already use kintone on a daily basis.

Effect: On-site usability remains unchanged. End-of-month data transfer is eliminated.

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Pattern B: kintone = Customer Management, ERPNext = Transaction Management

Suitable Companies: Companies that have extensive experience building customer ledgers and CRM applications using kintone.

Benefits: The customer data and sales history that the sales team has accumulated in kintone will not go to waste.

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Pattern C: kintone = on-site management, ERPNext = manufacturing + MRP

Suitable Companies: Manufacturing companies that use kintone to manage daily reports, quality records, and equipment inspections.

Effect: The paper and Excel-based processes on-site are handled by kintone, while it covers areas that kintone cannot handle, such as MRP and cost accounting.

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How do we connect them?

"Wouldn't it be difficult to connect the two systems?" — You might think so.

Actually, both kintone and ERPNext have a mechanism called REST API. Simply put, it's a window that allows for automatic reading and writing of each other's data.

for example:

• When a project is marked as "Order Confirmed" in kintone → An order slip is automatically created in ERPNext.
• Once shipping is complete in ERPNext, the project status in kintone will be automatically updated to "Shipped".
• Display ERPNext inventory levels in real time on the kintone screen.

For technical matters, please contact ERPNext.JP. Designing and building the integration is included in the ERPNext.JP implementation support. In fact, using it in conjunction with kintone is a common pattern, so there's no need to design it from scratch.

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Cost Comparison — Current approach vs. Combined approach

There's a difference between "trying to manage with kintone alone" and "adding ERPNext." How much will things change in 5 years?

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Future Options — From Combined to Unified

Using both methods is not the "goal," but rather the "starting point." Start with zero risk and expand while observing the results. This is the smartest approach.

Step 1: Start using kintone + ERPNext.JP together (14-day free trial available) ↓ Step 2: Gradually integrate kintone's functions into ERPNext (daily reports, CRM, etc.) ↓ Step 3: (If necessary) Integrate into a single ERPNext system → Further cost reduction by canceling kintone.

Of course, continuing to use them together is also an option. If the staff are already familiar with kintone and their work is running smoothly, there's no need to force a change.

The important thing is that "you have options". Since ERPNext is open source, you can make decisions at your own pace without being tied to a vendor.

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Related Articles

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First, please tell us about your current situation.

If, after reading this far, you feel even a little bit that this is about your own situation— That feeling is probably correct.

The more effort a company has put into running its business using kintone, the more likely it is to succeed. The effect of adding ERPNext is significant. Because the foundation for digitalization is already in place, the next step will be smooth.

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Related Articles

- Breaking the Limits of kintone — A Complete Guide to Migrating to ERPNext - ERPNext.JP Cloud Implementation Cost Guide - ERPNext client scripts — Customize the screen freely with JavaScript - ERPNext vs Odoo thorough comparison

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