What's new in LedgerSMB 1.13

This release features, among others:

• Logging into multiple companies on a single browser
• Ability to remove unused customers and credit accounts
• Restructured menu to bring related functionalities closer together

Be sure to check the UPGRADE NOTES below! When upgrading from 1.10 or earlier, please read the 1.12 release notes.

New features

Logging into multiple companies on a single browser

This release features separate URLs for separate companies; this enables users to log into multiple companies concurrently on a single browser (i.e. through multiple tabs or windows). In the past, this was only possible through "incognito" tabs on some browsers. On others, it was entirely impossible.

At the same time, it is now detected that a user has logged in using different credentials on another tab in the situation where a user tries to use multiple usernames to log into a single company on a single browser. Prior to this release, all browser sessions would silently transition to the new credentials.

Note for upgrades: Not applicable.

Ability to remove unused customers and credit accounts

Requests to remove incorrectly and/or duplicate customers, vendors and credit accounts have been coming to the development team for years. This release finally brings this much-wanted functionality: customers, vendors and credit accounts which have no data linked to them, can be removed; a Delete button or link should be offered in the UI in these cases.

Note for upgrades: Not applicable.

Notable changes

A restructured menu

The menu has been restructured, both renaming menu items - using longer names so non-accounting people will be able to recognize the menus better - as well as moving menu items around in the menu hierarchy. The changes to the menu hierarchy have moved related functionalities to be closer. As an example: the Reports top-level menu has moved into the General Journal section; as almost all sections have a Reports section, it does not make sense to have a separate top-level Reports menu.

Note for upgrades: There are no consequences for upgrades.

Upgrade notes

Deprecated support for "ledgersmb.conf"

Please convert your "ledgersmb.conf" file to "ledgersmb.yaml". The current release supports it, if forced, by setting the environment variable "LSMB_FORCE_LEDGERSMB_CONF=Y"; however, as of 1.14, the INI based configuration will entirely be dropped. (The "ledgersmb.yaml" approach has been supported since 1.10, released in autumn 2022; 1.13 will be supported until 2027, giving ample time to switch.)

Background: The YAML system provides a lot more flexibility for the configuration of system components. It features a concept called "Dependency Injection", allowing a much broader range of configuration changes than the ones planned ahead of time by the developers as was supported by the INI based configuration.

Upgrading from SQL Ledger

Upgrades are supported for SQL Ledger versions up to 3.0. The project aspires to support migrations for SQL Ledger up to and including 3.2.12 and is looking for real-life data to build and test these migrations.

Background: Building a data migration from an accounting system to another is a non-trivial effort, even if accounting data looks the same in all of them. The project set high standards for the quality of every aspect of the software. After all: this is your accounting data! In order to deliver sufficient quality migrations, real-world test data is an absolute must-have before release; almost always there are functionalities hidden in the database data that can't be seen from the database tables and indexes alone.

Removal of the "status" table

If you have custom developments involving the "status" table, please be aware that the upgrade removes this table (without replacement).

Background: The data in this table hasn't been used in the UI for 18+ years and is most likely incorrect due to bug #5295, which says that order and transaction data is being mixed in the "status" table, possibly overwriting order data with invoice data.