The ERPNext Implementation Readiness Checklist.

Get the modules and the work right before talking to a vendor.

1. 01Have you written down the top 3 problems this engagement is supposed to solve — in one sentence each?
2. 02Which ERPNext modules are you committing to at go-live (Accounting, GST, Inventory, Manufacturing, Sales, Purchase, HR, CRM, Projects)?
3. 03Which integrations are non-negotiable (payment gateway, eCommerce, WhatsApp, Tally historic, SAP, bank feeds, shipping, BI)?
4. 04What is out of scope for phase 1? List the things you are deliberately deferring to phase 2 or later.
5. 05What does success look like 90 days after go-live, in measurable terms (cycle time, manual hours saved, errors eliminated)?

Data migration is the line item that moves after discovery. Plan for it now.

1. 01Which system(s) are you migrating from, and how many years of historical data must come across (transactions, master data, both)?
2. 02Who in your team owns the chart of accounts, item masters, customer and supplier masters — and can they commit the time to clean it before migration?
3. 03How clean is the source data? Duplicate customers, inconsistent item codes, opening balances that do not reconcile are the usual blockers.
4. 04Do you have a written reconciliation procedure for the parallel-run period (typically 30–60 days between go-live and cutover)?
5. 05What data is sensitive enough to require special handling (PII, pricing, supplier terms, financial period close data)?

Most ERP failures are change failures. Plan the people side.

1. 01Who is the executive sponsor — and do they have authority to make scope and timeline trade-offs?
2. 02Who is the project lead on your side — and is this their primary role for the duration of the engagement?
3. 03Which teams are most affected by the change (sales, accounts, warehouse, shop floor, HR)? How have they been involved in the decision so far?
4. 04What is the training plan — who gets trained, when, by whom, and how is training effectiveness measured?
5. 05What does the first 30 days after go-live look like — who is on the support rota, what is the escalation path, what is the parallel-run period?

The vendor is the partner for the next 6–24 months. Choose carefully.

1. 01Has the vendor done at least 3 deployments of similar scope in the last 24 months? Can they share references you can talk to?
2. 02What is the team composition — is the engagement led by a senior consultant, or is it staffed with junior resources under a sales lead?
3. 03Is the price fixed-scope or time-and-materials? What is the change-control process if scope moves?
4. 04What does the support contract look like after go-live — response time SLAs, AMC pricing, who handles which class of issue?
5. 05Where does the custom code live after delivery — in your repo, in the vendor's repo, or in a Frappe fork? Who maintains it at ERPNext version upgrades?

Get the budget conversation right before the contract is signed.

1. 01What is the implementation budget — and is it separate from the hosting and AMC budgets?
2. 02Is the budget one-time, phased (phase 1 / phase 2), or open-ended until scope is met?
3. 03What is the contingency for the four things that move the number (modules, users, customisation, data migration)?
4. 04What is the annual hosting + AMC budget? Is it on your opex, capex, or a managed service contract?
5. 05What is the budget for custom development during the engagement, and what is the change-control process for using it?