Hello again, tech enthusiasts! \ud83d\udc4b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you type the same accounting entries into ERPNext every month? Bank fees, rent, small card payments. Each one takes two minutes. Fifty of them take a whole afternoon, and one typo can break your month-end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good news: ERPNext has a REST API<\/strong>. An API is like a waiter: you send a request, and it does the job in the kitchen for you. With a short Python script, you can create these entries from a spreadsheet, attach the receipt, and submit them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today we will do this the safe way: limited access, drafts first, and clear error checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not use the Administrator account in scripts. If the key leaks, someone gets full control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep both values out of your code. Put them in environment variables. An environment variable is a value stored by your system, not in the file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ERPNext uses a header called A Journal Entry<\/strong> has rows. Each row uses one account and has a debit<\/strong> or a credit<\/strong>. The golden rule of accounting: total debits must equal total credits. If they do not match, ERPNext will refuse the entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Account names must be exact, including the company code at the end, like “Bank Charges – EC”. Copy them from your chart of accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We send the entry with a POST request to Now open ERPNext in your browser and look at the draft. For the first few runs, always check by eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every entry should have proof, like a PDF receipt. The When the draft looks right, submit it. Submitting means “make it final”. ERPNext then posts the amounts to the ledger. To submit, set A submitted entry cannot be edited. To fix a mistake, cancel it in ERPNext and make a new one. This keeps an honest history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You now have a safe pattern: a limited user, secrets outside the code, a balance check, drafts first, a receipt attached, and then submit. Start with drafts only. When you trust the script, add the submit step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next idea: read your entries from an Excel file with pandas and loop over the rows, so a whole month of fees takes one click.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learn how to create, attach files to, and submit Journal Entries in ERPNext from a safe Python script.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,47,7,48,12],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-accounting","tag-api","tag-automation","tag-erpnext","tag-python"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsaeed.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What you need<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/erp.example.com<\/a><\/code><\/li>\n\n\npip install requests<\/code><\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nStep 1: Create a user with limited rights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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api-bot@example.com<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\nexport ERP_URL=\"https:\/\/erp.example.com\"\nexport ERP_API_KEY=\"YOUR_API_KEY\"\nexport ERP_API_SECRET=\"YOUR_API_SECRET\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nStep 2: Connect and test<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Authorization<\/code> with the word token<\/code>, then the key and secret joined by a colon.<\/p>\n\n\n\nimport os\nimport requests\n\nBASE = os.environ[\"ERP_URL\"]\nsession = requests.Session()\nsession.headers.update({\n \"Authorization\": f\"token {os.environ['ERP_API_KEY']}:{os.environ['ERP_API_SECRET']}\",\n \"Accept\": \"application\/json\",\n})\n\n# Who am I? A quick test of the login\nr = session.get(f\"{BASE}\/api\/method\/frappe.auth.get_logged_user\", timeout=30)\nr.raise_for_status()\nprint(\"Logged in as:\", r.json()[\"message\"])<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nStep 3: Build a balanced entry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
entry = {\n \"voucher_type\": \"Journal Entry\",\n \"company\": \"Example Company\",\n \"posting_date\": \"2025-12-05\",\n \"user_remark\": \"Monthly bank fee, December\",\n \"accounts\": [\n {\"account\": \"Bank Charges - EC\", \"debit_in_account_currency\": 25.00},\n {\"account\": \"Main Bank - EC\", \"credit_in_account_currency\": 25.00},\n ],\n}\n\n# Check the balance before sending anything\ndebit = sum(row.get(\"debit_in_account_currency\", 0) for row in entry[\"accounts\"])\ncredit = sum(row.get(\"credit_in_account_currency\", 0) for row in entry[\"accounts\"])\nassert round(debit, 2) == round(credit, 2), f\"Not balanced: {debit} vs {credit}\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nStep 4: Create it as a draft<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\/api\/resource\/Journal Entry<\/code>. The space in the name becomes %20<\/code> in the URL. A new document starts as a draft<\/strong>. A draft does not change your account balances yet, so it is safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\ndef check(response):\n \"\"\"Raise a clear error if ERPNext says no.\"\"\"\n if not response.ok:\n try:\n data = response.json()\n msg = data.get(\"exception\") or data.get(\"_server_messages\") or data\n except ValueError:\n msg = response.text[:500]\n raise RuntimeError(f\"ERPNext error {response.status_code}: {msg}\")\n return response.json()\n\nr = session.post(f\"{BASE}\/api\/resource\/Journal%20Entry\", json=entry, timeout=30)\ndoc = check(r)[\"data\"]\nname = doc[\"name\"]\nprint(\"Draft created:\", name)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nStep 5: Attach the receipt<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
upload_file<\/code> method attaches a file to a document. We set is_private<\/code> to 1, so only logged-in users with access can open it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nwith open(\"receipts\/bank_fee_dec.pdf\", \"rb\") as f:\n r = session.post(\n f\"{BASE}\/api\/method\/upload_file\",\n files={\"file\": (\"bank_fee_dec.pdf\", f, \"application\/pdf\")},\n data={\"doctype\": \"Journal Entry\", \"docname\": name, \"is_private\": 1},\n timeout=60,\n )\nprint(\"Attached:\", check(r)[\"message\"][\"file_url\"])<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nStep 6: Submit it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
docstatus<\/code> to 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\nr = session.put(\n f\"{BASE}\/api\/resource\/Journal%20Entry\/{name}\",\n json={\"docstatus\": 1},\n timeout=30,\n)\nsubmitted = check(r)[\"data\"]\nprint(\"Submitted:\", submitted[\"name\"], \"docstatus =\", submitted[\"docstatus\"]) # 1 = submitted<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nCommon problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"cost_center\": \"Main - EC\"<\/code> to the row, or set a default in the company settings.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nWrap-up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n