How to Deploy Akaunting – An Opensource FreshBooks Alternative

Introduction

Akaunting is an open-source web-based accounting software that offers a range of business management features such as invoicing, financial reporting, expense management, and payment tracking. You can deploy Akaunting as an alternative to applications such as QuickBooks, WaveApps, and FreshBooks, with self-hosting features that grant you full control over your accounting information.

This guide explains how to deploy Akaunting on a Vultr Cloud Server and set up the application to securely perform accounting tasks using a graphical web interface. In addition, you will integrate a Vultr Managed Database for MySQL to improve the Akaunting application server reliability and availability for production use.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• Deploy a Vultr Managed Database for MySQL to use with Akaunting.
• Deploy a Vultr Debian Server with at least 2 GB RAM to host Akaunting.
• Set up a new domain A record pointing to the server IP address.
• Access and log in to the server using SSH.
• Create a non-root user with sudo privileges and switch to the user.
• Update the server.
• Install the Nginx, MySQL, and PHP (LEMP) stack on the server.
• Create or log in to your Akaunting profile and copy your account API key.

Set Up the Database

Akaunting uses a MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite database to store data. In a production environment, use an external database server such as a Vultr Managed Database for MySQL to ensure improved uptime and high availability by offloading most database functionalities from the Akaunting server to the database server. Follow the steps below to create a new MySQL database to use with your Akaunting application.

1. Log in to your Vultr Managed Database for MySQL cluster. Replace dbhost.vultrdb.com, 16751 and vultradmin with your actual database details.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ mysql -h dbhost.vultrdb.com -P 16751 -u vultradmin -p

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Enter your Vultr Managed Database for MySQL administrator password to access the database console.

2. Create a new Akaunting database akauntingdb.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> CREATE DATABASE akauntingdb;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Switch to the database.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> USE akauntingdb;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Create a new MySQL user akauntingadmin with a strong password.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> CREATE USER 'akauntingadmin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure-password';

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Grant the user full privileges to the Akaunting database.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON akauntingdb.* TO 'akauntingadmin'@'localhost';

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. Flush the MySQL privileges table to apply the new permission changes.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

7. Exit the MySQL console.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> EXIT

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Install Akaunting

Akaunting uses your existing web server configuration to correctly run and serve the application files on your domain name. Follow the steps below to install all required PHP modules, verify your web server package, and download the latest Akaunting release package to run on your server.

1. Install all required PHP extensions to use with Akaunting.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install php php-fpm php-mysql php-bcmath php-ctype php-curl php-dom php-fileinfo php-intl php-gd php-json php-mbstring php-xml php-zip

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. View the installed PHP version and verify the version number to use with your PHP-FPM configurations.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ php -v

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   PHP 8.1.2-1ubuntu2.14 (cli) (built: Aug 18 2023 11:41:11) (NTS)
   Copyright (c) The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v4.1.2, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
       with Zend OPcache v8.1.2-1ubuntu2.14, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

   Based on the above output, PHP 8.1 is the available version on the server. You can use the version number to access PHP-FPM and verify the service status using the following command.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl status php8.1-fpm status

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. View the Nginx web server status and verify that it's up and running.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl status nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   ● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2024-04-07 18:48:52 UTC; 4min 21s ago
     Docs: man:nginx(8)
   Main PID: 5501 (nginx)
    Tasks: 3 (limit: 2299)
   Memory: 2.4M
      CPU: 23ms
   CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
           ├─5501 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on;"
           ├─5503 "nginx: worker process"
           └─5504 "nginx: worker process"

4. Navigate to the default web root directory /var/www/html/.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ cd /var/www/html/

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Create a new directory to store the Akaunting web application files. For example, akaunting.example.com.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo mkdir akaunting.example.com

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. Switch to the directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ cd akaunting.example.com

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

7. Download the latest Akaunting release file and save it as akaunting.zip.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo wget -O akaunting.zip https://akaunting.com/download.php?version=latest

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above wget command downloads the latest Akaunting version from the official project website to your server as a new archive file akaunting.zip in your working directory.

8. Extract files from the Akaunting release file using the Unzip utility.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo unzip akaunting.zip

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   If you receive the following error:

   Command 'unzip' not found, but can be installed with:

   Install the Zip and Unzip archive utilities.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install zip unzip

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

9. List the directory files and verify that new Akaunting files are available including a nginx.example.com.conf template file.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ ls

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   LICENSE.txt  akaunting.zip  artisan    composer.json  database   manifest.json  nginx.example.com.conf  public     routes            storage  web.config
   README.md    app            bootstrap  config         index.php  modules        overrides               resources  serviceworker.js  vendor

10. Delete the original Akaunting archive file to free your server space.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ sudo rm akaunting.zip

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

11. Switch to the parent /var/www/html/ directory.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ cd /var/www/html/

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

12. Grant the Nginx web server user www-data full permissions to all files in the Akaunting web root directory.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data akaunting.example.com

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Configure Nginx to Enable Access to Akaunting

Akaunting supports the Nginx and Apache web server applications to deliver all dynamic files on the server. Follow the steps below to configure the Nginx web server to enable access to the Akaunting application interface using your domain akaunting.example.com.

1. Navigate to the Nginx virtual host configurations directory /etc/nginx/sites-available.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ cd /etc/nginx/sites-available

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Create a new Akaunting configuration file such as akaunting.conf.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo touch akaunting.conf

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Open the file using your preferred text editor such as Vim.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo vim akaunting.conf

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Add the following configurations to the file. Replace akaunting.example.com with your domain.

   NGINX

   Copy

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

server { listen 80; server_name akaunting.example.com; root /var/www/html/akaunting.example.com;

    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";

    index index.html index.htm index.php;
    error_page 404 /index.php;
    charset utf-8;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.(env|log) {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~ ^/(^app$|bootstrap|config|database|overrides|resources|routes|storage|tests|artisan) {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~ ^/(modules|vendor)\/(.*)\.((?!ico|gif|jpg|jpeg|png|js\b|css|less|sass|font|woff|woff2|eot|ttf|svg|xls|xlsx).)*$ {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

    location ~ /\.(?!well-known).* {
        deny all;
    }
}
```

Save and close the file.

The above Nginx configuration creates a new Akaunting virtual host profile that points to the `/var/www/html/akaunting` application directory and uses the available `PHP8.1-FPM` module to serve all dynamic PHP application files on the server.

1. Activate the Akaunting virtual host configuration by linking the configuration to the sites-enabled directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/akaunting.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Test the Nginx configuration changes to verify any syntax errors.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo nginx -t

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
   nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

3. Restart the Nginx web server to apply all configuration changes.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl restart nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Secure the Server

The Akaunting virtual host configuration for Nginx includes security options that block access to specific files and requests on the server. To secure the server, set up the default UFW firewall application to allow incoming connections to the Akaunting application. Then, generate trusted SSL certificates using a CA (Certificate Authority) such as Let’s Encrypt to secure your domain with encrypted HTTPS connections.

Set Up the Firewall Application Rules

1. Verify that the UFW firewall is active on the server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw status

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   If the UFW application is inactive, allow connections to the default SSH port 22 and activate the firewall using the following command.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw allow 22 && sudo ufw enable

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Allow connections to the server HTTP port 80.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw allow 80

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Allow connections to the HTTPS port 443.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw allow 443

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Restart UFW to apply the new firewall changes.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw reload

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Generate Trusted SSL Certificates

1. Install the Certbot Let’s Encrypt client application for Nginx.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install python3-certbot-nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Request for a new SSL certificate using your Akaunting domain. Replace akaunting.example.com with your domain and akaunting@example.com with your email address to bing with the SSL certificate request.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo certbot --nginx -d akaunting.example.com -m akaunting@example.com --agree-tos

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Your output should look like the one below when successful.

   Successfully received certificate.
   Certificate is saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/akaunting.example.com/fullchain.pem
   Key is saved at:         /etc/letsencrypt/live/akaunting.example.com/privkey.pem
   This certificate expires on 2024-07-06.
   These files will be updated when the certificate renews.
   Certbot has set up a scheduled task to automatically renew this certificate in the background.
   
   Deploying certificate
   Successfully deployed certificate for akaunting.example.com to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/akaunting.conf
   Congratulations! You have successfully enabled HTTPS on https://akaunting.example.com

3. Test the Cerbot SSL certificate automatic renewal process.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo certbot renew --dry-run

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   Account registered.
   Simulating renewal of an existing certificate for akaunting.example.com
   
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
   Congratulations, all simulated renewals succeeded: 
    /etc/letsencrypt/live/akaunting.example.com/fullchain.pem (success)
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Access the Akaunting Interface

1. Access your Akaunting application domain in a web browser such as Google Chrome.

   https://akaunting.example.com

   Verify that the Akaunting setup interface displays in your web browser.

   

2. Select your default Akaunting application language, for example, English (GB) and press Next to start the configuration process.

3. Enter your Vultr Managed Database for MySQL host URL in the Hostname field.

   

4. Enter the MySQL user you created earlier in the Username field.

5. Enter the associated MySQL user password in the Password field.

6. Enter the Akaunting database name you created earlier in the Database field.

7. Click Next to test your Akaunting database connection.

8. Enter your business name in the Company Name field to set up your main Akaunting application information.

   

9. Enter your business email in the Company Email field.

10. Enter your new Akaunting administrative user email in the Admin Email field and a strong password in the Admin Password field.

11. Click Next to save your Akaunting configuration changes.

12. Enter your administrator email and account password, then click login to access the Akaunting setup page.

13. Enter your Akaunting account API key in the API Key field or click the Get your API Key prompt to generate a new key.

14. Fill in your company tax number, and choose a financial year start date to use with Akaunting.

    

15. Enter your company address, select the country of operation, and click the Logo field to upload your company logo to use with your Akaunting-generated documents.

16. Click Save to apply the application changes and set your default currencies to use with Akaunting documents.

17. Keep US Dollar selected or click New Currency to set up additional values.

18. Click Next to save your accounting currency changes.

    

19. Click Create your first Invoice to set up a sample Akaunting invoice.

20. Set up your Invoice details with a title in the Title field, upload a logo, and enter an optional invoice subheading.

21. Click Add a Customer in the billing section and select New Customer from the list of options to create a new customer profile.

22. Enter the new customer details in the pop-up dialog and click Save to add your first client.

    

23. Enter the additional invoice details including the date, invoice, and order numbers. Then click Add an Item to add your invoice values.

24. Click Save at the bottom of the invoice page to preview your Akaunting invoice.

25. Click the options symbol in the top right corner next to Edit to download the invoice in PDF format, print, customize, or send the document in a new email.

26. Navigate to Settings on the left navigation menu and click Email Service to enable your SMTP server details to use with email communications on the server. All generated invoices and additional items are sent over email when you integrate an active SMTP server with your Akaunting application.

    

    You have set up your Akaunting application information and created an example invoice document. For every invoice or company tracking document you create, you can share it with multiple users using links or email messages depending on your SMTP account settings.

Troubleshooting

The Akaunting application may display errors or fail to run on your server after installation due to several issues. Follow the troubleshooting steps below to fix the following common installation and application errors to enable Akaunting on your server.

Connection Timed Out

A connection time-out error is a result of your web server or firewall configurations. Follow the steps below to verify the error source.

1. View the firewall table and verify that connections to the HTTPS port 443 are allowed to the server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw status

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. View the Nginx web server status and verify that it’s actively running.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl status nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. View the Nginx web server logs to verify the latest entries associated with your application error.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo cat /var/log/nginx/error.log

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Restart the Nginx to refresh all connections to your Akaunting application.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl restart nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Error: Could not connect to the database! Please, make sure the details are correct.

1. Log in to your MySQL server using the Akaunting database user.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ mysql -u akauntingadmin -p

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. View all databases and verify that the user has access to the Akaunting database.

   SQL

   Copy

   mysql> SHOW DATABASES;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   +--------------------+
   | Database           |
   +--------------------+
   | akauntingdb        |
   +--------------------+
   1 rows in set (0.02 sec)

   If the Akaunting database is not available on the list, log out of the user, then log in to the MySQL server as an administrator to assign the user full privileges to the database.

3. Visit your Akaunting configuration page and set up the database user details again to test connectivity to the MySQL database server.

   https://akaunting.example.com

Unable to save admin user and company information

1. Delete your Akaunting web root directory files.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rm -r /var/www/html/akaunting/*

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Download the latest Akaunting version again.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo wget -O /var/www/html/akaunting/akaunting.zip https://akaunting.com/download.php?version=latest

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Extract files from the Akaunting archive file using unzip.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo unzip /var/www/html/akaunting/akaunting.zip

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Grant the web server user www-data full privileges to all directory files.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/akaunting/

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Create a new database and grant your MySQL user full privileges to the database.

6. Access your Akaunting configuration screen again and set up the application with a new database.

   

502 Bad Gateway

1. View the available PHP version on your server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ php -v

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. View the PHP-FPM status and confirm that it's active. For example, for PHP 8.1, run the following command.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl status php8.1-fpm status

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   ● php8.1-fpm.service - The PHP 8.1 FastCGI Process Manager
      Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/php8.1-fpm.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
      Active: active (running) since Sun 2024-04-07 18:51:58 UTC; 16min ago
      Docs: man:php-fpm8.1(8)
   Main PID: 14691 (php-fpm8.1)
      Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 2, Requests: 5, slow: 0, Traffic: 0req/sec"
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 2299)
      Memory: 69.6M
          CPU: 911ms
      CGroup: /system.slice/php8.1-fpm.service
              ├─14691 "php-fpm: master process (/etc/php/8.1/fpm/php-fpm.conf)"
              ├─14692 "php-fpm: pool www"
              └─14693 "php-fpm: pool www"

3. Open the Akaunting Nginx configuration and verify that the PHP-FPM directive matches your installed version to handle dynamic Akaunting application requests.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/akaunting.conf

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;

   Change the PHP-FPM version number depending on the available version on your server.

Missing API key

1. Log in or create a new account on the Akaunting website.

2. Click your new user API Key field within the dashboard to copy your custom key.

   

3. Access your Akaunting dashboard and add your new account key to activate all the application features.

Conclusion

You have deployed Akaunting on a Vultr Cloud Server, secured the application and set up sample invoice documents. Akaunting offers extended features that allow you to perform multiple accounting tasks on your server. Upgrade your API key to use multiple company profiles, or integrate the application with supported modules to enhance your application interface and features. For more information, visit the Akaunting self-hosting documentation.