I just shipped local invoicing in my open-source shop operations app

I’m building BUS Core, a local-first business operations tool for small shops, makers, repair shops, laser/3D print businesses, and other people who still end up running real work out of spreadsheets.

The original problem was simple:

I was tired of tracking materials, product costs, inventory movement, jobs, notes, and business records across memory, spreadsheets, notebooks, and whatever system happened to be nearby.

So I started building the tool I wanted: something small shops can run locally, without becoming dependent on another SaaS dashboard.

Today I shipped v1.3.0, and the main new feature is a local Invoice Truth MVP.

It now supports:

• draft invoices

• invoice lines

• issuing invoices

• browser print / save-to-PDF

• marking invoices paid

• void rules

• job-to-invoice flow

• invoice-linked finance records

The key boundary: this is not cloud billing. No payment processor. No customer portal. No telemetry. No forced account system. The invoice records live inside the local app.

I also added selectable UI themes, but the real milestone is invoices. This moves BUS Core closer to being a practical local system of record for small operators, not just an inventory/manufacturing tracker.

The project is still early, rough in places, and very much being shaped by feedback from real shop workflows.

Link:
https://buscore.ca/?src=indiehackers_v130

I’d be interested in feedback from anyone who has built, run, or sold into small business operations software:

• Is local-first still a meaningful differentiator for this kind of tool?

• Would tiny shops actually care about owning invoice/job/inventory records locally?

• What would you expect before something like this could become paid?

• Should the first paid path be support/setup, hosted Pro features, or workflow customization?

I’m trying to avoid building “ERP cosplay” and stay focused on the boring operational pain that actually costs small shops time and money.