estimate-tax

First Time Setup

1. Set up Virtual Environment and Install Requirements

Ensure that you have python 3.x installed. Instructions to install the requirements in the virtual environment can be found here

2. Generate env file

In the directory, run the following:

python generate_env.py

3. Generate sample data

run the following:

python sample_data.py

4. Run the application

run the following:

python run.py

The application will be accessible at http://127.0.0.1:5000. Sample login info is provided here. The developer has the most permissions.

Quick Start

Install Requirements
Run on Server

Windows

# Run virtual environment 
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
venv\Scripts\activate

# Generate New Sample Data
python sample_data.py

# Open index in browser
start http://127.0.0.1:5000

# Run the app
python run.py

Using Sample Data

Run the sample data script

This will WIPE THE DATABASE

python sample_data.py

Sample Login Info

All of these are users with various roles of the same test firm

Email	Password
developer@test.com	developer
sysadmin@test.com	sysadmin
admin@test.com	admin
accountant1@test.com	accountant
accountant2@test.com	accountant

Virtual Environment

Run Virtual Environment

Windows

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
venv\Scripts\activate

Linux/Mac

source venv/bin/activate

Install Requirements

Windows

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Linux/Mac

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Build New 'requirements.txt' File for Virtual Environment

Windows

# Set up virtual environment
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

# (Install Software Here)

# Save software requirements
pip freeze > requirements.txt

Linux/Mac

# Set up virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# (Install Software Here)

# Save software requirements
pip freeze > requirements.txt

Run on Server

This repository supports:

• Local/dev: run.py uses SQLite.
• Production: serve.py uses MySQL + Waitress behind Nginx.

Local/dev (SQLite)

python run.py

Production (MySQL + Waitress + Nginx)

1) Install OS packages (Ubuntu)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-venv python3-pip nginx ufw mysql-server

2) Create MySQL database and user

sudo mysql

CREATE DATABASE estimate_tax CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'estimate_tax'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'REPLACE_WITH_A_LONG_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON estimate_tax.* TO 'estimate_tax'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

3) Deploy code and install Python requirements

git clone https://github.com/clickyquack/estimate-tax.git
cd estimate-tax
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

4) Set environment variables (required in production)

Production expects these environment variables:

• SECRET_KEY
• ENCRYPTION_KEY
• STRIPE_SECRET_KEY
• STRIPE_SEAT_PRICE_ID
• STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET
• DATABASE_URL (MySQL SQLAlchemy URL)

Example DATABASE_URL (local MySQL):

mysql+pymysql://estimate_tax:REPLACE_WITH_A_LONG_PASSWORD@127.0.0.1:3306/estimate_tax?charset=utf8mb4

5) Run the app with Waitress (bind to localhost only)

waitress-serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --call serve:build_app

Restart Waitress (manual process):

pkill -9 -f "waitress-serve"
waitress-serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --call serve:build_app

6) Put Nginx in front (HTTPS)

Install Certbot + get a Let’s Encrypt certificate:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Create an Nginx site (replace YOUR_DOMAIN), then reload Nginx:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name YOUR_DOMAIN;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Request the certificate and let Certbot update Nginx for HTTPS automatically:

sudo certbot --nginx -d YOUR_DOMAIN
sudo systemctl enable --now certbot.timer

After Certbot runs, confirm HTTP redirects to HTTPS and the app loads at https://YOUR_DOMAIN.

Tech Stack

Technology	Description
Python	Python 3.x - Backend programming language.
Flask	Web framework.
SQLAlchemy	Object-Relational Mapper (ORM). Allows managing the database using Python code instead of writing raw SQL strings. Convenient, modular, and secure. Allows for database type to be changed easily.
SQLite	Database. Good for development, but not scalable.
MySQL	Database. Better for concurrency than SQLite, but needs a server to host it.
Pytest	Automated Testing Framework
HTMX	Frontend Interactivity. Enables AJAX requests directly from HTML attributes to swap page fragments without a full reload.