Accounting data is stored in an SQL database server and a standard web browser can be used as its user interface.

The system uses the Perl language with a database interface module for processing and PostgreSQL for data storage which is the preferred platform.

The download version also includes schemas for IBM's DB2 database server as well as Oracle.

For free, DWS provides the source code of the current and all the previous versions, installation instructions, an FAQ collection and a user forum.

In 2005, Debian legal questioned whether or not the program belonged in Free or Non-Free, due to wording in the Terms and Conditions notice in the tarball.