Battle of the ERP Giants: NetSuite Competitors and Alternatives Put to the Test

Welcome to the world of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, where the quest to find the perfect software to streamline your IT and accounting/finance processes is an ongoing challenge. You've likely heard of NetSuite - a powerhouse in the ERP landscape - and you're wondering what alternatives are out there. 

In this blog post, we will dive into a detailed comparison of NetSuite and its major competitors, including Sage Intacct, QuickBooks, Acumatica and more. Our goal is to provide you with an unbiased, comprehensive overview of each platform's capabilities, features, and limitations, (with a slight lean towards NetSuite as a preferred solution, given we are a NetSuite Solution Provider).

NetSuite 

NetSuite is a powerful cloud-based business management software suite designed to help companies streamline and automate their processes. NetSuite saves time, reduces errors, and helps businesses stay organized and compliant with industry regulations. It also helps reduce manual data entry and provides real-time visibility into all areas of the business.

With its integrated features, businesses can quickly and easily access the data they need to make informed decisions. It is an all-in-one solution that provides all the functionality you could ever need to run your business. Some it's key features include:

• Accounting
• Inventory
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Supply Chain Management
• Warehouse Management
• eCommerce

With its easy-to-use and intuitive interface, NetSuite helps businesses of all sizes manage their operations more efficiently.

Pros of NetSuite

Complete Business Solution

What sets NetSuite apart from other business management software solutions is its ability to manage multiple functions across a single system. It covers everything you'd need to run your business, making it incredibly cost-effective.

NetSuite offers a range of add-on modules for specific industries, such as retail, manufacturing and IT services. It also offers a SuiteSucess implementation methodology, which allows you to go-live NetSuite within 100 days, making it one of the most efficient implementation options on the market.

Advanced Financial Consolidation

One of the features that makes NetSuite stand out is it's financial consolidation. NetSuite OneWorld allows companies to manage their finances for all of their entities in one system. This is not easy, and many ERPs have to implement complicated, costly and awkward customisations to be able to offer this. 

Highly Scalable

Finally, and arguably the most important, is that NetSuite is highly scalable. It can grow alongside your business, not against it. For many ERP systems, adding new entities, modules and integrations can be a massive headache, most of which require complex development time.

NetSuite is extremely simple to customise, a lot of which is point and click, so can be done without having to enlist the help of your implementation partner. This allows businesses to grow without the need to invest in additional hardware, software or development time. To find out more about NetSuite's modules and implementations, check out our comprehensive guide which explains everything you need to know about NetSuite pricing. 

Cons of Netsuite

In terms of functionality, NetSuite has it all. However, some areas are a bit more lacking than others. For example, the project management module is fairly basic, so if you have complex project management needs then it may be better to go for a different solution. NetSuite is also among the pricier ERP options available, which might make it unaffordable for some small businesses.

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is a cloud-based financial management system designed to help organisations grow and succeed. It offers powerful financial solutions to help businesses streamline processes, improve visibility, and drive better results. It enables businesses to manage their financial operations with real-time insights, better accuracy, and deeper analysis.

Sage Intacct offers solutions for financial management, billing and collections, inventory management, and more. It also integrates with a variety of applications and services to provide a comprehensive solution for financial management and reporting.

Pros of Sage Intacct

Advanced Accounting

Sage Intacct is well-regarded for its advanced financial management features. It has strong core accounting functions, project accounting, and support for multi-entity and multi-currency transactions. This makes it an excellent choice for organisations that require in-depth financial analysis and comprehensive reporting.

User Friendly

Sage Intacct also has a user-friendly interface and modular design, which makes the software accessible for accounting teams and easy to scale. Businesses can add features as needed, allowing them to adapt the system to their requirements without overwhelming users with unnecessary tools.

Easily Integrated

Sage Intacct also connects seamlessly with popular applications like Salesforce and other CRM, HR, and ERP systems, allowing organisations to build a cohesive application ecosystem to meet their unique needs.

Cons of Sage Intacct

Lack of Comprehensive Functionality

Despite Intaccts good accounting functionality, it lacks pretty much everything else. There's no native HCM, Payroll, CRM, WMS, Ecommerce, or Retail modules. As such, integrations with third-party apps would be required to plug these gaps. Although this is possible, it will likely slow down the system and increase the risk of error. 

Poor Global Tax and Compliance Support

Global tax and compliance support is also somewhat limited, with the strongest support focused on US and UK based companies. This lack of native tax solutions for many other countries can make it less suitable for organisations with significant international operations.

Lack of Customisable Reporting

Lastly, while Sage Intacct provides a good range of standard reports, users needing highly customised reporting often encounter limitations. Customised reports frequently require third-party tools or specialised development, which can increase costs and make it more challenging to achieve tailored insights.

Comparing NetSuite vs Sage Intacct

NetSuite outperforms Intacct in various aspects, making it a better choice for some businesses. Here's why:

1. Scalability: NetSuite grows with your business, allowing users to add native payroll, inventory management, CRM, ecommerce, and more, while offering various integration options. It also provides free domestic entities and additional segments.
2. SuiteSuccess Advantage: NetSuite uses industry-specific best practices to minimize risks and accelerate ROI, while Intacct relies on a standard SaaS approach.
3. Advanced Reporting & BI: NetSuite offers highly customizable native reporting and business intelligence, allowing users to perform JOIN operations across records within its relational schema.
4. Multi-Subsidiary Compatibility: NetSuite enables real-time visibility into consolidated financials across all subsidiaries. Intacct may require manual intervention for certain features like generating project invoices or handling credit card transactions at the entity level.
5. User-Friendly Search: NetSuite's global search functionality, similar to Google, allows quick and easy access to any information in the database, thanks to its unified database structure.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks Financial Management is an accounting software system designed and developed by Intuit, Inc. It is one of the most popular accounting software systems available and is used by millions of small businesses around the world, particularly across the US. 

QuickBooks Financial Management is a comprehensive and easy-to-use accounting system that helps small businesses manage their finances and operations more efficiently. It provides users with a wide range of features and capabilities which help automate and streamline their accounting tasks.

Pros of Quickbooks

Affordability

QuickBooks is a popular choice for small businesses due to its affordability and ease of use. Designed with simplicity in mind, it offers accessible financial management features, including invoicing, expense tracking, and basic financial reporting. This straightforward approach makes QuickBooks an attractive option for businesses that may not have dedicated finance teams.

Strong Support Options

Another advantage of QuickBooks is its strong brand reputation and extensive user base, which translates to a wide array of learning resources, community support, and compatibility with many financial tools. This makes it easier for businesses to find support and solutions for common issues.

Integration Options

Quickbooks can also integrate well with a wide range of third-party apps. This allows businesses to enhance their QuickBooks’ functionality as they grow, helping them build a more comprehensive toolkit while using a familiar software foundation.

Cons of Quickbooks

Not Suitable for Large Businesses

Despite its strengths, QuickBooks has some limitations. It is primarily designed for small businesses, so its feature set can be restrictive for companies with complex financial needs or larger user bases. For example, QuickBooks limits user numbers depending on the plan, with the Small Business Advanced package supporting a maximum of 25 users, which may not suffice for growing companies.

Limited Comprehensive Functionality

Another drawback is it's limited overall functionality. It only offers basic financial features, and doesn't offer advanced financial workflows such as multi-entity consolidation, fixed assets, and multi-book accounting, which may be critical for companies needing more comprehensive financial control.

QuickBooks' inventory and project management tools are also basic at best, and may not be suitable for businesses with advanced needs in manufacturing, distribution, or resource allocation. This lack of advanced functionality often necessitates an upgrade to a more robust ERP solution as the business expands.

Comparing NetSuite vs QuickBooks

1. Scalability: NetSuite is designed to grow with businesses, offering native support for complex accounting functions. QuickBooks has scalability limitations, particularly with its Small Business Advanced plan, which supports a maximum of 25 users and lacks multi-subsidiary consolidation capabilities.
2. Advanced Inventory Management: NetSuite provides robust inventory management suited for companies with complex distribution and manufacturing needs, including multi-location inventory and advanced fulfilment capabilities. QuickBooks’ inventory management is effective for basic needs but falls short for larger businesses requiring complex inventory tracking and demand planning.
3. Project Management & Billing: NetSuite includes fully integrated project management tools, whereas Quickbooks doesn't, making it less suitable for businesses needing in-depth project tracking and resource management.
4. Multi-Subsidiary Compatibility: NetSuite supports complex organisational structures with native multi-subsidiary management and financial consolidation, ideal for businesses with multiple entities. QuickBooks lacks these features, which can be restrictive for companies needing consolidated financials across various subsidiaries.

Acumatica Overview

Acumatica Cloud ERP is a comprehensive, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed to help small and midsize companies manage their financials, operations, customer relationships, and more. It provides a single integrated system for a wide range of business processes, including financial management, customer relationship management, distribution and inventory management, project accounting, and more.

It is designed to be easily configured, allowing businesses to customize the software to meet their specific needs. The solution can be accessed from any device, from any location, ensuring businesses have the most up-to-date information when they need it. Acumatica Cloud ERP also provides advanced reporting and analytics capabilities, which enable businesses to easily monitor and analyze their performance.

Pros of Acumatica

Comprehensive Functionality

Acumatica Cloud ERP is known for its comprehensive cloud-based functionality designed for small to midsize companies. It offers a single, integrated platform that includes financial management, CRM, inventory and distribution management, project accounting, and more. This broad functionality allows businesses to manage multiple aspects of their operations within one system, which can improve efficiency and data accuracy.

Easily Customisable

Another key strength of Acumatica is its customisability and flexibility; businesses can easily tailor the software to meet their specific needs, thanks to its configurable modules and user-friendly design. Acumatica also provides remote accessibility from any device with internet access, enabling real-time data access for users in various locations and making it particularly beneficial for remote teams or companies with multiple locations.

Cons of Acumatica

Lack of Advanced Reporting

However, Acumatica has a few limitations to consider. Its reporting capabilities and customisation can sometimes require advanced technical knowledge or third-party tools. Out-of-the-box reports are often limited, and users may need programming expertise to create more complex, customised reports, which can be a hurdle for companies without in-house technical skills.

Not a "Pure" Cloud ERP

Another potential drawback is that Acumatica is not a "pure" cloud ERP system. Acumatica gives customers the option to deploy the software as a single-tenant solution, meaning each customer has their own instance of the software rather than sharing resources on a unified platform. This means customers use different versions of the software. While some updates are simple, customisations can break with each new release, resulting in added maintenance.

Lack of Multi-Country Support

Finally, multi-country support and foreign currency management are limited. While Acumatica provides some international functionality, such as intercompany accounting, it may require separate instances per country. This results in a lack of real-time foreign exchange feeds and native multi-subsidiary management, which can be restrictive for businesses operating across multiple regions.

Comparing NetSuite vs Acumatica

1. Scalability: NetSuite grows with your business, providing native modules for payroll, CRM, eCommerce, inventory management, and more. Acumatica also offers modular expansion options, but it often requires third-party integrations which can slow down the system.
2. International Support: NetSuite OneWorld enables real-time, consolidated financial management across multiple subsidiaries. Acumatica offers multi-country functionality but often requires separate instances per country, limiting its efficiency for businesses with a global footprint.
3. Advanced Reporting & BI: NetSuite provides powerful native reporting and business intelligence tools, while Acumatica often requires technical expertise or third-party tools, which can be challenging for smaller teams.
4. Unified Platform: NetSuite’s unified database structure integrates all essential business functions—from financials to CRM—within a single platform.  While modular and flexible, Acumatica lacks the cohesive structure that NetSuite offers, potentially requiring additional customisations to achieve the same level of integration.
5. User-Friendly Search: NetSuite’s global search function, similar to Google search, allows users to locate any data within the system quickly and easily, thanks to its unified database. Acumatica’s search is functional but lacks the streamlined, global access that NetSuite provides, making NetSuite particularly advantageous for users needing quick data retrieval across various functions.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one business management solution that helps small and midsize businesses automate and connect their financials, sales, service, and operations. It includes a comprehensive set of integrated applications, such as financials, sales, customer service, project management, supply chain, and operations. 

Business Central helps businesses streamline processes, improve customer relationships, and make better decisions with real-time insights. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office 365, giving users easy access to the tools they already use, such as Outlook, Teams, and Power BI.

Business Central is a cloud-based solution that's designed to be flexible and scalable, so businesses can easily add or remove applications as needed. It's also designed to be secure, so businesses can be sure their data is safe and protected.

Pros of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Seamless Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem

Business Central integrates smoothly with the wider suite of Microsoft products, including Office 365, Power BI, and Teams. This integration allows users to easily access and work within familiar applications like Excel, Outlook, and Word, streamlining workflows and enhancing productivity. With Power BI, users can generate in-depth analytics and visualisations directly within Business Central, creating a unified experience that reduces the need for data exports or switching between applications.

Flexible Deployment Options

Business Central offers both cloud and on-premise deployment options, allowing companies to choose the model that best suits their business requirements and IT infrastructure. For companies with specific security or compliance needs, the on-premise option provides control over data and system management, while the cloud version allows for automatic updates, scalability, and reduced IT maintenance costs.

User-Friendly Interface and Low Learning Curve

Business Central is designed with a modern, intuitive interface that feels familiar to users of other Microsoft applications. This user-friendly design reduces the learning curve and facilitates adoption across teams, as employees are more likely to quickly adapt to the system. The platform also includes built-in tutorials, guided workflows, and role-based dashboards, which further simplify onboarding.

Cons of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Limited Multi-Subsidiary and International Capabilities

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is not ideally suited for complex, multi-subsidiary organisations with global operations. While it can manage basic multi-currency transactions, it lacks native financial consolidation capabilities, which can require separate databases for each subsidiary. This setup can lead to laborious month-end reconciliations and challenges in gaining consolidated financial visibility across regions.

Reliance on Third-Party Customisations

Although Business Central is customisable, many advanced functionalities—such as payroll, advanced CRM, and complex reporting—rely on third-party applications or partner-developed modules. Customising Business Central requires working with Visual Studio and often requires assistance from Microsoft partners, who typically charge on a time and materials basis.

This reliance on partners for customisations can increase costs, especially during updates or when troubleshooting issues. Additionally, customisations may not always be seamlessly maintained through updates, leading to extra costs and potential downtime.

Limited Native Reporting and Analytics

Out-of-the-box, Business Central offers basic reporting capabilities but lacks the depth and flexibility of more advanced ERP solutions. Pre-built reports have limited filter options and slice-and-dice capabilities, and users cannot easily drill down into specific transaction details without additional configuration. While Business Central can integrate with Power BI for enhanced reporting, this setup requires partner assistance and additional costs, which can be prohibitive for companies without a budget for extensive third-party customisation.

Comparing NetSuite vs Microsoft Dynamics Business Central

1. Advanced Reporting & BI: NetSuite provides highly customisable, native reporting and business intelligence tools, allowing users to easily filter, drill down, and slice and dice data without external tools. Microsoft Dynamics Business Central has limited pre-built report options and lacks in-depth filtering and transaction drill-down capabilities, often requiring Power BI integration, which involves partner setup and additional costs.
2. Multi-Subsidiary Compatibility: NetSuite is designed for multi-entity businesses, with native support for multi-country operations and consolidated financial reporting across subsidiaries. In contrast, Microsoft Dynamics Business Central lacks native financial consolidation and multi-country support, requiring separate databases for each subsidiary. This setup can lead to time-consuming reconciliations at month-end and relies on third-party tools like Jet Reports for consolidation.
3. Customisation & Flexibility: NetSuite’s SuiteCloud platform provides customisation options that are managed directly within the system. Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, however, requires external development through Visual Studio, often necessitating partner assistance and incurring additional costs. Customisations can be complex and may break during upgrades, requiring ongoing partner support.
4. Integrated CRM & HR: NetSuite offers fully integrated CRM, payroll, and HR capabilities, supporting end-to-end business processes within a single system. Business Central’s CRM and HR capabilities are limited, relying on additional modules and third-party integrations, each with separate databases, which can create data silos and require middleware like Dataverse for integration.
5. Scalability for Growth: NetSuite serves over 24,000 customers with robust scalability, making it suitable for businesses with long-term growth aspirations. Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, launched in 2018 and adapted from NAV, is relatively young with approximately 20,000 customers. Businesses with complex needs or plans for rapid growth may find that they quickly outgrow Business Central, leading them to consider transitioning to Microsoft’s enterprise solution, D365 Finance, or an alternative ERP.

SAP Business One

SAP Business One is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed to streamline the operations of small and medium-sized businesses. It provides users with an all-in-one solution for managing their finances, inventory, customer relationships, and other business processes.

The software's dashboards, analytics, and reporting tools make it easy to gain insights into the performance of the business. SAP Business One integrates with other software solutions, like SAP HANA, to provide an even more comprehensive view of operations. It also offers customizable features to meet specific business needs. 

Pros of SAP Business One

Cons of SAP Business One

Comparing NetSuite vs SAP Business One

1. Customisation & Integration: NetSuite offers seamless customisation and integration options, allowing businesses to adjust processes, interfaces, roles, and reporting features directly within the platform. SAP Business One (B1), however, often requires multiple third-party providers and partner consulting for setup and ongoing maintenance, which can increase costs as business needs change.
2. Advanced Reporting & Analytics: NetSuite provides powerful, native reporting and analytics tools, allowing for customised reports with drill-down capabilities. In contrast, SAP B1 relies on SAP Crystal Reports for customised reporting, which requires technical expertise. Businesses without in-house technical support often face additional consulting fees for setting up and managing reports.
3. Scalability for Growth: NetSuite is designed to support growth, allowing businesses to scale from small to large enterprises without the need for major system changes. SAP B1, however, is best suited for companies with fewer than 350 employees, and its performance declines with larger user counts. Businesses outgrowing SAP B1 may need a complete re-implementation on another SAP product, such as SAP S/4HANA.
4. Multi-Subsidiary Management: NetSuite provides native multi-subsidiary and financial consolidation capabilities, supporting complex organisational structures at no additional cost. SAP B1 requires extra add-ons for financial consolidation, which can increase costs and complexity for businesses with multiple entities.
5. Cloud Deployment & Upgrades: NetSuite operates on a multi-tenant cloud infrastructure, automatically upgrading all customers to the latest version. SAP B1, on the other hand, is typically deployed as a single-tenant solution hosted on third-party infrastructure, requiring manual upgrades. This can lead to additional consulting fees and challenges in maintaining customisations during the upgrade process.

We've mentioned about cloud vs on premise solutions a lot in this blog. Still not sure what the differences are? Check out our blog post to find out more!

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, choosing the right ERP solution can be challenging. Our comparison of NetSuite and its competitors offers insights to help you decide. Each has pros and cons, so select one that fits your company's needs and growth goals. Although we are a NetSuite solution provider, we have worked with many different ERPs, and know which ones are suitable to which companies. Get in touch and we will help you in your ERP evaluation journey.