Companies have much to consider when weighing the difference between ERP and CRM.

Which one is best for you? Do you need both? What even are the differences? 

These questions will get answered to ensure your confidence in choosing the best system for your business.

ERP vs. CRM: An Overview of Two Different Types of Software

What Is an ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a type of software that combines critical business processes into one system. Using one streamlined system allows companies to have a bird’s eye view when managing everyday activities.

Companies switch to ERP to improve their productivity and efficiency. Automating and unifying different business parts under one database improve these improvements. Using one system allows employees to access pertinent data from other departments.

ERP software may include some or all of the following functions:

• Finance and accounting
• Inventory and order management
• Payroll and HR
• Supply chain management
• Automation

ERP Benefits

How can ERP help your business? A few benefits of ERP include:

• Integrating separate business systems and processes all into one program
• Product greater efficiency by up to 95%
• Create reports and data analysis automatically without manual data entry
• Standardized monitoring of supply and inventory

What Is a CRM?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system that focuses on improving the customer experience, managing customer interaction, improving communication between marketing and sales, and incorporating customer data into one unified system.

The impact of CRM on a business means increased sales, happier customers, and more accurate marketing tactics.

CRM software may include some or all of the following functions:

• Marketing automation
• Sales management
• Customer service
• Lead management

CRM Benefits

How can CRM help your business? A few benefits of CRM include:

• Integrating customer service systems and processes all into one program
• Customer segmentation to optimize marketing to leads
• Create better methods of communication between the company and the customer
• Automate sales reports to quickly evaluate progress

ERP and CRM Examples

Below are well-known ERP companies:

• NetSuite (Oracle) ERP
• Microsoft Dynamics ERP
• SAP ERP
• Odoo
• Epicor
• Workday
• Syspro
• Sage

Below are well-known CRM companies:

• NetSuite (Oracle) CRM
• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• SAP CRM
• Zoho
• Zendesk

The Key Differences Between ERP and CRM Software

1. CRM Can Be Part of ERP But Not the Other Way Around

Depending on what ERP your business uses, CRM software is often included in ERP. Most ERP systems integrate easily with stand-alone CRM programs if it is not already included.

For instance, NetSuite ERP offers the NetSuite CRM module to unify the NetSuite CRM and ERP systems.

However, the reverse is not true — ERP cannot be part of CRM software. 

The reason is that CRM is solely related to sales and building customer relationships. The full scope of ERP software cannot be found in the smaller range that CRM systems provide.

Although ERP software can provide CRM services, the ERP system might not be as effective and may not offer as many features as a CRM specializing in customer relationships. The reason is that customer relations may just be one small element of what an ERP offers.

2. ERP Focuses on Finance, CRM Focuses on People 

A business chooses to implement ERP to manage its assets and finances. The company wants an easier way to streamline accounting processes, manage cash flow, and generate data analytics for future projections.

ERP is designed mainly to support the back office or the behind-the-scenes departments that come with running a business. These departments may be finance, human resources, and accounting.

In contrast, CRM focuses on the customer and improving this relationship. A good CRM makes it easier to communicate with the customer, ensures customer loyalty, and automates storing customer data for analysis and reports to boost future marketing efforts.

CRM gets used by the front office or departments that interact with customers. These departments may include customer support, marketing, or sales.

3. ERP Systems Prioritize Efficiency, CRM Systems Prioritize Sales

The ERP model incorporates varying business departments under one system. Doing this allows businesses to automate processes and phase out manual (and slow) systems. This improves a company’s ROI by becoming a more efficient company.

Both CRM and ERP automate and improve efficiency, but this is not the priority of a CRM. A CRM may make a business more efficient, but its primary goal is to benefit the customer and increase profits and sales.

4. CRM Gets Used by a Few Departments. The Whole Business Can Use ERP

A big difference between ERP and CRM is that for large enterprises, CRM software commonly gets used by departments that are directly related to customers. These departments include the sales team, marketing, and customer services.

Conversely, ERP software streamlines large-scale business operations that most (if not all) departments benefit from. From HR to inventory management, employees in entirely different departments can access ERP tools in some way to make their daily tasks easier.

Ultimately, ERP helps connect disjointed systems under one roof to make communication and analytics more accessible for the whole business. 

This is different from CRM, which is helpful mainly for sales — a significant part of a business but does not necessarily concern all departments.

One caveat:

For small businesses, all employees can use CRM because small businesses typically have less defined department roles. With fewer employees, there is more involvement among the whole team when looking at sales opportunities and communications with customers.

5. ERP Costs More Than CRM

Integrating ERP is an involved process that requires uprooting the entire current business system. Doing this is not cheap.

ERP software is also often customizable to the business. Although beneficial, this requires careful planning from multiple departments to ensure that the ERP is functional. This level of planning, rollout, and integration is expensive and can cost millions.

CRM software is not as expensive because of its more minor use case. Integrating CRM into your business does not require disrupting your entire business process. 

ERP systems are usually targeted at large enterprises, while CRM systems target large and small businesses. This allows for a wide range of CRM costs — from free to a few thousand every month.

FAQs

Do You Need Both a CRM & ERP Software?

Although both ERP and CRM may benefit your business, it’s costly to jump into both.

For most small businesses, it’s beneficial to get only CRM software for sales and customer relations. Mismanaging data and having poor customer service will negatively impact profit and the customer experience.

The benefits of ERP may not be worth the cost until the company becomes more prominent.

Incorporating ERP and CRM for large businesses will create a healthy business environment. With more moving parts, communication breakdowns are apparent, and manual inputs become more time-consuming. Having both combines a robust sales engine within an efficient system.

Is CRM part of an ERP?

CRM can be part of ERP, but it can also stand independently. Whether CRM is part of ERP depends on the ERP software type because not all have CRM elements. 

When CRM is part of ERP, it provides more advanced customer relations support and sales management to the business.

Do CRMs Integrate with ERPs?

CRM integration with ERP ensures that information between both CRM and ERP transmits efficiently and is standardized. This prevents your business from having two separate systems that don’t talk to each other.

Imagine if your customer support team gets repeat calls on the same technical issue. Without a proper CRM documenting these interactions, this information might never make its way for the development team to review.

Most CRMs integrate smoothly with ERP. Many companies opt for this route if they feel their current ERP system doesn’t offer enough CRM components. However, integration is an involved process that requires developers to use API, following tools provided by the ERP software, or using a third party to assist. 

To avoid integration failure, voice all concerns with your technical team and ERP contact.

Can ERP Replace CRM?

An ERP cannot replace a CRM since they address two different functions: ERP improves efficiency in your business while a CRM works to get you more customers.

If you are thinking about adding ERP to your business, you can either integrate your current CRM or find an ERP that also offers CRM capabilities that match or exceed your current CRM model.

When It Comes to ERP vs. CRM, Both Can Have Major Benefits to Your Business

A CRM system specializes in customer relations and sales. ERP specializes in automating business processes. 

Although they have differences, both approaches help your business improve its efficiency and profit.

You cannot go wrong with an ERP, CRM, or both.

Deciding which one to go with depends on the size of your business, your sales numbers, and ultimately what works best for you.

The post ERP vs. CRM: Differences and Why They Matter appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

Their search for products or services that are the right fit leads them to you in the same way your quest for a fitting enterprise resource planning system prompts you to compare Workday vs. NetSuite ERP solutions.

While Workday and NetSuite are potential game-changers for your business, they will live up to their potential only when deployed in the spaces they were designed for.

As you wouldn’t thrust an outstanding basketballer into a soccer game and automatically expect a glowing performance, don’t reach for either of these ERPs without doing your due diligence.

In this case, due diligence is discovering how Workday and NetSuite compare and which is a better fit for your business.

We can help you with the first part, but the second is an inference you’ll draw on your own. Ready to get the information you need to draw that inference? Read on.

Workday vs. NetSuite: The Complete Comparison 

Workday provides cloud-based financial management, human capital management, and data analytics applications for medium-sized and large corporations in a single system.

Its functionalities include Workday Adaptive Planning, Spend Management, Talent Management, Payroll, Workforce Management, Professional Services Automation, etc.

While Workday is a more niche product, NetSuite is a cloud-based suite of integrated applications that help you manage all business operations.

From supply chain management to inventory monitoring, finance and accounting to HR management, Customer Relationships Management to omnichannel e-commerce, NetSuite is your go-to solution.

Let’s get into a more detailed comparison of NetSuite and Workday.

Pricing 

As is common practice with enterprise software providers, Workday doesn’t provide fixed pricing rates on its website. Instead, it requires companies to contact the sales team for custom quotes. 

Not many third-party websites offer in-depth Workday pricing details.  Outsail is one of the few that does. The website claims Workday charges an annual subscription fee of around $300k and a one-time implementation fee, usually 150%-200% of the subscription fee. 

You’ll also not find definite pricing details on NetSuite on its website, but there’s information on how NetSuite calculates each company’s unique quotation.

The four metrics used are the monthly licensing fee for the platform, the company’s preferred modules, the number of users, and a deployment fee. 

Further research on third-party websites yielded information on the cost of some of the pricing metrics.

Reports suggest that the monthly fee is around $999, modules can cost anything between $149 to $499 each, and the cost of adding new users is $99 per user.

The reviewed sites didn’t give information on the implementation fee but noted that further updates and maintenance are free.

Verdict: NetSuite takes the pricing trophy. Unlike Workday, which is typically regarded as one of the most expensive options on the market, NetSuite offers extensive capabilities at affordable prices.

That said, using pricing as a selection metric can be tricky because, depending on your situation, the pricier option may be the better one for you.

Features

Seeing as Workday is a niche solution focused mainly on financial management and human capital management solutions, there’s not much basis for comparison between it and NetSuite.

Let’s take a quick look at how some of the key features they have in common compare.

Financial Management 

Workday’s financial management module is a one-stop shop for accessing integrated data on all finance-related enterprise matters and maintaining tight control over financial and accounting processes.

With machine learning, it intelligently guides the automation of financial activities, points out anomalies in records, and makes recommendations. That way, the team can detect errors faster and get insights promptly.

Using these structures and more, Workday executes regular financial management operations, including:

• Financial accounting: general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, fixed assets management, cash management, financial reporting.
• Consolidation and close: global consolidation, account reconciliation, period close process, and dashboard for period-based reports.
• Revenue management: contract-cash processing, ASC 606/IFRS 15 compliance, reports on profitability, project costing, what-if scenarios, and more.
• Expense management: global receipt scanning and automatic expense item creation, insights and analytics, expense tracker and control, quick reimbursements, etc. 
• Grants management: automated grants management for regulatory and sponsor compliance, expenditure tracking, etc.
• Financial planning: budgeting and forecasting, scenario planning, etc.
• Analytics: reports from blended data sources, automated benchmarking, automated internal and external reports.

NetSuite’s financial management module performs similar functions to Workday’s solutions. The cloud-based package delivers real-time insights into a company’s financials and speeds up daily financial transactions, consolidation, and budgeting cycles. 

Plus, it integrates with other business applications to provide synced insights across the board. Its key capabilities include:

• Accounting: general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, fixed assets management, tax management, cash management, etc.
• Billing: recurring subscription management, automated rate creation, multiple pricing models, etc.
• Budgeting:  scenario planning and modeling, revenue planning, workforce planning, operational expense, reporting, etc. 
• Revenue recognition: ASC 606 and IFR5 15 compliance, automated revenue allocation, multiple revenue recognition methods, revenue plan management, etc.
• Consolidation: multi-book and multi-entity reporting, automated consolidation, and more.
• Reporting: US GAAP and IFRS-compliant prebuilt and custom reports, multidimensional analysis,  multi-book reporting, etc. 

Verdict: NetSuite nicks this round with its slightly broader financial functionalities for subsidiaries. But both options are top players in financial management,  as exemplified by their rating as “leaders” in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises (2021).

Human Resource Management (HCM)

With human resource management being one of the two key areas Workday focuses on, its HCM module is understandably robust.

From ensuring you can view data about your global workforce to delivering hiring and payroll management functionalities, Workday gives you control over employee management, end to end.

Here’s an overview of what to expect: 

• Human capital management: global workforce management, employee and skills directory, compensation management, etc.
• Payroll and Workforce Management: payroll processing, audits, reporting, time and attendance tracking, automated leave approval and reminder, etc.
• Talent Management: Talent acquisition, learning recommendations for employees, and more.
• Employee experience: onboarding connects employees to third-party applications the company uses, personalized recommendations powered by machine learning, and more.
• Knowledge management provides answers to employee HR questions fast and in different workspaces.
• Workforce Planning: Workforce modeling, forecasting, and budgeting

NetSuite also integrates several workforce and human resource management tools in one place.

The HCM module removes the need for third-party integrations, creates a better experience for employees, and ensures you can make informed workforce-related decisions using accurate data. Its key submodules include:

• HR admin: employee directory, HR operation automation, database access control, etc.
• Payroll: payments processing and scheduling, integration with general ledger, tax, benefits deduction, etc.
• Performance management: goals and KPIs setting, progress monitoring, and commendation. 
• Workforce management: time-off management, benefits, compensation tracking, and workforce planning.
• Employee engagement: self-service feature for employees for simple tasks like updating personal info, onboarding and offboarding, etc.
• Analytics: employee headcount, expense, revenue and profit per active worker, etc. 

Verdict: This round ends in a stalemate. 

Project Management/Professional Services Automation (PSA)

Workday has a PSA module that helps you run your professional services business more efficiently and profitably.

Workday’s PSA software powers timely and cost-effective project completion by integrating HR, finance, and planning tools. Its key capabilities include:

• Project and resource management
• Insight on project financials
• Expense tracking and management
• Time tracking
• Project accounting and billing 

NetSuite’s PSA module is just as effective. The integrated cloud solution oversees project and resource management, project billing and accounting, time tracking, contractor tracking, and more. It also features a detailed reporting tool that delivers real-time data on project performance.

Verdict: This is a close call, but NetSuite just edges Workday in this category. Its PSA functionalities are more extensive and include NetSuite OpenAir, which among other things, helps businesses find potential clients.

User Experience

In terms of user experience, the word on the street is that NetSuite is user-friendly as long as the user goes through training first.

This suggests that new users may find navigating the platform a tad difficult. And speaking of navigation, some users also suggest that NetSuite’s user interface appears dated.

That said, they say it gets the job done pretty well.

NetSuite also offers iPhone and Android mobile apps for the on-the-go monitoring of critical operations and performing necessary business actions such as expense reporting. 

Workday boasts a modern user interface. Like NetSuite, it also provides mobile apps, and its design is mobile-friendly.

Although customers consider Workday to be pretty user-friendly, they report that some aspects like the goal-setting and reporting features are sometimes slow and unresponsive. Plus, some users believe there aren’t adequate search filters.

Verdict: NetSuite wins this round as most of its UX issues are peculiar to newbie users and can be avoided with proper training. Workday, on the other hand, has more systemic glitches.

Integrations

Workday provides impressive extensibility and integration features.

The former gives you access to Workday Extend, which allows you to develop new apps for your business needs using Workday protocols.

Workday Integration Cloud lets you connect Workday with several third-party apps using pre-built integrations or the industry-standard API framework.

NetSuite has its integration platform called SuiteCloud Integration which performs almost the same function as Workday’s Integration Cloud.

It supports industry-standard integration protocols such as ODBC/JDBC, REST, SOAP WEB services, custom REST endpoints, and CSV file import so that you can connect NetSuite to almost any third-party app or system for seamless data exchange.  

Verdict: Both solutions are pretty evenly matched in this category.

Customer Support

NetSuite’s customer support channels span email, phone support, chat, knowledge repository, and a forum. What’s more, the staff-provided support is available 24/7.

That said, apart from the essential support available to all customers, you can subscribe to premium or advanced packages that come with varying service options.

Workday also offers a wide array of support channels available 24/7.

You get a designated customer success manager for the preliminary stages of adoption; then, there’s email support, online resources, and a community of other customers called Workday Community.

Verdict: NetSuite wins this round because, according to users, connecting with its customer service reps is more straightforward. 

Reviews 

Unsurprisingly, when we visited user review aggregating sites, we discovered that customers were mainly split on both ERPs’ performance. But despite the minor glitches pointed out here and there, each group of users mostly had glowing reviews for their selected ERP. NetSuite and Workday’s ratings on different sites prove this. 

Capterra

• NetSuite – 4.1/5 stars (809 reviews)
• Workday – 4.4/5 stars (58 reviews)

G2

• NetSuite – 3.9/5 stars (1,844 reviews)
• Workday – 3.9/5 stars (88 reviews)

Verdict: NetSuite and Workday users believe each ERP meets their needs, so we’ll consider this a stalemate. 

NetSuite vs. Workday – Which is Best? 

Your best bet is to consider the features of each ERP in light of your preferences and needs. But in a straight-up feature-by-feature comparison between NetSuite and Workday, the former comes out tops. 

For one, it’s a complete business management platform that lets you take charge of all your critical business operations from one platform. On the other hand, Workday focuses on financial and human capital management.

Also, while NetSuite can serve businesses of all sizes, Workday is better suited to mid to large-sized enterprises. Plus, it’s easier to scale with NetSuite. 

Click here to read our NetSuite implementation guide if you’re interested in getting more information on NetSuite.

The post Workday vs. NetSuite – A Simple Guide For Buyers appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

To gain an edge and get value for money, you’d have to do a lot more than splash the cash on random technology.

You need to sift the chaff and select the right solutions for you. And that’s where comparing two ERP options like Epicor and NetSuite comes in.  

There is no need to draw up a chart; we’ve created a relatively detailed analysis of both ERPs, comparing their key features to help you make the right choice for your business.

Continue reading to learn how Epicor and NetSuite fare in a head-to-head battle.

Epicor vs. NetSuite – The Complete Comparison

NetSuite is a full-scale cloud-based ERP software for businesses of all sizes.

It is efficient in the distribution and manufacturing sectors and serves well in the services industries.

Its key modules include financial management, accounting software, customer relationship management, order management, inventory management, global business management, etc. 

Epicor Kinetic (formerly ERP) is a scalable ERP software that boasts robust functionalities for different sectors with more emphasis on manufacturing, distribution, and retail.

While Epicor offers multiple products, its Kinetic ERP focuses on supply chain management, HR and finance management, customer relationship management, sales management, and more. 

Let’s delve into deeper details that would pull the weight on which you decide to go for. 

Pricing

Let’s begin with NetSuite. Data on the details of NetSuite’s pricing system is sparse.

Prospective clients can only get information on a quote basis. This means that quotes are assigned to each company per its needs.

However, NetSuite’s pricing is based on these factors: the modules needed, the number of users, a base fee, and add-ons.

Additional information from third-party websites and users put the monthly fee around $999. Depending on application and specifications, modules cost between $149 to $499. And each newly added user costs $99.

These same sources suggest that NetSuite’s users are not charged maintenance and update fees.

Epicor has a service-oriented structure and is modular-based. This simply means that customers can acquire just the necessary modules without being obligated to buy other modules.

However, the complexity of each module impacts its costs. And its price per user starts at $175 per month. But this excludes the charges of additional modules, consultation fees, and the like.

Verdict: NetSuite seems the better in this aspect.

Combine the fact that its users are free of maintenance and update fees, and Epicor’s modules are complex, which incurs higher costs, and the additional charges for additional modules and consultation fees; you’d see the costs would be considerably higher than the base price quoted earlier. 

Features

Financial Management

NetSuite’s financial management module is a system of functionalities for managing enterprise financial operations end to end and getting financial data for making informed business decisions.

It provides near-perfect coverage of finances and tracks every transaction. Sub-modules included are: 

• Accounting functionalities: general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets management, cash management, etc.
• Budgeting and forecasting features: budgeting automation, revenue planning, scenario modeling, etc.
• Billing: recurring subscription, automated invoicing, billing based on multiple pricing models, etc.
•  Reporting and Analytics: prebuilt and custom financial reports compliant with industry standards, multi-book financial reporting, multidimensional analysis, etc.

Having been a player in the industry for several decades, it’s no surprise that Epicor’s financial management module is just as impressive and extensive.

It caters to all regular accounting operations and provides tools for advanced financial management, including:

• A general ledger with charts of accounts, multiple books, consolidation, and more.
• Accounts payable features that support AP invoicing and payments, petty cash, automated clearinghouse, etc. 
• Accounts receivable features that support AR invoicing and payments, multiple payments instruments, deferred revenue accounting, and more.
• Financial planning and analysis – machine learning-powered revenue forecasting, consolidation, financial statements, role-based analytics, etc.
• Tax automation 
• Global business management – multi-currency and multi-lingual systems, country-specific functionalities, etc.

Verdict: There’s no clear victor in this section.

Supply Chain Management

NetSuite’s supply chain management module lets you monitor and optimize the production and movement of goods through your supply chain.

The procurement functionalities ensure accurate product sourcing from suppliers.

Then inventory management and demand planning improve the production and delivery processes. You get:

• A real-time display of production, financial, and inventory data.
• Forecasting tools
• Capacity planning, production planning, and scheduling tools
• Automated procurement and production instructions.
• Centralized vendor management and more

The Supply chain management module in Epicor is every bit as impressive.

The suite of applications combines to help you improve supply chain velocity, increase profitability, and enhance customer experience by meeting expectations.

The module’s key capabilities include: 

• Purchase management
• Inventory management
• Supplier relationship management
• Warehouse management
• Advanced material management
• Advanced requisition management 

Verdict: Again, both ERPs perform excellently in this category, but NetSuite just edges Epicor as its breakdown of the module’s functionalities is less overwhelming. 

Customer Relationship Management

When thinking of NetSuite’s CRM module, imagine a centralized system for managing relationships with prospects, customers, partners, and suppliers, because that’s what it is. In this category, NetSuite pulls no punches as usual.

It provides all the tools you need to deliver excellent customer service, automate marketing and sales processes and manage quotes and commissions.

Here’s an overview of NetSuite CRM’s functionalities:

• Salesforce automation – integrated sales processes for the sales team
• Marketing automation – campaign management, automated lead qualification, integrated lead forms, etc.
• Customer service management – case creation and automation, customer self-service portal,  online knowledge base, etc.
• Partner relationship management – manage joint marketing campaigns, partner commissions, royalties, order processing, etc.
• Mobile – view and update customer data, create quotes, and more, on mobile devices.

Again, Epicor doesn’t disappoint. Its centralized CRM caters to the most critical customer relationship management tasks such as:

• Contact management – for customers, vendors, and suppliers
• Case management – customer interactions record, user-defined roles and workflows, and other tools for standardizing case resolution.
• Lead and opportunity management – customer life cycle management, revenue forecasts, etc.  
• Marketing management – campaign monitoring, targeted emails creation,
• Mobile access to the CRM suite.

Verdict: NetSuite wins this round because its CRM module includes more marketing and sales management functionalities.

User Experience

In terms of user experience, NetSuite stands out as being highly customizable, having detailed dashboards and robust reporting capabilities.

This attention to detail is also NetSuite’s weakness, as users say setting up the ERP and getting familiar with it can be tedious without the right help.

But they believe the system’s expansive automation capabilities once it’s up and running make up for the time spent setting it up.

Epicor also boasts a very customizable and flexible system. Reports also suggest that its implementation time is short, and the software includes easy-to-understand dashboards and menus.

However, some users found the system quite buggy and noted that it was difficult to find training materials to help get the hang of the software or onboard other users.

Navigating functionalities like deleting journal entries in the financial management module can be tedious.

Verdict: This round goes to NetSuite. But Epicor is set to catch up soon enough as it keeps improving the relatively new Kinetic platform. 

Integrations

Connecting your ERP to an existing ecosystem of applications you already use is key to running your business efficiently.

With NetSuite, this isn’t a problem. Its SuiteCloud Platform allows you to integrate NetSuite with just about any third-party app.

This is possible because SuiteCloud supports integration technologies from REST to SOAP web services, custom REST endpoints to CSV file imports, and ODBC/JDBC.

Epicor mimics NetSuite by having a specialized integration platform.

Tagged Epicor Integration Cloud, the module connects on-premises, cloud, and SaaS business applications to the ERP.

Jitterbit powers Epicor, which ensures you can integrate seamlessly with apps like Shopify, Marketo, and Hubspot, Oracle and SQL Server databases, and data formats like JSON and XML, using various protocols. 

Verdict: Both ERPs are neck and neck in terms of integration capabilities.

Customer Support

24/7 Standard support, including a knowledge base, is available on NetSuite to all customers, but you can subscribe to premium or advanced support packages depending on your needs.

Each package delivers assistance via different channels ranging from online case treatment to phone support. You can also get end-user training through NetSuite or one of its partners.

Epicor offers just as much support through EpicCare. It’s a specialized platform with self-help resources, case submission and tracking, and online communities 24/7.

You get access to EpicCare as part of your maintenance and support plan.

Verdict: It’s another tie between both ERPs. 

Reviews

What better way to learn more about ERP solutions than listening to what actual users have to say?

That’s precisely what we did. Here are aggregated scores of users awarded to NetSuite and Epicor:

Software advice

• NetSuite – 4.1/5 stars (809 reviews)
• Epicor – 3.8/5 stars (167 reviews)

G2

• NetSuite – 3.9/5 stars (1,844 reviews)
• Epicor – 3.6/5 stars (358 reviews)

Verdict: On average, both have close aggregated user ratings, but NetSuite typically gets slightly higher scores.

Our research noticed that ease of use, quality of features, and support were some of the subcategories where NetSuite scored higher than Epicor.

NetSuite vs. Epicor – Which is Best?

If you’re looking for a super niche solution, Epicor might catch your eye because it offers specialized ERPs for manufacturing, automotive, building supply, and distribution.

But NetSuite’s more extensive capabilities and flexible structure ensure it can adequately cater to the needs of several industries. 

NetSuite is your best bet for taking charge of your enterprise without leaving any loose ends as a fully integrated business management tool. Moreover, it maintains its quality across the board – from supply chain management to CRM, unlike Epicor, which is a little light in CRM features. 

Ready to move forward with NetSuite? Click here to read our implementation guide.  

The post Epicor vs. NetSuite – A Faceoff Between Two ERP Heavyweights  appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

You’ve got hundreds of options. And you often have to painstakingly read through dozens of guides, thumb through hundreds of pricing pages, and run dozens of comparison checklists to find one perfect for your business needs. 

Throw in the fact that investing in ERP software is a big-money investment, and there’s even greater pressure from your stakeholders to make the best decision and get it right the first time. 

Perhaps you’ve whittled down your options to Acumatica and NetSuite — two of the topmost ERP software options — but still can’t decide which software is best for you.

In this post, we’ll provide a detailed analysis of Acumatica vs. NetSuite to decide for yourself which software is perfect for your needs. 

Acumatica vs. NetSuite: Quick Summary 

The NetSuite ERP 

NetSuite is a cloud-based, all-in-one business management solution. With NetSuite, you can manage inventory, operations, accounting, and perform several essential business functions from one online platform. 

Beyond housing your core business processes under one roof, NetSuite also (a) enables you to automate those processes and (b) provides you with real-time data that you can use to make timely and cost-saving decisions.

Consequently, your productivity increases and overall operating costs decrease.

From small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies, over 29,000 companies in 200+ countries (across various industries) use NetSuite to run their business operations. 

NetSuite is primarily considered the world’s #1 cloud ERP software. It’s popular partly because it was one of the pioneers of the SaaS (software as a service) solution. However, this ERP software isn’t riding solely on its first-mover advantage. 

Over the past two decades, NetSuite has proven to be a robust ERP solution for businesses of any size. It has also proven to be scalable—it can grow with your business, meeting different needs as your organization grows. In addition, NetSuite continues to push its competitive advantage through bi-annual software updates. 

Acumatica

Acumatica is a relatively new but fast-growing ERP provider. 

Like NetSuite, it’s an all-in-one solution for business management applications. But, unlike NetSuite, Acumatica gets a leg up by offering both on-premise and cloud deployment options for its ERP software.

Whereas NetSuite has a robust, flexible, and scalable factor for catering to businesses of any size, Acumatica works best for small and medium-sized companies, with a particular focus on manufacturing and distribution organization’s 

Acumatica has a unique pricing model that naturally makes it more attractive to specific niche markets (more on this in a minute). But price point aside, Acumatica is undoubtedly a functional and good-to-use cloud ERP software. Their growth and sales numbers prove it. 

As of 2020, they catered to the ERP needs of 6,500+ clients in 30 countries. And they support 12-15 languages through their partners.

Fun fact: NetSuite customers constitute 63% of technology companies that have IPO’d since 2011.

NetSuite vs. Acumatica: Everything You Need to Know About These ERPs

Pricing

NetSuite customers pay an annual subscription fee to access the NetSuite Platform. However, your annual payment will depend on your company’s needs. So, we’re unable to quote a universal subscription fee. However, we do have some insight into how the annual subscription fees are determined based on information from third-party NetSuite “partners.” 

You pay for the core NetSuite platform ($999 monthly). NetSuite also offers optional modules (some of which can reportedly cost anywhere from $199 to $499). And finally, you pay for the number of users you’ll have on the platform ($99 per month to register additional users). 

NetSuite also charges a one-time setup fee. 

On the other hand, Acumatica operates a unique and flexible pricing model that charges customers based on transaction volumes. Call it the pay-for-only-what-you-use pricing model. 

In other words, Acumatica doesn’t charge per user. Instead, it offers “unlimited users” and charges based on the number of resources a company consumes on commercial transactions, ERP transactions, and the amount of storage required. 

This flexible pricing structure lowers their entry fee and makes them more appealing to small and mid-market customers. 

Because of its per-user pricing model, NetSuite (and several ERP vendors) have come under fire for “punishing their customers for growing.” But how different is Acumatica’s pricing model?

A closer look reveals that you’re paying for additional users in a non-obvious and untraditional way. Think about it: as your business scales and orders increase, you consume more resources, and you’ll pay higher fees. 

That is, your cost-to-revenue ratio increases as your business grows. At least, with Acumatica, there’s a chance you can keep cost-to-revenue costs constant for specific periods during your company’s growth journey.

Acumatica’s transactional pricing model is cost-effective and generates high ROI for companies that trade in low-volume, high-margin products. But it may not be the best option for businesses that deal with high-volume and have low-margin type products.  

Verdict: Acumatica makes it easier for small to mid-market businesses to adopt cloud ERP solutions because its entry prices are lower. NetSuite’s entry prices are higher. But for upper mid-market companies, the chances are high that, in the long run, you’ll spend less money with NetSuite than you would with Acumatica.

Features 

Below is a comparison of Acumatica and NetSuite based on some essential features. 

Financial Management

Acumatica’s financial management module includes basic financial and accounting functionalities you need to keep a tight leash on your business’s financial operations. 

• The general ledger integrates with the rest of the modules. It allows you to track financial transactions such as fixed assets, inventory, accounts receivable, and accounts payable and generate critical financial statements.
• A cash management system for keeping tabs on all daily cash flow-related operations all in one place, including cash balances, bank account reconciliations, and funds transfers and tracking. Acumatica’s CMS also supports multiple currencies and works hand in hand with the currency management feature to ensure you can track gains and losses from changing currency values, amongst other things.
• A tax accounting software integrates with other financial management modules and allows tax calculations on transactions and tax report generation.

NetSuite’s financial management module is just as extensive. NetSuite’s financial module has you covered from facilitating daily transactions to budgeting operations and streamlining financial accounts with other business operations. Its key features include:

• Accounting tabs feature a general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets management, cash management, tax management, and the works.
• Billing functionalities automate invoicing, support diverse subscription and multiple pricing models, and more.
• Budgeting and forecasting feature support budgeting automation for different departments, scenario modeling using factors including location and product.
• Financial report generation includes multi-dimensional analysis that delivers excellent insights, highly configurable reports to meet your unique needs, and more. 

While Acumatica and NetSuite share many similarities in finance and accounting features, there are also critical differentiating factors. For one, NetSuite allows multi-book accounting, which helps you run different sets of accounting stipulations on the same set of financial records. However, Acumatica doesn’t offer this. 

Also, NetSuite’s structure allows it to compute large transactions at a go. But Acumatica relies on batch processing which can prove tedious during report generation. Plus, NetSuite offers a highly customizable general ledger.

Verdict: while Acumatica rivals NetSuite in terms of general accounting features, NetSuite boasts broader functionalities well suited to fast-growing businesses or large enterprises with extensive operational demands.

Inventory Management

Acumatica’s inventory management module covers the essentials. You can manage inventory across multiple warehouses, including setting locations for specific operations such as receiving inventory, returns, shipping, and dropshipping. Another key feature is you can set parameters for stock replenishment using seasonality, maximum and minimum order quantities, forecasting models, and more. 

What’s more, you can specify several vendors for different items while setting a preferred vendor, plus minimum or maximum order requests by item for each vendor. Generally speaking, Acumatica has inventory management on lockdown.

NetSuite isn’t a slacker in this category either. Its inventory management module also supports inventory tracking across multiple warehouses and sales channels. Not to mention that you can fully automate the process. 

NetSuite also sets inventory replenishment rules to maintain adequate stock levels using relevant data such as seasonal sales records. It even goes a step further to create stock reorder tasks and alert the purchasing manager when reordering is due.

With NetSuite’s cycle counting feature, you are guaranteed accurate inventory figures at all times, plus scheduled periodic counts to keep records updated.

As with the other categories, NetSuite and Acumatica’s stock management modules share similarities, but some features also separate them. For instance, while both have various depreciation and costing methods tools, including standard costing, average cost, group average cost, and First-In-First-Out, only NetSuite supports the Last-In-First-Out method.  

Verdict: Again, NetSuite just edges Acumatica based on sheer features depth.

Customer Relationship Management

Acumatica’s CRM module is a comprehensive solution that empowers you to manage all customer-facing and customer-related assets, including leads, opportunities, contacts, customer accounts, marketing collaterals, customer service systems, etc.

With the sales automation functionality, your sales team will have all it needs to manage leads, shorten the sales cycle by leveraging detailed insights and improve close rates. 

The integrated marketing feature syncs sales, customer information, marketing collateral, and campaigns to create a powerful conversion machine. You can track leads from prospecting to up-selling, access tools to create customized landing pages, segment contact lists based on specific criteria, track campaign expenses, etc.

Beyond sales and marketing automation, Acumatica’s CRM module also supports customer self-service portals. You can set up these portals to allow customers access information that connects them to your business, such as contracts and financial statements.

NetSuite’s CRM module also offers traditional CRM functionalities ranging from sales force automation to marketing automation and customer service management. 

Your sales team can access an integrated sales process that connects different sales operations such as up-selling, sales forecasting, quote management, etc. For the marketing team, activities like lead qualification become more straightforward with the CRM’s lead qualification automation feature. And the customer service team has an easier job of managing inquiries and cases with NetSuite’s case management automation.

But NetSuite CRM goes one step further to include partner relationship management. This feature enables you to manage sales and marketing processes and other business operations that may consist of business affiliates and partners, such as joint marketing campaigns, lead management, commissions, etc.

Verdict: This round ends in a stalemate between NetSuite and Acumatica.

Reporting and Analytics

When it comes to delivering critical business insights that aren’t just your run-off-the-mill statistics, Acumatica performs well. 

It includes reporting tools, dashboards, data analysis toolkit, business intelligence, and analytics. With a reporting database that’s fully integrated with all other modules, you can get all the insights and trends you need to make intelligent business decisions in one place and at a glance.

Additional reporting functionalities on Acumatica include customizable reports, role-specific reporting, data exportation to external analysis tools including Power BI, and various reporting formats including Word, Excel, PDF, and HTML. 

NetSuite’s reporting and analytics feature also provides real-time data and insights across all business operations. Like Acumatica, it also includes prebuilt and customizable reports, self-service reporting, and even role-based reporting dashboards. 

Although both ERPs are almost evenly matched in this category, financial reporting on Acumatica’s end may be more tedious because of its sub-ledger architecture. This implies that while you can get all the information you need on, say, a particular customer on NetSuite at a glance because it stores data on a single database, you would have to open multiple tabs on Acumatica to get the same range of data on that customer. 

Verdict: It all comes down to the underlying database structure and how this impacts reporting. As you’ve seen with NetSuite, its database architecture allows single-view reporting for several data sets, which isn’t the case with Acumatica. So we’ll also give this category to NetSuite.

User Experience

ERPs are supposed to increase efficiency and remove the tedium of managing several operations on different channels, but they should also be simple. Thankfully, Acumatica favors this rule. It’s easy to implement, intuitive, customizable, user-friendly, and supports mobile devices and browsers.

NetSuite also shares all of Acumatica’s excellent user experience drivers. But the former’s reliance on a unified database, as opposed to Acumatica’s batch processing method of computing data, means with NetSuite, you get faster data analysis and reporting, which can improve productivity and reduce monotony.

Verdict: NetSuite is easier to use and offers a better user experience owing to its unified database.

Reviews

We jumped on two reliable third-party review sites to glean insights into unbiased perspectives of real-time Acumatica and NetSuite customers. Here’s what we found.

GetApp

1. Acumatica (50 reviews) – General Ratings: 4.4/5 stars.
2. NetSuite (809) – General Ratings: 4.1/5 stars.

Software Advice

1. Acumatica (50 reviews) – General Rating: 4.42/5 stars, Ease of use: 4.5/5 stars, Value for money: 4.5/5 stars, Customer support: 4/5 stars, Functionality: 4.5/5 stars.
2. NetSuite (809 reviews) – General Rating: 4.1/5 stars, Ease of use: 4/5 stars, Value for money: 3.5/5 stars, Customer support: 3.5/5 stars, Functionality: 4/5 stars.

Gartner Peer Insights 

1. Acumatica (66 reviews) – General rating: 4.3/5 stars
2. NetSuite (57 reviews) – General rating: 4.2/5 stars.

N.B: Although Acumatica has a slightly higher Gartner Peer rating, only 83% of reviewers would recommend it to someone else, while that number stands at 88% in NetSuite’s case.

Generally, people fancy Acumatica because it’s perfectly suited to small and midsize businesses, and it offers excellent round-the-clock support and free training. On the flip side, some users believe its dashboard could be better designed and more customizable on the flip side.

NetSuite also gets the nod from users for its extensive features, ability to process large data seamlessly, highly customizable features, and vast integration capabilities. That said, some users believe that its deployment could be faster and smoother.

Integrations

Acumatica is hosted on its xRP Cloud Platform that supports REST and SOAP-powered web services. Apart from its customizable nature, it integrates with popular applications you may already be working with, such as Salesforce, Shopify, Microsoft 365, Dropbox, etc.

On the other hand, NetSuite runs on JavaScript programming language and offers application programming interfaces (APIs) with which you can build more applications for the ERP. Apart from APIs, NetSuite also facilitates integration via its SuiteTalk program, which integrates cloud or on-premises applications directly to NetSuite. To cap it off, NetSuite integrates with several third-party applications such as Salesforce, QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, etc.

Verdict: We’ve hit another stalemate between NetSuite and Acumatica, as both ERPs have impressive integration capabilities and are pretty flexible on that end.

Customer Support

Acumatica and NetSuite are big on customer support. 

With the former, you get a three-pronged support system featuring a local Acumatica partner who’s attached to your business, direct 24/7 support from Acumatica via a call, chat, or email, and a ton of online resources and training.

NetSuite is also just as supportive. It has three customer support packages: basic, premium, and advanced customer support. 

While the basic offering is available to all customers, you can upgrade to premium or advanced, depending on your business needs. Each support level adopts varying channels, including 24/7 phone support and online case submissions. And just like Acumatica, NetSuite provides a wealth of helpful resources via an online knowledge base.

Acumatica vs. NetSuite—Which is King? 

Ultimately your choice will come down to the demands of your situation, budget, and preferences. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to draw a comparison chart featuring Acumatica and NetSuite.

If you did, here’s what you’d find: Acumatica has a slight edge in terms of deployment because it allows cloud on-premises hosting, whereas NetSuite is strictly cloud-based.

Acumatica also starts at a slightly lower price point. But on the other hand, its data processing and reporting capabilities are limited by its batch processing method, and the overall depth and breadth of its features do not match NetSuite’s. This makes NetSuite a more suitable option for rapidly growing enterprises and big businesses that need extensive functionalities to run efficiently.  

Your turn!

The post Acumatica vs. NetSuite:  Which One is Best for You? appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

It began with Ford Whitman Harris’ 1913 paper-based production scheduling system called the economic order quantity (EOQ) model, then evolved into Black and Decker’s computer-powered material requirements planning (MRP) product. 

Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) followed an upgrade on MRP. This later morphed into the comprehensive suite of tools for core business processes integrated into one system we know today as ERP.

While the integrated system for business management may have evolved over the last century, one issue still lingers: choosing a suitable option. Unfortunately, there’s no hack for that. Plus, choosing is even more tedious nowadays due to the dozens of options on the market. 

Like us, you know you have to do your due diligence. And this quest has led you to compare NetSuite and SAP, two of the most famous names in the ERP game.

Widely regarded as the number one ERP software on the market, NetSuite includes modules for efficiently managing your most critical business operations and accessing their data for performance review and decision making. NetSuite helps you take charge of everything from accounting to manufacturing from one cloud-based system.

SAP also sets you up nicely with its cloud-hosted ERP applications spanning every critical department that keeps the lights on in your business, including accounting,  sourcing and procurement, supply chain management, etc. 

If both options seem the same, not to worry, we’ve done some of the heavy lifting for you by digging into the fine details that distinguish them so that you can make an informed choice. So if a detailed comparison is what you’re after, keep reading.

NetSuite vs. SAP: Quick Summary

Let’s go through a crash course on the scope of each platform,

NetSuite 

NetSuite ERP is a collection of cloud business management applications that helps organizations oversee their core business processes and get real-time, easily accessible data across the board, all in one place. It’s like Big Brother, but for your business.

From helping you automate your financial processes to ensuring you have an up-to-date inventory record. While giving you tighter control over order management and at the same time helping you optimize your supply chain, NetSuite’s scope is extensive and detailed. Here are some of the applications this powerhouse packs: 

• Accounting Software
• Financial Management
• Warehouse Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Order Management
• Inventory Management
• Global Business Management
• Human Resource Management 
• Analytics and Reporting

On top of its extensive feature list, NetSuite caters to businesses of all sizes operating in various industries, including digital marketing and advertising, consulting, energy, financial services, food, manufacturing (no brainer), software, and technology, transportation and logistics, and more. 

SAP ERP

SAP applies cloud-based and on-premise deployment options, depending on your preferred option, to deliver an intelligent and integrated suite of management tools for core business processes across different departments. The platform focuses on offering flexible and scalable management tools to help businesses cut costs, become more efficient, and safely leverage innovative technologies.

With its range of solutions tailored to small, medium-sized, and large enterprises, SAP has a suitable ERP system for every need. 

There’s the cloud or on-premise-supporting SAP Business One for small businesses and the SAP ByDesign designed for midsize, large, and global enterprises. Finally, you have the S/4HANA Cloud ERP, the latest cloud-only platform that harnesses machine learning and AI to automate all business operations. 

For this article, the focus will be on SAP Business One, which is the first SAP ERP software, the one with the most extensive features and the most amount of global deployment. Although SAP indicates that Business One is for small businesses, records show that it’s the most popular SAP ERP software among even midsize to large companies clocking up to $500 million in revenue.

Here are some of its capabilities: 

• Financial Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Customer Relationship Management
• Procurement 
• Project Management
• Human Resources
• Analytics 
• Industry-Specific Capabilities

Like NetSuite, SAP also supports diverse industries, including financial services, mining, media, transportation and logistics, retail, wholesale distribution,  government institutions, and more. 

NetSuite vs. SAP Business One: A Side-By-Side Comparison

Pricing

We’ll take a quick look at NetSuite’s pricing first. One of the few definite details on pricing on NetSuite’s website is that interested prospects have to request a quote based on their needs. Apart from that, details on pricing directly from NetSuite are few and far between. 

That said, third-party websites and other users have shared insights on NetSuite’s pricing model. For one, customers have to subscribe annually to use the software. And the price for each business is determined based on four factors: the flat fee for the core NetSuite platform, the selected modules, the number of users, and the implementation cost. 

Reports suggest that the flat fee is around $999, additional modules can cost between $149 to $499, and each other user costs $99 per month, but we couldn’t get details on the setup fee. Although, we did find out that NetSuite users aren’t charged for maintenance and updates. 

With SAP, you’d also have to contact the sales team for a quote based on your preferred hosting option (cloud, on-premise, co-located), database type, customization, implementation, and add-ons. But reports on its basic pricing structure per several of SAP’s partners say that the company licenses the software to businesses through various licensing options:

• Professional licenses offer complete access to all the SAP models. And you can acquire one via a one-time payment or monthly subscription. The one-time fee stands at $3,213 per user minus a yearly maintenance fee, while the monthly subscription pricing comes in at $108 per user with no extra annual maintenance charge.
• Limited Licenses come in three packages from which you can choose: CRM, Financials, and Logistics. And each gives you a mix of full, partial, or no access to some functionalities under each package. For example, the Limited CRM license gives you full access to the CRM module, partial access to the business management module, and no access to the project management functionality. 

You can obtain limited licenses for a one-time fee of $1,666 per user plus an extra yearly maintenance fee or a monthly subscription fee of $56 per user with no annual maintenance charge.

Verdict: If we applied only the basic pricing information for both ERPs in a hypothetical situation of six users, you’d pay $6,939 per year for a NetSuite subscription (minus maintenance fee and additional modules), while SAP’s monthly professional license fee for six users for a year will set you back $7,777. But chances are including NetSuite’s maintenance fee will take its price very close to SAP’s cost. 

On another level, opting for a one-time payment of $3,213 per user for SAP’s professional license for six users will cost $19,278 (without the yearly maintenance fee), which you will incur in about 2.7 years of purchasing NetSuite for the same number of users.

We’d call it a tie between NetSuite and SAP, as both options have very flexible pricing structures. And while NetSuite could be more expensive in the long run, you may not have the lump sum required to purchase SAP’s cheaper one-time professional license at the time of need. So ultimately, the option you’ll consider affordable will be down to your immediate business needs and budget.

Features

Concerning features, NetSuite and SAP offer similar functionalities. But there are fine margins here and there that give each an advantage over the other in some cases.

Financial Management

NetSuite is a powerhouse in the financial management scene. Its comprehensive solutions integrate with other business applications and present consolidated financial reports and granular details about individual transactions. For example, under NetSuite’s financial management module, you’ll find: 

• Accounting functions cover tax management, accounts receivable, accounts payable, a general ledger, fixed asset management, and cash and payment management.
• A robust billing feature allows end-to-end management of billing operations such as recurring subscriptions, invoicing, and multiple pricing models.
•  A planning and budgeting feature that automates both processes facilitates revenue planning, accurate scenario modeling, and other operations.
• An excellent financial reporting feature that provides real-time insights, customizable report formats 

SAP’s financial management module is similar to NetSuite’s in that you can automate critical accounting processes such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, and journal entries. You also get to manage fixed assets with a function that removes the tediousness of the job. 

SAP also allows you to handle reconciliations and process bank statements and payments easily. And like with NetSuite, standard and configurable reports based on real-time insights are available on SAP.

Verdict: NetSuite wins this round by a mile. While SAP’s financial management features lean more towards basic accounting operations, NetSuite’s features have more length and depth. An example of the former is NetSuite’s subscription billing absent in SAP. And as regards depth of functionality, while SAP enables revenue recognition, its functions are limited compared to its NetSuite counterpart.

Sales and Customer Management

As with its other features, NetSuite’s Customer Relationship Management module is also expansive. It includes functionalities that help with the end-to-end management of leads, from spotting a sales opportunity to offering support and everything that makes up the customer lifecycle, including customer order, fulfillment, renewal, upsells, cross-sell, etc.

NetSuite CRM’s key features include: 

• Its sales force automation allows teams to manage the sales process from one platform
• The marketing automation function powers targeted campaigns and measurements to deliver insights into customer readiness based on predefined criteria.
• A partner relationship management feature coordinates the sales process with partners and affiliates and manages moving parts like joint marketing campaigns and partner commissions.   
• Mobile and tablet access for specific tasks
• Customer Service Management feature for creating and automating case management processes, amongst other things. 

SAP’s sales and customer management module deliver similar value to NetSuite CRM. 

• It tracks customer and lead activity all through the sales cycle
• Manages and analyzes marketing campaigns
• Stores customer data in one place, including synchronizing Microsoft Outlook contacts
• Facilitates effective service management through easy documentation and service call response
• Delivers detailed reports on the sales process
• Enables sales process and customer information management on the go via mobile.

Verdict: We’ll put this down as a tie, although for you, having to purchase NetSuite CRM separately might tilt the scale in SAP’s favor. And for others, the extra expense may not matter if, for instance, there’s a genuine need for NetSuite’s partner relationship management feature, which is absent in SAP.

Purchase and Inventory Management

NetSuite’s inventory management module is a one-stop shop for real-time insights on company-wide inventory. It aggregates stock across all channels and locations to ensure you get an accurate bird’s-eye-view of what’s available and can make informed decisions. 

The sophisticated software also supports intelligent stock replenishment using historical sales data and other factors to determine when to automatically notify the purchase manager to reorder an item and what stock levels are appropriate for that item. Other functionalities include scheduling periodic counts and assigning them to warehouse staff, facilitating cycle counting, and enabling stock traceability using serial or lot numbers.

With SAP Business One, you also get real-time records of warehouse inventory across different warehouses and locations. Using serial and batch numbers, following the trail of goods through your inventory cycle also becomes easy. There’s also a handy feature that synchronizes inventory level with accounting operations to enable seamless purchase planning and auto-generated accounts payable invoices for purchases or orders.

And if you’re also handling production, the materials requirements planning feature allows you to predict material requirements, create bills of materials, and issue production orders.

Verdict: For businesses just starting, SAP Business One could match NetSuite in terms of the value delivered in inventory management. But NetSuite is better positioned to remain relevant to the inventory control needs of the business as it grows.

Customization

Customization can be critical, especially when adjusting certain ERP features to suit emerging business needs. With NetSuite, shaping your ERP interface is straightforward as the platform employs a point-and-click feature that enables you to customize dashboards, menu bars, and forms. This means you don’t have to interact with code to make slight changes. 

NetSuite also includes permission and access controls that allow you to determine who within the organization has access to what data.

SAP also offers customization to a reasonable length; however, navigating the process could prove tricky for non-technical users because it requires you to do some coding. You’d also need MS Visual Studio,  a separate customization tool.

Verdict: NetSuite simplifies customization for users and, as such, edges SAP in this category. 

Reporting and Analytics

NetSuite and SAP Business One offer detailed business analytics using interactive dashboards and key performance indicators. 

However, NetSuite’s Suite Analytics, its analytics module, is arguably more accessible and user-friendly than SAP’s data reporting tool. It also delivers insights into every area of your business using functionalities that are either absent or limited in SAP’s analytics tool, such as continuous revenue recognition tracking.

Some of SAP’s advanced analytics features also require separate licenses, which can significantly raise the cost of the software.

Verdict: NetSuite also takes this round.

User Experience

NetSuite’s user experience is decent, although there are claims that beginners may find navigating the platform a little taxing. It also doesn’t help that NetSuite’s search functionality sometimes fails to deliver, complicating information retrieval.

On the other hand, SAP is more intuitive, simple, and to the point. For example, users can easily access their most critical business data using SAP’s search feature. SAP’s short implementation time also gives it an edge over NetSuite as users can quickly get down to managing their business with SAP soon after purchase.

Verdict: SAP clinches the top spot in this category due to its more straightforward user interface, responsive search function, and shorter setup time.

Reviews

A quick trip online will show you varying user opinions about NetSuite and SAP. We scoured some software rating and user feedback aggregating sites to discover what experts and the market are saying about both ERPS.

Finance Online: 

• SAP: SmartScore – 8.7, User Satisfaction rating – 98% 
• Netsuite: SmartScore 9.6, User Satisfaction rating – 99%

G2

• NetSuite – 3.9/5 stars from 1,833 reviews
• SAP – 4.4/5 stars from 469 reviews 

Capterra 

• NetSuite – an overall rating of 4.1/5 stars from 809 reviews. Ease of use: 3.8 stars, Customer Service: 3.6 stars, Features: 4.1 stars, Value for Money: 3.7 stars.
• SAP – an overall rating of 4.2/5 stars from 185 reviews. Ease of use: 3.8 stars, Customer Service: 4.0 stars, Features: 4.3 stars, Value for Money: 4.0 stars.

Word on the street is that NetSuite is a robust ERP option that’s super flexible and excellent at integrating with third-party apps. But it can also prove overwhelming due to its comprehensive features.

For SAP, the consensus is that it’s a cost-effective, easy-to-use ERP well suited to the budgets of small and medium businesses yet delivers excellent value. However, some of its features, such as its accounting functionality, lack critical capabilities that may be dealbreakers.

Integration 

Seamless integration is NetSuite’s forte. It comes with NetSuite SuiteCloud Platform Integration, the bridge that connects NetSuite to almost any third-party application or external system for data exchange. NetSuite SuiteCloud is so versatile that it supports standard industry integration technologies such as CSV file import, ODBC/JDBC, REST, SOAP WEB services, and custom REST endpoints. 

NetSuite also integrates with popular third-party applications such as Shopify, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.

Although SAP displays impressive integration capabilities, they aren’t as robust as NetSuite’s offerings. It delivers APIs for SQL-based integrations and add-ons like SAP Business One Integration Hub with pre-configured integration templates for applications like Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, Mailchimp, WooCommerce, DHL, FedEx, and others. 

Verdict: NetSuite comes out tops because it supports a broader range of integrations that may become critical as the business evolves.

Customer Support

Both ERPs are big on customer support. With NetSuite, essential support is accessible to every customer, but there is an opening for premium and advanced customer support available on a subscription basis. These options provide support through various methods, including online case submission and treatment and 24/7 phone support. NetSuite also has a ton of free valuable guides and resources such as blog posts. 

SAP also has a maintenance contract-based support structure on standby 24/7 to attend to critical issues and can also be reached through LaunchPad, a support platform for SAP Business One users. In addition, a wealth of handy support resources are also floating around SAP’s website.

Verdict: This battle ends in a stalemate owing to both ERPs’ extensive support capabilities. 

SAP Business One or NetSuite – Who Gets The Crown?

Now that’s not a question with an answer that’s true for everyone at all times. NetSuite and SAP Business One have individual peculiarities that appeal to different businesses based on their context. For instance, while NetSuite is strictly a cloud-based ERP, SAP offers cloud or on-premise deployment. In addition, SAP’s pricing model allows a one-time purchase; NetSuite’s doesn’t.

The list of differences goes on and on, but ultimately, you want value for your money, and it’s left to you to determine if value means NetSuite or SAP. Notwithstanding, it wouldn’t hurt to bear in mind that, on the whole, NetSuite offers a more extensive ERP feature list than SAP Business One and might be the best bet for a fast-growing business or one looking to expand its operations soon.

The post NetSuite vs. SAP – A Buyer’s Ultimate Guide appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

The right software can help a company operate more efficiently while increasing revenue and saving time. However, choosing the wrong ERP system for your business may mean upgrading and re-integrating all your data again. This is expensive and time-consuming.

So, which ERP software solution is right for your business?

It’s no secret that NetSuite Microsoft and Dynamics are two of the most popular ERP software companies.

Both NetSuite and Dynamics 365 have a lot more in common as both systems started as cloud-first software. However, while NetSuite is purely a cloud platform that offers you a user-friendly access point to your information, Dynamics 365 is a hosted solution.

The answer to that question starts with understanding the factors that play an integral part in selecting the best software. And the good news is, we’ll give you the information you need to sift through all the noise!

Let’s get right to it.

NetSuite vs. Dynamics: Quick Summary

Let’s dive in and see what each platform has to offer.

NetSuite is a cloud-based comprehensive business solution provider. It’s a suite of business management applications—ERP/Financials, CRM, and eCommerce—all under one virtual roof.

The platform delivers its solutions through a multi-tenant cloud subscription model. This model ensures that each customer has their little data tank, allowing customers’ data to be separate and secure. The subscription model also allows customers running on the same software version to receive updates automatically.

Small and medium-sized businesses from various industries use NetSuite for its numerous offerings. Some of its notable ERP features include:

• Warehouse and fulfillment
• Supply chain management
• Financial management
• Email marketing
• Inventory management
• Global business management
• And order management.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 has different products that offer ERP solutions to growing small and medium-sized businesses. With its Power Platform integration and cloud solution, you seamlessly connect sales, finance, and operations to deliver faster results.

Some of its notable ERP features include:

• Stock management
• Supply chain management
• Sales process management
• Customer service
• Financial management
• Effective forecasting
• Billing and accounting management.

Dynamics vs. NetSuite: Who Wins the Heavy-Weight Battle? 

Pricing 

Discussing pricing for the two brands may not be as straightforward as you imagine. NetSuite’s pricing details are not publicly available, while Dynamics pricing varies per business area. 

NetSuite requires customers to contact them for a quote based on their business needs. But you can get a sense of Netsuite’s pricing on third-party websites. These sites allow you to estimate your reasonable pricing. 

Note, this method isn’t accurate as it’s an estimation. And these vendors might include their service charges.

Typically, NetSuite’s prices begin at $45 per month and can go higher depending on the services you need. The licensing fee is usually about $990+ per month and can vary based on the products chosen, support level, number of users, and storage options.

On the other hand, Dynamics has all its pricing details on its website. But, as mentioned earlier, it offers prices based on the business area. So, to get a quote for their ERP services, users will need to pick what area – from sales to supply chain to project management – they need an ERP system to get an accurate quote. You can also contact a Microsoft Dynamics ERP partner to get a quote alongside implementation costs. 

Microsoft also has an option for SMEs called Dynamics 365 Business Central. And its pricing is as follows:

• Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials – $70 per user per month
• Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium – $100 per user per month
• Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members – $8 per user per month

The winner: Microsoft Dynamics vs. NetSuite’s pricing battle is quite tricky. They both have pricing systems that are not very straightforward. However, Dynamics wins the pricing round because of its transparency and affordability.

Features

Let’s see how NetSuite’s ERP features compare to Dynamics 365

With NetSuite’s ERP functions, users can automate processes and optimize their operational and financial efforts. Users can efficiently manage multiple subsidiaries through its financial and global business management offerings and ensure compliance.

On the other hand, Dynamics Business Central offers an easily adaptable system beyond accounting. The software connects a financial, sales, and project management connection that gives a holistic experience. It also integrates the Microsoft Office 365 features (duh!) to improve productivity.

Dynamics won this round because of its added feature – Office 365.

User Experience

To determine what platform is easier to use, we scoured through user experience’ reviews on both platforms – NetSuite and Dynamics. 

Here’s what users had to say about the ease of use:

“NetSuite is not a very newbie-friendly ERP system. It is easy to find yourself lost quickly without background knowledge on ERPs or someone to help train you. Thankfully there is a massive library of FAQs and support pages.”

“With NetSuite, multiple currencies, locations, and internationalization help you when you have to access different subsidiaries.”

“NetSuite is not particularly intuitive for first-time users. Because it is so customizable, it can be a drawback for businesses that become overwhelmed by too many options and decisions.”

“With Dynamics, if you are looking for something flexible, open, and relatively easy to use, it can be, but reseller partner network is arguably its biggest weakness.”

“Dynamics is broad and scalable enough for some of the world’s largest organizations, but it is at the same time flexible enough to meet the needs of higher growth mid-size organizations.”

“The user experience with Dynamics is more intuitive among employees that have used to using Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, Teams, and other Microsoft productivity tools.”

While the NetSuite platform may not be very intuitive to use, it is functional and can connect with 3rd party tools. These tools offer the opportunity for users to optimize the platform to a level that they find most seamless. On the other hand, Microsoft Dynamics is relatively easy to use, flexible, and scalable such that small, medium, or large enterprises can use their platform. 

The winner: There’s neither a winner nor a runner-up in this round. Both platforms have their pros and cons. Where they are not up to standard, they compensate with other areas. We recommend considering other factors first, then gradually building usability skills for the chosen platform.

Reviews

Let’s see how users generally feel about NetSuite vs. Dynamics 365 in the market.

In the 800+ NetSuite reviews on GetApp and SoftwareAdvice, there were about 600+ with a 4/5 and 5/5 ratings. Users particularly enjoyed its complete view of financial performance and cash flow analysis. In addition, users also loved that they didn’t need installations or downloads to harness the software’s full features.

However, some users find it overpriced and believe that an overhaul is necessary for its onboarding and reporting as they feel outdated.

For Dynamics 365, in about 4000+ reviews, on GetApp and SoftwareAdvice, there were about 3,000 with a 4/5 and 5/5 ratings. Users love their robust offerings ranging from lead management to marketing to customer service to project automation. 

All these allow for a frictionless engagement with their customers. While it was relatively easy to use, some users found it needed in-depth knowledge to navigate, and data collection was a hassle when trying to switch.

The winner: In this segment, general reviews are too broad to pick a winner as users were talking based on particular features. In addition, both software had more positive sentiments than negative ones. And that’s always a good sign.

Integrations

NetSuite’s combination of ERP programs, CRM tools, and e-commerce capabilities allow users from different departments to access customer information through a single record. This multi-faceted setup allows seamless integration between ERP systems cutting across teams.

While there’s an option of hand-coded integration, NetSuite also offers SuiteCloud Connect. It is a packaged solution for integrating on-premises enterprise applications and cloud applications. It allows businesses to tailor NetSuite according to their growing business needs. 

There may be no need for third-party app integrations with NetSuite unless your business has specific use-cases that require a third-party integration. If that’s the case, you can use NetSuite with platforms like Salesforce.com, SAP, Google Apps, and more.  

As a Microsoft software, Dynamics easily integrates with Microsoft’s productivity tools. They include Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint, and SQL server database. 

With this, users can have quicker data access, enhance data accuracy and improve productivity. Users can also integrate ERP in Dynamics 365 through the standard data services and common data model.

Some of the integration options available with Dynamics CRM and ERP include; Power BI, Yammer, One Note, Office 365 & LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Document Creation tools, Project Management tools, VOIP, SQL Server.

The winner: While NetSuite and Dynamics both offer unique, robust integration options, NetSuite offers unique options but fewer third-party integrations. On the other hand, Dynamics offers more Microsoft-focused integration options. NetSuite wins this round.

Customer Support

NetSuite offers a full range of customer support split into Basic, Premium, and Advanced customer support. Each option provides different services. However, eligibility for these support services is based on the user’s subscription.

NetSuite also has an advanced support option that allows users to experience premium hands-on support. It’s only available at an extra cost. And involves proactive monitoring to nip any potential troubles in the bud. 

Dynamics 365 offers a call and chat option for anyone from Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Central Time. Bear in mind that time zones may vary depending on location, but you can request a Dynamics 365 expert to contact you.

Another way for users to access customer support is through communities. And both Dynamics and NetSuite offer that.

The winner: While NetSuite has more extensive options, they are not readily available to the general public. On the other hand, Microsoft Dynamics has options that most users can easily access.

Dynamics vs. Netsuite: Who wins the battle of ERPs?

For companies with disparate requirements and who might need a more all-encompassing solution, NetSuite is the better choice. While the NetSuite platform is pricier, the overall value and cost savings from efficiency, user experience, and seamless integration with the other pieces of your ERP puzzle more than makeup for the price.

This doesn’t mean we completely discount the value Microsoft Dynamics can bring to your organization. But this is some investment, no matter the platform you end up going with. And you must make every dollar count.  

The post Netsuite vs. Dynamics: The ERP Software Your Business Actually Needs appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

And if you’re like every other business caught up in the whirlwind of the global adoption of modern ERP software. Then you’ve probably come across the wall most people on this quest encounter: who wins the battle of NetSuite vs. Odoo

Both systems are attractive options. NetSuite is a handy package that caters to the critical operations of small businesses, including accounting, inventory management, order management, and supply chain management. What’s more, its specificity reduces the likelihood of overwhelm.

Odoo also supports critical business dealings such as customer relationship management, accounting, warehouse management, manufacturing, project management, and more. But it’s an open-source program.  

So, it includes over 1000 other apps developed by community members. These may come in handy as your business grows.

One thing is clear.

Superficial comparisons won’t cut it if you’re looking to pick an ERP solution that’s right on the money.

Your decision to go for NetSuite or Odoo may come down to fine details. 

With this in mind, we’ve created an in-depth comparison of both programs. Ready to unpack them and see which suits your business? Read on.

NetSuite vs. Odoo: Quick Summary

NetSuite

NetSuite is a collection of cloud-based business management applications. These apps give you control over the core functions of your enterprise, present real-time data, and allow you to automate critical processes all in one place. 

Widely considered the number one ERP system in the market, NetSuite powers startups, midsize businesses, and top enterprises. This versatility is down to the software’s ability to scale with a company and meet its evolving needs.

Here’s a glimpse of the functionalities NetSuite ERP offers:

• Accounting Software
• Financial Management
• Inventory Management
• Global Business Management
• Order Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Warehouse Management (one per company)

You can add optional modules as your business grows, including customer relationship management, human resources, and professional services automation.

Odoo

In Odoo, you have another one-stop shop for all things enterprise management. Although NetSuite is a comprehensive solution, Odoo is an even bigger pool of more than 1000 applications available to help you get a grip on every area of your business. Like NetSuite, it also operates on the cloud and allows on-premise hosting.

To understand how Odoo has so many applications to choose from, you need to know that it offers two ERP packages. One is the free community (open-source version) with tons of applications. 

And then there’s the enterprise (licensed) option, which supplements the former with additional critical offerings under each module. For instance, the Odoo community finance module doesn’t have advanced accounting capabilities, but the enterprise version does.

Odoo was created for small to mid-sized businesses. But it is mainly used by companies in the professional services, retail, manufacturing, and distribution sectors. And the ERP offers modules for:

•  Accounting and Invoicing 
• Inventory Management
• Manufacturing
• Project Management
• Customer Relationship Management
• Ecommerce 
• Warehouse Management (multiple warehouses per company)
• Marketing Automation.

Odoo vs. NetSuite: Which One is Best For You?

Pricing

We’ll start with NetSuite’s pricing structure. NetSuite operates a SaaS (software as a service) pricing model where customers pay an annual subscription fee to access the program. 

NetSuite doesn’t include the software’s exact pricing on its website but instead requires companies to reach out for quotes. Various third-party websites offer information on how NetSuite calculates the license fees for an organization. 

The consensus is that you’ll pay for the core NetSuite platform, your preferred optional modules (some of which can reportedly cost anywhere from $199 to $499), and the number of users ($99 per month to register additional users). 

The last two price determinants suggest that the total payable fee will vary for each organization. And apart from these costs, NetSuite also charges a one-time setup fee. 

One upside to NetSuite’s pricing strategy is customers aren’t responsible for the costs of system maintenance and updates. Plus, they avoid spending on any optional modules they don’t need at that point.

Odoo’s pricing system isn’t much different from NetSuite’s. They also use a subscription model with selected price determinants. These price indicators include the number of users ($6 per user for new customers and $8 for old ones), the selected advanced modules, and third-party extensions.

The good news is you can get a decent subscription for as low as $25 per month for one user or an annual plan at $20 per month. And there’s a 15-day free trial for you to test the waters.

Although NetSuite and Odoo give custom quotes based on the organization’s needs, Odoo wins the pricing round because its overall pricing system is more affordable and transparent.

Features

Let’s see how NetSuite and Odoo compare based on some essential features.

Accounting and Finance Management

NetSuite offers comprehensive and sophisticated financial functionalities, including real-time financial management, planning, and reporting. You get access to features like:

• Processing customer electronic payments efficiently
• Tracking the valuation and depreciation of company assets
• Forecasting and viewing your company’s financial performance
• Automating revenue reports based on predetermined standards and more.  

Odoo also comes with many financial management features such as:

• Real-time inventory valuation
• Assets management
• Invoice management 
• Full-scale reports and budgeting capabilities. 

And both Odoo and NetSuite enable you to manage multiple companies and currencies.

Not much separates both ERPs in this segment. While Odoo has handy features not available in NetSuite, such as accounting alerts, automatic bank synchronization, and quick account reconciliation, NetSuite has the more robust accounting software. 

Inventory Management

With NetSuite, you can automatically track your inventory across different channels to get a holistic view of your stock. And effectively manage it to prevent overstocking certain products or stockouts. You’ll also find real-time inventory records to aid seamless order fulfillment.

You can easily leverage your product’s past demand data and data-backed sales forecast to plan your stock.

Odoo holds its own against NetSuite in this segment. It reliably tracks every stock move end-to-end (from purchase to warehouse and finally sales order) using its unique, innovative double-entry inventory management. Another notable feature is the multi-warehouse management system that allows you to set stock replenishment protocols across warehouses.

Odoo slightly edges NetSuite in this category with specific features you’re likely to find appealing. Such as the multi-warehouse management protocols. 

Supply Chain Management

NetSuite and Odoo provide almost the same functionalities in supply chain management across the board. Some of the critical features they share include:

• Vendor data and pricelist management
• Quotation requests
• Purchase approval workflow
• And drop shipping.

However, Odoo’s supply chain management setup allows for better inbound and outbound quality control. 

Manufacturing Management

Odoo and NetSuite provide insights into all the manufacturing process details by ticking similar feature boxes. They both provide a system to help you track bills of materials, routings, and subassemblies. 

Planning for product manufacturing also becomes more accessible and more cohesive with shared features like the demand forecaster, production calendar, material requirement, and manufacturing resource planning.

Like in several other departments, neither NetSuite nor Odoo comes out heads and shoulders above the other in this round. 

Customization

You’ll find that NetSuite and Odoo offer customization options, but one stands out above the other. 

With NetSuite, you can better tweak various workflows to align with the structure of your business operations. And apart from the ease of use, you also have more customization freedom.

Odoo’s modules, on the other hand, are a little more taxing to tailor to one’s peculiar needs.

So, Netsuite takes this round. 

User Experience

Some users have complained about NetSuite’s low-quality experience due to its clunky and seemingly dated user interface. These complaints have also cropped up in response to specific features like NetSuite’s data presentation. 

But even with its user interface that leaves much to be desired, users still believe that NetSuite is intuitive and straightforward. It’s structured such that even non-technical operators can quickly get the hang of the platform.

With Odoo, you’ll find a clean user interface that typically requires more practice to master. There have also been complaints of the susceptibility of Odoo’s Android version to crashing or performing poorly generally. And this tends to limit users’ ability to access the platform on the go.

NetSuite’s more straightforward implementation and low-code nature make it our preferred solution in terms of user experience. 

Reviews

Finding out what other users think about a product is an intelligent way to get unburnished facts on the product’s performance. So we scoured a few aggregate user review sites to see how people with first-hand experience deploying NetSuite or Odoo rate them.

We’ll start with general customer satisfaction ratings before going into specifics.

Softwareadvice

1. NetSuite (805 reviews) – General rating: 4.1/5 stars. Ease of use: 4/5 stars, Customer Support 3.5/5 stars, Value for money: 3.5/5 stars, Functionality: 4/5 stars.
2. Odoo (432 reviews) – General rating:  4.14/5 stars, Ease of use: 4/5 stars  Customer support: 3.5/5 stars, Value for money: 4/5 stars, Functionality: 4/5 stars.

G2.com 

1. NetSuite (1830 reviews) – General rating: 3.9/5 stars.
2. Odoo (180 reviews) – General rating: 4.2/5 stars.

One thing that’s clear from the ratings is that NetSuite and Odoo are almost neck and neck as far as consumers are concerned. However, more detailed and specific reviews such as customer statements shed more light on the performance of each solution.

Generally, users view NetSuite as a flexible suite of comprehensive solutions for all business needs with a dated user interface that can be better but gets the job done anyway. 

And in many quarters, Odoo is the well-designed, easy-to-navigate fullscale business management platform that can prove challenging to set up or customize.

Integrations

Even with an ERP, you’d still need some specialized applications. That’s why excellent enterprise resource planning software allows integration with widespread applications.

NetSuite, for example, has a dedicated protocol called NetSuite SuiteCloud Platform Integration that allows you to securely connect data from your NetSuite account to almost any third-party application. It supports integration technologies such as REST, SOAP web services, custom REST endpoints, CSV file imports, and ODBC/JDBC. 

Odoo also integrates with third-party applications, including famous names like Amazon and Shopify. In fact, on the platform’s official website, you’ll find a slew of specially designed third-party app connectors listed by various software developers. Some are free, while others could cost you as much as $500.

NetSuite and Odoo perform brilliantly in this category in what has already become a familiar pattern, and both get a seat at the same table.

Customer Support

NetSuite has a standby customer success system that offers help round the clock. And its customer support package is available in basic and premium units. With the latter, you get a dedicated support team and other benefits.

For Odoo, customers get multichannel support depending on their subscribed package. Basic subscription holders get email support. Those with more expensive subscriptions enjoy assistance via email, live chat, and a specialized team. 

There are also customer support tools and resources that can help you find your way out of a sticky situation, including website posts from other users.

The tussle between NetSuite and Odoo in this category ends in a stalemate because while the former offers 24/7 support, it adopts a single-channel approach. And although Odoo doesn’t provide round-the-clock aid, its multichannel assistance system is attractive.

NetSuite or Odoo – Which One Comes Out Tops?

There’s no right or wrong answer to “NetSuite or Odoo.” Ultimately, your choice will rest on the specific needs of your business, your long-term plan, and your preferences. 

That said, we believe that organizations who are interested in a robust yet cohesive and functional ERP system should lean towards NetSuite. While Odoo is no pushover, NetSuite has just the right balance of simplicity and expansiveness that will serve businesses of all sizes in the long term.

The post NetSuite vs. Odoo: A Comprehensive Comparison of Two Heavyweights appeared first on ERP Software Hub.

Despite surface similarities, NetSuite and QuickBooks are for very different customers.  This piece will examine user personas for both NetSuite and QuickBooks. And ultimately help you decide which software is the right choice for your business needs. 

But first, let’s answer some basic questions. What is NetSuite vs. QuickBooks?

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Quick Summary 

Oracle’s NetSuite is the number 1 cloud-based ERP in the world. The platform prides itself on being a top-of-the-line business management suite with project management features incorporated into its accounting system. Its tools give you everything you need to keep track of your company’s day-to-day operations.

Financial platforms, human capital management solutions, omnichannel commerce systems, and more exist under the NetSuite product umbrella. The consolidated platform is better suited for large enterprises that can take advantage of all its service offerings,

NetSuite is designed to scale, which means its tools are customizable and remain helpful even as your company transitions in size and operations. Using its ERP and CRM, NetSuite allows you to provide a superior customer experience.

On the other hand, Intuit’s QuickBooks helps (primarily small) businesses manage their finances online. QuickBooks, too, has a sole accounting focus, but its products include Self-Employed, Online, multiple versions of Desktop, Payroll, etc.

QuickBooks also has an Enterprise version designed for large businesses. Its features include:

• Advanced Inventory.
• Advanced Pricing.
• Advanced Reporting.
• Field Service Management.
• Order Management.
• Job Costing.
• Cloud Access

Both platforms can manage and optimize your financial processes and streamline business processes. Also, both solutions are cloud-based, allowing you to access your account from anywhere with an internet connection. 

QuickBooks also has a Desktop version—downloaded and installed on a computer. In this review, we’ll focus on the cloud-based version, QuickBooks Online.

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: The Ultimate Comparison 

Now, let’s do a deeper dive into Oracle vs. QuickBooks based on some prime factors: pricing, features, user experience, assisted bookkeeping, integrations, and customer support.

Pricing

Comparing NetSuite’s pricing vs. QuickBooks’ pricing:

NetSuite’s Pricing

Because there are so many variables, NetSuite does not provide a generic pricing page on its website. Instead, you have to reach out and request a “free consultation.” 

NetSuite then pairs you with a consultant to assist you in buying a NetSuite license. They call this individual a “price architect.” Their job is to assist you in deciding which plan to purchase based on the information you provide. It’s a good starting point.

But make sure to get a second expert opinion, so you don’t pay for features you don’t need.

Your final quote depends on the user license you choose, the number of monthly users, and your required functionality.

However, according to Better Buys, NetSuite has a base price of $999 per month, with an extra $99 per month for every user you add.

QuickBooks’ Pricing

In contrast, it is straightforward to find QuickBooks’ pricing. The platform’s website features QuickBooks plans in traditional tiered pricing, which are much more transparent and make things a lot easier.

QuickBooks offers four payment plans, each of which increases in price as the level of functionality increases. The cheapest option, “The Simple Start,” is the first tier–it includes the most basic features, accessible only to one user. 

The ” Essentials” is the next tier up. It includes all of the previous plan’s features and some new ones, such as the ability to include two more users and pay bills. 

Next is the Plus plan, with support for up to five users. The Plus plan also offers more functionality—such as inventory tracking and profitability projections. 

QuickBooks also has several paid add-ons, such as QuickBooks Payroll, Tsheets, and others, that you can use for an additional monthly fee.

The Advanced Plan is the final tier—-it is the most robust and the most expensive. It includes all of the other plans’ features and support for more than five users. Users get access to process automation, employee expenses management, batch invoicing, integrations, and more on the advanced plan.

There’s also a plan for self-employed users or freelancers—and they cost less than the Simple Start but with limited functions.

However, your location determines the QuickBooks’ plans available to you. For example, if you live in Ireland, there are only three plans available to you—all except the Advanced plan. Only residents of the United States have access to all four options. 

QuickBooks allows you to pay for its services monthly or annually. If you pay annually, you’ll save a lot of money. 

The Winner: QuickBooks’ transparent and straightforward pricing wins this round. Also, QuickBooks offers a free trial period for all its plans. NetSuite doesn’t.

Features

It’s impossible to compare NetSuite and Quickbook because NetSuite is a comprehensive, all-in-one solution with more product offerings. As a result, we’ll highlight NetSuite’s other ERP features and compare them to QuickBooks solely based on finance/accounting features.

Unlike QuickBooks Online, which has four different subscription plans, NetSuite ERP has a single platform that you can customize and adapt to meet your company’s specific needs. 

These include:

• Financial management: Finance and accounting, billing, revenue recognition, financial reporting, global accounting, and consolidation.
• Inventory management: Inventory management automation, inventory tracking, stock management, replenishment.
• Order management: Pricing and promotions, sales order management, returns management.
• Production management: Product data management, work order management, planning and scheduling, quality assurance.
• Supply chain management: Planning, execution, collaboration, support.
• Warehouse and fulfillment: Inbound logistics, wave management, cartonization, outbound logistics, warehouse solutions, cycle count planning, real-time inventory updates, and shipping system integrations.
• Procurement: Sourcing, purchasing, payments.

The features you need to manage your books, taxes, and payments are all available in NetSuite’s finance and accounting functionality. The following features are available in NetSuite ERP:

• Customizable general ledger.
• Accounts receivable and accounts payable management.
• Automated domestic and global tax compliance tools.
• Fixed asset management.
• Cash management.
• Payment management with SuitePayments for payment processing.

NetSuite allows you to manage your accounts receivable and payable, integrate with your financial institutions, and have multiple users. It also has an extensive report library, including parent and subsidiary reports users can view in either the home currency or the subsidiary’s currency.

Now let’s see how QuickBooks fares in the features department. 

QuickBooks Online Features

Between QuickBooks’ four plan offerings, the platform can manage various bookkeeping and accounting processes. Check out QuickBooks’ Pricing and Plans pages to get an in-depth lowdown of the features in each package.

QuickBooks provides tools for the everyday accounting processes of a business owner— recording invoices, deposits, sales receipts, credit memos, cash expenses, locating overdue accounts, and more. 

However, it lacks the granular, genuinely comprehensive functionality of NetSuite ERP and cannot handle medium-to-large business needs.

The Winner: NetSuite wins. Even though QuickBooks is frequently recognized as one of the most feature-rich accounting solutions for small businesses on the market, it lacks the specificity and range of functionality offered by NetSuite ERP.

User Experience

Now let’s talk User Interfaces. When you launch both NetSuite and QuickBooks Online, both platforms greet you with a dashboard displaying a wide range of valuable reports. You can customize these dashboards according to the user’s access privileges and specific needs. 

However, the sheer volume and complexity of data in NetSuite’s UI may be intimidating.

Users have claimed that the UI is difficult to use. If you don’t have any past expertise with the program or someone to lead you through the process, it’s possible to get lost in it.

The QuickBooks Online Dashboard is similar to NetSuite’s in that it displays a lot of information right away. But the UI has a few distinct design decisions that make navigation easier. For instance, QuickBooks has a left menu bar instead of menu tabs across the top of the screen that allows you to navigate to different areas of the software. The layout for each is different, making the QuickBooks Online dashboard less cluttered than NetSuite’s.

As a plus, QuickBooks’ interface looks more modern than NetSuite’s—which has an outdated, vintage feel about it.

QuickBooks also has an easier learning curve, making it a more appealing option for ease of use, especially for newbie users.

The Winner: QuickBooks wins this round. The program is much easier to use, and it looks far nicer than NetSuite.

Assisted Bookkeeping

QuickBooks Live matches you with a virtual bookkeeper if you need bookkeeping assistance. While some day-to-day accounting responsibilities, such as accounts receivable, account payable, customer invoicing, and inventory management, are not included in the service, it provides monthly financial reports and video sessions where you may ask questions and review report data.

Once you’ve signed up, your bookkeeper will work with you to get your books up to date and set up your chart of accounts and bank connections. The cost of monthly bookkeeping services begins at $200. One of the most attractive features of this service is the assurance of entirely accurate books.

NetSuite cloud also provides accounting software that streamlines the process of recording transactions, managing payables and receivables, collecting taxes, and closing the books. 

This allows for more timely, accurate reporting and better financial asset control. With real-time access to financial data, you can quickly drill into details to resolve issues and generate statements and disclosures to comply with multiple regulatory financial compliance requirements, including ASC 606, GAAP, SOX, and more.

NetSuite’s accounting service, on the other hand, is not its strong feature; because the platform isn’t niche-based like QuickBooks, it can’t provide the same level of accounting services.

If you prefer NetSuite’s ERP as a management platform, you may enlist the help of third-party accounting services, which you can then connect with NetSuite.

The Winner: QuickBooks and NetSuite tie in this round.  QuickBooks’ accounting offerings are more streamlined than NetSuite’s, but the price tag could be a barrier. On the other hand, NetSuite has decent accounting tools built-in, but accurate and thorough bookkeeping would most likely require a third party.

Integrations

As an all-in-one solution, NetSuite does not require many third-party integrations. However,  if you manage your operations with other vendors, you can use NetSuite’s open APIs to add new integrations. 

NetSuite makes integration seamless with SuiteCloud Connect, a series of packaged solutions for integrating with leading enterprise applications and systems. NetSuite also provides training and consulting services to customers who run into hurdles while setting up an integration.

On the other hand, QuickBooks Online has more than 650 third-party integrations to choose from. And two that you can access directly from the software. They are:

Payroll in QuickBooks: With this tool, you can pay and manage your employees all in one location. You will have access to payroll, tax filing, health benefits, workers’ compensation, and other HR activities.

QuickBooks Time: Automate time tracking by allowing employees to monitor their time from any place on any device using QuickBooks Online. This information will sync with your QuickBooks account in real-time, making payroll more convenient.

The Winner: There is neither victor nor vanquished in this round. The final decision will boil down to personal preference. NetSuite’s built-in integrations are efficient and convenient, but if they’re not suitable for your business operations, you’ll use third-party services. QuickBooks’s third-party approach can be time-consuming and expensive, but you can make decisions right from the start.

Customer Support

In addition to their extensive knowledge bases, NetSuite and QuickBooks provide live support via phone and chat to their customers. They both have a wealth of support resources, such as community forums, video tutorials, and webinars. 

Let’s closely compare QuickBooks to NetSuite based on support systems.

NetSuite Customer Support

Customer service is excellent throughout NetSuite’s ERP platform, including its financial management solution. It offers real-time support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via phone, email, and a built-in chatbot on its website. The automated chat feature can provide you with answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) or connect you with a customer service representative.

All NetSuite subscriptions include Basic Support, with Premium and Advanced Support options available if you require additional assistance. Each option offers different service levels and capabilities, ranging from online case submission to performance monitoring. Every user has unrestricted access to a searchable knowledge base and online support community.

QuickBooks Customer Support

There are several ways to get help with QuickBooks Online, both within the program and on the company’s website. Its searchable knowledge base contains the most comprehensive information available, including help pages, video tutorials, webinars, and paid courses. You can also contact the support team by going to the bottom of the help window and clicking the “Contact us” link.

Alternatively, you can send an agent a message or post a question in the community forum. Agents aren’t available around the clock, and you won’t be able to call QuickBooks Online directly; instead, you’ll need to submit a request for them to contact you.

You can also enable the QuickBooks Assistant, an artificial intelligence (AI) live chat, to assist you with basic queries. Try asking a question like, “how many orders did we receive on May 4th?”. 

So, NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Which One Wins?

The big question is: which is better, “QuickBooks or NetSuite”? Well, there isn’t a simple, straightforward answer to that. Your choice will depend on your specific needs and your business size.

If you’re a small to medium business that already has management software and only needs accounting, QuickBooks is an affordable, efficient solution.

If you’re looking for an operation software to handle all your business processes, we recommend NetSuite. It’s a more significant investment, but it’ll prove helpful as your company expands and evolves. 

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But business management software is a significant investment—so it’s essential to get things right off the cuff. Trial and errors are costly and time-wasting.  

Most reviews compare Salesforce vs. NetSuite based on one or a few functionalities—mainly because Salesforce is solely a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. At the same time, NetSuite is a more holistic approach to business management. 

Unlike Salesforce, that’s a niche solution, NetSuite also provides ERP, business finance, and human resources solutions.

And that’s where the dilemma lies. On the one hand, Salesforce.com is a no-brainer for new businesses because of its strong brand recognition, low entry price point, and ability to do one thing well. But, CRM-only platforms tend to become redundant and inefficient as the organization and its processes evolve.

On the other hand, NetSuite is more expensive and includes several features that small and growing businesses may not require right away. Although it may not appear to be a wise investment at first, it has the potential to be helpful as the company grows.

When stakeholders ask, “Which is better: NetSuite or Salesforce?” it’s safe to say there are a lot of factors to consider.

We’ll attempt to do with this article: we’ll compare NetSuite vs. Salesforce based on the significant factors. This includes pricing, features, user experience, customer support, and assisted bookkeeping. We’ll also provide you with a clear buying decision—but the goal is to provide you with enough information to avoid making a costly error.

Let’s get started now, shall we?

NetSuite vs. Salesforce: Quick Summary

We’ll begin with a quick look at each platform and what they do.

NetSuite is a cloud-based business software suite. It’s designed to provide all the products and solutions a brand needs to succeed, especially at eCommerce. 

NetSuite’s offerings include:

• An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system systematically handles day-to-day operations: financial management, order management, production management, supply chain, warehouse and fulfillment, procurement, and human capital management.
• Accounting
• Supply chain and inventory management
• Marketing automation plus email marketing
• Omnichannel commerce
• Reporting and analytics
• HR and payroll management
• CRM 

Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management system. Despite what you may see on the internet, it is a PaaS (or platform-as-a-service), not a SaaS (or software-as-a-service). 

A PaaS gives people the tools they need to create, manage, and maintain business applications in the cloud without buying the necessary infrastructure. 

Salesforce’s offerings include: 

• Contact management
• Process automation
• Opportunity tracking
• Customer engagement tools
• Reports and analytics
• Quote and order management
• Lead management

Right out the box, this specs list makes it more obvious what’s peculiar to each service, but we’ll take a deeper dive in the sections below.

NetSuite vs. Salesforce: The Ultimate Comparison 

Round one: let the fight begin!

1. Pricing

This is tricky because NetSuite does not provide pricing information on its website. Instead, the software company asks customers to contact them or a provider to get a tailor-made quote. Prices begin at $45/month, but the end price depends on which features you include in your final package.

Third-party websites provide pricing calculators to help you estimate how much NetSuite will cost depending on your specific needs. But these prices may differ from the original because they would include affiliate and other charges.

But a reasonable price for your initial license from NetSuite should be around $990+ (per month). Registering an additional user costs $99 per month. This figure may be lower depending on your selected tools. The level of support and storage you opt for will impact your final quote.

Salesforce, on the other hand, offers pricing plans via the internet. But like NetSuite, Salesforce also sells functionality in suites. The more complex the features you need, the higher the price. 

Still, small businesses can get an all-in-one sales and support app for up to five users at $25. That entry price point is a bonus point for Salesforce. Small businesses looking for a trial can try out a paid Salesforce plan without risking their capital. Furthermore, Salesforce provides a 14-day free trial so that customers can get a feel for the software without making a financial commitment.

Finally, the fact that Salesforce has a transparent pricing structure could be a testament to the thoroughness of the brand. 

The winner: Although both NetSuite and Salesforce offer custom quotes, Salesforce wins the Pricing round because of its transparency and affordability.

2. Features

Let’s see how NetSuite stacks up against Salesforce features-wise. 

Accounts, Contacts, and Lead Management

NetSuite CRM gives you instant access to actionable information about potential customers and opportunities. It also enables effective opportunity/lead management based on status, revenue, notes, relevant documents, etc.

You get a 360-degree view of customers and their activity history with Salesforce Sales Cloud, including key contacts, customer communications, and internal account discussions. It also offers actionable data from popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The Winner: Salesforce wins this round because it offers the added benefit of social media insights.

3. Customer Relationship Management

CRM isn’t NetSuite’s only specialty, so it’s not the platform’s strongest suit. However, NetSuite’s CRM features positively impact sales and marketing automation, pipeline communication, the sales process, partner relationship management, and analytics.

NetSuite offers a 360-degree overview of your customer portfolio, plus forecasting, upselling, and commission management tools. These give your business access to streamlined information throughout the customer’s lifecycle. 

On the other hand, Salesforce is a standalone CRM solution, so it is optimized for that functionality. For starters, the platform’s Service Cloud is an efficient, advanced tool for connecting one-to-one with every customer across multiple channels on any device. 

Salesforce also increased the completeness of their CRM toolset by offering social engagement tools, omnichannel support, AI-driven business analytics, and user engagement. To boot, Salesforce recently acquired Slack, a remote communications platform, and this integration gives it a competitive advantage in communications and collaboration.

The Winner: When it comes to CRM, Salesforce comes out on top because the platform is specifically designed for that purpose.

4. Email Integration

NetSuite CRM relies on integration with third-party applications for Outlook and Gmail functionality.

But Gmail and Outlook are integrated into Sales Cloud, allowing you to sync your email inbox, mobile device, and calendars with the platform. It also includes Salesforce Inbox, which uses built-in AI to help you streamline tasks and update pipeline data.

The Winner: Sales Cloud wins this feature due to its built-in email integration.

5. Mobile Access

You can access business data on the go with NetSuite CRM’s customizable mobile apps for Android and iOS. This means you can manage leads, create quotes and orders, check forecasts, and do other essential tasks from your smartphone. NetSuite’s SuitePhone browser makes this easy–- users get access on any Android, iPhone, or Windows device without needing to download an app.

Salesforce also provides native mobile apps for Android and iOS for on-the-go access. Sales reps can handle sales, access dashboards, and files, join conference calls, add meeting notes, and collaborate with team members using Salesforce apps. 

While Salesforce does not offer a quick-access browser, it has “mySalesforce,” which allows users to create custom-branded mobile apps to access CRM data, track accounts, and manage deals in real-time.

The Winner: With its SuitePhone browser access on mobile devices, NetSuite CRM wins this round. 

6. Automation

NetSuite’s SuiteFlow provides a graphical point-and-click interface for customizing and automating business processes like lead nurturing, sales discount approvals, etc.

In Salesforce’s Process Builder, users can also visualize and create work automation processes using drag-and-drop actions.

The Winner: NetSuite and Salesforce tie in this round; neither platform has significant automation differences.

7. Quote, Orders and Invoicing

NetSuite CRM allows you to convert quotes into approved sales orders with integrated quote-to-order and fulfillment features. It simplifies the sales process and makes recommendations based on purchasing habits. You can automate tax and shipping rate calculations, pricing, and discounting rules. Online approvals and automated workflows are also available to help with order management.

Built-in quoting features in Sales Cloud automatically populate a quote with relevant customer data and generate a PDF from an approved template. However, users will need add-ons to achieve full quote-to-cash functionality.

The Winner: NetSuite CRM takes this round thanks to its out-of-the-box features that support the quote-to-cash process.

8. User Experience

There’s no better source of user experience reports than….well, users. To determine which software in the Salesforce vs. NetSuite battle is more user-friendly, we looked at an aggregate user review website, Software Advice.

According to its users, NetSuite is not a very user-friendly system. It’s easy to get lost in the software if you don’t have any prior experience with it or someone to guide you through the process. 

Users also complain about NetSuite’s slow response/loading time. That could be because it’s so feature-rich and cloud-based, so connection issues might be slowing things down.

Tip for users: A user discovered that using NetSuite on MozillaFirefox was faster than using NetSuite with Chrome.

Speaking of being feature-rich, that NetSuite attribute is a two-edged sword. Because it is so customizable, it can be a drawback for businesses that become overwhelmed by too many options and decisions. A company looking for a complete out-of-the-box ERP system might be better off looking elsewhere.

Another major gripe is that NetSuite’s user interface is a little dated. Even the way data is presented in reports appears and feels dated. On the plus side, users agree that it gets the job done, even if it can be challenging to navigate at times.

NetSuite addresses this in their ecosystem by encouraging customers to deploy the system through NetSuite partners—certified Value-Added Resellers (VARs).

Now let’s talk about Salesforce. 

When it comes to user experience, Salesforce is no better than NetSuite. What are the issues? For starters, every login on the platform includes a two-factor authentication step, a standard, unchangeable feature. If you don’t have your token device or need to access the platform quickly, this can cause delays.

Salesforce also offers a plethora of customization options, so there’s a risk of over-engineering the system or creating too many customizations, resulting in you being boxed in.

Salesforce also gets strikes because its platform is not user-friendly. Users say mastery requires extensive training and that the system is not intuitive. It’s also likely for users to have trouble making changes to the system down the road as business needs evolve and change. 

The Winner: In this round, there’s neither victor nor vanquished. Both platforms have their flaws; users don’t find either particularly easy to use and navigate. We recommend deciding based on the other factors first, then committing to the learning curve for the platform that’s worth it. 

9. Assisted Bookkeeping

The bottom line of every business is profit—and bookkeeping is a crucial practice for ensuring you’re making some. A management software that will help you scale should, without a doubt, provide accurate data reporting and analytics to help you better understand your financial situation.

There are additional benefits to having accounting software on your management software. For example, you can store financial data in a single integrated system. It means you’ll no longer have to sift through ledger after ledger searching for accounts. It also means you can process financial transactions within the same system, and you and your team can access comprehensive financial data quickly. 

It’s no surprise that NetSuite has an Accounting Information System built-in because accounting is such an essential part of ERP (AIS). Salesforce is a CRM lacking bookkeeping, payroll, financial forecasting, and other AIS-like features. As a result, you’ll need to work with a third-party software provider or locate a local accountant.

The Winner: NetSuite takes the cake in this round. Built-in bookkeeping functionalities mean you can save on manual audits/accounting costs while still staying on top of your finances.

10. Integrations

Because NetSuite is an all-in-one solution, it offers several functional tools right out of the box.  You’ve got your accounting, management systems, CRM, Accounting, HR, Payroll, and more already-made. Except your business requires some specific in-house functionalities, you shouldn’t need many third-party app integrations. 

But if you do, NetSuite can integrate with a variety of on-premise applications and third-party cloud environments, thanks to its highly customizable SuiteCloud platform. 

SuiteCloud supports common industry standards and integration technologies like REST and SOAP web services, custom REST endpoints, CSV file import, and ODBC/JDBC. 

You can also build website-to-NetSuite integrations and create lightweight custom mobile apps if you want to.

Salesforce allows for virtual integration with ERP, e-commerce platforms, ITSM, accounting software, social media, document management systems, and content management systems. This allows the integrated systems to share data and have a consistent workflow. 

The Salesforce app store (also known as the App Exchange) organizes integrations with tools (both paid and free) into categories. Among these are, but are not limited to:

• Finance
• Human Resources
• ERP
• Sales
• Customer Service
• IT and Admin
• Marketing
• Integration
• Analytics
• Salesforce Labs

For example, Quickbooks and Hubspot are two of the most useful Salesforce integrations. Quickbooks integrates accounting features into Salesforce, allowing you to handle payments, income, expenses, taxes, and more.

Meanwhile, Hubspot is an appealing integration due to the possibility of combining Salesforce’s CRM sales tools with Hubspot’s inbound marketing and content marketing functionality.

Again, the key difference is that NetSuite offers more out-of-the-box integrations than Salesforce. And that’s because Salesforce is a standalone CRM system.

Apart from that, both platforms provide excellent opportunities for third-party app integrations, API connections, and customizations. 

The winner:  Salesforce offers the same level of customization and scalability as NetSuite and the same level of support for vital operational tools.

In this round, NetSuite’s trump card is that it eliminates the time and technical know-how required for teams to get up and running with Salesforce integrations.

11. Customer Support

Setting up management software isn’t a one-and-done affair. That’s where the provider’s support comes in. It’s crucial to select a software provider that provides timely, reliable, and constant support when you need it. Now let’s see which one of NetSuite vs. Salesforce does it better.

You can contact NetSuite using the company’s phone number. Of course, depending on where you live, this number is different. For example, NetSuite’s corporate headquarters in the US has a different number than its offices in Colombia, Netherlands, or Australia.

Salesforce also has a customer service phone line. Like NetSuite, this number changes depending on your location.  It’s excellent that both platforms offer support based on location. As a result, you’ll get a more personalized level of support from people familiar with your local market’s needs.

NetSuite and Salesforce have detailed contact pages that include addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. But NetSuite does one-up Salesforce in that it provides the contact information for its public relations officer, while Salesforce does not.

Salesforce offers a live chat during the onboarding phase, so users can get help if they hit a roadblock. One more point for Salesforce. NetSuite also provides a chat feature during onboarding, although it isn’t live. So, half a point?

Anyways, moving on.

For both Salesforce and NetSuite, support levels and speed differ depending on the pricing plan you choose. 

For example, Salesforce users can only get the most out of online customer chat support if they have the Service Cloud’s “Enterprise” or “Unlimited” support plans. And that’s not all—the Enterprise plan will cost an extra $75 per month to add live chat functionality. 

NetSuite offers tiered support packages—basic, premium, and advanced. On the basic plan, customers gain access to the SuiteAnswers portal, a suite of support articles, help topics, and training videos. Users on premium support receive priority treatment and access to “additional assistance,” although it is unclear what that could entail. Premium support users also get telephone support during business hours and 24/7 assistance with critical issues to ensure users are running smoothly.

NetSuite’s Advanced Customer Support (ACS) is a five-tiered hands-on approach to support involving proactive provider monitoring. So that the customer team can put out any potential operational fires before they even start. Of course, advanced support is only available at an additional cost. 

Overall, NetSuite’s level of support is higher than Salesforce’s because their services are more comprehensive,

Verdict: Although Salesforce provides robust support, it’s limited to CRM-related needs. NetSuite provides a more comprehensive support system because its service offerings are more extensive than Salesforce.

Salesforce vs. NetSuite: Which One Wins?

Our verdict? NetSuite is a good choice for companies that want to take a holistic approach to management and operations. It’s a broader offering than niche-focused Salesforce. Although Salesforce is working to become an ERP system, NetSuite has the advantage of having figured it out first, reducing the likelihood of errors and defects.

Integrating Salesforce with NetSuite may be a good idea for anyone looking for a powerful ERP and CRM system. It’d essentially give you the best of both worlds.

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Businesses like yours might be turning to more entry-level accounting software or older ERP systems to get by, but it could be holding you back from full efficiency. 

Your business continues to grow, but is your software supporting your growth?

With outdated, stringent technology, you could be missing out on helpful functionalities to continue to scale your business. 

That’s where NetSuite and Sage Intacct come into the picture.

Both cloud solutions offer a robust set of financial tools for fast-growing businesses.

But which one is the right tool for YOUR business?

That much isn’t immediately clear.

When comparing NetSuite vs. Intacct, there are so many features, pricing complications, and more that makes it difficult to truly figure out which would do what you need with your budget.

That’s what we’ll clear up here in this detailed comparison. In just a few minutes, you’ll have a much clearer picture of which solution fits your business best.

NetSuite vs. Intacct: Everything You Need to Know

1. Overview

Sage Intacct Cloud ERP 

Sage Intacct software is used by customers in a variety of industries – financial services, technology, nonprofit, and healthcare, just to name a few. It offers an appealing, low-cost starting point, as well as: 

• An intuitive, easy to use interface 
• 24/7 real-time financial data for a comprehensive look into business performance 
• Simple, effective accounting and finance functionalities 
• Flexibility through configuration 

The simplicity and lower price of Sage are appealing to many businesses. 

Oracle NetSuite Cloud ERP 

The NetSuite platform also serves a large number of customers in diverse industries. Though it’s a bit more of an upfront financial commitment to implement NetSuite, there are many long-term benefits your business can reap as it grows: 

• Core integrated accounting and finance functionalities
• Human capital management, CRM, eCommerce, and manufacturing module add-ons. 
• Support for global subsidiaries. 
• Sophisticated data analytics and reporting capabilities 
• Phased implementation options, starting lean and customizing and expanding when you begin to scale. 

2. NetSuite vs. Sage: Pricing

NetSuite

NetSuite’s pricing varies depending on several key factors:

1. The size of your company and amount of licenses you need

Each user starts at $99/month but the true cost is usually higher due to the suite, modules, and integrations you use. Additionally, the application itself starts at $999/month.

2. Add-on modules

NetSuite provides countless industry-specific modules you can use to customize your experience. Each of these modules, though, requires an additional fee (the fees vary but they are annual expenses).

3. Integrations

If you need NetSuite to integrate with platforms like Amazon, FedEx, Salesforce, or others, you’ll have to pay an annual fee. 

There’s usually a one-time implementation fee starting around $1,500, along with the annual cost of $2,500+ depending on the integration.

4. The level of implementation required

The rule of thumb is that implementations cost 2x-3x as much as the annual NetSuite license fee.

The specific price depends on the scale of your implementation, but we usually see them range between $40,000 (small businesses) and $250,000 (large businesses). 

5. Training and support

If you need ongoing tech support and training, you can expect to pay $2,000+ based on the nature of the training.

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct starts at $400/month for the application plus $225/month per user for licensing. They require annual contracts and there are additional fees for integrations and add-ons that vary in price.

Annual pricing for Sage runs from $15,000 to $60,000+, making it more affordable and more flexible at the beginning than NetSuite in most cases.

3. Sage Intacct vs. Netsuite: Features

NetSuite

NetSuite is a comprehensive solution that provides all the capabilities and tools you need for accounting, HR, and supply chain management.

Accounting Features

• General Ledger
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable
• Multi-Currency
• Multi-Entity
• Fixed Asset Management
• Budgeting and Forecasting
• Reporting and Analytics

HR

• Payroll
• Time Tracking
• Multi-Entity Accounting
• Benefits Administration
• Onboarding
• Applications
• Recruiting

Supply Chain Management

• Purchase Orders
• Warehouse Management
• Order Management
• Material Resource Planning
• Inventory Management
• Demand Planning
• Work Orders
• Shop Floor Control

It’s highly customizable and can help you automate and optimize key processes in several areas of your business.

NetSuite also offers a massive list of native integrations.

Intacct

Sage offers a full suite of accounting tools, including:

• General Ledger
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable
• Multi-Currency
• Multi-Entity
• Fixed Asset Management
• Budgeting and Forecasting
• Reporting and Analytics

It does pretty much everything you need from an accounting standpoint and is highly customizable.

But it doesn’t include any of the other features NetSuite does except for Purchase Orders.

4. NetSuite vs. Sage Intacct: Reporting

NetSuite

NetSuite allows you to set up several reporting dashboards that make it easier for teams/individuals to get the data they need.

It also makes it easy to generate custom reports with just a few clicks.

Intacct

Intacct comes with 8 reporting presets you can customize further. You can also choose whether to include your operational data in your reports.

5. Sage Intacct vs. NetSuite: Customer Support

NetSuite

NetSuite offers both a basic and premium support package.

With basic, you get:

• Access to the NetSuite User Community
• Access to the Technical Support Portal
• Online ticket submission
• 24/7 access

With premium, you get all of the above plus 24/7 telephone support.

Intacct

Intacct offers the same level of support to all users. They are available for help anytime from 6 am to 6 pm PST between Monday and Friday. 

Additionally, every user gets access to the Sage Intacct Community where they can get some of the questions answered.

NetSuite vs. Intacct: The Ultimate Decision

NetSuite is better for enterprise organizations that need a more comprehensive accounting solution that can be completely tailored. 

It’s just flat-out better than Intacct at providing all the tools you need to manage finances and inventory at scale.

Intacct is better for organizations who’ve outgrown Quickbooks but don’t need the sophistication of NetSuite.

Sage Intacct is far simpler and less expensive than NetSuite–making it a better choice if you’re simply looking for a more robust accounting software.

Choose a Solution That Is Right for Your Business

Transitioning to a cloud ERP has many benefits. You can centralize your core operations to a single location, automate your workflows, and improve efficiency. Although it may seem overwhelming or costly to move on from your current systems, think of the doors it could open for your business. 

If you’re considering a NetSuite implementation, you can click the button below to request our comprehensive checklist that helps you make sure you’re taking the right steps in the right order and avoid becoming one of the 60% of ERP implementations that fail.

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