The Best Accounting Software for Enterprises
Accounting software can help manage financial transactions, generate reports, and maintain accurate financial records. We tested the best systems for enterprises that support numerous users, departments, and locations.
- Customizable dashboards
- In-memory data model for faster and more scalable processing
- Supports multiple forecasting models
- HANA database
- Large network of resellers
- Strong BI tools
- Hundreds of third-party add-ons available
- Feature sets for multiple industries
- Highly customizable
In this guide, we used our advanced methodology to rate the top platforms for enterprises.
- Workday: Best Advanced Forecasting
- SAP S/4HANA: Best Advanced Billing
- NetSuite: Best Support
- Odoo: Best Customization Options
- Sage Intacct: Best for Reporting
- Acumatica: Best for International Operations
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: Best for Growing Businesses
- Multiview: Best for Healthcare
- SAP Business One: Best for Manufacturers
Workday - Best Advanced Forecasting
Workday Adaptive Planning has a demand forecasting feature that can help you predict future demand for products and services based on historical data and trends. This feature can provide insight into expected sales and inventory needs, allowing you to plan ahead and optimize your resources.
The system leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide predictive analytics and planning tools. By applying this, Workday can identify patterns and predict demand more accurately, even in complex scenarios like seasonality or market fluctuations.
The software integrates with procurement, supply chain, and financial planning modules, enabling forecasts to directly inform inventory and budgeting decisions. As new data comes in, the system can adjust forecasts in real time, providing a dynamic view of trends.
SAP S/4HANA - Best Advanced Billing
Enterprises typically deal with large volumes of transactions and customer accounts, making it difficult to manually track and bill clients accordingly. Automated billing systems, like SAP S/4HANA, can handle vast amounts of data, streamlining tax calculation, invoice generation, adjustments, and final invoice delivery, allowing you to scale without compromising accuracy.
SAP S/4HANA supports multiple billing methods, such as time-based, milestone-based, and usage-based billing, allowing you to tailor your invoicing processes based on clients’ needs. You can set up your own billing rules for each client, including specific fees per item and additional services like packaging or expedited shipping.
The software supports invoicing in multiple currencies, ideal for seamlessly managing international transactions. Once the billing is ready, SAP S/4HANA will automatically generate invoices in real-time and send them to the appropriate customer. The system can also manage recurring billing and subscriptions for long-term contracts.
NetSuite - Best Support
NetSuite delivers multi-language and multi-currency support. This ERP system delivers global capabilities, helping enterprises comply with local tax regulations and laws.
NetSuite has a built-in payroll module that integrates with its real-time general ledger. The software’s drill-down functionality allows users to investigate underlying transactions behind reported figures. NetSuite also has a drag-and-drop report builder called Suite Analytics. It has 20 pre-built templates; users can customize these but need some coding expertise in SuiteScript and SQL.
Odoo - Best Customization Options
Odoo’s open-source nature creates an avenue for extensive customization. Large organizations can personalize forms, fields, and validation rules to capture data consistently and lower the risk of incorrect data entry. Odoo’s compatibility with a multitude of APIs and support for over 15,000 third-party apps allows for seamless connection with other systems like Shopify and PayPal.
Odoo has a framework for managing various financial tasks, such as invoice and payment tracking, bank reconciliation, and reporting. Features like bank synchronization, tax localization, and optical character recognition for scanning bills and receipts automate accounting processes.
Sage Intacct - Best for Reporting
Sage Intacct is a browser-based, GAAP-compliant financial management system offering core accounting functionalities. Its support for multi-entity operations, project accounting, and multi-dimensional reporting allows businesses to expand domestically or internationally. Moreover, its integrations with CRM, inventory management, and other essential systems enhance its versatility.
Sage Intacct’s scalability suits mid-market and enterprise-level companies with growth ambitions. However, it’s important to note that some advanced features like budgeting and interactive reporting may come at an additional cost. An endorsement from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) as a “preferred provider of financial management application” further attests to its reliability and adherence to industry standards.
Acumatica - Best for International Operations
Acumatica is an ERP with a strong focus on accounting. The cloud-based architecture offers unlimited users for flexibility and scalability. Additionally, we found Acumatica’s pricing model quite flexible, based on actual resource usage and modules employed rather than user count.
One of Acumatica’s notable features is its multi-entity support, facilitating global financial consolidation for companies with international operations. Industry-specific editions make Acumatica a solid choice for those in construction, distribution, manufacturing, retail-commerce, and services.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - Best for Growing Businesses
Dynamics 365 Business Central by Microsoft is a versatile solution with enterprise-level functionalities encompassing finance, human resources, operations, marketing, and sales. The accounting module offers essential features such as audit trails, multi-currency, and multi-language support while automating recurring tasks like invoicing and reporting.
For growing businesses looking to transition into a full ERP system focusing on accounting, Dynamics 365 provides the tools necessary to streamline operations and drive data-driven decision-making. And all on a user-friendly interface that resembles popular Microsoft products.
Multiview - Best for Healthcare
Multiview is best for large organizations in healthcare, higher education, and nonprofits. Its accounts payable module allows for multi-entity management and self-balancing intercompany transactions. This functionality helps generate up-to-date financial records across different business units or subsidiaries.
On the receivables side, Multiview ERP provides tools for managing cash receipts, customer credit, and collection issues, all within an integrated reporting framework. The general ledger module further supports this with a full audit trail, electronic workflow approvals, and document management tools. Multiview’s ability to handle miscellaneous and invoice-collected payments makes it a solid pick for enterprises improving their financial operations.
SAP Business One - Best for Manufacturers
SAP Business One is a good option for manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors at the enterprise level. Its AP module links vendor details with inventory and purchasing, optimizing the procurement to payment cycle.
On the receivables end, SAP Business One simplifies managing customer payments, interest, fees, and tracking receivables. Banking transactions are made easier with support for various payment methods and automatic reconciliation. With real-time accounting, transaction allocation, and Microsoft integrations for reporting, SAP Business One provides a full financial management toolkit.
Other Systems We Like
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise has a built-in payroll functionality that auto-calculates earnings, taxes, and deductions. Additionally, staff can access an online portal to view pay stubs, PTO balances, and W-2s. This makes payroll processing simpler for enterprises, allowing them to deposit wages directly into employee bank accounts. However, QB Enterprise is not a suitable solution for companies with over $10 million in revenue.
What Is Enterprise Accounting Software?
Large businesses use enterprise accounting software to cover core accounting processes while including advanced capabilities to balance your books. These additional tools give your business more insight and control into your financials.
In addition to the standard accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger capabilities found in all accounting software, you’ll also find features such as:
- Bank reconciliation
- Depreciation schedules
- Advanced billing and invoicing
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Payroll
Enterprise accounting software differs from small business accounting software due to the robust accounting tools offered. These financial management features provide a larger level of automation to the business, meaning your employees can spend less time doing menial accounting tasks such as recurring invoices/billing/purchases and late payment reminders.
These enterprise-level accounting solutions can also allow for multiple users with user permissions, which is important for a bigger company that wants to control its employees’ access to specific software parts and monitor audit logs.
Many enterprise resource planning (ERP software) tools automate business needs on a level that is on par with enterprise accounting options. These management software options will provide all the capabilities of an enterprise accounting option while providing access to non-financial capabilities such as inventory control, e-commerce integration, and supply chain management.
Key Features
- General Ledger: A central repository for accounting data transferred from all sub-ledgers. Helps prepare financial statements that showcase company assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses.
- Accounts Payable: Manages money your company owes to others. Includes check-writing capabilities, vendor management, 1099 processing, and purchase order reconciliation.
- Accounts Receivable: Manages money owed to the organization, such as debts and unpaid invoices. Includes a customer database, invoice creation, and recurring billing.
- Fixed Asset Management: Provides automation for depreciating asset value for optimal asset management strategies and accurate business tax filing.
- Bank Reconciliation: Imports bank records, often in real-time, and attempts to auto-match bank and accounting records.
- Billing/Invoicing: Create, send, and manage outbound invoices for client work. Collect payments online via credit card payments or ACH bank transfers.
- Purchase Orders: Creates financial documents issued to vendors when buying supplies or services. Can be included within accounts payable or as a standalone module depending on additional features needed, such as automatic generation based on inventory levels or approval and requisition workflows.
- Payroll: Executes employee compensation via wage calculation, check printing and direct deposit, and payroll tax management. Includes deductions management, benefits administration, and time tracking.
- Business Intelligence: Creates financial plans for your business through dashboards and visualizations. Includes budgeting and forecasting capabilities such as departmentalized reporting, budget vs actual comparisons, and budget approval workflows.
Primary Benefits
Despite the name, enterprise accounting software is not exclusively for larger businesses. Many small and midsize companies looking for enterprise-level features can benefit from an enterprise accounting system. Some of the top benefits of enterprise accounting programs include:
Improved Focus on Your Departments, Divisions, and Entities
A general rule of thumb is that the more advanced an accounting system is, the more easily it can handle multiple subsidiaries within your organization. Your business may operate different departments or divisions under different names, and without the proper accounting system, it can make keeping financials separate a messy process. It can also give headaches when limiting user access so that only members of specific divisions can edit fields related to their division.
A more robust accounting system will help you support multiple divisions within the same company. Any transaction between related companies (intercompany transactions) can easily be handled, and users can only access files necessary to them.
Easily Add Modules at Your Convenience
Enterprise accounting software usually has a modular design, meaning the software can be bought in bits and pieces. For example, if you only required AP, AR, and a GL to begin, you could purchase the software at an appropriate price. Down the road, you can add on the advanced invoicing or budgeting/forecasting tool and pay the difference in cost.
This level of flexibility means enterprise accounting software can offer broad capabilities without forcing you to begin using (or, worse, pay for) features you have no interest in. Likewise, you can continue to use existing systems side-by-side with your newer enterprise option if your staff is reluctant to give up a solution it likes.
For example, many companies use a separate solution for customer relationship management (CRM). While your new enterprise accounting system may have its own CRM module, if it doesn’t force you to use or purchase it, the transition to the new software might go over better with your staff.
Gain Insight on Your Business Performance With Advanced Reports
Prebuilt reports, dashboards, data visualizations, and more can all be created with the advanced reporting capabilities of most enterprise accounting software. These reports can be used for both internal uses or for any regulatory compliance required by your organization. These reports aim to help interpret the results of your company’s financial performance and anticipate future performance and gains.
Pricing Guide
The cost of enterprise accounting software starts between $50,000 - $500,000 per year. However, there may be a few outliers that can cost you millions of dollars per year. These solutions come at a higher price point due to the level of use, the number of users needed, the number of applications needed, and integrations with other systems.
Many enterprise accounting solutions allow you to purchase a base package and add capabilities as your business grows. Additional features such as advanced budgeting, forecasting, and payroll almost always increase the cost of the base package.
