Acumatica vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Acumatica
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Acumatica delivers a set of cloud-based business software applications with dashboards, reporting tools, integrated document management, centralized security, and customization tools.
$1,000
per year
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly Dynamics NAV) is one of the ERP products in the Dynamics family. The technology is based on the Navision product acquired by Microsoft in 2002. This product is the best-selling Microsoft ERP platform, and is often used by companies in the manufacturing and distribution verticals.
$8
per month per user
Pricing
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members
$8
per month (billed annually) per user
Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials
$70
per month (billed annually) per user
Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium
$100
per month (billed annually) per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPricing is always consumption-based with no five-year lock-ins or termination penalties. The Acumatica ERP pricing structure allows adding casual users, suppliers, and customers without paying for additional licenses. The cost is based on the features and resources utilized, not on the number of users who access the system. An Acumatica partner works with users to understand specific requirements, determine the proper resources and modules for the company, and presents a price for the license.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Considered Both Products
Acumatica
Chose Acumatica
Better for the small/medium business customer
Chose Acumatica
We used Business Central for 8 years and after 8 months of implementing Acumatica our processes are more efficient and our reporting is miles ahead of where we were with Business Central, and at a fraction of the cost. Acumatica's cloud first approach and customizability puts …
Chose Acumatica
I’m really happy we went with Acumatica over Microsoft. To me, they are more innovative and pushing out changes all the time which is important to me. There are some serious settings that need to change that I wish it would adopt from Microsoft like the user security which is …
Chose Acumatica
I have preferred the flexibility within Acumatica quite a bit more but I do prefer the others data analysis better
Chose Acumatica
The ease of customization and the network of integrate-able ISV’s really stood out to us over the competitive products.
Chose Acumatica
Dynamics SL is our current platform that we are migrating away from due to the lack of new features and future support. We attempted to launch with Dynamics 365 but found many screens and work flows do not work as intended. We left those project deployments and went with …
Chose Acumatica
Transaction based pricing is better suited for us, the ability to not have to rely on so many customisations or addons
Chose Acumatica
Acumatica's cloud base is a key to success. Exports to Excel make getting information easy to access.
Chose Acumatica
We also evaluated Sage Intacct. We chose Acumatica for ease of use and our VAR highly recommended it
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

No answer on this topic

Features
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.4
165 Ratings
13% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
6.8
10 Ratings
8% below category average
Pay calculation7.4147 Ratings7.010 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.2114 Ratings6.18 Ratings
Direct deposit files7.5142 Ratings7.09 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
488 Ratings
11% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.6
23 Ratings
2% above category average
API for custom integration8.2460 Ratings7.522 Ratings
Plug-ins8.4415 Ratings7.720 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
594 Ratings
1% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.8
27 Ratings
5% above category average
Single sign-on capability8.6489 Ratings8.823 Ratings
Role-based user permissions7.9585 Ratings8.926 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.7
616 Ratings
5% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.6
28 Ratings
4% above category average
Dashboards7.9587 Ratings7.424 Ratings
Standard reports7.5604 Ratings7.728 Ratings
Custom reports7.9593 Ratings7.827 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
895 Ratings
13% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.4
28 Ratings
9% above category average
Accounts payable8.5862 Ratings8.827 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.4748 Ratings8.526 Ratings
Global Financial Support7.8339 Ratings7.615 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.2486 Ratings8.214 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.2707 Ratings8.317 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.2558 Ratings7.717 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.3606 Ratings8.618 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.2
594 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.6
24 Ratings
8% above category average
Inventory tracking8.1581 Ratings8.324 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.4300 Ratings7.916 Ratings
Location management8.0413 Ratings8.220 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.5
603 Ratings
8% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.9
26 Ratings
1% above category average
Pricing7.9515 Ratings8.323 Ratings
Order entry8.3545 Ratings8.623 Ratings
Credit card processing7.8368 Ratings6.715 Ratings
Cost of goods sold7.9504 Ratings8.821 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.7301 Ratings8.512 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
705 Ratings
15% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.1
18 Ratings
8% above category average
Billing Management8.1517 Ratings8.116 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management8.0632 Ratings8.317 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management7.4370 Ratings7.212 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting7.7384 Ratings8.114 Ratings
Period Close8.5560 Ratings8.017 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
9.9
4 Ratings
27% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.7
8 Ratings
14% above category average
Budgeting and Forecasting9.64 Ratings10.08 Ratings
Project Costing9.93 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Cost Capture9.93 Ratings10.08 Ratings
Capital Project Management10.02 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance10.02 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition9.93 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.7
268 Ratings
9% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.5
10 Ratings
6% above category average
Project Planning and Scheduling7.4241 Ratings7.29 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers7.4238 Ratings6.89 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality7.2212 Ratings6.88 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools7.2146 Ratings6.69 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.9
111 Ratings
7% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.9
7 Ratings
19% above category average
Award Lifecycle Management7.7111 Ratings6.77 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.4
351 Ratings
6% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.8
14 Ratings
11% above category average
Bids Analyzed and Compared7.5150 Ratings6.88 Ratings
Contract Authoring7.3120 Ratings6.58 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated7.9287 Ratings7.912 Ratings
Supplier Management7.9227 Ratings7.211 Ratings
Contract Repository00 Ratings7.08 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.7
173 Ratings
15% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.2
10 Ratings
21% above category average
Risk Repository7.7127 Ratings6.89 Ratings
Control Management7.7153 Ratings6.99 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments7.8135 Ratings6.89 Ratings
Issue Detection7.5139 Ratings7.19 Ratings
Remediation and Certification7.6112 Ratings7.57 Ratings
Logistics
Comparison of Logistics features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.6
210 Ratings
23% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.5
8 Ratings
9% above category average
Transportation Planning and Optimization7.1154 Ratings6.76 Ratings
Transportation Execution Management7.3144 Ratings6.76 Ratings
Trade and Customs Management7.1119 Ratings7.36 Ratings
Fulfillment Management7.8171 Ratings7.18 Ratings
Warehouse Workforce Management7.2161 Ratings8.56 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
233 Ratings
16% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.8
8 Ratings
5% above category average
Production Process Design7.6192 Ratings8.56 Ratings
Production Management7.9217 Ratings8.27 Ratings
Configuration Management7.7188 Ratings6.76 Ratings
Work Execution7.8182 Ratings8.56 Ratings
Manufacturing Costs8.1204 Ratings7.98 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.1
276 Ratings
12% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.6
10 Ratings
6% above category average
Forecasting7.5227 Ratings6.710 Ratings
Inventory Planning7.6263 Ratings7.710 Ratings
Performance Monitoring7.5223 Ratings7.010 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
163 Ratings
14% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.9
7 Ratings
21% above category average
Proposal Management7.4139 Ratings7.26 Ratings
Product Master Data Management7.4155 Ratings7.96 Ratings
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AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
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User Ratings
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(631 ratings)
8.3
(29 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(65 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(37 ratings)
8.5
(9 ratings)
Availability
8.7
(5 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(28 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
In-Person Training
5.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.8
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.1
(19 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.5
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
6.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.7
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.3
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
4.3
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.3
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Likelihood to Recommend
Acumatica
Acumatica is very well suited in keeping all the data "in-house." Previously, we had things spread across multiple Excel sheets, external tools, emails, etc. Now through the use of setting up dashboards and custom screens through Generic Inquiries, we are able to track data that we didn't have before! It is very good in its communicating abilities, and if things are set up correctly, we can provide easy to view costing data for our executives too!
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is well suited for inventory management in all aspects. Its accessibility, along with my other apps, when out of the office is unparalleled. I find it easy to work with on a desktop or laptop; however, it could use some work on a mobile device.
Read full review
Pros
Acumatica
  • We just went live about two weeks ago, so we are here at Acumatica Summit to see everything it's capable of. One of the things it is capable of is the dashboards and the integration with some of these third-party people to ensure we can get the data we need when we need it, so we're looking forward to getting all that live for us.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Automate the creation of bills of materials for production. We can now generate a BoM from a sales order.
  • Organization of all data pertaining to thousands of parts, assemblies, and finished goods. Engineering and purchasing have a common portal.
  • We can create sales orders from quotations instead of re-entering them (this did require some bolt-on software). Less redundant work with fewer entry errors.
  • Accounting can provide reports based on specific criteria stored in NAV. We can pull better and more detailed intelligence.
Read full review
Cons
Acumatica
  • There are a few spots where there is a list of data that we need a total for and we have to extract to Excel to get a total. It would be helpful to see a sum right in Acumatica.
  • For the first time today I had an interesting glitch - my entire bank reconciliation unchecked the "reconciled" column and needed to be redone for the month. Funky little glitches happen from time to time
  • Pivot tables don't seem to update as expected by using filters
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Some functions could be a bit more user friendly, intuitive.
  • Better migration from previous ERP software (especially other Microsoft products). "Growing pains" associated with change?! Maybe.
  • A few redundancies and procedural missteps on menus and tabs can make the portal a bit crowded.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Acumatica
It is a flexible system that is very flexible and is easy to use. It will also be able to scale as the company grows. Frankly, we have invested too much time to walk away from it now and the initial phase is going well
Read full review
Microsoft
We've already decided to continue using this software. It is too expensive for us to upgrade so we made a workaround by using the virtual computer with Windows XP installed on it. We did research replacing this software, but it was a better financial decision to keep what we had instead
Read full review
Usability
Acumatica
Only reason is because when teaching our departments how to use, it takes them a long time and multiple requests about where things are located... as IT team, I can navigate easily, end users like accountants and shipping, it's a tiny bit cumbersome, but I believe ModernUI will resolve
Read full review
Microsoft
Best in terms of reporting or coming up with a great dashboard. Seamlessly collaborated with teams without depending on particular device as its web version is the buddy for people with work flexibility. Licensing price and integrations can be the areas of improvement and can simplify the interface which will be easy for a new user.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Acumatica
It's always available.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
Acumatica
there have been some performance issues
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Acumatica
We recently switched VARs and it has made a world of difference! Our new VAR actually is proactive to various situations versus being reactive to events that have happened. They are accessing how we are using the modules and suggesting better more efficient ways!
Read full review
Microsoft
It provides one to efficiently be able to manage bookkeeping and inventory without much challenges. One can easily navigate through workflow processes while managing usages and budgets. Being able to produce reports in Word, Excel or PDF means one is able to have a working document to produce trends and graphs or produce pivot tables.
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In-Person Training
Acumatica
Very helpful for end users
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Acumatica
Online training has gone away. Need to bring back the webinars. Live webinars are so benficial to training new employees.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Acumatica
I'd say the partner selection is critically important. I think the software is very easy to implement. It's very customizable to your business. Finding a partner that will work with you to understand your business and your needs is the critical piece to make sure that the system goes along with it.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Acumatica
Acumatica's flexibility, user interface, reporting, customizable system, data imports, Power BI integrations, exportable reports, and connections to other systems make it a stand-alone ERP solution. Finding another system capable of doing this would be a good find. Head above the others. In-system emailing. Import/export of data to and from anywhere.
Read full review
Microsoft
I have personally supported all of the Dynamic family of ERP systems and made the decision to concentrate on NAV as the solution of choice. From a support and development standpoint there are few if any packages that can compare. It is not uncommon for most of the companies that I support to only call me once or twice a month after the first year. This is due to the ease of tracking down problems and errors and the ability for a developer to provide the end-user with routines that automatically correct the most basic kind of error
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Acumatica
No, annual invoices are fine. I do like that unlimited users are included.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Acumatica
From my understanding, the P.O. module is not very robust, at least the last time I inquired about it. At the time, it had a one-to-one match, with one invoice for one P.O. and that isn't practical for many businesses. I don't believe it would be an easy system to use for sending out invoices, if we had thousands of retail utility customers. We do a small number of invoices because we sell wholesale power, not retail, so we only Invoice the municipality. Not each utility customer.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Acumatica
They are very responsive and knowledgeable about the product. If the rep doesn't have the ability to solve the issue, they quickly get someone else involved to assist us.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Acumatica
  • I feel like I am not using it to it's potential and it's frustrating to know that it can do more than I am able to use and more help with that would be great
  • The implementation was a lot of customize building and I felt like some of it could have been built by my partner rather than having them sit and watch me enter a bunch of stuff, especially when a lot of it was over my head in understanding
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Automation processing, including EDI functionality, has increased employee efficiency and prevented the need for adding additional employees.
  • Implementation of the warehouse functionality, including cycle counts, has resulted in better inventory control/less shrinkage.
  • Implementation of e-Ship and e-Receive, has resulted in greater efficiency and order accuracy.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Acumatica Screenshots

Screenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Field Service DashboardScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Manufacturing - Production Manager DashboardScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Distribution - Warehouse Operations DashboardsScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Construction - Job Cost Accounting DashboardScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Retail Edition DashboardsScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Professional Services - Financial Management Dashboard