Acumatica vs. Microsoft Dynamics SL

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 SL
Score 6.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics SL is one of the ERP products in the Dynamics family. This product was acquired from Solomon 2000. The product is typically used by SMBs, particularly in project-based businesses (e.g. construction). It has strong accounting and project management capabilities.N/A
Pricing
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics SL
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics SL
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
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 SL
Considered Both Products
Acumatica
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
Acumatica is cloud based which is a plus. Implementation was difficult in both. We switched because Dynamics SL was becoming unsupported and we were always running into a lack of licenses.
Chose Acumatica
Acumatica provided the most "yeses" to our wishlist. Acumatica also had the ability to customize to fit our needs whereas a lot of the other options could not. Acumatica was not priced on a "per user" model, which was very important to us, allowing us to have all the field …
Chose Acumatica
Much more stable and easier to use.
Microsoft Dynamics SL

No answer on this topic

Features
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics SL
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
112 Ratings
12% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
8.5
2 Ratings
15% above category average
Pay calculation7.398 Ratings9.62 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.075 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files7.498 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
317 Ratings
10% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.0
6 Ratings
22% below category average
API for custom integration8.3298 Ratings6.06 Ratings
Plug-ins8.3271 Ratings6.04 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
391 Ratings
1% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
8.7
10 Ratings
4% above category average
Single sign-on capability8.6323 Ratings7.49 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.1384 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.1
399 Ratings
9% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
8.0
10 Ratings
8% above category average
Dashboards8.2374 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Standard reports7.9392 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Custom reports8.2382 Ratings8.010 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
664 Ratings
13% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
7.1
11 Ratings
8% below category average
Accounts payable8.5644 Ratings6.011 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.4534 Ratings6.08 Ratings
Global Financial Support7.9233 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.1323 Ratings6.63 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.3508 Ratings3.04 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.3365 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.4406 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
420 Ratings
4% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
5.7
6 Ratings
33% below category average
Inventory tracking8.2412 Ratings5.06 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.5209 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.1276 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.6
429 Ratings
8% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.2
4 Ratings
24% below category average
Pricing8.1370 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Order entry8.5383 Ratings3.04 Ratings
Credit card processing7.9264 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Cost of goods sold8.1357 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.8199 Ratings00 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
498 Ratings
15% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
5.7
4 Ratings
27% below category average
Billing Management8.1337 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management8.1448 Ratings7.33 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management7.7241 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting7.9257 Ratings6.32 Ratings
Period Close8.6363 Ratings6.04 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 SL
4.7
3 Ratings
47% below category average
Budgeting and Forecasting9.64 Ratings7.33 Ratings
Project Costing9.93 Ratings6.33 Ratings
Cost Capture9.93 Ratings2.12 Ratings
Capital Project Management10.02 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition9.93 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.9
175 Ratings
13% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
-
Ratings
Project Planning and Scheduling7.6157 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers7.8154 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality7.7133 Ratings00 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools7.891 Ratings00 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.0
72 Ratings
9% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.3
1 Ratings
15% below category average
Award Lifecycle Management7.972 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.5
256 Ratings
7% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
-
Ratings
Bids Analyzed and Compared7.999 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract Authoring7.875 Ratings00 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated8.2210 Ratings00 Ratings
Supplier Management8.0146 Ratings00 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.9
109 Ratings
17% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
-
Ratings
Risk Repository8.177 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Management8.097 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments8.182 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue Detection7.784 Ratings00 Ratings
Remediation and Certification7.768 Ratings00 Ratings
Logistics
Comparison of Logistics features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
135 Ratings
24% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
-
Ratings
Transportation Planning and Optimization7.3101 Ratings00 Ratings
Transportation Execution Management7.698 Ratings00 Ratings
Trade and Customs Management7.575 Ratings00 Ratings
Fulfillment Management8.0108 Ratings00 Ratings
Warehouse Workforce Management7.6104 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.9
154 Ratings
18% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.0
1 Ratings
21% below category average
Production Process Design7.7129 Ratings00 Ratings
Production Management8.1142 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Configuration Management8.1127 Ratings00 Ratings
Work Execution8.2119 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing Costs8.2136 Ratings00 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.2
182 Ratings
12% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.0
1 Ratings
19% below category average
Forecasting7.6152 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Planning7.7171 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Performance Monitoring7.7150 Ratings00 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.4
104 Ratings
15% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics SL
-
Ratings
Proposal Management7.888 Ratings00 Ratings
Product Master Data Management7.799 Ratings00 Ratings
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AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics SL
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User Ratings
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics SL
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(749 ratings)
5.0
(18 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(65 ratings)
5.4
(8 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(37 ratings)
3.0
(7 ratings)
Availability
8.6
(5 ratings)
9.9
(2 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(4 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(29 ratings)
9.5
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
5.7
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.8
(4 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.3
(20 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Configurability
6.6
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
6.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.5
(5 ratings)
1.4
(2 ratings)
Professional Services
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
4.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AcumaticaMicrosoft Dynamics SL
Likelihood to Recommend
Acumatica
I would love to recommend it to my friends and colleagues. They have a dedicated storage manager along with some really good cloud capabilities, which helps get the work done efficiently and professionally. We have been using it since 2022, and they are great in this segment.
Read full review
Microsoft
For a small to mid-size business, MS Dynamics SL is effective. We are capable of managing our finances with a very low risk of error. We have worked with MS Dynamics for almost 15 years and have more than doubled the size of our business in that time with very few issues from the program. We have exponentially increased our revenue and reporting demands and have found SL to be very dependable and stable. The program does have the occasional glitch and those are sometimes outside of the realm of expertise of our IT department. SL support is excellent, but their timeliness is not as urgent as ours.
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
  • Provides flexibility for complex project based cost accounting
  • Strong and flexible allocation processer for cost allocations, markups, and pricing
  • A "Flexible Billing" module under the project controller series that allows for multiple billing formats ranging from fixed price schedule of values, T&M or Cost Plus, and scheduled billing.
  • Flexible reporting with options using Crystal Reports, SSRS, a Quick Query tool, and ability to tie into MS Office tools such as MS Access and MS Excel
  • Tight integration with Financials, but also the ability to integrate with modules such as Sales Order, Inventory, and Field Service
  • Customization abilities ranging from a VBA (visual basic for application) foundation to allow customizing existing forms to the ability to use the SDK (Software Development Kit) to build more complex customizations that integrate with Dynamics SL.
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
  • Reporting in the Project module is lacking functionality. I understand that most companies have specific needs when it comes to tracking project information but the standard reports are not good.
  • I would recommend a product like Management Reporter that is for Projects only. Project Reporter should allow users to pull in all Project related data into reports.
  • Fixing suspended batches. Obviously all of us users have experienced this mess. SL knows what needs to be corrected and there could be some step by step fixes in a separate repair module to do the steps we do in Query Analyzer.
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Likelihood to Renew
Acumatica
I gave this 10 rating because Acumatica ERP is the backbone of the organization, next to the IT Team. We use this software for many different parts of our business. For example our Retail service stations that utilize the inventory, billing, and financials. Our Distribution company that uses it for Field services, CRM, Sales, Accounts and Financial consolidation of all company financials.
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Microsoft
Unfortunately, Dynamics' lack of ability to smoothly integrate with our CRM system is causing us to look at other solutions. The efficiencies that we gain by using Dynamics for our day to day accounting are lost in the constant headaches of getting sales quotes to import properly into the system for invoicing. Another major issue for us has been budgeting and reporting. We currently do all of our budgeting and board reporting in Excel, which is too time consuming and inefficient, especially when a system as robust as Dynamics should easily be able to handle this relatively simple task.
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Usability
Acumatica
I give it an 8 because it is very intuitive and easy to use for day to day work. I find it more difficult to create general inquiries and financial statements than it seems that it should be. It's not very intuitive in those areas.
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Microsoft
I rate it a 10 because we have removed the fields we don't need so users can really crank the data into the system. The software was designed for the professional services firm in mind but does a tremendous job for construction firms and "blended" companies that are both distribution firms but project centric as well. Perhaps they drop ship inventory to a project where their employees or subs need to work on a project for example.
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Reliability and Availability
Acumatica
It's always available.
Read full review
Microsoft
We have had only one unplanned outage for 2 hours in the last 30 months. We shut down for 30 min to 1 hour once a month, but that is for Microsoft OS updates to the servers. Being a 24/7 world wide operation, the reliability is really important. We do get an 8 hour window on the weekend that we can be down for a short period to install Microsoft Dynamics SL updates, but we do not have many of those. On our last version upgrade, we shut the users out at 9:30 am and were fully operational in less than 6 hours. The upgrade was New SQL server, New SL server and 2 new Citrix servers.
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Performance
Acumatica
there have been some performance issues
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Acumatica
We used Acumatica Support directly for the first year or so. Overall it's pretty good, but sometimes the support staff wasn't educated on the customizations we had, nor was I as the Customer as I couldn't remember which things were customized and which things were out of the box, so when there was an error, there were some misunderstandings.
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Microsoft
Support is only used when needed, so unfortunately ,they get all the odd issues. It's a difficult business, but Microsoft and our firm do a great job of meeting customer needs. We get routine feedback that our support services are very good.
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In-Person Training
Acumatica
It was on General Inquiries and it's just a complex topic.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Acumatica
Most of the trainers are amazing, but there were a couple who simply read the training guide
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.
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Microsoft
Just to let it take its course. The implementation for me once I became a part of my former organization was pretty seamless. Just get to know the basics and call the support team to ask questions if you need help on an issue, should they arise. They are ready, willing, and able to help!
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Alternatives Considered
Acumatica
Acumatica's sales process was much better than that of NetSuites. The NetAtWork team spent much more time with us and showed us how Acumatica really could do everything that we needed it to do, with examples using our data.
Read full review
Microsoft
Of the comparable mid-range ERP systems, Dynamics SL competes at the lower end based on price, but also above the high-end based on flexibility, data, and reporting. Being able to stay with the same core accounting from a $100 million dollar company to a $3 billion dollar company shows the range of capabilities.
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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
Since the backbone of the database is MS SQLServer, the database can be easily scaled.
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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.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Acumatica
  • We were able to work in one system with customizations we needed in inventory and add all our grants in the same system
  • Direct mail invoices was moved to an automated PO system saving time and allowing better financial tracking
  • The grant module can be cumbersome requiring flip flopping to program partners etc during set up
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Microsoft
  • More time is spent on manipulating reports which can and should be automated.
  • Lack of electronic invoicing process and other green technology features creates more cost on printing and storage costs.
  • The lack of a user friendly interface requires more training and a bigger learning curve for staff.
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ScreenShots

Acumatica Screenshots

Screenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - General Edition DashboardsScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Manufacturing Edition DashboardsScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Distribution Edition DashboardsScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Construction Edition DashboardsScreenshot of Acumatica Cloud ERP - Retail Edition Dashboards