Acumatica vs. Paychex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Acumatica
Score 8.9 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
Paychex
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Pricing
AcumaticaPaychex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AcumaticaPaychex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
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
AcumaticaPaychex
Considered Both Products
Acumatica
Chose Acumatica
The unlimited Licensing was key; knew our pricing regardless of required users. Acumatica also had a good simple user interface.
Chose Acumatica
Accurate ability to track complex inventory.
Chose Acumatica
Manufacturing and field service in the single ERP system was what brought us to Acumatica to begin with.
Chose Acumatica
Have used Great Plains before for 5 years - Decided to opt for Acumatica bc of the similarities. Acumatica is just as effective, but more affordable. It's an overall good product for a smaller company with limited funding. Easy to train new staff. Offers a variety of very good …
Paychex
Chose Paychex
We tried to implement Criterion - it was a disaster; so much so that we stopped before the go-live date and upgraded to Paychex instead. It was the best decision we ever made!
Features
AcumaticaPaychex
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
112 Ratings
12% above category average
Paychex
7.6
310 Ratings
7% below category average
Pay calculation7.398 Ratings8.1292 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.075 Ratings6.8171 Ratings
Direct deposit files7.498 Ratings8.3291 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings6.7150 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.8207 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.6116 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
317 Ratings
11% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
API for custom integration8.3298 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins8.3271 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
392 Ratings
0% below category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability8.5323 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.0385 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.1
400 Ratings
10% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.2375 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports7.9393 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports8.1383 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
665 Ratings
13% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Accounts payable8.5645 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.4535 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support7.8233 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.1324 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.2509 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.2366 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.3407 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.3
421 Ratings
5% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking8.1413 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.5209 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.1277 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.6
430 Ratings
10% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Pricing8.0371 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry8.4384 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing7.8265 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold8.0357 Ratings00 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
499 Ratings
15% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Billing Management8.1338 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management8.1448 Ratings00 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management7.6241 Ratings00 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting7.8257 Ratings00 Ratings
Period Close8.5364 Ratings00 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
Paychex
-
Ratings
Budgeting and Forecasting9.64 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Costing9.93 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost Capture9.93 Ratings00 Ratings
Capital Project Management10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition9.93 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.9
175 Ratings
12% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Project Planning and Scheduling7.5157 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers7.7154 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality7.6133 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
Paychex
-
Ratings
Award Lifecycle Management7.872 Ratings00 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.5
256 Ratings
7% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Bids Analyzed and Compared7.899 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract Authoring7.775 Ratings00 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated8.1210 Ratings00 Ratings
Supplier Management8.0146 Ratings00 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
7.8
109 Ratings
17% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Risk Repository8.077 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Management7.997 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments8.082 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue Detection7.684 Ratings00 Ratings
Remediation and Certification7.568 Ratings00 Ratings
Logistics
Comparison of Logistics features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.7
135 Ratings
24% above category average
Paychex
-
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 Management7.5104 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.8
154 Ratings
18% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Production Process Design7.7129 Ratings00 Ratings
Production Management8.0142 Ratings00 Ratings
Configuration Management8.0127 Ratings00 Ratings
Work Execution8.1119 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing Costs8.3136 Ratings00 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
8.2
182 Ratings
13% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Forecasting7.6152 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Planning7.7171 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Monitoring7.6150 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
Paychex
-
Ratings
Proposal Management7.788 Ratings00 Ratings
Product Master Data Management7.799 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.5
268 Ratings
22% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.7215 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.1239 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.5173 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.4168 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.4155 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.6144 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.1
158 Ratings
14% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.0112 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.4150 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.0119 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.7
267 Ratings
6% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings7.7245 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings7.9257 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.5119 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.7181 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
5.3
43 Ratings
40% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings5.343 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.0
175 Ratings
23% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings6.4145 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.4164 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.291 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.2
171 Ratings
25% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings6.8164 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings5.6106 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Acumatica
-
Ratings
Paychex
5.3
68 Ratings
37% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings5.736 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings5.534 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings4.928 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings5.335 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings5.034 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings5.139 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings5.262 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AcumaticaPaychex
Small Businesses
Zoho One
Zoho One
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
24SevenOffice
24SevenOffice
Score 9.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AcumaticaPaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(750 ratings)
6.7
(323 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(65 ratings)
1.6
(44 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(37 ratings)
7.0
(264 ratings)
Availability
8.7
(5 ratings)
6.0
(12 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(4 ratings)
7.2
(12 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(29 ratings)
6.6
(265 ratings)
In-Person Training
5.3
(5 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
7.8
(4 ratings)
8.2
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.1
(20 ratings)
5.7
(13 ratings)
Configurability
6.6
(3 ratings)
5.2
(9 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
6.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.8
(2 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.4
(5 ratings)
6.6
(12 ratings)
Professional Services
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
4.4
(5 ratings)
2.7
(33 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.5
(4 ratings)
3.7
(34 ratings)
User Testimonials
AcumaticaPaychex
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
Paychex Inc.
For the most part, Paychex Flex is a very good payroll system and is well suited for a small business. Most basic features are simple and user friendly. For businesses that have hourly employees, its timeclock system is a good feature. For businesses that have a large number of employees and more complicated rules and policies, it might not be as appropriate because of the difficulty to set up for these rules and policies
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
Paychex Inc.
  • It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
  • Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
  • Employee access both online and thru app.
  • Paperless options.
  • Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
  • Easy employee retirement management.
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
Paychex Inc.
  • When it comes to audit reports, Paychex Flex could improve on helping clients locate the correct reports for audit purposes more easily
  • When a client receives a discount, it would be helpful if the discount were automatically provided each year, or if the Paychex rep proactively reached out to the client first, versus the client having to call and request that the discount continue.
  • It would be helpful if the invoice was emailed to the client versus the client logging in to access invoices.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Some things could be streamlined. For example, we could do custom options for the "add items" tab which has so many options that we never use. "Medical Pay" could be something that the system remembers for the applicable employees. Salaried employees' salaries should definitely be auto-filled. Overall the system works well but I think it could be improved to be easier to use and read.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Acumatica
It's always available.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
Read full review
Performance
Acumatica
there have been some performance issues
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
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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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Our dedicated representative is one of the main reasons we are sticking with Paychex Flex. If it were not for this person, other platforms could provide the same/similar functionality. It is the ability to speak with someone that understands our business and is willing to get questions answered in a timely fashion that keeps us with Paychex Flex.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Acumatica
It was on General Inquiries and it's just a complex topic.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
Read full review
Online Training
Acumatica
Most of the trainers are amazing, but there were a couple who simply read the training guide
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
Read full review
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
Paychex Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
Read full review
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
Paychex Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Acumatica
No, annual invoices are fine. I do like that unlimited users are included.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
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.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
I generally do payroll at the office, however I have had to go remote due to internet issues and also had to take payroll on vacation with me. Very easy to log in wherever you are and manage your TAA and payroll
Read full review
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
Paychex Inc.
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
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • I do not believe we have saved anything additionally. The time we've had to spend to get things to hopefully work is sad. This is the reason we've had to turn off all extra "products" of Paychex Flex. Time and Attendance is horrible. Benefits management is horrible. The user experience is horrible.
  • One thing I do not understand is why are updates for states, cities, counties, school districts, etc. not automatically updated? Should we not get a big red flag if we have an employee living/working, being paid in CA, but they aren't set up for CA sick time? If it is required to be on the paycheck stub to show the balance of the sick time, why would we not be notified that we are out of compliance?
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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

Paychex Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of