Top 9 NetSuite Alternative Software for Professional Services

Have issues with your software solution? We’ll help you find the best NetSuite alternative.

NetSuite is a modular enterprise resource planning or ERP software that caters to various industries, from construction and retail to professional services. Although the software solution has benefits, you might find it simply doesn’t support your day-to-day processes. Or perhaps it’s too expensive or difficult to onboard new teams.

Whatever your reasons, this article will explore the best NetSuite alternative options to help you meet your agency’s needs.

NetSuite is a complex product suite with many features that can be added to your implementation according to your needs. This includes accounting, inventory management, supply chain management, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources (HR) management, and PSA.

NetSuite has a 4.0-star rating on G2 and a 4.1-star rating on Capterra. Users emphasize the following downsides of the tool:

Regarding the good sides, users enjoy that NetSuite is all-inclusive and can cover a range of agency operations, from sales to accounting. The tool also provides good automation features for streamlined administrative tasks.

Without further ado, check out our list of potential NetSuite alternatives with their features, benefits, downsides, and user reviews.

Productive is one of the best professional services automation software solutions for all-in-one management. Productive’s key features include project budgeting, accounting, resource planning, time tracking and project management, sales, and reporting and financial management.

Despite its wide range of features, Productive is focused on providing a streamlined experience to businesses of all shapes and sizes. With high user ratings of 4.6 stars on both Capterra and G2, users enjoy Productive for its commitment to user-friendly design and responsive customer support.

Let’s explore the features that make Productive a comprehensive solution for business operations.

Productive’s Budgeting feature helps businesses stay on track with their expenses and make informed decisions based on accurate data.

With Productive’s financial management capabilities, you can:

Efficient team capacity planning is essential for getting the most out of your agency’s resources.

Productive streamlines this process with a reactive resource plan that offers you multiple ways to schedule your team hours, from allocating time with billable hours percentages to total available hours or available hours per day.

With heatmaps, you can assess which resources are over- or under-utilized with just a glance and reallocate by dragging and dropping.

A powerful feature that Productive’s Resource Planning enables is analytics forecasting. By scheduling your resources, you can view your project budget burn and profit margins. These metrics are automatically updated in case of changes to the schedule. This helps you maintain client transparency and manage project changes efficiently.

Productive’s Reporting capabilities provide agencies with over 50 reporting templates that draw data from all your platform activities, including tracked time, project budgets, service rates, capacity and availability, and more.

With custom fields, you can add specific parameters to build customized reports easily. Additionally, Productive offers reporting dashboards that can be shared with team members and clients, as well as scheduling via email, keeping all key stakeholders in sync.

Learn more about how Productive supports businesses with reliable and efficient financial insights.

Productive enhances agency efficiency with streamlined project and task management, intuitive agency time management software, and diverse project view options like Gantt, Kanban, Calendar, and more.

Team collaboration is facilitated with customizable notifications that can be configured for frequency and devices. To improve your client communication and speed up the feedback process, you can invite external parties free of charge and enable them to comment on tasks, create new ones, and even view their budgets.

Finally, Productive provides integrated time tracking. Manage your activities with a built-in timer, manual entry, or automatic bookings generated from resource scheduling. Productive also includes time off management, so employees can request leave from the platform — approved time off is visible in your resource scheduling.

Productive offers a lightweight CRM solution with its integrated Sales Pipeline. Manage your sales process with customizable pipeline stages and sales feeds with a detailed deal history.

Set reasons for lost deals for win probability estimates and get insights into key analytics such as revenue forecasts, individual sales rep performance, breakdowns of lost deals, and more.

Additional features include: Docs, Automations.

Integrations include: Xero, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Breathe, Zapier, Slack, Jira, and more.

Productive offers a 14-day free trial, so you can see if it’s the right Netsuite alternative for you.

Sage Intacct is a financial management software solution from the leading provider Sage Group. Sage Intacct supports the financial processes of businesses from all industries, including construction, retail, healthcare, and professional services.

Key features:

In many ways, Sage Intacct is a similar solution to NetSuite. For users looking for a variation on ERP software, Sage Intacct can be a good choice. However, Sage Intacct shares many of the same downsides as NetSuite: complexity, longer implementation, and steeper pricing than more streamlined all-in-one agency management solutions.

We also covered Sage Intacct as one top of the top BigTime alternatives, so head over to that article if you want to learn more.

Xero is a dedicated accounting software tailored to small businesses, accountants, and finance professionals. It offers capabilities for invoicing, expense tracking, and more.

Key features:

Xero offers an accessible, intuitive user experience suitable for smaller companies. However, certain reviewers have noted that the pricing points can be high for the tool’s value. As Xero doesn’t provide end-to-end project management support, investing in a unified platform with Xero integration is something you can consider.

Odoo is a modular open-source ERP solution with apps that can be combined to build a flexible solution for complex needs.

Key features:

Odoo stands apart from NetSuite due to its full flexibility and customization capabilities. The tool allows you to build a solution tailored to your business processes. However, the implementation process can be complex, and certain reviewers note that learning materials for some business applications are lacking. Therefore, for agencies with limited time and budget, an integrated solution might be a better option.

QuickBooks is a project budgeting software that provides financial solutions and accounting support to small businesses.

Key features:

QuickBooks is a project accounting solution that is similar to Xero in its capabilities and target users. In comparison, it offers a more affordable entry point with its basic pricing model, which can make it a better option for agencies with a need for limited support. As with Xero, agencies looking to switch from NetSuite to a more comprehensive business management software solution might want to consider a different tool.

You can also check out our Netsuite vs QuickBooks vs Productive comparison to learn more.

SAP Business One is an ERP solution for small businesses with an on-premise and cloud-based deployment solution.

Key features:

SAP Business One can be a good ERP alternative to NetSuite. As with most similar solutions, the biggest drawback is the significant upfront financial and time investment for implementation. Certain reviews also mention issues with customer service support. Users looking for a similarly comprehensive but less time-intensive solution might consider an all-in-one agency management tool.

ERPNext is an open-source ERP solution that provides teams with flexibility and customization.

Key features:

ERPNext is a similar solution to Odoo, but it offers a more affordable pricing model with unlimited users. It can be a good option for smaller and mid-sized businesses with unusual workflows. As with Odoo, implementation of ERPNext may require expertise and effort, so make sure you’re ready for it before choosing it as your solution.

FreshBooks is a billable hours tracker and accounting software for businesses of all sizes, self-employed accounting professionals, and freelancers.

Key features:

Like Xero and QuickBooks, FreshBooks can be a good alternative to NetSuite for users looking for essential financial features. It’s an affordable option for streamlining financial processes and client billing. However, a notable downside frequently mentioned in reviews is issues with customer support, especially response times.

We also explored FreshBooks in our list of the top Hello Bonsai alternatives.

Acumatica is an ERP cloud solution with finance and business intelligence tools.

Key features:

Acumatica can be a good choice if you’re looking for a customizable platform for optimized business operations. Users have noted that Acumatica’s high level of flexibility can be both a good and bad thing, as the complexity can lead to increased expenses. Additionally, reviews note that the essential reporting functionality is somewhat limited.

According to a recent survey by Aberdeen Group, the main selection criteria for the implementation of a new software solution are: functionality (53%), ease of use (51%), total cost of ownership (45%), integrated suite (24%), and quality and availability of support (24%).

Your best solution should ideally satisfy all of the above. Although criteria can differ regarding industry-specific functionalities, user-friendliness, comprehensiveness, cost, and customer support are universal needs for any successful agency. No matter how complex your tool is, or how inexperienced your team might be, focusing on this can significantly streamline your implementation.

For an all-in-one agency management tool with top-notch support and an intuitive interface, consider booking a demo with Productive.