Top 9 NetSuite Alternative Software for Professional Services

Lucija Bakić

December 7, 2023

A screenshot of Productive, a top Netsuite alternative software, depicting a Kanban-style board with task cards sorted into three progress statuses: 'Backlog', 'To-do', 'In progress'.

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.

Why Look For A NetSuite Alternative for Streamlined Professional Services Management?

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.

Dashboard snapshot of a NetSuite alternative, depicting financial metrics for sales, expenses, total bank balance, and payables. Visual indicators with green and red depict downward and upward trends.


SOURCE: NETSUITE

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:

  • The implementation process can take a long time and training materials aren’t always sufficient
  • Report building is complicated and can be difficult to customize
  • Expensive for small and medium-sized businesses, and costs may increase as the organization grows
  • Certain users report issues with customer support

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.

List of Best NetSuite Alternatives Available on the Market

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

1. Productive – The Best NetSuite Alternative for User-Friendly Agency Management

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.

One of the big things is that you really listen to feedback and the rate at which you incorporate that feedback—that, for me, is a feature of being with Productive. You guys are super accessible, you actually do what you say you’re going to do, it’s done in a thoughtful way, instead of a way that adds more burden.

Bryan Casler,
Vice President of Digital Strategy at 4Site Interactive Studios

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

Budgeting

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

The interface of Productive, a Netsuite alternative, which depicts a budgeting report with bar charts for revenue and margins grouped across different companies.


get real-time insights into key agency metrics

With Productive’s financial management capabilities, you can:

  • Build budgets no matter your pricing model — hourly, fixed, retainer, hybrid
  • Manage your cost rates on a single platform
  • Track your agency hours with automated alerts
  • Create and send client invoices directly from the platform
  • Manage your external expenses with Purchase Orders

Resource Planning

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.

The interface of Productive, one of the best Bitrix24 alternatives, with a customizable pipeline for new prospects. Pipeline columns have titles such 'Leads', 'Prospect', and 'Proposal sent'.


get the full picture of your resource availability

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.

Reporting

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.

The truth is, we can quickly get a pulse for where we are, at any given time. One way to get a pulse on the business is to get the monthly financials, but for the monthly financials to come in, it takes the accounting department about 15 days after the month ends before we get a picture of how we really did that month. Whereas, with the financial tools that Productive offers, you can check it on a daily basis. We have clear visibility at any given time.

Orion Jensen,
CEO at Clear Launch

Project Management

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.

The interface of a Netsuite alternative software, showing the progress status of tasks ('Not Started', 'Done'), alongside priority tags on each task card.


MANAGE YOUR PROJECT PROGRESS

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.

The interface of Productive, a Netsuite alternative software, depicting time management with brief descriptions of tasks and an automated timer recording hours worked.


TRACK YOUR BILLABLE HOURS WITH AN INTEGRATED TIMER

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.

Sales

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.

The interface of Productive, a top Netsuite alternative, showing a customizable pipeline for new prospects.


PRODUCTIVE SUPPORTS YOUR SALES PROCESSES

Additional features include: Docs, Automations.

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

Pricing

  • Plans start with the Essential plan at $9 per user per month, which includes essential features such as budgeting, project & task management, docs, time tracking, expense management, reporting, and time off management.
  • The Professional plan includes custom fields, recurring budgets, advanced reports, billable time approvals, and many more for $24 per user per month.
  • The Ultimate plan has everything that the Essential plan and Professional plan offer, along with the HubSpot integration, advanced forecasting, advanced custom fields, overhead calculations, and more for $32 per user per month.

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

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2. Sage Intacct – A Comprehensive Alternative to NetSuite 

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:

  • Advanced financial reporting with real-time analytics
  • Customizable and scalable financial management
  • Seamless integration with business third-party applications
  • Robust security and compliance management features
Financial controller dashboard overview of a Netsuite alternative, featuring key metrics such as cash on hand, revenue, cost of sales, gross profit, and net income, all showing upward trends. Includes customer aging bar chart, accounts payable analysis, revenue distribution by entity in a donut chart, and an income statement summary.


SOurce: Sage intacct

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.

3. Xero – A Specialized Software Solution for Accounting

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:

  • Automated financial reconciliation
  • Manage project profitability and finances
  • Collaboration with accountants and team members
  • Client invoicing and payment scheduling
Project management dashboard of a Netsuite alternative showing an overview of tasks and expenses, current invoicing status, and a project deadline. Progress bars illustrate various tasks in different completion stages, with financial summaries including estimates, invoiced amounts, and time-related expenses.


Source: xero

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.

4. Odoo – An Open-Source ERP Alternative to NetSuite

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

Key features:

  • Financial management and accounting
  • Advanced analytics and reporting tools
  • CRM and marketing automation
  • Customizable project management tools
Accounting overview interface of a Netsuite alternative featuring sections for customer invoices, vendor bills, bank details, cash, salaries, expenses, miscellaneous operations, and point of sale. It displays various financial activities with options to create new entries and reports.


source: odoo

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.

5. QuickBooks – A Solid Accounting Tool for Small Businesses

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

Key features:

  • Integrated bank feeds for financial oversight
  • Inventory tracking and management
  • Comprehensive financial reporting
  • Professional invoicing with automated reminders
Financial reporting dashboard screen of a Netsuite alternative displaying net income, income, and expenses, with a line graph showing performance over time. Includes a search bar and sections for recommended, frequently run, custom, and all reports.


source: quickbooks

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.

6. SAP Business One – A NetSuite Alternative for Business Management

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

Key features:

  • Sales and customer management
  • Expense and accounts payable tracking
  • Data visualizations of business intelligence
  • Interactive reporting dashboards
Interactive dashboard of a Netsuite alternative for capacity plan simulation, displaying work center capacities, demand over time, and delivery performance indicators. Includes graphical representation of monthly capacity planning and detailed views for resource allocation.


source: sap

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.

7. ERPNext – A Flexible ERP Software Solution

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

Key features:

  • Gantt and Kanban boards for project management
  • Time tracking and payroll processing
  • Accounting system with multi-currency support
  • CRM and HR modules
CRM campaign management interface of a Netsuite alternative software, titled 'Black Friday'. It has fields for campaign name, schedules, and descriptions. It features an email campaign schedule with countdown messages.


source: erpnext

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.

8. FreshBooks – A Good Time Tracking & Accounting Software

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

Key features:

  • Profitability and financial oversight
  • File sharing and collaboration
  • Time tracking
  • Branded invoice creator
Invoice management dashboard of a Netsuite alternative showing overdue amounts, total outstanding, and drafts. It lists recently updated invoices with statuses such as 'Draft', 'Paid', 'Sent', and 'Overdue'.


source: freshbooks

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.

9. Acumatica – A Cloud-Based ERP Solution for Financial Management

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

Key features:

  • Financial management
  • Expense tracking and project accounting
  • CRM and client management
  • Real-time collaboration capabilities
Comprehensive inventory management module of a Netsuite alternative, with options for new adjustments, transfers, and stock items. It includes transaction lists, automated operations, profile settings, inquiries, reports, and preference configurations.


source: ACUMATICA

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.

Choosing the Best NetSuite Alternative

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.

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Lucija Bakić

Content Specialist

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