Acumatica 2026 R1, released March 2026, delivers a broad set of new features and improvements across every major module, with particular depth in AI-assisted workflows, financial management, construction and professional services, and distribution. This first major release of the year continues to build on the AI Studio framework introduced in Acumatica 2025 R2 and extends it further across CRM, reporting and platform-wide tools.
With hundreds of updates included in this release, SWK Technologies has put together this list of the top additions and improvements to check out in the latest version of Acumatica Cloud ERP. Here is a breakdown of the biggest new features across Acumatica 2026 R1:
AI Studio and Platform Intelligence
The AI Studio framework introduced in 2025 R2 receives several significant additions in 2026 R1:
- AI Assistant – Users can now ask plain-language questions directly within the ERP and receive answers as text, charts, or tables. Results are drillable to underlying records, and new dashboards can be created directly from the conversation view without navigating away.
- Data Masking – Confidential data such as account numbers and pricing can now be masked from AI processing. Sensitive fields are blocked from leaving the ERP when AI tools are in use, which is relevant for businesses with data handling requirements.
- Nested Generic Inquiries in Anomaly Detection – Anomaly detection can now run across nested generic inquiries, allowing it to pull from multiple data sources in a single analysis rather than a flat data set.
- AI Usage Statistics – A new tracking view shows token counts, prompt volumes, and connection activity for all large language model (LLM) usage within the system. This gives administrators visibility into costs and usage patterns over time.
- Custom Connection Parameters – AI model connection settings can now be adjusted manually, allowing administrators to add or remove parameters as provider requirements change without waiting for a system-wide update.
- Reusable System Instructions – Security and compliance guidelines for AI prompts can now be written once and stored centrally as reusable instruction sets. Developers and automation builders can pull these into their workflows rather than rewriting them each time.
Financial Management
The Financial Management suite in Acumatica 2026 R1 adds several payment workflow improvements and new support for prepayment processes:
- Mobile Card Reader Payments – Field service and sales teams can now collect customer payments through the Acumatica mobile app using a Bluetooth EMV card reader, supporting secure transactions without requiring a return to the office.
- Foreign Currency Payment Entry – Users can now enter payment amounts directly in the document currency when paying bills or receiving payments. This removes the need to manually calculate cross-rates and reduces rounding errors in multi-currency payment runs.
- Automated AP Payments with BILL (Phase 2) – The BILL.com integration expands vendor connection management, adds more predictable payment processing schedules, and includes faster delivery for urgent check requests.
- Stripe Payment Settlement – Businesses using Stripe outside the United States and Canada can now import settlement batches directly into the ERP. The process surfaces transaction fees and adjustments alongside the settlement data for reconciliation.
- AMEX GL1025 Bank Feed Support – American Express corporate card transactions can now be imported automatically using the GL1025 file format through bank feeds, removing manual data entry for high-volume employee expense programs.
- Prepayment Invoices from Purchase Orders – Prepayment invoices can be generated directly from a purchase order in a single step. Paid prepayments are applied automatically to the final AP bill when it is processed.
- Payment Links for Prepayment Invoices – Customers can be sent a URL or QR code on a printed prepayment invoice, allowing them to pay online. Document status updates automatically when payment is received.
- Payment Method Data Entry – Drop-down lists and date pickers are now used for payment method fields on customer and vendor records, replacing free-text entry for key values.
- VAT Recognition on AP Prepayment Invoices – Businesses with VAT reporting requirements can now create prepayment invoices in Accounts Payable that recognize VAT at the time of payment. The system reverses the VAT when the final bill is applied to prevent duplicate reporting.
Customer Management (CRM)
The CRM module adds AI-generated record summaries, several data quality improvements, and a reimagined customer self-service portal:
- AI-Powered Summaries for Opportunities and Cases – Acumatica 2026 R1 can now generate a summary of any opportunity or support case based on recent activity. The summary covers customer sentiment, key details, and suggested next steps without requiring a full read of the record.
- Approval History – A full audit trail of all approval and rejection decisions is now visible on CRM records, including who acted, when, and which decisions remain active.
- Duplicate Validation – Customer and vendor records can now be checked for duplicates at the point of entry or on demand. A system alert appears when a potential duplicate is found and clears once the issue is resolved.
- Multiple-Document Email – Multiple shipments or purchase orders can now be attached to a single outgoing email. Related documents can also be merged into one file before sending.
- Margin Insight for Opportunities and Quotes – Estimated margin amounts and percentages appear directly on opportunity and sales quote records, giving sales teams visibility into deal profitability during the quoting process.
- Interactive Side Panels – Customer, vendor, salesperson, and employee information is now accessible through side panels on relevant forms. Open documents, balances, and compensation details are visible without leaving the current screen.
- Activity Stream – A redesigned activity feed consolidates all communications and tasks for a customer record in a single, searchable view.
- Self-Service Customer Portal – A redesigned customer portal built on the current UI gives business customers self-service access to account information, balances, and Acumatica Payments for invoice payment. B2B customers can also place orders directly through the portal with visibility into inventory levels.
Inventory Management and Order Management
Updates to inventory and order processing in Acumatica 2026 R1 focus on warehouse flexibility, traceability, and purchasing controls:
- On-the-Fly Picking Location Changes – Warehouse staff can now change the assigned pick location for an item during the picking process to reflect real-time inventory movements without interrupting the workflow.
- Approvals for Inventory Adjustments – A configurable approval workflow can now be applied to inventory adjustment transactions before they post, adding a control layer for businesses that require authorization on stock changes.
- Multi-Currency Requisitions – Purchase requisitions can now include items from subsidiaries with different base currencies in a single request, removing the need to create separate requisitions per entity.
- Automated Putaway with Location Recommendations – The receiving process now surfaces recommended putaway locations based on predefined rules, reducing the time required to place inventory after receipt.
- Automatic Lot and Serial Number Generation – Lot and serial numbers can now be generated automatically using user-defined templates during the receiving process, removing manual entry for items requiring lot or serial tracking.
- Batch Pick Lists with Shortages – Pick lists can now be created for order batches even when inventory shortages exist, allowing partial fulfillment to proceed and backorders to be tracked.
- Inventory Kit Planning – Lot-tracked and serialized kit components are now included in inventory planning calculations, improving visibility into component availability for kit demand.
- Default Purchase Source for Non-Stock Items – A default purchase order source (standard or drop-ship) can now be assigned to non-stock items. When set, the system auto-populates the PO Source field on related sales orders and requisitions.
- Redesigned Pacejet Integration – The Pacejet carrier rating and shipping integration has been redesigned for improved performance and reliability across the shipping workflow.
Projects, Construction and Professional Services
The Construction and Professional Services Editions receive a wide range of additions in Acumatica 2026 R1 covering change order management, project financials, material tracking, and field time capture:
Change Order Workflow Improvements – The cost portion of a change order can now be released before formal revenue approval is received, allowing projects to stay on schedule. New status fields track the project owner’s approval of the revenue portion, and change requests from reversed change orders can be reused without manual rework.
- Project and Branch Alignment in Purchasing – Accounts payable clerks and purchasing agents can now select only valid project and branch combinations when entering purchase orders, subcontracts, and AP bills, reducing coding errors in multi-entity projects.
- Project Audit Report – A new report consolidates all documents and unbilled transactions for a project in one view, supporting audit preparation and helping project managers identify unprocessed items.
- Tag-Based Project Document Management – Project files can now be organized with configurable tag structures, with the ability to assign tags to multiple files at once. Line-level attachments are accessible directly, and the system flags duplicate uploads before they are saved.
- Material Procurement for Projects – Materials can now be planned, purchased, and issued directly to a project without requiring a sales order. Material requirements can be built from project quotes and budgets, with tracking from purchase through receipt and delivery to the job site.
- Cost Forecasting by Quantity and Unit Rate – Project cost forecasts can now be built using specific quantities and unit rates rather than lump-sum estimates, giving project managers more precise control over cost-to-complete projections.
- Employee Utilization Report – A new report breaks down how employee time is allocated across project and non-project activities, covering billable versus non-billable hours for staffing and workload analysis.
- Project Revenue Analysis – The billing process for time-and-expense projects can now be run in analysis mode without generating actual invoices, showing the revenue that would be recognized if billing were run at that moment.
- Unbilled Project Revenue Aging – A new aging report breaks unbilled work-in-progress into time buckets, giving project managers visibility into outstanding billable work by age.
- Mobile Time Tracking for Project Tasks – Field teams can now track time against specific project tasks in the Acumatica mobile app, log daily labor activities, and create time entries directly from daily field reports or timecards.
Manufacturing Edition
The Manufacturing Edition adds shop floor tooling, time precision improvements and costing corrections in Acumatica 2026 R1:
- Shop Floor Kiosk – A new dedicated interface designed for shop floor use gives production workers a touch-friendly screen for reporting labor, recording production output, logging scrap, and tracking lot and serial numbers. The interface is organized around work centers rather than system menus, reducing training time for floor staff.
- Second-Level Time Tracking – Production and labor times can now be captured and stored to the second, supporting more accurate costing for fast-cycle manufacturing and providing more precise data for scheduling and performance analysis.
- In-Transit Inventory as Planned Supply – Inventory currently in transit between locations is now included in MRP planned supply calculations, reducing the risk of redundant purchase orders or transfers when stock is already on the way.
- Enhanced Costing for Overissued Inventory – When inventory is over-issued to a production order, cost variances now post to a dedicated WIP Variance Account rather than requiring manual reconciliation, giving cost accountants a cleaner path to resolving production cost reporting.
Retail and eCommerce
The Retail Commerce Edition adds payment processing, eCommerce connector flexibility and new reporting for marketplace sellers in Acumatica 2026 R1:
- Acumatica Payments for Shopify and BigCommerce – Native Acumatica Payments can now be connected directly to Shopify and BigCommerce storefronts, giving merchants a single payment processing layer across their ERP and eCommerce channels.
- BigCommerce B2B Company Import – B2B company accounts from BigCommerce can now be synced into Acumatica, keeping business account data, customer details, and order history consistent across both platforms.
- Shopify Marketplace Tax Handling – Marketplace-remitted tax flows from Shopify integrations covering Shop, TikTok, Instagram, and Walmart are now handled with dedicated tax account mapping and updated payment and refund processing logic.
- Enhanced eCommerce Connector Mapping – Field mapping between Acumatica and both Shopify and BigCommerce is now more flexible, with additional mapping options for data synchronization across the integration.
- Amazon Connector Dashboards – New dashboards in the Amazon Connector provide visibility into sales profitability, Amazon fees, refunds, item-level performance, FBA inventory reconciliation, and settlement activity within the ERP.
Acumatica Platform
Acumatica 2026 R1 also adds several platform-wide tools covering file management, document signing, financial reporting, and device management:
- Tag-Based File Management – Custom tags and permission settings can now be applied to any file across the platform. Files can be searched, filtered, and shared by tag, with tag structures configurable by record type such as inventory items, project documents, and more.
- eSign Integration – Contracts and documents can now be sent for electronic signature directly from Acumatica using Adobe Acrobat Sign or DocuSign. Signed documents sync back automatically, and signature status is tracked within the record.
- ARM-to-Excel Integration (InsightXL) – Analytical Report Manager (ARM) data can now be exported live into Excel. Parameters can be adjusted and data refreshed directly within Excel while the audit trail is maintained in Acumatica.
- Device Hub Improvements – The Device Hub has been updated with a redesigned configuration process and support for Acumatica’s contract-based API, improving performance for printers, scales, and handheld devices in warehouse and fulfillment environments.
Learn More About Acumatica 2026 R1 with SWK Technologies
SWK Technologies is an Acumatica Gold Partner and 2024 Partner of the Year with certified consultants and support teams ready to help you evaluate how these new features can benefit your business. Whether you are considering an upgrade to Acumatica 2026 R1 or exploring Acumatica Cloud ERP for the first time, SWK can help you build the right technology fit for your workflows.
Contact SWK here to learn more about Acumatica 2026 R1 and get started on your upgrade today.