When comparing Acumatica versus Deltek to find the best ERP for your construction or other project accounting and management related needs, it is important to look at the different solutions both of these publishers provide. One leverages various suite-based “Editions” with some flexibility in choosing modules, while the other offers separate applications that cater to different business sizes and industry uses. This means that depending on your specific requirements, the right choice for your business will vary according to what you are looking to get out of your software investment.
Acumatica and Deltek – Solutions for Project Management
Acumatica and Deltek both provide their own solutions for project accounting and management, with some overlap in features but key differences in their approach. ERP tailored for architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms along with those in other professional services must be equipped to handle all of the unique operational and financial management and reporting needs of your ecosystem, or support third-party apps that do. Modern systems should also allow you to scale around your infrastructure, e.g., if you are a general or specialty trade contractor, seek out a cloud-based application that lets you keep all users from the field to your back office connected in real-time without having to invest in additional equipment.
Acumatica
Acumatica Cloud ERP is a relatively young accounting and business management system that focuses on providing user-centric functionality, a connected technology stack and virtually unlimited scalability. It is a cloud-native solution yet provides multiple options for deployment beyond simple SaaS (Software as a Service), giving you the choice to host in a public or private cloud, or even on-premise in certain cases while retaining access to the same web-based architecture. With a robust ecosystem that includes an active Community network and hundreds of integration partners, Acumatica also makes it much easier to bridge the gap between your disparate systems and data silos, unifying your reporting in a consolidated database and eliminating the need to jump between multiple applications.
Acumatica Construction Edition
Acumatica Construction Edition is a suite tailored for contractors of various stripes, real estate developers, home builders and more, granting you the tools you need to address your unique challenges while remaining flexible enough to adapt to changing business needs. It comes with various features for project accounting, field reporting, job costing, AIA billing, document management, field service tracking, jobsite management and much more.
Acumatica Professional Services Edition
Acumatica Professional Services Edition (PSE) is a newer entry in the portfolio of Acumatica Cloud ERP, delivering expanded capabilities for project-based accounting and reporting that add onto what is available with the Construction Edition. These include more advanced time and expense management, an embedded CRM app, resource allocation and management, granular project billing, change management, payment automation and more.
Deltek
Deltek is a traditional provider of project management and accounting solutions, with a focus on serving government contractors and other AEC services-based businesses. Systems such as Vision and Ajera provided professional service firms in different channels with reliable on-premise ERP, while the ComputerEase acquisition in 2019 gave customers access to an application with more specific construction accounting features. With initial pricing by quote, user feedback and reviews reveal that Deltek software is relatively affordable upfront compared to other Enterprise Resource Planning software.
Unfortunately, there are a few issues between the different solutions on these points. Vision has aged out of market standards and Ajera is not that far behind, ComputerEase retains similar legacy software challenges and Vantagepoint users have long complained that the functionality does not always hold up to the older products. Additionally, there are a few somewhat hidden costs that appear over time as customers have to add on third-party applications to fill in feature gaps, often having to choose from a short list of integration partners depending on which system is being used.
Deltek Ajera
Deltek Ajera is tailored for small to mid-sized architecture and engineering firms requiring project-based accounting and resource management ERP. Its features include time and billing integrated with financial reporting, role-based project manager dashboards, scheduling management, change management and more.
Deltek ComputerEase
Deltek ComputerEase is designed for smaller general contractors and subcontractors in the construction field, bringing more industry-specific functionality for financial management and reporting. Some of the features it comes with include contract and subcontract management, field service management, equipment tracking, payroll, job costing, and accounts payable and receivable payment automation.
Deltek Vantagepoint
Deltek Vantagepoint (formerly Deltek Professional Services) has been the flagship product of its line for years, built more for larger midmarket AEC contractors and other service-based firms, and living in either an on-premise or cloud-hosted environment. It includes embedded CRM features along with project accounting and management, resource management, business intelligence and new AI-based tools.
Acumatica vs Deltek – Breakdown
Here is a breakdown of how Acumatica and its suite-based Editions measure up against the various Deltek solutions when it comes to project management and other features needed for professional services businesses:
Technology
The functionality and usability can vary considerably depending on which Deltek ERP you are using, but there are two big gaps when it comes to both the older and newer solutions. Both Ajera and ComputerEase are legacy systems that were built in on-premise environments, and while they can be migrated to a cloud-hosted platform they will always remain behind more modern applications in terms of features and access to customizations. Vantagepoint was also built in an older environment despite being a younger solution, and most users that have switched from Deltek Ajera or Vision complain that it is much slower and “clunkier” in comparison.
Acumatica Cloud ERP has stayed more up-to-date on its functionality, and has an overall healthier roadmap that includes more user-driven innovation as well as significant leaps in performance. With the xRP platform and a no code/low-code architecture, Acumatica is more accessible to users even without a developer background and can be customized around key business needs much more easily.
Cost
Deltek ERP are cheaper upfront than many other solutions on the market, but become more expensive the more they need to be built and integrated with the rest of your technology stack. As legacy systems, they also still rely on traditional user-based pricing, as opposed to newer applications like Acumatica which has a consumption-based cost model. Many cloud services charge for actual usage versus arbitrary per-seat costs, meaning that you pay for computing resources used each month instead of how many users you have on your subscription plan.
Integration
No professional services or construction SMB tech stack will be limited to ERP by itself, making integration with other software a critical factor to considering when choosing between products. All of the Deltek project accounting and management solutions mentioned here have a fairly short list of third-party applications they are able to integrate with, and being built on legacy technology, it will be much harder to build customizations that would allow for at least limited automated connections. Acumatica on the other hand has a marketplace of hundreds of partners such as Procore, ADP and more, with native connectors leveraging cloud APIs to sync data with your ERP without being customized.
Support
Support is not always consistent for Deltek according to user feedback, with reviews complaining about the lack of it or slow response times for the older products and even Vantagepoint at times. Customers will also sometimes have to purchase a separate support plan to have access to troubleshooting and service from the publisher, and many often go to web forums like Reddit for help. In contrast, Acumatica has several avenues for receiving customer support and resolution, from basic items included with your subscription and free training online to an active Community forum where end users, developers and partners all shared information freely and often sees direct engagement by the Acumatica Cloud ERP team.
Scalability
Scalability is not defined by a single characteristic in an ERP application, but by how well all the capabilities align with your business needs to help you make changes gradually and grow your operations. The age of the technology and functional gaps in Deltek Vantagepoint, Ajera and ComputerEase create limitations to scaling your processes, from the lack of mobile accessibility to the small number of applicable integrations. Acumatica is built with scalability and flexibility in mind, removing bottlenecks like per-user pricing and complex coding requirements to create a project management and accounting solution that works around your needs – not the other way around.
Learn More About Acumatica with SWK Technologies
As a 4-time Acumatica Partner of the Year, SWK Technologies combines deep Acumatica expertise with first-hand Deltek experience on our implementation team. Our consultants understand both platforms, ensuring you receive knowledgeable, unbiased guidance in evaluating the solution that best fits your business’s unique requirements and growth objectives.
Contact SWK here to schedule a consultation and discover how Acumatica can transform your project-based business operations with modern cloud capabilities.