What is the best first ERP for a mid-size company?
Oracle NetSuite is the best first ERP for most mid-size companies, because the vendor runs the system for you and the core platform covers accounting, inventory, order management and tax from the start. A custom ERP built by Black Badger ranks third, and it is the stronger first system when you can already describe your process in detail and no product you have seen matches it.
First-time buyers willing to adopt preset processes in full
Standard cloud ERP from a large vendor with preset processes
Packages let you start with finance or supply chain and add more
Publishes a per-user rate for its finance and supply chain packages
Minimum of 15 users
Sold as fixed packages that follow SAP preset processes
Plan for an implementation team, from SAP or one of its partners
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Oracle NetSuite
Best for first-time buyers with no one on staff to run servers
A first ERP is bought by a company that has never run one, usually with no one on staff who has. NetSuite is first because it removes the most decisions. It is a multi-tenant product that the vendor manages, so there is nothing to host or patch, and accounting, inventory, order management and tax management come in the core platform. You add modules later, when you know what you need.
Watch for. The license is only part of a first-year bill. The NetSuite pricing guide lists data migration, implementation, training and support as separate costs.
How it charges
Quoted annual license by modules and users
Main limit
Quote only, and each module is licensed separately
Best for first-time buyers who want to see the price before the sales call
Business Central is second as a first ERP. A first-time buyer has no reference point for what an ERP should cost, and Microsoft gives one by listing a per-user price for Essentials and for Premium, paid yearly. A company that already runs on Microsoft tools keeps the same vendor. It ranks behind NetSuite because the purchase and setup go through a partner you have to choose well.
Watch for. Microsoft says the listed prices are informational and the actual price appears at checkout. Have the partner confirm the figure in writing.
How it charges
Per user, paid yearly, bought through a Microsoft partner
Main limit
Manufacturing needs the Premium plan, and Microsoft sends buyers to a partner
Best for companies that can already describe how they work
Black Badger publishes this guide and builds custom software, which you should know before reading on. A custom ERP is third as a first system. Many first-time buyers do not yet know what they need, and a product teaches them. The exception is a company that has run the same well-understood process for years on spreadsheets and an accounting package. We can build that process as it stands, with no per-seat fee, and you own the result.
Watch for. If you cannot yet write down how an order moves through your company, start with a product. We will tell you the same thing in a first conversation.
How it charges
One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
Main limit
Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Best for first-time buyers who want to start with a few apps
Odoo ranks fourth as a first ERP. It lets a company begin small, since the One App Free plan costs nothing and the Standard plan is billed per user, yearly, for a wide set of apps. That makes it a low-cost way to learn what an ERP changes. It ranks below the top three because a mid-size company usually needs a partner to implement it, and that work is not in the plan price.
Watch for. Odoo applies a discount for 12 months to the initial users ordered. Budget on the standing price and treat the first-year price as temporary.
How it charges
Per user, billed yearly or monthly, one app free
Main limit
Mid-size firms usually need a partner, and Custom adds multi-company and Studio
Best for companies replacing an accounting package before anything else
Sage Intacct is fifth. Some companies shopping for a first ERP need a better accounting system, with multi-entity books, reporting and dashboards, and Intacct is suited to that. Starting there is a smaller project than a full ERP. It ranks in the lower half because it is a finance system first, so the operations side of the business stays in the tools it uses today.
Watch for. Identify where the problem is before you buy. If it is in inventory or production, a finance system alone will not remove it.
How it charges
Quoted by sales to the size and needs of the organization
Main limit
Quote only, built around accounting for mid-sized firms
Best for first-time buyers with a trusted local reseller
Acumatica ranks sixth for a first purchase. Its pricing by applications and resources is attractive, and the choice between a SaaS subscription and a private cloud subscription allows for growth. For a first-time buyer the difficulty is that sizing expected usage and resource needs is hard when you have never run an ERP. You depend on the reseller to size them correctly.
Watch for. Acumatica sells only through resellers. A first-time buyer should ask to speak with customers of that reseller as well as customers of the product.
How it charges
Quoted by applications and usage, not by user seats
Main limit
Quote only, sold through resellers, priced by resources and not by users
Best for first-time buyers willing to adopt preset processes in full
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is seventh as a first ERP. The GROW packages and the fixed-scope GROW Fast implementation are designed to get a company onto standard processes, which can suit a first-time buyer with no habits to protect. It ranks last here because the minimum is 15 users at a published per-user rate. That is a large first commitment for a company that has never run an ERP.
Watch for. The packages are scoped by area. Decide whether finance or supply chain comes first, since each is its own package.
How it charges
Per user, 15-user minimum, rate varies with user count
Main limit
Sold as fixed packages with a 15 user minimum, rate depends on user count
We ranked for a company of 50 or more employees moving from an accounting package and spreadsheets to its first ERP. Such a company usually has no ERP administrator on staff and no budget to hire a team of them. The fewer decisions and the less upkeep an option demands in the first year, the higher it ranks.
A first purchase is also the one most likely to be mis-scoped, so options with a public price or a contained starting point were ranked ahead of options that need accurate sizing up front.
Questions buyers ask
When is a mid-size company ready for its first ERP?
A mid-size company is ready for its first ERP when the month-end close depends on re-keying data between systems or when nobody trusts the inventory count. A second location or entity that strains the accounting package is another sign. Headcount alone is not the test. Some companies of 80 need one and some companies of 200 do not yet.
Can a mid-size company run an ERP without an ERP admin team?
Yes, a company can run an ERP without an admin team if it plans for that when it chooses. A vendor-managed cloud product such as NetSuite removes hosting and patching. A reseller or partner can hold the admin role on retainer. With a custom system, the firm that built it usually maintains it. A configurable ERP with no named owner does not work.
What does a first ERP cost beyond the license?
Beyond the license, a first ERP costs implementation, data migration, training and support. The NetSuite pricing guide names all four as costs beyond the license, and Odoo states that implementation services are not part of its plan price. Ask every vendor or partner to quote them alongside the licenses so you compare full totals.
Should a first ERP be custom?
A first ERP should usually not be custom, and Black Badger says so even though we build them. A product teaches a first-time buyer what an ERP does. Custom makes sense as a first system only when the process is stable, well understood and unlike what the products assume.