Dynamics GP vs Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Sage Intacct – A Side-by-Side Comparison
Both Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central are ERPs aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, and are well-suited for managing an organization’s core finances. Sage Intacct is also aimed at small and medium-sized businesses that utilize cloud-native solutions such as Quickbooks or Quickbooks online but have since outgrown the tools. While they may have very similar features at the end of the day, there are some key differences in licensing, hosting, upgrades/updates, and functionality that should be noted.
Sage Intacct is a good option if you need a lot of accounting features. Sage Intacct specializes in accounting and provides significant financial management capabilities as a best-in-class solution. It complies with GAAP and is the only financial management software recommended by the AICPA. Although Sage Intacct has some operational capabilities, they are quite basic.
Understanding the important differences isn’t completely black and white. In many ways, GP and BC are similar, with features and functions that appear to be the same.
GP vs Business Central Comparison
Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central are quite similar when it comes to their functionality. Both offer budgeting, reporting, ways to segment the general ledger account structure, and support for fixed asset management and eBanking.
GP and Business Central provide similar functionality for:
- Bill of Materials
- eBanking
- Fixed Assets
- Inter-company Processing
- Inventory Tracking
- Sales Order Processing
- Project Accounting (now called Jobs)
- Manufacturing
- Multiple Currencies
- Multiple Entities
- SQL Server Reporting Services
However, one of the most important differences in functionality is Business Central’s dimensional accounting. Dimensions in Dynamics 365 Business Central let you define analysis categories and then “tag” your data so you can quickly review, for instance, travel expenses across several different departments.
Microsoft Dynamics GP Overview
With Microsoft Dynamics GP, you have options in both licensing and hosting:
GP Licensing Options
- Perpetual licensing — you own your licensing.
- Subscription licensing — you have the flexibility of paying monthly.
GP Hosting Options
- On-premise hosting — you maintain your own servers.
- Cloud hosting — your servers are hosted through Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas).
GP Pricing
With perpetual licensing, you pay the full licensing costs upfront, starting from $5,000 USD for 3 users (or $6,167 CAD). You also pay an annual maintenance fee to Microsoft after that. As of October 1, 2022, customers will typically pay 19% the first year and 17% after that. Subscription licensing avoids that large initial capital expense.
With cloud hosting, you save the cost and risk of upgrading your servers every 2–3 years. Cloud hosting also provides superior security and easier remote work options. Your Dynamics Partner may also offer additional cloud perks such as 24-hour monitoring, weekly server updates, break-fix support, and automatic backups.
However, companies that have special data regulations or that are located in areas with weak Internet connectivity may find the on-premise option better suited to their needs.
Dynamics GP has strong business rules and a very intuitive interface. It’s simple and follows best practices from a business or finance perspective, especially for traditional businesses. It also offers a wide variety of options from many ISV providers for additional functionality. This is what makes — and will continue to make — Dynamics GP such a valuable tool.