Comparing these two platforms can be a little tricky because they are essentially in different weight classes. Acumatica provides a cloud-based ERP aimed at small to medium businesses. Brightpearl is built to be a multi-channel retail management system.
Therefore, it is probably more accurate to compare Brightpearl with Acumatica’s Distribution Edition, since they share many of the same features. Here’s a quick comparison of their capabilities:
Kensium has over seven years of experience implementing Acumatica for all types of businesses. Based on our experience, we’ve realized there are specific vital questions that a company needs to answer for themselves when deciding to implement a new back-office software.
Both Brightpearl and Acumatica give full visibility into inventory levels at any location. Inventory levels are automatically updated in real-time based on inventory sales, warehouse-to-warehouse transfers, returns, and restocks. Other features include changing pricing from the platform and tracking product assembly and raw material inventory.
However, Acumatica’s Distribution Edition does include some additional capabilities:
Both Acumatica and Brightpearl have these financial management features:
However, Acumatica offers a few more features than Brightpearl:
Acumatica is the clear winner in terms of functionality.
Acumatica offers an ERP solution with a lower total cost of ownership and a choice of deployment options (on-premise vs. cloud). The solution is built on .NET and Microsoft’s server stack and integrates with Microsoft Office 365 and Power BI.
Acumatica can be deployed as a SaaS solution, but you can choose from on-premise and private cloud options. With the SaaS subscription, you pay an annual fee, and a cloud computing provider handles all your IT maintenance. Acumatica charges a one-time licensing fee and a recurring annual maintenance fee for on-premise deployment. It’s worth noting that the vast majority of Acumatica customers opt for the SaaS solution.
Brightpearl implements its solutions exclusively on the cloud, which won’t work for companies seeking an on-premise solution. The main reason companies use on-premise solutions is data security. Confidential medical records, credit card information, or intellectual property are all examples of data that is so sensitive, it needs to be stored in a secure server on site. If your business handles this type of data or will handle it in the future, you may want to have the on-premise option.
Brightpearl is for merchants generating $1M or above in revenue, or those that expect to be generating that much in the next 12 months. They offer two deployment options: A full implementation and their Order Management Solution, which consists of reduced features and a lack of optional extensions.
While Brightpearl follows a standard approach of selling its software directly and through licensed third parties, Acumatica offers a consumption-based pricing model.
A significant benefit of this model is flexibility. Instead of paying for a certain number of seats and hiring an implementation consultant to handle your setup and customization, Acumatica lets you pick and choose your applications, deployment preference, and projected level of consumption—that is, how many transactions you’ll handle and how much data storage you need.
Acumatica is a comprehensive ERP that handles all aspects of business. Whether you’re a small manufacturer or distributor with a greater need for flexibility and customization, or a larger organization that needs to manage multiple companies, Acumatica is the best fit.
Kensium has over seven years of experience implementing ERP systems, so if you are still unsure what might be right for you, please contact us for a free consultation.