A custom ERP built by Black Badger is the best replacement for an on-premise construction accounting system, because a contractor that has run one system for years knows what it needs and can have that built without adopting the limits of a new product. Sage Intacct Construction is the best product to move to, as cloud accounting with job costing and WIP that suits a contractor with several entities.
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Custom build by Black Badger
Best for contractors that know what the old system did well
This is a replacement list, so the custom route goes first. Black Badger publishes this guide and builds these systems. A contractor leaving an on-premise package has years of cost codes, report formats and habits built around it, and a new product asks the office to relearn all of it. We map what your team uses, build that as a system you own with no licenses or per-seat fee, and move the history across.
Watch for. Keep the old system readable until the first year-end and audit are closed on the new one. History comes across, but old report formats must be rebuilt.
- 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
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
2 Sage Intacct Construction
Best for contractors that want a cloud ledger with job costing and WIP
If you would prefer a product, Sage Intacct Construction is the most direct move to the cloud. It provides cloud accounting with job costing and WIP across trades and subcontracts, and it suits a contractor with several entities. Sage prices it by business size, entity structure and modules. This list is about leaving a server, and Sage Intacct Construction is cloud accounting from the start.
Watch for. Project management is a separate platform, Sage Construction Management, which needs the Sage Intacct subscription. Budget for both if you need both.
- How it charges
- Quoted by business size, entities and modules
- Main limit
- Sage Construction Management needs a Sage Intacct subscription as well
3 Acumatica Cloud ERP
Best for contractors that want cloud now and a private cloud option
Acumatica Cloud ERP is third. A contractor leaving on-premise software is sometimes not ready to give up control of where the system runs, and Acumatica lets the buyer choose between a SaaS subscription and a private cloud subscription. It prices by applications, usage and deployment option and not by user seats. It is a general ERP sold through resellers, so the construction fit depends on the reseller.
Watch for. The reseller explains the cost difference between SaaS and private cloud. Get both priced before you choose.
- 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
4 CMiC
Best for contractors that want accounting and project controls in one move
CMiC ranks fourth as a replacement. A contractor replacing its accounting can use the move to bring project controls onto the same database, which CMiC is built around. That is a larger project than replacing the ledger alone, with a larger benefit. It ranks here because the pages we read do not say whether the product is cloud or on-premise, and deployment is the question this list starts from.
Watch for. Ask CMiC how the product is deployed before anything else. If the answer is a server in your office, you have not left on-premise.
- How it charges
- Quoted by sales, no published price
- Main limit
- No price or deployment model is stated on its pages, so both need a sales call
5 Viewpoint Vista
Best for large contractors replacing an older on-premise system
Viewpoint Vista is fifth. For a large contractor with several entities it replaces an older system with a configurable enterprise ERP, and all Viewpoint subscriptions include 24/7 technical support and unlimited access to Trimble Construction Academy training, which helps an office through a change. It ranks lower because it is described for large-scale contractors and the configuration is deep.
Watch for. Trimble publishes no Vista price or deployment detail on the page we read. Ask how Vista is hosted for a new customer.
- How it charges
- Quoted by sales, no published price
- Main limit
- Described as an enterprise ERP for large contractors, with no published price
6 Oracle NetSuite
Best for contractors that want a vendor-managed cloud and general ERP
Oracle NetSuite ranks sixth. It is a multi-tenant product the vendor manages, with no on-premise option. Accounting is in the core platform. It ranks low on this list because it is a general ERP, so job costing, retainage and construction billing have to be confirmed or configured. Implementation and data migration are costs beyond the license.
Watch for. Have the seller demonstrate a job cost report and a progress billing in your format before you go further.
- How it charges
- Quoted annual license by modules and users
- Main limit
- Quote only, and each module is licensed separately
7 Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
Best for sage 300 users who want to stay and move off their own server
Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate ranks seventh as the option to stay. A contractor already on it, or on Timberline Office as it was formerly called, can keep the software and move it to a third-party host or AWS under subscription licensing. Nothing has to be relearned. It is last because that changes where the server sits and not what the system can do.
Watch for. Each hosting route has different costs. Compare the hosted total with a cloud product before you renew.
- How it charges
- Quoted by modules and users, perpetual or subscription
- Main limit
- Runs on your servers or a third-party host or AWS, not as one vendor cloud
How this list was ranked
This list assumes the decision to leave an on-premise accounting system is made, so it ranks destinations. The test was how much of what the office already knows survives the move, what each vendor states about deployment, and how much new product a contractor has to learn.
Custom is first on this list because it is a replacement list. On our general list it is third.
Questions buyers ask
Why do contractors leave on-premise accounting systems?
Contractors leave on-premise accounting systems because the server ages, remote access is awkward for project managers and field staff, and the people who know the system retire. Often the software still does the accounting well, and the hardware, the access and the staffing around it have changed.
What does not come across when you replace a construction accounting system?
Open jobs, vendors, employees and history generally transfer. Custom reports, form layouts, user-defined fields and the small rules built up over the years do not transfer in a usable form. They have to be rebuilt, which is a chance to drop the ones nobody reads.
When in the year should a contractor switch construction accounting systems?
A contractor should switch accounting systems at a fiscal year-end when it can, so payroll and tax reporting start clean on the new system. The order that works is an export check, a list of what the office uses and a decision on the destination. A period of running both systems follows before the old system is switched off.
Is hosting our current construction accounting system enough?
Hosting your current construction accounting system is sometimes enough. If the software still fits and only the server is the problem, moving it to a host is the smallest change. If project managers still cannot see job cost without calling accounting, hosting will not fix that.