QuickBooks vs Acumatica for construction

The most common move we run. Here’s how the two actually compare for a contractor.

QuickBooksWhere you are

The other side

The short answer

QuickBooks tracks what the company earned. Acumatica tracks what each job is earning while it’s still running.

Stay on QuickBooks ifIt’s still doing the job

Under roughly $10M, running a handful of jobs
No AIA progress billing
No certified payroll or equipment fleet
The GL still answers job-level questions

Move to Acumatica whenYou’ve outgrown it

Your team re-keys data between systems
AIA billing gets built by hand in Excel
The ledger and subledgers don’t tie out
Committed cost and retainage live in spreadsheets

Signs you’ve outgrown QuickBooks →

Side by side

QuickBooks vs Acumatica side by side

Capability	QuickBooks	Acumatica
Job cost	Class or customer:job workarounds; committed cost not tracked	Native job cost with committed cost, cost-to-complete and change order impact
AIA progress billing	Not supported; built by hand in Excel	Native G702/G703 from the schedule of values
Retainage	Manual spreadsheet tracking	Tracked natively on receivables and payables
Certified payroll	Requires a third-party add-on or manual assembly	Generated from the payroll run, prevailing-wage ready
WIP reporting	Rebuilt manually each month	Produced from the ledger with over- and underbillings
Equipment cost	Absorbed into overhead	Allocated to jobs by usage, with meter-based maintenance
Users	Per-seat, so field access gets expensive fast	Consumption-based; the whole field can have access
Multi-entity	Separate files, consolidated manually	Native multi-entity with automated consolidation

Client story

What outgrowing QuickBooks looked like for Bright Star

Bright Star was growing fast, and QuickBooks and manual processes couldn’t keep up. After moving to Acumatica with Dominate Solutions, the company added roughly 25% in top-line revenue without growing its administrative team at the same pace.

~25% revenue growth without matching admin hires
Less manual work across the back office
One connected system instead of QuickBooks plus spreadsheets

Making the move

QuickBooks to Acumatica: pricing, timeline and migration

Pricing

QuickBooks is priced per user. Acumatica is licensed on consumption, so every field user can be on the system without adding cost.

Timeline

Four to nine months for a mid-market contractor. Your data condition sets the date, not the software.

What migrates

Open AR and AP, vendors, customers, chart of accounts, open job budgets and one to two years of summarized history.

Before you start

Clean up unapplied cash and reconcile customer accounts. It’s the biggest driver of migration cost.

Construction ERP FAQs

When should a construction company move off QuickBooks?

When the general ledger can no longer answer job-level questions and the business has built a ring of point solutions around it to compensate. The tell is manual re-keying between systems, and committed cost, cost-to-complete and retainage living outside the accounting system.

Can QuickBooks handle AIA progress billing?

Not natively. Contractors doing commercial work assemble G702/G703 applications by hand in Excel, which is slow and error-prone at exactly the point where billing accuracy determines cash flow. This is the most common single reason a commercial contractor has to leave.

Is Acumatica more expensive than QuickBooks?

On the license line, yes. The comparison that matters is total cost including the point solutions QuickBooks requires, the administrative headcount absorbed by manual work, and the margin lost to job cost that arrives after the job closes. Acumatica also prices on consumption rather than per user, so field access does not multiply the cost.

Can QuickBooks handle AIA progress billing?

Not natively. Contractors on QuickBooks typically produce G702/G703 applications in a spreadsheet or an add-on, then key the totals back into the ledger. Acumatica generates them directly from the schedule of values, with retainage and change orders carried through.

Is Acumatica overkill for a contractor coming from QuickBooks?

Below roughly $25M in revenue, often yes. Above that, the question is whether job cost, billing and payroll are already being run outside the ledger. If they are, the business is already paying for an ERP in labor, just without the system.

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