Most finance teams do not decide to buy multi-entity accounting software. They drift into needing it. A second legal entity for a new location, a holding company for a funding round, a subsidiary abroad, and suddenly month-end means exporting each QuickBooks file, merging everything in Excel, booking intercompany eliminations by hand and hoping nobody spots the one mapping error that forces a rework. This guide compares the platforms finance leaders actually shortlist when that happens, from the established ERPs to the new AI-native systems, on the criteria that decide the choice: consolidation, implementation risk, real cost and reporting.
In short. For most mid-market groups with 3 to 50 entities, Sage Intacct is the safest all-round choice for consolidation and dimensional reporting. NetSuite OneWorld fits global groups with many jurisdictions and the budget for a long implementation. Business Central is the natural pick for Microsoft shops, Intuit Enterprise Suite is the shortest step up for US companies that want to stay with Intuit, and AI-native ERPs such as Rillet, DualEntry and Campfire are worth a serious look for modern teams that want a fast close and can live with a younger vendor.
When You Have Actually Outgrown QuickBooks
QuickBooks Online is a good system for one company. It was not designed to be the general ledger of a group. The signs that you have crossed that line are consistent across industries:
- Consolidation lives in a spreadsheet that one person understands, rebuilt every month from exports of each entity.
- Intercompany charges, loans and management fees are reconciled by email between entity bookkeepers, and eliminations are manual journals.
- Reporting by location, franchise, clinic, project or business line needs a custom workbook each time someone asks.
- The close keeps slipping, from about a week to two weeks or more, as entities and transaction volume grow.
- An auditor, lender or investor starts asking about controls, audit trails and segregation of duties that your current setup cannot show.
If two or more of these describe your month-end, the cost of staying is already higher than it looks, mostly in senior finance time and in decisions made on late numbers.
The PURIST Fit Score: How We Compare Them
We score each platform on the four criteria that matter most for a group outgrowing small-business accounting. The weights reflect what usually decides a project in practice.
| Dimension | What it measures | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidation and intercompany | Native consolidation, automated intercompany entries and eliminations, multi-currency | 30% |
| Implementation speed and risk | Time to go live, need for consultants, migration effort from QuickBooks | 25% |
| True cost at 3 to 20 entities | Licence plus implementation and services in the first two years | 25% |
| Reporting and controls | Dimensional reporting, audit trail, approvals, role-based access | 20% |
The Comparison Table
| Platform | Consolidation and intercompany | Implementation speed and risk | True cost | Reporting and controls | PURIST Fit Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sage Intacct | 9/10 | 6/10 | 6/10 | 9/10 | 7.5/10 |
| Rillet | 8/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 8/10 | 7.5/10 |
| DualEntry | 8/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 7/10 | 7.3/10 |
| Campfire | 8/10 | 7/10 | 6/10 | 7/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | 7/10 | 6/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 | 7.0/10 |
| Intuit Enterprise Suite | 6/10 | 8/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 7.0/10 |
| NetSuite OneWorld | 10/10 | 4/10 | 4/10 | 9/10 | 6.8/10 |
| QuickBooks Online Advanced plus spreadsheets (baseline) | 3/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 4/10 | 6.7/10 |
The baseline row is deliberate. Staying on QuickBooks scores well on cost and effort, which is exactly why teams stay too long. Its weakness is concentrated in the two criteria that grow with every new entity: consolidation and controls. NetSuite has the deepest consolidation of the group but ranks lower here because of implementation time and cost; for a large global group those weights would shift and NetSuite would rise.
The Real Cost Comparison Nobody Publishes
None of the established ERPs publish full list prices, and the AI-native vendors mostly quote too. The figures below come from vendor pages where available and from third-party procurement benchmarks otherwise. Treat them as planning ranges and get two or three written quotes.
| Platform | Pricing model | Reported cost range | Typical go-live |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sage Intacct | Annual subscription, quote-based, by modules and entities | Custom quote; usually requires a partner for implementation | A few months with a partner |
| NetSuite OneWorld | Annual licence plus modules and users | Custom quote; implementation often the largest cost | Commonly 6 to 12 months |
| Business Central | Per user per month, published | About $80 (Essentials) to $110 (Premium) per user per month, billed annually | Partner-led, weeks to months |
| Intuit Enterprise Suite | Quote-based | Third-party estimates around $12,000 to $15,000 a year for 2 to 5 entities, before services | Weeks |
| Rillet | Complexity-based, not per seat | Procurement data reports a median around $28,000 a year | Weeks |
| DualEntry | Tiers by entity count (3, 20, unlimited), implementation included | Quote-based; third-party estimates vary widely by modules | Weeks |
| Campfire | Quote-based by size and modules | No public pricing | Weeks |
| QuickBooks Online Advanced | Published monthly plan | Roughly $3,300 a year at list, per company file | Already live |
The licence is rarely the decisive number. Implementation partners, data migration, integrations and the internal hours your controller spends during the project often equal or exceed the first year of software. That is why fast-to-implement platforms score well on true cost even when their licence is not the cheapest.
Platform by Platform
Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct is the platform reviewers most consistently recommend for mid-market multi-entity groups. Its dimensional general ledger lets you tag every transaction by entity, location, department, project or any custom dimension, so reporting by franchise or clinic does not require a separate chart of accounts per site. Intercompany transactions and eliminations are handled natively, and consolidation runs inside the system rather than in a workbook. The trade-off is that implementation usually goes through a Sage partner, and pricing is quote-based. It is a strong fit for US and lightly international groups in professional services, healthcare, nonprofits, franchises and SaaS.
NetSuite OneWorld
NetSuite OneWorld is the heavyweight. It handles global consolidation across many subsidiaries, currencies, tax regimes and jurisdictions, and it extends into inventory, order management, CRM and e-commerce. For a group with international subsidiaries and complex compliance, that breadth is justified. For a group with five US entities and no inventory, it is often more system than you need. Third-party reviews commonly cite implementations of six to twelve months and significant consulting costs, so budget for the project, not just the licence. If you are weighing NetSuite against Intacct specifically, our NetSuite vs Sage Intacct vs QuickBooks Enterprise comparison goes deeper on that choice.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Business Central is Microsoft's ERP for small and mid-sized companies. Its main advantages are published per-user pricing, tight integration with Microsoft 365, Excel and Power BI, and a large partner network. It supports multiple companies and consolidation, though groups with heavy intercompany activity often add partner extensions. It fits best when your company already runs on Microsoft and wants the ERP to feel like part of the same stack.
Intuit Enterprise Suite
Intuit Enterprise Suite is Intuit's answer to companies outgrowing QuickBooks Online Advanced. It adds multi-entity management, consolidated reporting and intercompany features while keeping the QuickBooks experience your team already knows, which keeps training and migration risk low. Reviews note that it is aimed at US entities, so groups with foreign subsidiaries should check entity and currency support carefully. Pricing is quote-based, and third-party estimates put it at a fraction of a full ERP. It is the shortest step up, not the last one.
Rillet
Rillet is one of the best-known AI-native ERPs, built around automating the close. It reads revenue, billing and payment data directly from systems like Stripe and your CRM, automates revenue recognition, and supports native multi-entity consolidation. It is strongest for SaaS and subscription businesses with complex revenue, and it partners with other tools rather than covering inventory and operations itself. Pricing is based on complexity rather than seats, and procurement data reports a median contract around $28,000 a year.
DualEntry
DualEntry positions itself as an AI-native ERP with broad module coverage and the clearest multi-entity pricing structure of the new vendors: plans are separated by entity count, and implementation is included in every plan according to the vendor. That makes it attractive for groups expecting to add entities. As with any young platform, check references from companies with a similar entity count and transaction volume before you commit.
Campfire
Campfire targets finance teams at companies with roughly $15 million to $100 million in revenue and two or more legal entities, with multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation as core features and an AI layer for close and analysis. Pricing is quote-based and not public. It is a credible option for modern groups that want a faster close than legacy systems deliver, with the usual diligence on vendor maturity.
Which Platform Fits Which Group
- A US group of 3 to 50 entities with dimensional reporting needs (franchises, clinics, multi-location services): Sage Intacct, with Intuit Enterprise Suite as the lighter alternative if you want to stay with Intuit.
- A global group with many subsidiaries, currencies and jurisdictions: NetSuite OneWorld, with a realistic implementation budget.
- A company standardized on Microsoft 365, Excel and Power BI: Business Central.
- A SaaS or subscription business whose pain is revenue recognition and a slow close: Rillet, or another AI-native ERP after a reference check.
- A fast-growing group that will keep adding entities: DualEntry or Campfire, with Sage Intacct as the established comparison point.
How to Run the Migration Without Breaking the Close
The biggest risk in this project is not choosing the wrong vendor, it is going live in the middle of a close with half-migrated data. A few rules make the difference:
- 1 Standardize the chart of accounts and dimensions across entities before you migrate, not after.
- 2 Pick a go-live date at the start of a quarter or fiscal year, and run one parallel close in both systems.
- 3 Migrate opening balances and open items first; bring history over only as far as your auditors and reporting actually need.
- 4 Map every intercompany relationship (who charges whom, for what, and how it is eliminated) on one page before configuration starts.
- 5 Decide upfront which integrations move with you: banks, payroll, billing, expense management and your CRM.
Where Automation Fits Around the ERP
Even the best ERP leaves manual work at the edges: collecting invoices from inboxes, pushing approved bills into the right entity, chasing approvals, syncing billing systems, and sending a daily cash position to leadership. This is where workflow automation earns its place. With n8n, we typically connect the ERP to the tools around it so that documents land in the right entity automatically, exceptions go to a person for review, and nobody rekeys data between systems. See our guide to B2B finance automation for payments, AP and reconciliation for the workflows that usually come first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best accounting software for multi-entity businesses?
For most mid-market groups, Sage Intacct is the most consistently recommended choice for consolidation and dimensional reporting. NetSuite OneWorld is stronger for complex global groups, Business Central for Microsoft-standardized companies, and Intuit Enterprise Suite for US companies that want the smallest step up from QuickBooks. AI-native ERPs such as Rillet, DualEntry and Campfire are credible newer options for teams that prioritize a fast, automated close.
Can QuickBooks Online handle multiple entities?
QuickBooks Online uses one company file per entity. You can run several files and combine them in spreadsheets or with add-on consolidation tools, but it is not a native multi-entity system: intercompany eliminations and consolidated reporting stay manual or depend on third-party tools.
How long does it take to move from QuickBooks to an ERP?
It depends on the platform and scope. Lighter systems such as Intuit Enterprise Suite and several AI-native ERPs are reported to go live in weeks. Sage Intacct and Business Central usually take a few months with a partner. NetSuite OneWorld implementations are commonly reported at six to twelve months for multi-entity groups.
What does multi-entity accounting software cost?
Expect quote-based pricing for most platforms. Business Central publishes per-user prices of about $80 to $110 per user per month. Third-party benchmarks put Intuit Enterprise Suite around $12,000 to $15,000 a year for a few entities and AI-native ERPs such as Rillet around $28,000 a year at the median. Implementation and services can match or exceed the first year of licences, especially for NetSuite.
What is an AI-native ERP?
An AI-native ERP is an accounting system designed around automation from the start: transactions are ingested directly from banks, billing and payment systems, matching and reconciliation are automated, and AI assists with the close, flux analysis and reporting. Rillet, DualEntry and Campfire are the best-known examples. They are younger than NetSuite or Sage Intacct, so reference checks matter.
Sources and Method
Scores are PURIST's editorial assessment using the weighted criteria above. Pricing comes from vendor pages where published (Business Central) and otherwise from third-party reviews and procurement benchmarks, including Spendflo, ERP Scorecard, ERP Research and TechnologyAdvice. Prices and features change often; confirm with each vendor before you buy.
To map your current close and find what to automate before or after an ERP move, book a free automation audit. We work around all of these platforms and are not paid by any of them for this comparison.
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Purist Team
The PURIST editorial team covers automation, AI agents, and operations strategy for businesses scaling with n8n, Make, and Claude AI.
