At a glance
Vendor descriptions below reflect publicly available positioning as of the date on this page and may change. Confirm current features, editions and pricing with the vendor before deciding.
| Acumatica Construction Edition | Forge ERP | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | General cloud ERP with a construction edition | ERP for project-based businesses, construction first |
| Typical buyer | Mid-market companies that want one ERP across construction and other lines of business | Contractors roughly $10M–$150M focused on finance and operations |
| Implementation | Through Acumatica partners; configuration-heavy | Direct, with a written cutover plan |
| Breadth | Very broad: financials, projects, CRM, inventory, field service, payroll module | Projects, purchasing, AP, billing/AR, costs and WIP, reports and close |
| Construction depth | Project accounting, commitments, change orders, pro forma invoicing, compliance | Job cost with committed cost, AIA-style billing, retainage, subcontract pay applications, WIP |
| Pricing posture | Resource-based licensing rather than per user; partner-quoted | Tiered subscription with 14-day trial |
| Procore | Connector available | Planned |
| AI | Platform AI features | Assistant that prepares reviewable drafts inside approval controls |
| Maturity | Established | Beta; no published customer results yet |
Where Acumatica is stronger
- Breadth: if you also run distribution, manufacturing or a service division, one platform covers it
- A large partner and developer ecosystem and a mature customization framework
- Consumption-based licensing can be attractive for companies with many occasional users
Where Forge is different
- Focus: the product is built around how a contractor’s finance team actually works, not configured down from a general ERP
- Fewer decisions at setup; the role model and defaults are chosen for construction finance rather than left open
- Controls are the foundation rather than a configuration: every posting is governed and auditable by default
- Direct relationship with the people building it, which matters for an early customer and costs you partner margin otherwise
Who should choose which
Choose Acumatica if construction is one of several businesses you run on the same ERP, or you want a highly configurable platform with a partner to tailor it. Choose Forge if construction finance is the job, you want a system that is already shaped for it, and a faster, simpler rollout matters more than breadth.
Forge ERP covers projects, purchasing, accounts payable, billing and receivables, job cost and WIP, reporting and close. Payroll runs in your payroll provider and lands in Forge as job-costed labor with burden. Forge is in beta with a 14-day free trial.
Frequently asked
- Is Forge a full ERP like Acumatica?
- Forge is an ERP for project-based businesses: projects, purchasing, AP, billing, job cost, reporting and close, with inventory and work orders for operators that need them. It does not try to cover manufacturing, distribution or CRM the way a general ERP does, and payroll runs in your provider.