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.
| CMiC | Forge ERP | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Enterprise construction ERP on a single database: financials, project management, field, equipment, HR and payroll | ERP for project-based businesses, construction first |
| Typical buyer | Mid-size to large general, specialty and civil contractors, commonly hundreds to thousands of employees; a notable share of the ENR Top 400 | Contractors roughly $10M–$150M; first cohort on Procore |
| Deployment | Vendor-hosted cloud or on-premises | Cloud, multi-tenant, browser-based |
| Implementation | Scoped projects commonly described in months to over a year, with data migration, configuration, integration and payroll setup | Direct, with a written cutover plan; import with duplicate matching and full revert |
| Controls | Enterprise-grade: workflow, approvals, multi-company, audit trail, extensive configuration | Governed posting engine, prepare/approve/post separation, auditable history; simpler role model |
| Payroll | Native construction payroll: certified, union, prevailing wage, multi-state | Through your payroll provider; job-costed labor with burden lands in Forge |
| Procore | Integration available; CMiC also offers its own project management | Planned |
| AI | Analytics and assistant features inside the platform | Assistant that prepares reviewable drafts inside approval controls |
| Pricing posture | Quote-based, typically role-based named-user licensing plus implementation services | Tiered subscription with 14-day trial; launch pricing for the first cohort |
| Maturity | Established, decades in market, large enterprise customer base | Beta; no published customer results yet |
Where CMiC is stronger
- Breadth: project management, field, equipment, HR and payroll in the same database as the ledger, so there is no integration to maintain between them
- Scale: multi-company, multi-currency, large project portfolios and thousands of users are its normal operating range
- Native construction payroll, including union and certified payroll, for contractors with large self-performed workforces
- Track record with the largest contractors, and an ecosystem of consultants who know the product
Where Forge is different
- Size of customer: Forge is built for contractors who would be among CMiC’s smallest customers, with a finance team of one to five people rather than a department
- Time to live: a direct cutover measured in weeks, rather than the months-to-a-year implementations CMiC projects are commonly described as
- Scope by choice: purchasing, projects, subcontracts, pay applications, AP, billing, job cost, WIP and close, with payroll in a provider and field management in the tools the field already uses
- Setup: a small set of decisions rather than a large configuration surface
- Honesty about what is not there yet: beta, Procore planned, no customer case studies
Who should choose which
Choose CMiC if you are a large contractor that wants one vendor for the ledger, project management, field and payroll, has the staff to run a year-long implementation and the budget for enterprise licensing and services. Choose Forge if you are a mid-size contractor that wants the accounting controls of an enterprise system without the enterprise implementation, you run payroll in a provider, and you are comfortable being an early customer. If you are on Procore and the connector is a day-one requirement, ask us about timing before you decide.
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 CMiC too big for a $30M contractor?
- CMiC’s public materials position it for contractors in the hundreds-to-thousands of employees range, and its implementations are scoped accordingly. Contractors well below that size do run it, but they should expect enterprise implementation effort and licensing. Confirm fit and scope with CMiC directly.
- Can Forge import from CMiC?
- Forge’s setup imports master records and opening balances from exported files, with duplicate matching and revert. A direct CMiC connector is not part of the current scope.