Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Unit4 ERP

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Our analysts compared Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Unit4 ERP based on data from our 400+ point analysis of ERP Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Software Tool
Unit4 ERP Software Tool

Product Basics

Dynamics 365 Business Central, formerly known as Dynamics NAV, is a widely used ERP platform that benefits businesses of small and medium sizes. It’s a multi-faceted ERP product that assists in the streamlining of aspects such as accounting, contact management and inventory management. This program has high integration capabilities due to its status as a Microsoft product and is currently used by more than 100,000 companies.

Personalization is a key benefit of this tool that is expressed throughout the program’s different modules. For example, you can customize dashboards and reports to ensure that your employees are obtaining useful insights quickly and easily. The program is also highly automated and can reduce human error through its connected systems.

Pros
  • User-friendly interface
  • Seamless integrations
  • Flexible customization
  • Robust financial management
  • Strong reporting capabilities
Cons
  • Limited industry-specific features
  • Potential customization complexity
  • Scalability concerns for large enterprises
  • Reliance on third-party add-ons
  • Potentially high ownership costs
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Unit4 ERP leverages a natural language digital assistant to expedite day-to-day business activities and provides a seamless user experience. Its financial management module offers real-time visibility and control over each stage of the record-to-report cycle. It consolidates enterprise-wide data within a unified system to streamline budget planning and analysis.

Automate and streamline project life cycles, optimize resource utilization and execute projects with precision with the project management inclusion.
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$70/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$49/User, Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

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Live Online
Videos
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Videos
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Email
Phone
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FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Centralized Data: Dynamics 365 Business Central leans in to the essence of ERP software — data centralization. For example, the system’s contract management program maintains a shared database of customers and prospects that can be customized and filtered. The program also removes any duplicates found in the system, which is especially helpful when you have multiple people entering prospect information or liaising with customers. Customized dashboards and visualizations are also available for insights developed across your company. 
  • Accessibility: This software is available either on-premise or as a cloud-based ERP. If you opt to go with a cloud deployment, the solution will be accessible to your employees anytime and anywhere as long as an internet connection is available. This broadly increases the scope of where your employees can complete their duties and access pertinent information. 
  • Forecasting: Dynamics 365 Business Central contains forecasting tools that include the use of historical demand to estimate future demand. This is helpful because it can improve efficiency, reduce spoilage and improve the likelihood that you will be able to fulfill orders from customers. 
  • Simple Integration: As a Microsoft product, Dynamics 365 Business Central is well poised for integration. The software can work with programs such as Word and Excel and is also available across iOS, Android and Windows devices. Microsoft offers a wide variety of software solutions that can be connected to Dynamics 365 Business Central, such as Dynamics 365 for Sales. 
  • Collaboration: Dynamics 365 Business Central provides visibility and control over multiple production sites. This allows you to collaborate with employees located in that facility to determine benchmarks such as optimal inventory level. Additionally, because of Dynamics 365 Business Central’s availability as a cloud-based solution, it is easy for employees to collaborate on and access materials whether they are in a corporate office or at a production facility. 
  • Security: With this program, you can configure user access to different components of the software. For example, if you don’t want an account representative to have visualization of the payroll, you can limit the scope of a user’s access to the application. Disaster recovery tools also assist with security measures. 
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  • Planning and Control: Increase planning speed to empower businesses to grow exponentially and respond to opportunities. 
  • Make Data-Driven Decisions: Gain useful insights into the data to make better business decisions and allocate and utilize business resources optimally. 
  • Boost Employee Retention: Engage, support and inspire people to perform better to boost employee retention rate. 
  • Accelerate Learning: Empower employees to learn at their own pace and develop their skillsets for career growth and development. 
  • Improve Employee Experience: Automate back-office tasks and interact with systems via natural language digital assistant to carry out day-to-day business activities to improve employee experiences. 
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  • Sales Order Management: Dynamics 365 Business Central’s sales order management module allows you to alter quantity available amounts based on posted invoices. You can also use the program to create prepayment invoices and to manage partial shipments. 
  • Analysis Reports: The analysis reports tool is based on helping decisionmakers within your company gain meaningful insights that will positively influence daily decisions. With this customizable tool, you can use factors such as customers, items and vendors to view information such as inventory turnover and customer behavior. You can also use this tool to more accurately pinpoint problems across your business that are creating bottlenecks or inefficiencies. 
  • General Ledger: Accounting and financial reporting tools are a commonly requested feature in ERP software. Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a general ledger in its base package that includes internal and external reporting tools, ability to export data in various formats, employee ledger entries, linking to external documents and reporting in your company’s preferred currency format. 
  • Requisition Management: Dynamics 365 Business Central’s Requisition Worksheet allows you to optimize your inventory based on factors such as predicted demand and material availability. You can also set minimum and maximum quantity levels to determine a reordering point in your manufacturing center. 
  • Multi-Site Functionality: With this software, you can track inventory levels across multiple distribution centers, warehouses, production plants, showrooms and more. You can also track inventory as it moves from different locations while accounting for its value during transit. 
  • Contact Management: The contact management feature allows you to input and maintain a list of your business contacts and prospects. The tool lets you know when duplicate contact information is entered, enables you to issue quotes or sales documents, allows for the categorization of people associated with a specific contact and segments people based on profiling questions. 
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Dynamics 365 Business Central includes support for Kofax Invoice Capture Service (ICS) out of the box. This tool can take information from unstructured PDFs, extract it, and turn it into structured data. 
  • Currency Exchange Rates: This system allows you to update currency exchange rates as they shift. This can be done either manually or automatically. Dynamics 365 Business Central supports Yahoo and European Central Bank (ECB) currency feeds out of the box, but you can add other currencies to the tool using the currency exchange rates setup. 
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  • Financial Management: Consolidate organization-wide data to streamline budget planning and analysis. Plan cash flow, manage operational budgets and forecast sales, costs and revenue with a financial planning module. Create robust data visualizations to plan and manage budgets and forecasts while mitigating risks. 
  • Project Management: Streamline and automate end-to-end project lifecycle. Gain complete visibility and control over project and people planning, scheduling, resource management and cost and budget analysis. Leverage project templates to automate the project setup and manage complex projects. 
  • Procurement Management: Connect directly with the approved suppliers for reduced overheads and increased accuracy and control. Use a centralized procure-to-pay solution to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Gauge spending patterns accurately to negotiate better pricing and terms and conditions. 
  • Analytics and Reporting: Unearth hidden patterns, trends and relationships in historical data to comprehend risk and opportunities. Leverage AI and self-service analytics tools to analyze and drill down data to the transactional level. Create and share automated reports to facilitate collaboration. 
  • Core HR: Manage the entire hire-to-retire cycle with a centralized database and control center. Record, monitor and report employees’ absence with the expense management module. Automate approval and expense calculations to minimize administration for employees and managers. 
  • Payroll Management: Leverage the payroll management module to synchronize HR data, gain agility and manage complex calculations. Streamline and automate payroll processes and create custom reports using employee and payroll data to visualize insights and make data-driven decisions. 
  • Talent Management: Build and develop a workforce to create high-performing teams using performance management tools. Roll out mini-surveys to specific teams to understand employees, spot trends and predict employee turnover. 
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Product Ranking

#18

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ERP Software

#142

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ERP Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Good User Sentiment 366 reviews
Good User Sentiment 89 reviews
75%
of users recommend this product

Dynamics 365 Business Central has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 75% when considering 366 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

74%
of users recommend this product

Unit4 ERP has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 74% when considering 89 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

3.6 (142)
3.7 (70)
3.7 (85)
n/a
n/a
3.7 (7)
4.3 (9)
4.1 (7)
3.9 (130)
2.8 (5)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Easy to Learn: Precisely 53% of users say the system has a simple implementation process and helpful training materials.
Extensive Features: Features include BOM management, finance management, document management, reporting, search filters, accounting and other modules, according to 79% of users.
Intuitive Interface: Familiar layout and guided workflows simplify data entry and task completion for non-technical users.
Automated Processes: Reduce manual tasks and errors with automated workflows for finance, inventory, sales, and customer service.
Actionable Insights: Gain real-time visibility into business performance through comprehensive dashboards and reporting tools.
Powerful Integrations: Connect seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Power BI, and other popular business applications for a unified data ecosystem.
Cloud-based Scalability: Adapt to growth with a flexible cloud infrastructure that supports diverse user needs and data volumes.
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Industry-Specific Solutions: Unit4 ERP offers tailored solutions for specific sectors like education and non-profits, addressing their unique needs.
User-Friendly Interface: Many users praise the system's intuitive design, making it easy to navigate and use.
Cloud-Based Accessibility: Unit4 ERP's cloud-based nature allows for convenient access from any location with an internet connection.
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User Interface: Of the users who discussed the interface, 46% said it was not intuitive and the layout is old-fashioned.
Glitchy Performance: Approximately 67% of users said the program's overall performance is slow and glitchy.
Industry Gaps: While strong for core ERP functions, may require additional add-ons or integrations for complex industry-specific needs like manufacturing or healthcare.
Customization Curve: While offering customization options, extensive modifications might require developer expertise, increasing costs and implementation time.
Large Enterprise Scalability: While cloud-based and scalable, very large enterprises with intricate operations might encounter limitations or require additional configuration.
Add-on Dependence: Fulfilling specific needs may rely on third-party add-ons, introducing potential compatibility and support challenges.
Cost Considerations: While offering subscription plans, total cost of ownership can be influenced by user licenses, customization needs, and add-on integrations.
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Complex User Interface: Some users find the interface difficult to navigate and not intuitive, leading to a steep learning curve.
Reporting Limitations: Users have reported difficulties in generating custom reports and extracting specific data, hindering data analysis and decision-making.
Integration Challenges: Integrating Unit4 ERP with other systems can be complex and require significant technical expertise, potentially leading to delays and increased costs.
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Users appreciated Dynamics 365 Business Central's user-friendly interface and automation capabilities, highlighting its ease of use even for non-technical personnel. The streamlined workflows and intuitive layout simplified data entry and task completion, especially compared to competitor solutions with steeper learning curves. The automated processes proved beneficial in eliminating manual work and errors, boosting efficiency in areas like finance, inventory, and customer service. However, some users pointed to limitations in industry-specific features compared to more specialized competitors like SAP Business One or Acumatica. While Business Central excels in core ERP functions, complex needs in manufacturing or healthcare might require additional add-ons or integrations, increasing complexity and potentially cost. Customization, while available, also presented a potential hurdle. While offering flexibility, extensive modifications could necessitate developer expertise, raising implementation time and costs compared to competitors with more drag-and-drop customization options. Business Central's cloud-based scalability was praised, accommodating growth and diverse user needs effectively. This stood out compared to some on-premise competitors with less flexibility. However, very large enterprises with intricate operations might encounter limitations or require additional configuration compared to solutions like Oracle NetSuite designed for such complexity. Overall, user reviews suggest Dynamics 365 Business Central shines for its user-friendliness, automation, and cloud-based scalability. However, limitations in industry-specific features and potential customization complexity compared to some competitors are important considerations, especially for niche businesses or large enterprises.

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Unit4 ERP is generally praised for its user-friendly interface, making it easy to navigate and find necessary information. Users highlight its flexibility, allowing customization to meet specific business needs and the ability to add new features as requirements evolve. The scalability of Unit4 ERP is also a plus, as users can easily add users and new locations as their businesses grow. One user even stated that Unit4 ERP is the most user-friendly ERP solution they've ever used. However, while Unit4 ERP can scale for growth, it's worth noting that it's primarily built for smaller organizations. This makes it a great option for smaller businesses that plan to scale, as they can have a solution that provides the breadth of capabilities they need now and in the future. Unit4 ERP is best suited for small to mid-sized organizations that are looking for a user-friendly, flexible, and scalable ERP solution. Larger organizations with more complex needs may find that Unit4 ERP lacks some of the features and functionality they require. It's always a good idea to check for the most up-to-date user reviews and product information, as software capabilities can change rapidly.

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