Article
The unseen gaps: Why QuickBooks Online falls short of true ERP capabilities
Oct. 22, 2024
In today’s construction and real estate landscape, chief financial officers (CFOs) juggle complex responsibilities — from multi-entity consolidations to ensuring pinpoint-accurate job costing. While QuickBooks Online (QBO) handles basic bookkeeping, the challenges of large-scale projects demand real-time visibility, robust reporting and a single source of truth.
Unfortunately, for many CFOs, QBO can’t keep pace with these sophisticated needs. The result? Cost overruns, missed revenue opportunities and a heightened risk of non-compliance — threatening both profit margins and reputation. In this construction ERP software comparison, we'll highlight the differences between QBO and the needs of construction companies.
The defining difference: ERP vs. basic accounting software
What is an ERP?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems go far beyond accounting, integrating financials, project management and operations into a unified platform. For industries like construction and real estate, ERP systems provide real-time reporting, multi-entity management and advanced project tracking — capabilities essential for managing growth and mitigating financial risks.
While an ERP unifies all financial and operational data into a single source of truth, QuickBooks Online remains fundamentally limited in scope.
QuickBooks Online: Misaligned with modern business needs
QuickBooks Online’s basic framework often requires manual workarounds — resulting in higher labor costs, delayed insights and potential errors. For CFOs overseeing complex construction or real estate projects" or multiple entities, these inefficiencies translate directly into
- Elevated operational costs: More hours spent reconciling data means less time for strategic initiatives.
- Delayed insights: Lack of construction specific functionality and project reporting prevent real-time decision-making, often leading to missed revenue opportunities and cost overruns.