AFAS vs Exact: which package suits your business?

First compare the right product lines

A comparison between AFAS and Exact only becomes useful if you include the same work, users and administrations. Comparing an accounting subscription for a self-employed person with a fully configured ERP environment tells you little about the choice for your business.

AFAS presents Profit as a suite in which business processes come together. Exact offers several product lines: Exact Online, Globe+, Synergy and Financials. Globe+, for example, covers financial and operational processes; Synergy focuses on HRM, CRM and workflows, among other things. Exact is therefore broader than online accounting. See the official overviews of AFAS ERP and Exact software.

On SoftwareWatcher, start with AFAS Software ERP and Exact for ERP. If you are mainly looking for accounting for a small business, also include AFAS SB. For an ERP selection, first establish which departments need to work together. Our overview of ERP systems helps you look at other candidates too.

Three business processes for the same demonstration

The tasks below are our own fictitious examples. Have both suppliers carry out the same tasks in the proposed edition. For each step, note whether it is available as standard, has to be configured or requires an extra product. That way you avoid an attractive demonstration solving a problem you hardly have.

A consultancy: from hours to project result

A consultancy sells a project of €12.000 with an internal hours budget of 100 hours. After the first month, 45 hours have been spent. Have an employee enter hours, a project manager reject one line and finance create an instalment invoice. Can the project manager then see how much budget remains and which hours have not yet been approved?

Also ask what happens if an employee switches team halfway through. Which data changes automatically and which rates stay linked to the project? See also Exact for projects and our explanation of combining time tracking and invoicing.

A wholesaler: a partial delivery with a return

The customer orders 100 units. 80 are available; 20 follow later. Of the first delivery, 5 units come back damaged. Have the supplier show reservations, follow-up delivery, stock correction and credit note. Check whether the webshop sees the same available stock and what happens when an integration temporarily fails.

For Globe+, Exact describes trade, production, projects and financial administration, among other things. That makes it a candidate to investigate, but does not prove that every warehouse action you want is included in your quotation. Ask AFAS exactly the same questions about order management, locations, returns and the integrations needed.

An employer: from joining to the first payroll run

Use a fictitious employee with a start date halfway through the month. Show who enters the data, who checks it and which data goes to payroll processing, planning and reports. Also ask for a demonstration with a limited user role: which information can a team leader open and which not?

Assess both solutions on the complete handover. An HR screen says little about a payroll process as long as the relevant module or integration is missing from the demonstration. Also discuss who manages changes and who fixes an error that affects several systems.

Compare quotations over the same three years

The cost example below is fictitious and does not belong to AFAS or Exact. It shows why comparing only the licence price gives an incomplete picture. In this example, both proposals support the same twenty users and work. Amounts are exclusive of VAT.

For A the sum is €20.000 + 3 × (€15.000 + €3.500). For B it is €12.000 + 3 × (€11.500 + €3.000 + €2.500). In this example B is €12.500 cheaper. If a further €15.000 of missing set-up is added, the order changes. So ask explicitly which work falls outside the quotation.

Also include internal project hours, data cleansing, temporary double running and future price adjustments. Use the calculation model in what does an ERP system cost? to put quotations on the same basis.

Give AI a concrete task

Add one task that currently takes time: summarising a long file, suggesting invoice details or answering an open question. Use fictitious data and check the result. Have the supplier point out in which edition the feature is available, what it costs and which action still rests with an employee afterwards.

Assess an announced feature separately from a feature you can actually use. For AFAS, we discuss the product differences in our guide to Jonas in Profit and SB. With Exact, likewise ask about the specific product line and available feature, so that you compare two workable solutions.

When does a package belong on your shortlist?

Include AFAS when you are investigating how several departments can work within one suite. Include Exact when one of the product lines fits your combination of financial, HR and operational processes. For many organisations, both suppliers can be on the first shortlist.

Let the demonstrations and quotations decide which candidate goes forward. Drop a package if an essential step is missing, the set-up falls outside your budget or your organisation cannot arrange the management. Note the reason for each requirement. That produces a better-founded choice than a general verdict that one brand is better for HR and the other for trade.