MYOB Acumatica vs MYOB Exo

Whether you're deciding between solutions or deciding to upgrade, this short guide is for you. Here we look at the main differences between MYOB Acumatica, and MYOB Exo to help you make a better-informed decision for your business.

The process of selecting the right ERP solution for your business can be both daunting and confusing. And with good reason.

Consider this: MYOB Acumatica and MYOB Exo are both ERP solutions for medium to larger-sized businesses, they both attempt to solve similar issues, and at first glance, the only difference between the two is that one works online and the other doesn’t.

It’s little wonder people are confused.

In this simple MYOB Acumatica vs MYOB Exo guide, we weigh up the key differences between MYOB’s cloud-based ERP solution MYOB Acumatica, and their on-premise solution MYOB Exo.

We also provide some tips along the way to help you understand which product would be best suited to meet your business requirements.

Let’s get started and clear up the confusion!

The key differences

Cloud-based and On-Premise

MYOB Acumatica is technically referred to as a Software As A Service (SaaS) solution, more commonly referred to as an “online solution” or “cloud-based”. The software is licensed to you on a subscription basis and is hosted in the cloud – so no hardware or software is required. You simply go online, sign in, much like you would any other website or online account, and you’re good to go.

In contrast, MYOB Exo is a traditional ERP solution. The software is installed on computers on your premises, using your own server hardware which needs to be running Microsoft SQL.

What suits your industry best

While there was a time, many years ago, when we would have said that MYOB Advanced and MYOB Exo were each better suited for different industries - MYOB Acumatica has made leaps and bounds in functionality and features. So much so, that there is honestly no industry that is better suited to MYOB Exo.

It is our view that MYOB Advanced is perfect for almost every single industry. From wholesale/distribution, manufacturing, government and non-government organisations, specialised professional services businesses, retail and not-for-profits.

Stand-out features our clients enjoy with MYOB Acumatica are its strong CRM, modern wholesale and warehousing features, superb project accounting functionality, BI insights and reporting. It’s also extremely well suited to tackle the issues inventory-based businesses face and for those trading internationally thanks to its support of international customers, suppliers, and subsidiaries with currency management features.

A good internet connection

Aside from a couple of minor features which need the internet to run, MYOB Exo works fine without an internet connection. In contrast, if you do not have internet access, you will not be able to use MYOB Acumatica as it relies on a good internet connection to run. And when it comes to having a stable internet connection, your location is important.

For example, if your business is connected to the NBN using Fibre to the Node technology, the distance that your business is from the node can make a difference in the speed and performance of your service. Other points to consider include having a reliable internet provider, and what plan your business is on.

Our advice: while network congestion and NBN line faults are minimal these days, we always suggest clients have a stable internet connection. If you do not have a suitable internet connection, then MYOB Acumatica may not be your best option.

Different licensing models

MYOB Acumatica is available in three editions that provide different features and levels of functionality. This means there’s no need to pay for features you don’t yet need while giving you the option to easily scale up as your business grows. It's also available in a Manufacturing Edition - which is designed to meet the specific needs of discrete and process manufacturing industries.

In contrast, the pricing structure of MYOB Exo works through what is known as Perpetual Licenses. There is an initial cost to purchase these licenses, plus an annual subscription cost, which is generally referred to as an Annual Licence Fee (ALF). For MYOB Exo, User Licences are based on a variety of modules that offer different functions. It should also be noted that these licence costs increase annually.

For MYOB Acumatica and MYOB Exo, your initial and ongoing costs will be dependent on the number of users you have, and the level of functionality they require, so every business will be different. The main difference is that with MYOB Acumatica there is no large initial investment required. To get a free, personalised no obligation quote, reach out to our sales team>

Inter-company Reporting

As a business grows, it is not uncommon for them to set up different divisions and subsidiaries for accounting purposes and tracking profits. While beneficial, this makes the accuracy of intercompany transaction data notoriously difficult to maintain as the data comes from different systems. In addition, these transactions need to be reconciled to avoid counting the transactions more than once – first in the parent company and then in the subsidiary.

MYOB Acumatica and MYOB Exo handle this issue differently – resulting in one being more limited than the other limited. MYOB Acumatica lets you effortlessly track financials and automate financial reporting, supporting international customers, suppliers, and subsidiaries across an unlimited number of related companies across your organisation – all from one centralised location.

While MYOB Exo Intercompany allows you to easily convert foreign subsidiary balances and transactions into the currency of the holding company, it can be less flexible when it comes to reporting

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