When choosing a business management platform, start with the decisions you need to make each day and the data you will rely on. Identify which processes need to be connected: sales, projects, resources, finance or team collaboration.
In a project-based company, expenses and payments on individual jobs can become difficult to track: documents remain in message threads, and the outcome only becomes clear after the work is complete. For businesses selling goods, inventory and purchasing need particular attention; for service businesses, enquiries and repeat business do. Make your own list of problems the system needs to solve.
Below are five solutions with different areas of focus, along with questions to help you assess how they fit your way of working. Their capabilities overlap in part; the order of the list does not indicate a ranking.
Contents:
What counts as a business management platform?
In this overview, a business management platform means a system that connects several work processes and their data: customers, orders, projects, resources or finance. The name alone does not determine which features you need. Check how information moves between related tasks in the solution you are considering.
When choosing a tool, decide which metric you want to obtain without manually collecting information from chats and spreadsheets. For an individual project, this could be expenses and amounts due to or from participants; for sales, conversion and response time; for manufacturing, cost and resource utilisation.
Before implementation, define roles, data access, document handling and the rules for recording transactions. Assign responsibility for these rules: installing software alone is not enough to make the information complete and comparable.
How to choose a platform: questions for comparison
First, describe your current processes and the outcome you want to achieve. This will give you criteria for comparing solutions and preparing a demonstration scenario, then for checking the implementation.
Write down your answers together with the people who will use the system. Resolve differences before choosing a product, and show the supplier real examples of your documents and transactions.
- What is the company's main unit of record: a customer, deal, project, job site, order or enquiry?
- Where are you currently losing control: enquiries, deadlines, money, documents, responsibility or communication?
- Which roles need to work in the system: a business leader, manager, site supervisor, contractor, accountant or partner?
- Do you need mobile workflows, or is the work done on a computer?
- Which documents need to be produced: estimates, invoices, work acceptance documents, expense reports or reports for the customer?
- Which integrations are essential: telephony, messaging services, banking, a cash register, inventory or a website?
- Which metric is most important for your current task: revenue, margin, profit, amounts owed by customers or speed of completion?
Compare two options: one platform with the modules you need, and a combination of several tools. For each option, identify where the original record is stored, who is responsible for updating it and how the information will reach the other reports.
Customer relationship management (CRM), which handles customers and deals, and management accounting address different needs that can be covered within one product. The article “Financial management accounting or a CRM system?” (in Russian) explains these needs. When choosing a solution, test the workflows you need, as well as considering the software category.
Five solutions with different areas of focus
The examples below illustrate selected solutions; they are not a market share study or a quality ranking. The descriptions of their capabilities were checked against official pages on 26 October 2026. Check the available modules, licensing terms and required integrations for the edition and deployment you are considering.
| Solution | Main tasks | What to check using your own example |
|---|---|---|
| Bitrix24 | Customers, sales, tasks and communication. | How is an enquiry handled, and how do you obtain the result you need for a project or order? |
| 1C:ERP Enterprise Management | Finance, sales, purchasing, inventory and manufacturing. | Which processes and reference data need to be configured, and who is responsible for maintaining them? |
| Odoo | Connected applications for sales, accounting, inventory and projects. | Which applications do you need, and who will handle configuration, updates and support? |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform | Business applications, automation and analytics. | Which combination of applications, licences and data connections does your company need? |
| 101 App | Project work and financial data. | Which transactions, roles and reports do you need for your job, and how are the metrics calculated? |
1) Bitrix24 — customer management, tasks and communication. The product includes customer records, sales pipelines, communication channels and task management tools. If handling enquiries and keeping a history of customer interactions are your main needs, test that workflow using your own examples. Separately, establish how you will obtain the financial figures you need for a project or order. Source: the official description of Bitrix24 CRM (in Russian).
2) 1C:ERP Enterprise Management — enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting. This section covers this specific solution within the 1C product family. It includes finance, sales, purchasing, inventory and manufacturing. When assessing it, work through your processes, reference data configuration, employees' ways of working and the scope of implementation. Source: the official 1C:ERP page (in Russian).
3) Odoo — a suite of connected business applications. It includes applications for customers and sales, accounting, inventory, projects and other tasks. You can select applications to suit your company's processes. Before implementation, define the set you need and who will be responsible for configuration, updates, data access and support. Source: the official Odoo application catalogue.
4) Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform — business applications and tools for extending them. The Dynamics 365 range includes solutions for sales, service, finance and operations; Power Platform includes tools for building applications, automation and analytics. Define the set you need and assess licensing, configuration, training, support and work with data. Sources: the official Dynamics 365 and Power Platform pages.
5) 101 App — managing finance and project work. For a project-based business, it is useful to test the recording of expenses and incoming payments, estimates, reports, payments and amounts due between participants, and metrics for each job. In a demonstration, work through your own project: which transactions appear in reports, how the metrics are calculated and who can see that data. Customer management and financial functions can coexist within one platform.
During a presentation, ask the presenter to work through your example: a project, its participants, an estimate, expenses and the report you expect. Preparing questions will help you assess whether the workflow suits your team.
When one system is not enough: combining two or three tools
If you choose several tools, assign each one a purpose. For example, customer management handles enquiries and communication, project management handles deadlines and execution, and financial accounting handles transactions and amounts due. These areas can also be connected within one platform.
Identify the main source for each type of data: a customer record, work status, payment or expense. Then check how changes are transferred, how errors are handled and who is responsible for reconciliation. Otherwise, reports with the same name may be based on different original records.
If you currently track expenses in a spreadsheet, check which capabilities you are missing: collaboration, access by role, supporting documents or reporting by project. For comparison, use the article “Tracking expenses in Excel”. Decide whether to move to another system based on your own needs and constraints.
Which implementation risks should you check?
Problems can arise both when choosing a product and during implementation. Check whether data entry rules are established, someone has been assigned responsibility and the business leader uses the resulting reports in their work. Agree on these actions before the team starts using the system.
Before automating processes, agree on who approves expenses, who approves estimates and how project changes are recorded. These rules will help you configure permissions and the sequence of work in your chosen system.
Decide in advance which supporting documents are needed for expenses and who checks them. In project work, these may include receipts, work acceptance documents and other attachments. When choosing a system, work through the entire process: recording a transaction, attaching a document, checking it and having the information included in a report.
How to address finance in a project-based business
Both deadlines and financial results matter for a project. Compare the progress of work with expenses, payments and obligations: which transactions have already been recorded, which amounts have been issued to participants and which payments remain to be settled. The priority of each metric depends on your project model.
In 101 App, you can view data in the context of a project: its transactions, estimates, reports and amounts due between participants. Use your own example to check which actions are available to the business leader, contractor and other roles, and how the financial picture you need is formed.
When settling amounts with participants, distinguish between transaction types, own funds and accountable funds, and understand what the displayed balance means. The amount shown for a participant and the availability of supporting documents answer different questions; define a separate process for checking documents.
For more on the needs of a project-based company, read the articles on managing a project-based business (in Russian) and financial accounting for income and expenses.
Compare solutions using the same example: a customer enquiry, approval of the work, execution, expenses and payments. A suitable platform should give your team clear steps to follow and verifiable data for making decisions.
