Groups choosing accounting and ERP software in 2026 usually fall into one of two camps: businesses that fit comfortably inside a small-business ledger, and groups that have outgrown one. Once you run several entities, the decision turns on consolidation, intercompany eliminations and how quickly you can produce trustworthy group numbers. That is a different problem from single-entity bookkeeping, and it is where the shortlist narrows.
This guide names the main options fairly, says plainly who each suits, then explains where Cohiva Crunch fits.
What changes when you become a group
Single-entity accounting is mostly about recording transactions accurately and reporting on one set of books. Group accounting adds problems that do not exist for a single company. You have to eliminate intercompany transactions so internal trading does not inflate group revenue. You have to consolidate several charts of accounts into one view, often across different reporting calendars or currencies. And boards and lenders increasingly expect forward-looking numbers, such as a 13-week cash forecast, not just historical statements.
These needs change the shortlist. A tool that is perfect for one trading entity can become a manual, spreadsheet-heavy exercise once you bolt several entities together. The question for a group is therefore how the software handles consolidation and eliminations natively, and how quickly it turns underlying activity into reliable group numbers.
The main options and who they serve well
The category spans a wide range, and the right answer depends heavily on size.
Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB are excellent for small and mid-sized businesses. They are easy to adopt, sit inside large ecosystems of add-ons, and are backed by deep advisor and bookkeeper networks. For a sole trader or a single growing company, these are genuinely the right fit, and reaching past them too early adds cost and complexity you do not need.
NetSuite brings mature enterprise ERP breadth, with finance sitting alongside inventory, order management and more in a single suite, which suits larger and more operationally complex organisations. Sage Intacct is well regarded for dimensional reporting, letting finance teams slice results by entity, department, location and other dimensions, which appeals to groups with demanding reporting needs.
Each of these is a sound choice for the buyer it targets. The honest framing is a spectrum: the SMB ledgers at one end with unbeatable ease and ecosystem, and the enterprise suites at the other with depth and reporting flexibility. The awkward middle is the multi-entity group that has outgrown the SMB tools but does not want a heavyweight implementation.
Where Cohiva Crunch fits
Cohiva Crunch is a full-stack ERP with AI financial intelligence built for that middle. It provides real-time profit and loss, 13-week cash forecasting and multi-entity consolidation with intercompany eliminations, producing consolidated financial statements for the group rather than just entity-level books.
The wedge is the data source. Crunch is fed natively by operational data from the rest of the Cohiva suite, so activity in Complex and staffing in Culture reach finance on one data layer without exporting and reconciling between separate systems. For a group running real operations across entities, that shortens the path from what happened to what the numbers say. You can explore the product at crunch.cohiva.app.
The AI financial intelligence in Crunch is aimed at the same problem from the other direction: turning consolidated data into a current read on profit and cash rather than a report you wait for at month end. Real-time profit and loss means a finance team can see the group position as activity lands, and the 13-week cash forecast gives boards and lenders the forward view they increasingly ask for. None of that replaces the judgement of a finance team, but it reduces the manual assembly work that sits between operational events and a trustworthy group number.
Crunch targets the multi-entity mid-market. It is not the right tool for a sole trader, and we will say so directly: if you run a single small entity, Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB will serve you better and more cheaply. The case for Crunch builds as you add entities, as intercompany activity grows, and as the gap between operational events and the numbers you report becomes harder to close by hand.
How to choose
Decide by where you sit on the size and complexity spectrum.
- If you are a sole trader or small business, choose Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB and lean on their advisor networks.
- If you are a large, operationally complex enterprise, NetSuite offers the breadth, and Sage Intacct is strong where dimensional reporting matters most.
- If you are a multi-entity group that has outgrown SMB tools and wants consolidation, intercompany eliminations and cash forecasting fed by your own operational data, Crunch is built for that profile.
For a structured side-by-side, use our comparisons hub. If your finance decision sits next to operational or people systems, our roundups of aquatic and leisure management software and HR and payroll software for Australian businesses cover the adjacent choices that feed the ledger.