Certinia (FinancialForce)
premiumby Certinia
ERP built on Salesforce for professional services
Starting price
$100/user/mo
per user / mo
Company size
251–5,000 employees
ideal fit
Go-live
3–7 months
typical timeline
Total project cost
$100K–$500K
software + implementation
Best for: Professional services firms already on Salesforce
1,600+ services firms run financials and PSA natively on Salesforce
What Is FinancialForce (Certinia)?
FinancialForce — rebranded as Certinia in 2023 — is a cloud-based, customer-centric ERP and Professional Services Automation (PSA) suite built 100% natively on the Salesforce Platform, providing tools to manage projects, finances, and operations in a single system. Throughout this guide, "FinancialForce" and "Certinia" refer to the same product line, sold on a per-user, quote-based subscription and best suited to Salesforce-centric professional services firms. Because Certinia runs entirely on the Salesforce Platform, buyers frequently ask whether Salesforce is itself an ERP — our guide on whether Salesforce is an ERP explains the distinction.
Certinia (FinancialForce)
User Interface
A closer look at how Certinia (FinancialForce) is laid out: PSA Overview, Resource Request Detail, Resource Planner, Project Gantt Chart, Project Financials, Revenue Forecast Report, Billing Event Detail, CEO Dashboard, Utilization Report, and All Projects List.
Pros & Cons
Runs natively on Salesforce platform — single data model with CRM
Best-in-class professional services automation (PSA)
Real-time project profitability and resource planning
Seamless Salesforce ecosystem and AppExchange integrations
Requires Salesforce licenses on top of Certinia
No manufacturing, warehouse, or asset management
Not suited for product-based businesses
Total cost is high when including Salesforce platform fees
Is Certinia (FinancialForce) the right fit?
The single question that decides whether Certinia's Salesforce-native PSA and financials are the right shape for your evaluation — or whether you need a different platform.
Already runs on Salesforce and wants PSA and financials native to the same CRM
Certinia (FinancialForce)Needs a full-suite ERP with inventory, manufacturing, or multi-subsidiary financials
NetSuiteIs a finance-first services or SaaS firm not built on Salesforce
Sage IntacctRuns a product-based or manufacturing business
A different ERP — Certinia has no manufacturing, warehouse, or inventory executionWants broader HR and workforce management alongside financials
Workday
Key Differentiators
Single data model
Customer, opportunity, project, and financial data all live on one Salesforce platform — no middleware between CRM and ERP/PSA.
Unified security
Salesforce profiles, roles, and sharing rules apply across CRM and ERP, with no separate security model to administer.
Real-time PSA
Best-in-class professional services automation — a closed opportunity becomes a staffed project and an invoice without re-keying data.
Salesforce AI (Einstein)
AI capabilities flow across both CRM and ERP data, since PSA and financials share the same platform as Sales Cloud and Service Cloud.
AppExchange ecosystem
Access to thousands of Salesforce-native add-ons, rather than a closed, single-vendor extension marketplace.
Familiar UX
Dashboards and views can be tailored per user, and anyone who already knows Salesforce needs little extra training to navigate Certinia.
FinancialForce Buyer's Guide
Download our free Certinia (FinancialForce) research guide — covering functionality, modules, pricing, and implementation considerations.
ERP Cost Estimator
Get an instant cost range based on your company profile
5 – 5,000 active ERP users
Company Snapshot
Headquarters & founding
Founded in 2009 in San Francisco, California, by former Salesforce executives Jeremy Roche and Debbie Ashton, with a mission to build a complete ERP solution on the Salesforce Platform. Acquired by Salesforce in 2014.
Platform
Built on Force.com (now the Salesforce Platform) — a Platform-as-a-Service offering from Salesforce.com — using Salesforce's Single Sign-On authentication and the same UI, security, and data model as core Salesforce.
Recognition & backers
Named a Leader in both the Gartner and Forrester Wave reports for enterprise resource planning; backed by Salesforce Ventures, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Advent International.
FinancialForce Is Now Certinia
In October 2022, FinancialForce was rebranded as Certinia. The rebrand reflects the company's evolution from a financial management tool into a comprehensive services-centric ERP platform built natively on Salesforce.
Key things to know about the rebrand:
- Same platform, new name — All FinancialForce products continue under the Certinia brand
- Same Salesforce foundation — Certinia remains 100% built on the Salesforce Platform
- Expanded focus — The Certinia brand emphasizes the full platform: Financial Management, Professional Services Automation (PSA), Customer Success and ERP
- Investment — Backed by Technology Crossover Ventures, Advent International and Salesforce Ventures
If you are evaluating FinancialForce, search for Certinia for the most current product information and pricing.
Pricing
Certinia is sold on a subscription, per-user basis, and pricing is quote-based rather than published in full.
Starting price
From roughly $100/user/month for the core Certinia subscription — final cost depends on which modules (PSA, ERP/financials, billing) are licensed.
Salesforce platform cost
Certinia runs on top of Salesforce, so most buyers also budget for a Salesforce (Sales Cloud/Service Cloud) licence in addition to the Certinia subscription.
Free demo
FinancialForce (Certinia) has historically offered a free Cloud ERP demo so businesses can try the platform before committing.
See the FinancialForce (Certinia) guide for further pricing and demo detail.
Get the free Certinia (FinancialForce) Buyer's Guide
Independent research covering modules, pricing, implementation, and competitive analysis.
FinancialForce Modules
Accounting & Finance
Accounts receivable and payable, cash management, credit management, fixed asset management, general ledger, and budgeting & forecasting in one module.
Read more →Subscription & Usage Billing
Automates recurring, usage-based, and one-time billing, plus collections and payments, for subscription-based revenue streams.
Project Management
Resource management, portfolio management, risk management, and time tracking, integrated deeply with finance, accounting, and the customer record.
Read more →Revenue Recognition & Financial Planning
Financial statements, ratios, and modeling from quote-to-cash through revenue recognition, plus invoicing, billing, and financial reporting.
Human Resources
Employee self-service, onboarding support, benefits administration, time and attendance, and performance management.
Read more →Procurement
Supplier management, contract management, and requisition management, from requisition to receipt and purchase order.
Read more →Quality Management
Quality plans, quality audits, quality control, quality assurance, and defect tracking.
Order & Inventory Management
Sales orders, purchase orders, stock and warehouse tracking, and inventory control, from order entry to replenishment.
Read more →ERP Analytics & Reporting
Financial statements, custom and operational reports, a report builder, dashboards, KPIs, and analytics on your ERP data.
Read more →●●● Strong · ●●○ Moderate · ●○○ Basic
Add-Ons That Extend FinancialForce (Certinia)
Certinia ships deep PSA and finance functionality, but professional services firms often layer on best-of-breed tools for the gaps below:
Full inventory and warehouse operations for services firms that also handle physical goods.
Why it matters: No manufacturing, warehouse, or inventory execution beyond basic order tracking
Local and global payroll that posts straight back to Certinia's general ledger.
Compare all 15 tools →Why it matters: Native payroll isn't part of the platform
Real-time tax determination and e-invoicing compliance layered onto Certinia billing.
Compare all 12 tools →Why it matters: Sales tax and VAT determination aren't built into billing
Dedicated contract drafting, redlining, and renewal tracking for services engagements.
Compare all 14 tools →Why it matters: Contract authoring and redlining live in Salesforce CPQ, not a dedicated CLM
Corporate card capture and OCR receipt matching feeding into Certinia project accounting.
Compare all 13 tools →Why it matters: Expense capture is basic without receipt OCR
Browse the full ERP add-ons directory for vendor-by-vendor detail on each category.
FinancialForce PSA (Professional Services Automation)
FinancialForce PSA — now Certinia PSA — is the Salesforce-native Professional Services Automation application that manages the entire services delivery lifecycle on the same platform as your CRM. It is the product most professional services firms evaluate first, because it connects the sales pipeline directly to project delivery and billing without a separate integration.
Resource management
Match consultant skills and availability to project demand, with utilisation and forecasting dashboards.
Project planning and scheduling
Milestones, tasks, and assignments tied to the customer and opportunity record.
Time and expense capture
Mobile-friendly entry that flows straight into billing and project accounting.
Project accounting and revenue recognition
ASC 606-compliant revenue recognition native to the platform.
Billing
Milestone, time-and-materials, and fixed-fee billing generated from delivery data.
Because PSA shares the Salesforce data model, a closed opportunity becomes a staffed project and an invoice without re-keying — the single biggest reason Salesforce-heavy firms choose Certinia over standalone PSA tools. Compare it with alternatives in our best professional services automation software guide.
FinancialForce ERP and Financial Management
FinancialForce ERP — now Certinia ERP — is the financial management and back-office side of the platform, covering the general ledger, AP/AR, billing, and reporting on the Salesforce Platform. Where PSA runs the services lifecycle, the ERP/financials product is the system of record for accounting, giving services firms a connected quote-to-cash flow across CRM, delivery, and finance.
For firms mapping these capabilities to a structured shortlist, our ERP functional requirements checklist covers the finance, projects, and billing requirements Certinia is most often evaluated against.
Industries Best Suited to FinancialForce (Certinia)
FinancialForce vs NetSuite
FinancialForce (Certinia) and NetSuite are both leading cloud platforms for services firms, but they sit on different foundations: FinancialForce is built natively on Salesforce and extends your CRM into PSA and financials, while NetSuite is a full-suite Oracle ERP that replaces your core financial system. Choose FinancialForce when Salesforce is already your system of record and you want delivery and billing on the same platform; choose NetSuite when you need a single ERP spanning financials, inventory, and multi-subsidiary operations.
Certinia vs NetSuite vs Sage Intacct
For professional services firms evaluating PSA and financial management platforms:
Certinia (PSA)
Salesforce-native platform with built-in CRM integration (Sales Cloud), excellent resource management and project accounting, and ASC 606-native revenue recognition. Pricing is custom, based on Salesforce licensing.
Sage Intacct + 3rd-party PSA
Standalone financials platform integrated via API or middleware, with excellent project accounting — Intacct's core strength — though PSA itself comes from partner tools. Starts around $15K+/yr base.
Learn more →NetSuite SuiteProjects
Oracle's full-suite ERP with built-in CRM and good (not excellent) resource management and project accounting. Starts around $999/mo plus users.
Learn more →Alternatives to FinancialForce (Certinia)
FinancialForce (Certinia) competes with both standalone financial-management platforms and full-suite ERPs. The most common alternatives evaluated by professional services firms:
Sage Group
Best-in-class cloud financials for services and nonprofits
Best for: Service companies and nonprofits needing deep financial management
Oracle
The original cloud ERP — built for fast-growing companies
Best for: Fast-growing mid-market companies wanting unified cloud ERP
Workday Inc.
Cloud HCM + financials for services and people-centric orgs
Best for: People-centric organisations needing unified HR + finance
Microsoft
Modular ERP + CRM tightly integrated with Microsoft 365
Best for: Mid-to-large companies in the Microsoft ecosystem
For a curated shortlist by use case, see our guide to the best ERP for professional services companies.
Compare these systems side by side
Frequently Asked Questions
How can FinancialForce ERP help my business?
Certinia (FinancialForce) automates and streamlines financial and accounting processes, gives real-time visibility into financial status and performance, helps with forecasting and budgeting, and lets you customize applications to your specific needs — all on the same Salesforce platform as your CRM.
What are the main features of FinancialForce ERP?
Certinia provides a complete set of financial management features — accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting — plus human resources features such as employee self-service, time and attendance, and benefits administration, and supply-chain-adjacent features like inventory management, procurement, order management, and CRM.
What are the benefits of using FinancialForce ERP?
Key benefits include reduced IT costs (no upfront hardware or maintenance, since it's delivered as a cloud service), increased flexibility through high configurability, improved visibility from real-time business data, and enhanced collaboration between departments on a shared platform.
Is training required to use FinancialForce ERP?
No — the software is designed to be user-friendly and does not require formal training to use, though FinancialForce (Certinia) offers comprehensive training and support for organizations that want it.
Is FinancialForce ERP easy to use?
Yes. It does not require technical expertise to operate day to day, and the FinancialForce (Certinia) support team is available around the clock to help customers.
How does FinancialForce ERP compare with other ERP solutions?
Because it's built on the Salesforce Platform, FinancialForce (Certinia) gives users the flexibility to customize applications to their specific needs while offering real-time financial visibility, forecasting and budgeting, and streamlined financial processes — the trade-off is that it requires a Salesforce foundation rather than standing alone.
Can FinancialForce ERP be integrated with other systems?
Yes. It can be integrated with various CRM and accounting solutions, including Salesforce applications such as Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, letting businesses extend their ERP system with other Salesforce features and tools.
Is FinancialForce ERP available in my country?
FinancialForce (Certinia) is available in many countries around the world.
What are the system requirements for FinancialForce?
FinancialForce (Certinia) is a cloud-based solution that only requires a Salesforce account — no high-end servers or dedicated IT staff to install and manage. Users just need an internet connection and a web browser on desktop, laptop, or mobile.
Who can use FinancialForce ERP?
FinancialForce (Certinia) is designed for small and medium-sized businesses as well as large enterprises.
How much does FinancialForce ERP cost?
FinancialForce (Certinia) is a subscription-based solution priced per user, so total cost depends on the number of users and the modules you need — pricing is quote-based rather than published, and most buyers should also budget for the underlying Salesforce licence.
Is FinancialForce ERP suitable for small businesses?
Yes. It is easy to use and fully customizable to an organization's specific needs, and because it's cloud-based and modular, it can scale as the business grows — though buyers should weigh the added cost of the required Salesforce platform licence.
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