BigTime vs Certinia PSA
professional services head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | Tiered subscription (Essentials / Advanced / Premier) plus quote-based Enterprise tier | Quote-based |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Stated ERP integrations | QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Xero, Microsoft Dynamics 365 | None listed |
| Vendor | BigTime Software, Inc. | Certinia |
Our take
Where BigTime leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 14 of the 25 capabilities where they differ (led by services cpq / proposal generation and native erp / accounting-system connectors).
- Stated QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Xero, Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where Certinia PSA leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 11 of the 25 capabilities where they differ (led by reusable estimate templates from prior actuals and bid vs. actual variance analysis).
Where they differ
The 25 capabilities (of 61 in the professional services taxonomy) where the evidence separates them, biggest gaps first. “Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
| Capability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Services CPQ / proposal generationSales, Scoping & Quoting | Core strength Services CPQ (configure-price-quote) for proposal generation | Not evidenced |
| Reusable estimate templates from prior actualsSales, Scoping & Quoting | Not evidenced | Core strength Best-practice and reusable estimate templates drawing on prior project actuals |
| Bid vs. actual variance analysisSales, Scoping & Quoting | Not evidenced | Core strength Named "bid versus did" variance analysis |
| Revenue recognition (ASC 606 / IFRS 15)Billing & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Core strength Revenue management/recognition via the Financial Management Cloud |
| Native ERP / accounting-system connectorsPlatform, Integrations & Security | Core strength Prebuilt connectors for QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Dynamics 365 BC and Xero | Not evidenced |
| Native iOS / Android mobile appsPlatform, Integrations & Security | Core strength iOS and Android apps | Not evidenced |
| Quote & estimate approval workflowsSales, Scoping & Quoting | Not evidenced | Supported Approval workflows enforcing financial limits and tolerances |
| Automated proposal / SOW / RFP generationSales, Scoping & Quoting | Supported Services CPQ module doubles as proposal generation | Not evidenced |
| Skills-based resource matchingResource Management | Partial AI demand-matching via Resourcing Agent; explicit skills criteria not detailed | Core strength Automated, configurable best-fit resource matching plus employee skills and capability tracking |
| Reusable project templatesProject Management & Delivery | Supported Advanced tier and above | Not evidenced |
| Project health & risk dashboardsProject Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Supported Project status, risk and resource-demand dashboards |
| Multi-currency invoicing & tax handlingBilling & Revenue Management | Supported Multi-currency invoicing, Premier tier and above | Not evidenced |
| Shared document & milestone visibilityClient Experience & Collaboration | Not evidenced | Supported Shared project visibility across sales and delivery teams |
| Power BI / Tableau integrationReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported BigTime Data Hub feeding Power BI and Tableau | Not evidenced |
| AI assistant for natural-language queriesReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported Insights Agent for natural-language reporting queries | Not evidenced |
| Public API & webhooksPlatform, Integrations & Security | Not evidenced | Supported Off-platform systems connect via API |
| Quote-to-project conversionSales, Scoping & Quoting | Supported Auto-conversion of accepted quotes into project plans | Core strength Instant project creation from an approved estimate |
| Capacity planning & demand forecastingResource Management | Core strength Capacity planning by role/department plus demand coverage reporting | Supported Capacity and recruitment-gap analysis |
| AI-assisted staffing recommendationsResource Management | Supported AI-based demand-matching / staffing recommendations (Resourcing Agent) | Partial Configurable best-fit resource matching; not explicitly described as AI-driven |
| Multiple project views (Gantt, Kanban, list, calendar)Project Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Partial Work Planner scheduling dashboard; specific view types not detailed |
| Web & mobile time entryTime & Expense Tracking | Core strength Web and mobile time entry (iOS/Android) plus voice-to-text | Supported Time and expense submission from any device |
| Multi-level timesheet approval workflowsTime & Expense Tracking | Partial Multi-level approval workflows at Premier tier and above; timesheet-specific scope not detailed | Not evidenced |
| Expense capture & receipt submissionTime & Expense Tracking | Core strength Expense capture, receipt submission and AI-assisted Expense Agent | Supported Time and expense submission from any device |
| Recurring / retainer invoice automationBilling & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Partial Subscription billing covers recurring revenue; explicit recurring-invoice automation not detailed |
| Pre-built report libraryReporting, Analytics & AI | Core strength Ready-to-use report templates for time, billing, utilization and project health | Supported Prebuilt and customisable billing/revenue reporting templates |
Both grade identically on the other 36 capabilities — see each product's full profile: BigTime, Certinia PSA.
BigTime vs Certinia PSA — FAQs
Is BigTime or Certinia PSA better for ERP integration?
They state different ERP coverage: BigTime lists QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Xero, Microsoft Dynamics 365; Certinia PSA lists no ERP integrations publicly.
Which is cheaper, BigTime or Certinia PSA?
Neither publishes a list price — both quote. Ask each for the all-in first-year cost at your seat count, as one number, and compare those.
Get pricing for both
Tell us your ERP, seat count and must-haves and we'll come back with an independent view of what BigTime and Certinia PSA should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.