BigTime vs Scoro vs Kantata: 11 Best Professional Services Automation Software 2026

Best for WIP only seen at month end

BigTime (#1, 8.2/9.4). Names WIP to the ledger, live margin, utilization and DSO, and connects by name to QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Xero and NetSuite. It also handles utilization in a spreadsheet.

Best for a price you cannot see without a demo

Scoro (#2, 7.9/9.4). The clearest printed price on the list, and real time margin by client and project in the vendor's own words. It also handles quotes, time and billing in three tools.

Best for margin only seen at month end

Productive (#3, 7.7/9.4). Real time profitability in the headline, QuickBooks and Xero named, and Professional at $25 a seat. It also handles a price you cannot see without a demo.

Best for margin only seen at month end

Teamwork.com (#4, 7.5/9.4). Real time cost and margin per project named, with QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite, from $9.99 a user. It also handles dashboards held back for the top plan.

Best for forecast built from last month

Kantata (#5, 7.3/9.4). Live forecasts, revenue, margin and receivables named, QuickBooks to NetSuite connected, and no price at all. It also handles receivables chased by hand.

Best for implementation margin unknown until the project closes

Rocketlane (#6, 7.0/9.4). Real time margins named and the price printed, but the margin reporting is Premium and no accounting system is named.

Best for backlog in a spreadsheet

Unanet ERP for AE (#7, 6.9/9.4). Backlog, WIP, utilization and multiplier named, but it is a full ERP with no price. It also handles WIP only seen at month end.

Best for WIP only seen at month end

Deltek Polaris (formerly Replicon PSA) (#8, 6.7/9.4). Real time margin and WIP named, folded into Deltek, and no price. It also handles time tracking separate from margin.

Best for deals in the CRM, invoices in the books, nobody joining them

PSOhub (#9, 6.6/9.4). The widest named join between CRM and books, printed prices and a 30 day trial. It also handles a price you cannot see without a demo.

Best for three systems and nobody owning the join

Certinia PSA (#10, 6.5/9.4). Real time financial health inside Salesforce, and nothing for a firm that is not on it.

Best for three systems and nobody owning the join

Beyond Elevation (#11, unrated wildcard). Four of ten name WIP or receivables. Joining the systems is the work, and this entry is commonly owned with Top 11. It also handles margin only seen at month end.

What is the best professional services automation software?

For most United States consultancies and engineering firms, BigTime: it names work in progress synced to the ledger, live margin, billable utilization and DSO, and connects by name to QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Xero and NetSuite, from $20 a user a month. Scoro if you want the full suite at a printed price, $57 a user. Kantata for a larger firm forecasting from pipeline, on a quote.

Which PSA shows utilization and margin live?

Of the ten read for this page, BigTime names the most in the plainest words: budget vs actuals in real time, WIP to the GL, live margin, billable utilization and DSO. Kantata names live forecasts, margin and receivables. Unanet names backlog, WIP and utilization. Polaris names real time margin and WIP. Scoro, Productive, Teamwork.com and Rocketlane name real time profitability or margin. PSOhub and Certinia name utilization without a real time margin line we could read.

Why is month end reporting too late for a services firm?

Because a services firm sells hours, and an hour not billed this week cannot be sold next month. The decisions that move margin happen weekly: who is on the bench, which fixed fee job is over budget, which invoice is late. The Census Bureau published second quarter 2026 services revenue 71 days after the quarter closed. A firm that waits for its own month end close is running on the same kind of delay.

PSA or ERP, what does a firm need?

If the books are fine in QuickBooks, Xero or Sage Intacct and the pain is time, projects and margin, a PSA that joins to them: BigTime, Scoro, Productive, Teamwork.com, PSOhub or Kantata. If the firm is in architecture, engineering or government contracting and wants backlog, WIP and the ledger in one system, a project ERP: Unanet or Deltek.

Small firm or large, does the answer change?

Yes. Under about 25 people the published price matters most, which favours Productive, Teamwork.com, BigTime Essentials, Scoro and PSOhub. Above about 100, forecasting from pipeline and multi entity books matter more, which favours Kantata, Certinia, Polaris and Unanet, and none of those four prints a price.

What does this cost over a year?

By our arithmetic from published rates, for ten people: BigTime Essentials $2,400, Teamwork.com Accelerate $2,998.80, Productive Professional $3,000 on yearly billing, PSOhub Professional $4,200, Rocketlane Standard $5,880 and Premium $8,280, Scoro end to end $6,840 on monthly billing. Kantata, Certinia, Unanet and Polaris publish nothing to calculate from. Beyond Elevation's fixed audit is $3,000 once.

How to choose

1. 1Write down the five numbers you want on a Monday morning before you book a single demo. Billable utilization by person, margin on your ten largest projects, work in progress not yet billed, receivables over 60 days and next quarter's booked hours. Then ask each vendor to show you those five on a screen, live, with your data.
2. 2Ask where each number comes from. If margin needs cost rates from payroll and invoices from QuickBooks, a dashboard inside the PSA shows the wrong margin until those are joined. BigTime, Kantata, Productive, Teamwork.com, Scoro and PSOhub name accounting connectors. Rocketlane and Certinia name none of QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite.
3. 3Check which plan the dashboard is in before you compare prices. BigTime's Standard Dashboards are in Advanced, not the $20 Essentials. Rocketlane's margin and utilization reporting is in Premium at $69. Productive's forecasting is in Ultimate. The price that matters is the price of the tier with the number.
4. 4Read the seat minimums. Scoro and Rocketlane start at five seats, Productive at three, Teamwork.com Accelerate at five. A ten person firm is fine. A four person firm pays for seats it does not fill.
5. 5Ask about the brand behind the product. Replicon is now Deltek, and projectorpsa.com now redirects to BigTime. Neither is a reason to avoid them, but your contract, your support and your roadmap now belong to someone else.
6. 6Separate the vendor's figures from anyone else's. BigTime's 3,000+ firms, Teamwork.com's 20,000+, Productive's 2,000+, Certinia's 1,400 and every utilization and margin uplift on this page are the vendors' own. The only independent figures here come from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
7. 7Decide who owns the join. A firm on HubSpot, a PSA and QuickBooks has three good tools and three versions of margin. Somebody has to make them agree every morning. If that person does not exist, buy fewer tools and hire the join instead. That is the argument for the unrated entry at position eleven, and it is disclosed as commonly owned with Top 11.

What is the best professional services automation software?

BigTime for most United States consultancies and engineering firms, because it names WIP synced to the ledger, live margin, utilization and DSO, and connects to QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Xero and NetSuite, from $20 a user a month. Scoro prints the clearest full price. Kantata suits a larger firm and prints no price.

What is professional services automation software?

Software that runs the work a services firm sells: quotes, projects, resourcing, time, expenses and billing, with reporting on utilization and margin. The test on this page is whether it also shows the managing partner those numbers during the month, and whether it joins to the accounting system and the CRM.

What does PSA software do?

It records who worked on what, for which client, at what cost and rate, and turns that into invoices and margin. The better ones forecast capacity and revenue from booked work. Most leave work in progress and receivables to the accounting system, which is why the join to QuickBooks, Xero or Sage Intacct matters.

What is the best PSA software for small business?

One with a printed price and an accounting connector. Productive from $10 a seat with QuickBooks and Xero, Teamwork.com free to five users and $24.99 on Accelerate, BigTime Essentials from $20, Scoro from $17 with a five seat minimum, or PSOhub from $25 with a 30 day trial.

PSA vs ERP, what is the difference?

A PSA runs projects, time and billing and hands the results to the ledger. An ERP holds the ledger itself. Unanet and Deltek sell project based ERPs for architecture, engineering and government contractors. BigTime, Scoro and Productive are PSAs that connect to QuickBooks, Xero or Sage Intacct.

Kantata vs Certinia, which is better?

Certinia if your firm already runs on Salesforce, because it is built on that platform and removes a join. Kantata if you do not, because it connects to QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Salesforce, and names live forecasts and receivables. Neither prints a price.

Rocketlane vs Kantata, which should I pick?

Rocketlane for a software company's implementation team that wants the customer inside the project and a printed price, $49 or $69 a member. Kantata for a consultancy or agency group that forecasts revenue from pipeline and needs the books joined. Rocketlane names no accounting system.

How much does Kantata cost?

Kantata publishes no price. Its pricing page on 7 October 2026 was a form, and it said plans are tailored to company size and goals by a PSA advisor.

Is Kantata part of Salesforce?

Nothing on Kantata's own pages read for this list says Salesforce owns it. Kantata connects to Salesforce and lists a separate product called Kantata on Salesforce. Certinia is the product on this page that is built on the Salesforce platform.