The short answer
Do not start with feature lists or price quotes. Start with:
- Your key processes, written as scenarios (for example, "quote to cash for a custom order").
- Your US requirements: sales and use tax, currencies, payroll, record keeping and data location.
- A shortlist of three or four options that plausibly fit your size and industry.
- Scripted demonstrations where each vendor or implementer runs your scenarios, not their standard demo.
- A weighted scorecard completed by the people who will use the system.
- Five-year cost of ownership, including implementation, support and exit.
A note on fairness
We implement our own Prometheus ERP, built on the open-source ERPNext, and we also work with other platforms. The checklist below is deliberately vendor-neutral. Options commonly considered by small and mid-sized US organizations include ERPNext and systems built on it, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage products, and others suited to specific industries. Each can be a good fit for some organizations and a poor fit for others. We do not quote license prices here because they change often and depend on edition, users and negotiation; get current quotes directly, and treat any figures as estimates in US dollars (USD).
Step 1: Write your key scenarios
Pick five to eight end-to-end processes that matter most, such as:
- lead to quote to order to invoice to payment,
- purchase request to purchase order to receipt to supplier payment,
- stock movement between locations, including counts and adjustments,
- production or project delivery, from plan to cost,
- month-end close and management reporting,
- returns, credit notes and warranty claims.
Write each one as a short script with realistic data and at least one awkward exception. These scripts become the demonstrations you ask for.
Step 2: US requirements
- Sales and use tax: there is no federal sales tax, so rates and rules come from states and local jurisdictions, and where you must collect depends on your sales into each state (nexus). Can the system apply the right tax by ship-to address, or does it connect to a tax calculation service? Check your accountant's requirements first.
- Currencies: USD and any others you trade in, exchange-rate handling and revaluation.
- Languages: does the interface, and do customer-facing documents such as invoices, need to be available in languages other than English?
- Payroll: is it inside the ERP, or connected to a US payroll service that handles federal and state withholding, FICA and W-2 reporting?
- Record keeping: can you retain and export records in a readable electronic format? Retention periods vary by record type and by agency, so confirm them with your accountant, starting from the IRS guidance.
- Localization: does the vendor provide US functionality itself, or through a partner app? Microsoft, for example, publishes which countries and regions have local functionality for Business Central. Ask every vendor the same question.
- Data location: where is the system hosted, where are backups kept, and where can support staff access data from?
- Industry rules: any sector-specific obligations (for example, lot tracking, HIPAA for health information or GLBA and FFIEC expectations for financial institutions).
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Confirm tax set-up with your accountant.
Step 3: Evaluation criteria
Process fit. How much of each scenario works with configuration alone? Where it doesn't, is the answer a workaround, an add-on or custom development?
Deployment and hosting. Vendor-hosted software as a service, hosting by a partner, or your own cloud or servers. Open-source systems such as ERPNext can be self-hosted or hosted by a provider, which gives more control over data location but makes someone responsible for hosting, backups and updates. See on-premise vs cloud ERP.
Upgrades and customization. How often are new versions released, and what happens to your customizations? ERPNext publishes its releases openly, which lets you check the release pattern yourself. For any system, ask how many past customers are on the current version.
Integration. Which systems must it connect to (e-commerce, CRM, banking, payroll, shipping)? Is there a documented API, such as NetSuite's REST web services, and does API access cost extra?
Reporting. Can finance and operations build the reports they need without a developer? Ask to see your month-end pack rebuilt.
Permissions and audit. Can access be limited by role, company, location or document type? ERPNext, for example, manages access through role-based permissions. Check what is logged and who can see it.
Implementation partner. The partner often matters as much as the software. Who will configure it, migrate the data, train your people and support you afterwards? See how to choose a technology implementation provider.
Cost of ownership. Licenses or hosting, implementation, data migration, integrations, training, support, internal staff time and future upgrades, over five years.
Exit. Can you export all your data, including history and attachments, in a usable format if you leave?
Step 4: The weighted scorecard
| Criterion | Weight (1 to 5) | Option A | Option B | Option C | Notes and evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fit with scripted scenarios | |||||
| US tax, currency and payroll needs | |||||
| Reporting without a developer | |||||
| Integration and API access | |||||
| Permissions and audit trail | |||||
| Hosting and data location | |||||
| Upgrade path and customization impact | |||||
| Implementation partner and support | |||||
| Five-year cost of ownership (estimates in USD) | |||||
| Data export and exit | |||||
| Weighted total |
- Each option was demonstrated using your scripts and your sample data.
- Scores were given by the people who will use the system, not only by the project lead.
- Reference customers of a similar size and industry were contacted for each finalist.
- Every cost assumption is written down, including what is excluded.
Questions to ask every vendor and implementer
- Which of our scenarios need customization, and what does that do to upgrades?
- What does a typical implementation of our size include, and what is excluded?
- Who owns the configuration, custom code and documentation at the end?
- How is support provided after go-live, and how are response targets set?
- Can we speak to two customers in the US with similar needs?
- How do we get all of our data out if we leave?
Limitations
A checklist cannot replace a careful look at your own processes. If your processes are unclear or disputed, fix that first; any ERP will expose the disagreement. If you are replacing an existing system, also plan the move early with the data migration readiness guide.
Next step
If you would like an independent view on your shortlist, or help running scripted demonstrations, see ERP implementation. If you are considering an ERPNext-based system, you can also look at Prometheus ERP.
Sources and further reading
Product capabilities and guidance change. These are the primary sources this article relies on, checked on the review date above.
- What is ERPNext?, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- ERPNext releases, Frappe (GitHub)
- Role Based Permissions, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- Local functionality and localization strategy (Business Central), Microsoft Learn
- Overview of SuiteTalk REST Web Services, Oracle NetSuite Help Center
- Internal Revenue Service, IRS
This article is general information, not legal, accounting or security advice for your specific situation. Examples are hypothetical unless stated otherwise.