What is Certinia (formerly FinancialForce) and is it the right ERP for your organisation?

Certinia, formerly known as FinancialForce, is a modern, cloud-based ERP and Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform built natively on Salesforce.

Designed for services-led businesses, Certinia helps unify finance, operations, and project delivery in one real-time system of record.

With deep functionality across financials, subscription billing, project management, and analytics, Certinia is well suited to organisations looking to scale service delivery without the burden of disconnected systems. Its integration with Salesforce makes it particularly appealing to businesses already using Salesforce CRM and seeking to extend visibility across the full customer and revenue lifecycle.

This page outlines what Certinia offers, where it fits best, and how to assess whether it aligns with your digital strategy and operational model.

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Key features of Certinia ERP

  • Core financials including GL, AR/AP, multi-entity, and multi-currency
  • Revenue management and usage-based billing
  • Project and resource management with real-time utilisation tracking
  • Time, expense, and milestone-based invoicing
  • Forecasting, pipeline, and revenue analytics
  • Subscription and contract billing lifecycle management
  • Embedded analytics through Salesforce and Tableau

Native Salesforce integration for real-time CRM-to-ERP visibility

Which organisations is Certinia best suited for?

Certinia is typically a strong fit for:

  • Services-led businesses with project, time, or contract-driven revenue
  • Mid-sized to enterprise organisations using Salesforce CRM
  • SaaS, consulting, IT services, media, education, and not-for-profit sectors
  • Finance and operations teams needing real-time visibility into billing, utilisation, and margins
  • Companies seeking to align sales, finance, and delivery on a single platform

Pros and cons of Certinia

Where Certinia delivers value:

  • Unified ERP and PSA platform for service-centric businesses
  • Seamless integration with Salesforce for end-to-end process visibility
  • Strong project financials, billing flexibility, and margin tracking
  • Scalable for multi-entity, global, and subscription-based operations
  • Built-in analytics and forecasting for operational agility

Where it may fall short:

  • Less suited to asset-intensive, manufacturing, or inventory-driven businesses
  • Requires Salesforce knowledge and governance to fully leverage platform
  • Implementation and licensing may require careful planning to control scope

Some customisation requires Salesforce development or partner involvement

Alternatives to Certinia

Depending on your needs and business model, other ERP platforms to consider include:

  • NetSuite – strong for SaaS, subscription billing, and professional services
  • Deltek – tailored ERP for project-based industries including AEC and consulting
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 – modular ERP with project and service capabilities
  • Unit4 – built for people- and project-focused sectors including education and NFP
  • Workday – unified finance and workforce planning for services and public sector

Compare these options in our Cloud ERP Software Solutions Guide or Professional Services ERP Guide.

Planning your Certinia ERP journey

Whether you’re exploring Certinia to align finance and delivery, or comparing it with other cloud ERP solutions, SMC can help you make a clear, informed decision.

Expert insights from SMC

At Solution Minds Consulting, we’ve supported services-focused organisations in consulting, education, and not-for-profit sectors to assess, select, and implement platforms like Certinia.

For businesses already embedded in the Salesforce ecosystem, Certinia offers a logical extension—providing real-time visibility into revenue, resources, and performance from lead to ledger. We help clients determine whether Certinia aligns with their growth strategy, reporting needs, and internal capability—through a structured, vendor-neutral process.

Explore our support for ERP Selection, Implementation Planning, and Digital Strategy and Roadmaps.