Charlie Blomkvist
An ERP system, in Swedish an affärssystem, is a system where finance, orders, inventory, purchasing, projects and reporting share one database, so that an event is recorded once and then exists everywhere: in the ledger, in the stock balance, in the project and in the result. Accounting software records business events after they have happened. The difference is not the list of modules. Fortnox and Spiris have inventory, orders, projects and time as well. The difference is where the truth lives, what happens by itself, and what happens when the company gets a second warehouse, a second entity or a twentieth project.
This is what you get in the guide:
- The definition, what ERP means, and the difference between accounting software, a finance system and an ERP.
- Ten places where the line actually runs, with Fortnox's and Spiris's own product help as the source: the credit limit, approval, the bank, inventory, purchasing, the project, dimensions, entities and users.
- Four companies, same day: an order at the online retailer, a purchase at the wholesaler, a week at the consultancy and a stage at the project company, step by step in both models.
- When accounting software is enough, and twelve signs per industry that it no longer is.
- What it really costs, what the accounting firm does, and how to test your own flow before you choose.
Short answer: ERP or finance system?
- you have one entity, one warehouse or none, sell in SEK, and the volume is low enough that the manual steps cost nothing: a few invoices a day, not a few a minute
- a result per cost centre and project, after the fact, is enough
- few people work in the system and the accounting firm does the year-end
- stock, receivables, the project and the books should be the same number without anyone reconciling them
- the credit limit should stop the order, not warn
- approval should follow amount, account and subaccount
- you have several entities, currencies or warehouses
- or time, purchases and the invoice should land on the project by themselves
- all of that should run in one system with Swedish localization as standard, unlimited users, and agents that propose coding, purchasing and reconciliation for a person at your company to approve
- and you want to see it work on your own flows before you say yes
Accounting software tells you what happened. The ERP is where it happens.
What is an ERP system?
An ERP system holds a company's flows together in one database: the general ledger, receivables and payables, orders, inventory and purchasing, projects and time, and reporting per dimension. ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. In Swedish it is called affärssystem. The words mean the same thing.
Three terms that get mixed up:
Records business events: journal entries, invoices, payments, VAT. Fortnox Bokföring and Spiris Bokföring are accounting software.
Accounting software with invoicing, ledgers, approval and often inventory, time and projects as add-ons. The Fortnox platform and Spiris Bokföring & Fakturering are finance systems. Spiris calls itself "a simple ERP for small businesses".
All of that, in one database, where the order reserves stock, the purchase becomes a commitment on the project, the time card becomes a cost and an invoice, and the result per dimension exists without anyone building it. Visma Net, Business Central, Monitor, Pyramid and Jeeves are ERP systems.
This is what an ERP usually includes:
Ledger, accruals as routines, VAT per period and country, period closing per module, several entities and currencies.
Invoice with OCR, e-invoicing, reminders per customer class, payment matched on OCR, a credit limit that stops.
Invoice inbox that proposes coding, rule-based approval, payment proposals, matching against purchase order and receipt.
Sales order that reserves, picking, shipment, invoice; stock per warehouse and location; inventory value that matches the ledger.
Purchase order, receipt, three-way match, replenishment on reorder point, safety stock and forecast.
Projects with tasks, budget against actuals, time cards with approval, invoicing rules, earned but uninvoiced revenue.
Subaccount or dimensions on every line, result per profit centre, customer, channel, project or work order without Excel.
Bank connection both ways, reconciliation per cash account and currency, e-invoicing via Peppol and to consumers.
Every point exists in some form in Fortnox and Spiris too. That is why the question "does the system have inventory?" does not help. The question is what happens to the inventory when the order arrives, and that is what we examine now.
Which ERP systems exist?
For Swedish companies between ten and a few hundred employees, these are the names that keep appearing on shortlists:
Visma's cloud ERP with general ledger, ledgers, bank, logistics and projects as standard, Swedish localization built in and unlimited users. The one we set up.
Microsoft's ERP with its own Shopify connector, Copilot and AppSource; Swedish localization through partner apps and a license per user. Compared in Visma Net vs Business Central.
Manufacturing companies, with production and planning at the core.
Trade and manufacturing, often with industry adaptations through partners.
Finance systems for small companies, with inventory, time and projects as add-ons and connectors for the rest. The line against the ERPs is in the next section.
SAP and IFS are ERPs for large groups and rarely appear on the same shortlist.
Ten places where the line runs
This is the core of the guide. First the picture: who does the step in each model. Then the details, row by row, with the vendors' own documentation as the source, read 14 October 2026. Where the documentation does not describe a feature we say so.
Someone at your companyThe system
Every claim about Fortnox and Spiris links to the vendor's own page at the end of the guide.
Read the rows again with your own company in mind. None of them makes accounting software bad. Fortnox Lager posts every shipment automatically, and Spiris has an OSS report that Fortnox lacks. But every row is a place where someone at your company today reconciles, warns, reminds or recalculates, and that is the work the ERP removes.
Four companies, same day
The same event, in the two models. The starred steps are the ones that in accounting software are done by a person or by a connector from another vendor.
- The customer pays in the store
- Sales order in Visma Net, with VAT and subaccount
- Inventory reserves, stock to the store
- Picking and shipment
- Invoice, prepayment matched
- Klarna matched order by order
This is how Visma Net is set up in Click to Cash. In accounting software the day's sales are posted as one summary entry, the order lives in the store and inventory in a hub from another vendor. The whole flow is in ERP for e-commerce 2026.
- Reorder point reached
- The agent proposes a purchase, you approve
- Receipt, inventory value posted
- Invoice matched against order and receipt
- Router · Discrepancy?YesStopped before approvalNoApproved by rule, paid via AutoPay
In accounting software the proposal is calculated on maximum stock, the invoice is matched by hand against the purchase order, and the inventory value is posted when someone chooses to. More in ERP for wholesalers.
- Time card per project and task
- The project manager approves
- Time becomes cost and invoice basis
- The invoicing rule runs monthly
- Pro forma reviewed, lines can be held
- E-invoice with OCR
In accounting software time is reported in a separate time module with its own license per person, transferred as invoice basis, and earned but uninvoiced time is posted by hand at year-end.
- Tasks and budget per task
- The purchase order becomes a commitment
- The invoice lands on the task
- Completion rate drives the progress invoice
- Router · Customer changes scope?YesA change order adjusts the budgetNoThe result is in the report
In accounting software the project is a code on the invoice. Budget against actuals, commitments and percentage of completion are built in Excel.
Visma itself describes project accounting in Visma Net as made for cost follow-up: budget, actuals, commitments, time and invoice. That line holds. If you also need to plan who does what next week, and see utilisation per person, that is a project tool such as monday.com, connected to Visma Net so that the project, the time and the invoice still live in one place. How we connect them is in monday.com and Visma Net: how they fit together.
When accounting software is enough
More often than ERP vendors like to admit. Fortnox and Spiris are right when:
And no resellers with their own prices and credit limits.
A few orders or invoices a day. Then it costs nothing to approve by hand, execute the accrual yourself or reconcile the payout afterwards. Automation only pays off when the same step is done a hundred times a week.
A result per cost centre and project in the monthly report is fine. You do not need margin per customer, channel, project or engagement while it is in progress.
Two or three people post, invoice and approve. The license per person does not matter.
And you are happy with summary entries and the system's reports as backup.
The store, time and inventory run through connectors you control, and nobody spends a day a month making them agree.
The last one is the middle ground, and it is Fortnox's own argument: a finance system extended with integrations. It works until the parts have to agree. The stock in the hub, the invoice in Fortnox and Klarna's payout in a third connector are three truths, and the one reconciling them is you.
Twelve signs you have outgrown it
The auditor, the reseller or Klarna asks about a single order, and the answer only exists in the store.
Something sells on the web that the shop already sold, or the other way round.
Someone spends a day a month making Klarna's payout add up in a spreadsheet.
The order is picked before anyone sees the customer has passed the limit.
The purchase proposal is based on maximum stock, and the bestsellers still run out.
A 3PL or a second warehouse, and stock per location lives in another system.
Time is reported in one system, invoiced in another, and utilisation is calculated in Excel.
Uninvoiced time is posted by hand at year-end, and nobody knows the result per engagement until then.
Every approver costs a license, so fewer approve than should.
Budget against actuals and commitments live in a spreadsheet updated when someone has time.
The invoice on percentage of completion is calculated by hand, and change orders end up in email.
A second entity, a second currency or a group report, and everything is duplicated.
Three or more, and it is time to follow your own flow in an ERP. Not because size says so, but because complexity does. A company with 60 employees can be happy in Fortnox and one with twelve need Visma Net. The difference is the flows, not the headcount.
What it really costs
The license model is the first difference. Accounting software charges per module and person, plus unit prices for invoices, scanning and e-invoices. Visma Net charges per package and transaction volume, with unlimited users, from SEK 2,744 a month. So count the number of people two years from now, not today, and what the person who only approves costs.
The second difference is the implementation. You start accounting software yourself. An ERP is set up around your flows: chart of accounts, subaccount, ledgers, inventory, projects and connectors. We do it at a fixed price: Visma Net Core SEK 75,000, SEK 125,000 with logistics, and Click to Cash, Visma Net set up for e-commerce with the connector to the store, inventory and payouts, SEK 95,000. Conversion of your master data is included. What is included line by line is in What does Visma Net cost?.
The third is the accounting firm. In Visma Net the firm logs in without an extra license, sees the same numbers as you and does the year-end there. What to ask the firm is not whether they "know" the system, but who does the period closing and where.
Test before you choose
A standard demo shows what the system looks like. A demo built for you shows whether it works. So we start with a free pre-study where we draw your flows, and when it helps your decision we build your own demo company in Visma Net in 3–5 days, with your chart of accounts, your subaccount and two or three of your own flows. If you sell online you also get a test store connected to the demo company. You get access to the whole environment and compare it with your own orders, projects and invoices.
Why Straviont
We are a Visma Net partner with seven consultants in Stockholm, and the same consultant follows you from the first call to after go-live. We built Click to Cash and the agents on Visma Net's API ourselves, and we set up Visma Net around your flows at a fixed price set before you say yes: for trade with the store, inventory and payouts, for service and project companies with projects, time, approval and invoicing rules, and with monday.com on top when the projects also need planning. How to choose a partner, and what to ask, is in Choosing a Visma Net partner.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ERP system?
A system where finance, orders, inventory, purchasing, projects and reporting share one database, so that an event is recorded once and then exists in the ledger, the stock balance, the project and the result. ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning; in Swedish it is called affärssystem.
What is the difference between an ERP and a finance system?
A finance system, or accounting software, records business events and often has invoicing, inventory, time and projects as add-ons. An ERP lets the events happen in the system: the order reserves stock, the purchase becomes a commitment on the project, the time card becomes a cost and an invoice. The difference shows in the credit limit, approval, inventory value, accruals, dimensions and the number of entities.
Is Fortnox an ERP?
Fortnox calls itself a business platform and has modules for accounting, invoicing, inventory, time, projects and approval, with one license per person and module. Spiris calls itself "a simple ERP for small businesses". Both are finance systems extended with connectors. The line against an ERP runs through the rows above: the credit limit warns, reconciliation only handles SEK, accruals are executed by hand, the project is a code, and every entity is a subscription.
Do small companies need an ERP?
Usually not. A company with one warehouse, one currency and a few people in the system manages with accounting software. Complexity decides, not headcount: a second warehouse, a second entity, resellers with credit limits, or projects to follow against budget.
Which ERP is best?
The one that handles your flows as standard, with a license that does not grow with the number of people, and that you have seen work on your own orders before you chose. For Swedish companies between ten and a few hundred employees, Visma Net is what we set up, with Swedish localization as standard and unlimited users. How it compares with Business Central is in Visma Net vs Business Central.
Examples of ERP systems?
Visma Net, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Monitor, Pyramid, Jeeves and Visma Business NXT for Swedish small and mid-sized companies. SAP and IFS for large ones. Fortnox and Spiris are finance systems.
What does an ERP cost?
Visma Net starts at SEK 2,744 a month with unlimited users, and the implementation with us costs from SEK 75,000 at a fixed price. Accounting software costs from a few hundred kronor a month plus a license per person and module and unit prices. Count two years ahead and everyone who will work and approve.
Which ERP fits service companies and consultancies?
One where time becomes a cost on the project and an invoice basis in the same system, with approval of time cards, invoicing rules for time and material and fixed price, pro forma invoices and earned but uninvoiced revenue. Visma Net has it in the Plus packages. If you also need resource planning and utilisation per person, we put a project tool such as monday.com on top, connected to Visma Net.
Which ERP fits project and construction companies?
One where the project has tasks, a budget per task, commitments from purchase orders, invoicing on percentage of completion and change orders. In accounting software the project is a code on the invoice, and the rest is built in Excel.
What are receivables and payables?
Receivables is the list of what customers owe you, invoice by invoice. Payables is what you owe suppliers. In an ERP they are updated by the order, the shipment, the purchase and the payment, not by someone registering them.
How long does it take to switch to an ERP?
We set up Visma Net Core in from four weeks, and Click to Cash for e-commerce is live in one to two months. Customers, suppliers, items, balances and open items are converted, and included in the price. What to think about is in Switching ERP systems.
Can we test before we choose?
Yes. After a free pre-study we build a demo company for you in 3–5 days, which you get access to and compare with your own flows. If you sell online you can try an order today in our demo store.
Next steps
Book a free pre-study, or read on where your company is: ERP for e-commerce 2026, ERP for wholesalers, Visma Net vs Fortnox, Visma Net vs Spiris and Visma Net for groups.
Sources
Everything about Fortnox and Spiris in the guide is based on their own pages and product help, and everything about Visma Net on Visma's documentation. Read 14 October 2026. The Fortnox and Spiris pages are in Swedish.
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- Leverantörsfakturaattest: generella inställningarsupport.fortnox.se
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