Unit4 Review 2025: The First ERP Built for Nonprofits, Not LLCs

Every year, millions of Americans take the leap into entrepreneurship. In fact, no less than 5.5 million new business applications were filed in the United States in 2023. This made it one of the record years for new ventures and small business formation. 

Among these businesses, there’s a structure that is clearly leading the way, accounting for the most formations year after year, the LLC, or Limited Liability Company. It’s no big surprise that LLCs are consistently the most popular business structure for emerging founders. 

Yet, no matter which business structure you end up choosing, there’s no denying that your venture will need the right business tools to grow, including enterprise software. As LLCs are the most common business entity, you’d assume that any business tool designed for LLC should be fit for any other structure. That’s where things start to break, though. Businesses that have different purposes as well as structures may not work well with software solutions that are built to support different needs.

Would a nonprofit entity, which is mission-centric, be able to manage a sustainable growth profile by using an enterprise tool that prioritizes profit-based templates? The answer is no. Growth, sustainability and impact hinge on having technology that supports how your business operates, and this principle applies to nonprofits too. That’s why specialist nonprofit tools, like Unit4’s ERP, are essential additions. 

Why LLC Tools Don’t Work for Nonprofits?  

At a glance, LLCs and nonprofits may look similar. Both are legal entities. Both can hire employees. Both must manage finances, operations and compliance. But beneath the surface, they operate on completely different foundations, and those differences influence the tools they need. 

An LLC is designed for ownership, flexibility, and profit. Its sole purpose is to generate income for its members. The business structure protects the members from personality liability and offers a direct path for launch and growth. So, to put it bluntly, revenue belongs to owners. As a results, decisions tend to revolve around profitability, that’s why the success of an LLC is measured by: 

• Margins
• Valuation
• Market share

On the other hand, a nonprofit is mission-driven. It exists to serve a specific public good, which means that its goal is not to create wealth for the owners. Any surplus it generates is reinvested into activities that support its mission. So, here, the priority is not income generation, but funding collection from donors, grants, sponsorships, etc. By extension, profit margins don’t define a nonprofit. What does is how effectively it can allocate resources to pursue its mission. 

From the perspective of a nonprofit entity, there’s a need for a system that does not measure revenue but that reflects program budgets, donor activities, and contributions in a way that is accountable to the relevant authorities. An ERP built for for-profit companies simply can’t support those needs appropriately. 

Who Is Unit4?

Unit4 is a global enterprise software provider with a mission to build ERP with purpose-driven organizations in mind from the start. Unit4 recognizes that the way faith-based institutions and nonprofits measure success is not in shareholder returns. 

Unit4 delivers a cloud-native ERP platform to clients all around the world. The solution provides an environment where finance, procurement, grant management, planning, and HR are unified into a single ecosystem. This gives nonprofit leaders complete visibility of fund allocations, team, and program performance. 

Most importantly, because the company understands that nonprofits are built around people, their ERP reflects the human dynamic and prioritizes usability, transparency, and purpose alignment. 

How Unit4 Supports Nonprofit Goals & Needs

Unit4 is designed to help nonprofits get the most out of their workflow. The ERP solution gives them the tools to run their operations with clarity, accountability, and transparency to make a real difference in the world. 

Donor & Grant Funds Visibility

Nonprofits typically juggle multiple funding sources, each with its own regulations, deadlines, and accountability requirements. Unit4 helps track every single dollar, breaking it down by:

• Where it comes from
• How it’s being used
• Why program it supports

This also makes it easy to meet board inquiries and maintain transparency at all times. 

Mixed Workforce Management

Unlike LLCs that are mainly staffed by paid employees, nonprofits operate with a diverse workforce that includes full-time employees, part-timers, volunteers, and even contractors. That’s why there’s a need for a specialist tool that lets you manage and track the nonprofit workforce. 

Audit Readiness

Nonprofits are frequently scrutinized, and they need to provide audits for donors, auditors, government agencies, and even their own board. Unit4 makes it easier by centralizing all financial data and activity logs in one platform. 

Easily Scalable

Even nonprofits can grow their programs and services, and when they do, they need to be able to find tools that can manage their new needs. Unit4 makes it a seamless process with its modular infrastructure that can be adapted as the organization evolves. 

Why Nonprofits Choose Unit4

The biggest advantage nonprofits see with Unit4 is that it’s built for their world, not adapted from corporate software. Rather than forcing mission-driven teams to squeeze into profit-oriented workflows, Unit4 reflects nonprofit realities:

• Donor restrictions
• Program budgets
• Volunteer oversight
• Board reporting
• Etc.

Users often praise how the unified system consolidates finance, HR, grant tracking, and operations into one platform. This reduces the administrative burden that usually comes from juggling spreadsheets and disconnected tools. But it’s not all! The single platform approach is also great for lowering the risk of compliance mistakes and freeing staff to focus on mission delivery.

Unit4’s interface is another standout feature. It’s designed to be intuitive, meaning nonprofits don’t need a large IT department or technical-heavy training to get teams up to speed. Thanks to the cloud-native structure, nonprofits gain flexibility to grow programs or add services without overhauling their tech stack, which is a rare win in the ERP world.

Is There Something Nonprofits Should Know?

Although Unit4 offers clear advantages for nonprofits, it’s important to consider whether the platform is the right solution for your specific organization.

First of all, while features are intuitive to learn, the level of support that the platform can provide is better-suited to mid-sized to large nonprofit entities. For the small guys with simple programs, this may not be a necessary investment yet. 

Additionally, it’s worth remembering that the only way to leverage the benefits of this nonprofit ERP is to ensure the initial setup is thoroughly planned to include full data alignment and staff adoption.