Kantata Review: Pros, Cons, Features, and Pricing
Kantata is an expense management software built for professional services firms that need to track project and client-related costs alongside time, resources, and billing. I'd mainly consider it if your team manages billable expenses across multiple client engagements and needs those costs tied directly to project financials—rather than a standalone tool like Expensify, which handles employee spend well but doesn't connect expenses to project profitability or client invoicing the way Kantata does.
Kantata Evaluation Summary
- Pricing upon request
- Free demo available
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Kantata Overview
In my opinion, Kantata stands out as a comprehensive PSA software solution for organizations that require strong resource management, time management, and financial oversight. Its user-friendly interface, structured onboarding, and rich templates help teams get started quickly despite the platform’s breadth. While Kantata offers extensive automation, metrics, and forecasting capabilities, some users note that integrations with tools like QuickBooks and Jira may require careful configuration. Overall, Kantata is well-suited to mid-sized and enterprise teams seeking a single platform to streamline project delivery, allocation, and financial control.
pros
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You can easily manage resources with its intuitive interface.
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The software provides valuable insights from sales and operations reports.
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The onboarding process is excellent for your team.
cons
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You might find it challenging to reduce the number of tools you use.
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Integrations can sometimes fail or not update.
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The software may not suit teams looking for extensive customization.
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How We Test & Score Tools
We’ve spent years building, refining, and improving our software testing and scoring system. The rubric is designed to capture the nuances of software selection and what makes a tool effective, focusing on critical aspects of the decision-making process.
Below, you can see exactly how our testing and scoring works across seven criteria. It allows us to provide an unbiased evaluation of the software based on core functionality, standout features, ease of use, onboarding, customer support, integrations, customer reviews, and value for money.
Core Functionality (25% of final scoring)
The starting point of our evaluation is always the core functionality of the tool. Does it have the basic features and functions that a user would expect to see? Are any of those core features locked to higher-tiered pricing plans? At its core, we expect a tool to stand up against the baseline capabilities of its competitors.
Standout Features (25% of final scoring)
Next, we evaluate uncommon standout features that go above and beyond the core functionality typically found in tools of its kind. A high score reflects specialized or unique features that make the product faster, more efficient, or offer additional value to the user.
We also evaluate how easy it is to integrate with other tools typically found in the tech stack to expand the functionality and utility of the software. Tools offering plentiful native integrations, 3rd party connections, and API access to build custom integrations score best.
Ease of Use (10% of final scoring)
We consider how quick and easy it is to execute the tasks defined in the core functionality using the tool. High scoring software is well designed, intuitive to use, offers mobile apps, provides templates, and makes relatively complex tasks seem simple.
Onboarding (10% of final scoring)
We know how important rapid team adoption is for a new platform, so we evaluate how easy it is to learn and use a tool with minimal training. We evaluate how quickly a team member can get set up and start using the tool with no experience. High scoring solutions indicate little or no support is required.
Customer Support (10% of final scoring)
We review how quick and easy it is to get unstuck and find help by phone, live chat, or knowledge base. Tools and companies that provide real-time support score best, while chatbots score worst.
Customer Reviews (10% of final scoring)
Beyond our own testing and evaluation, we consider the net promoter score from current and past customers. We review their likelihood, given the option, to choose the tool again for the core functionality. A high scoring software reflects a high net promoter score from current or past customers.
Value for Money (10% of final scoring)
Lastly, in consideration of all the other criteria, we review the average price of entry level plans against the core features and consider the value of the other evaluation criteria. Software that delivers more, for less, will score higher.
Core Features
Expense Tracking: Assign expenses to projects and budgets to maintain financial accuracy.
Budget Management: Plan and monitor project budgets to control spend.
Time Tracking: Capture billable and non-billable time using timers or manual entries.
Financial Reporting: Analyze profitability, revenue, and cost data using real-time metrics.
Approval Workflows: Automate approvals to maintain governance and compliance.
User Permissions: Control access levels across team members and stakeholders.
Ease of Use
Kantata balances powerful automation with a relatively intuitive interface. While setup requires planning, particularly around resource allocation and workflows, users report that daily project tracking and time management become efficient once configured.
Integrations
Kantata integrates with popular systems like Salesforce, NetSuite, QuickBooks, Oracle, SAP, Workday, Slack, and Jira.
Kantata also offers secure APIs for real-time data flow and connects with middleware tools like MuleSoft for enhanced integration capabilities.
New Product Updates from Kantata
Kantata Adds Access Group Change History
Kantata now records Access Group name, description, membership, and permission changes in Recent History. The same events are also available through the Subscribed Events API, giving admins more visibility into access-related changes. Highlights include:
- Access Group History: Tracks changes made to Access Groups in Recent History.
- Membership Changes: Records when users are added to or removed from Access Groups.
- Permission Tracking: Logs updates to Access Group permissions.
- API Access: Makes Access Group change events available through the Subscribed Events API.
Visit Kantata’s official site for more details.
for more details.
Kantata Adds Revenue Worksheet for Project Revenue Review
Kantata Revenue Worksheet shows the data contributing to project revenue, including totals from sources such as time entries and expenses. Users can review these inputs in more detail and export individual data points for further analysis. Highlights include:
- Revenue Worksheet: Adds a dedicated view for reviewing forecasted and calculated project revenue.
- Revenue Data Visibility: Shows totals from underlying project data such as time entries and expenses.
- Line-by-Line Review: Lets users inspect supporting revenue data in greater detail.
- Data Export: Supports exporting individual data points for further review.
Visit Kantata’s official site for more details.
Kantata Adds Private Tasks for Client-Facing Projects
Kantata Private Tasks let teams keep specific project tasks hidden from all client participants while continuing to manage them internally. Teams can also set projects so newly created tasks remain private until they are ready to be shared. Highlights include:
- Private Tasks: Hides selected project tasks from client participants.
- Project-Level Defaults: Lets teams make newly created tasks private by default.
- Controlled Sharing: Allows tasks to remain internal until teams are ready to make them visible.
Visit Kantata’s official site for more details.
Kantata Adds Expertise Agent and AI Workflow Capabilitiesfessional Services
Kantata added Expertise Agent, agentic BI, and AI-powered workflow capabilities to improve professional services management. These updates help teams use AI to analyze project data, automate actions, and support resource planning decisions. Highlights include:
- Expertise Agent: Use AI to answer business questions, analyze project context, and coordinate actions across workflows.
- Agentic BI: Ask natural language questions to review trends, identify risks, and generate operational insights.
- Self-Executing Workflows: Automate actions across project delivery, financial systems, and connected tools.
Visit Kantata’s official site for more details.
Kantata Specs
- API
- Billing/Invoicing
- Budgeting
- CRM Integration
- Dashboards
- Data Export
- Data Import
- Document Management
- Expense Tracking
- External Integrations
- Financial Analysis
- Forecasting
- Gantt Charts
- Inventory Tracking
- Multi-Currency
- Multi-User
- Notifications
- Project Management
- Resource Management
- Scheduling
- Status Notifications
- Task Scheduling/Tracking
- Time Management
- Workflow Management
