Fund accounting software for private funds compared: the ledger end of the stack
The short answer
Almost nobody running a venture or PE fund buys fund accounting software directly. Administrators buy it, and GPs buy administrators. The exceptions are firms with a controller or CFO who wants to own the books, multi-fund platforms that have outgrown their administrator's reporting, and managers who want a combined software-and-service product where the ledger comes with the team.
So read this table two ways. If you are a GP, the rows that matter are the combined products (Vessel, Carta, Juniper Square) and the published-price software (FundCount, Fundwave). If you are choosing an administrator, the rows tell you which ledger they are likely running underneath, which affects what your reports look like and how painful a future migration will be.
Nine fund accounting and administration systems compared on delivery, fund types, sweet spot, published price, portal and the date we checked.
| Platform | Delivery | Fund types | Sweet spot | Published price | LP portal | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vessel | Software plus administration | VC and PE funds, SPVs, co-invest vehicles | Fund I to multi-fund GPs who want LP intelligence, fundraising, onboarding, admin and reporting in one system | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
| FundCount | Software | PE, hedge, family offices, administrators | Firms that want partnership accounting and the general ledger in one system | From $38,389/yr (Private Equity); from $26,950/yr (Fund Administration); Fund Admin Incubator from $14,450/yr; implementation and hosting extra | Not stated | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Allvue | Software | PE, credit, VC | Multi-fund PE and credit managers, and the administrators that serve them | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
| LemonEdge | Software | PE, VC, real estate, funds of funds, family offices | Firms and administrators that want a configurable private-markets general ledger with an embedded waterfall | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
| FIS Private Capital Suite (Investran) | Software | PE and funds of funds | Institutional PE firms and the administrators that service them | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
| eFront (BlackRock) | Software | PE, VC, private credit, real assets, funds of funds | Institutional GPs, LPs and asset servicers that want one platform from due diligence to investor portal | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Fundwave | Software | VC, PE | Single funds up to $250M wanting published per-fund pricing | Fund admin from $800/mo per fund; investor portal from $400/mo; admin plus portal from $1,000/mo; onboarding fee extra | Separate product | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Carta | Software plus administration | VC funds, SPVs | Managers already on its cap table and SPV products | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Juniper Square | Software plus administration | VC, PE, credit, real estate | Multi-fund GPs with institutional LP bases | Quote-based | Yes | Oct 9, 2026 |
The administrators who run these systems
| Administrator | Focus | Stated scale (own site unless noted) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standish Management | Venture, buyout, real estate, funds of funds | $700B+ under administration, 500+ clients (press, January 2026, not verified on site) | Quote-based |
| Aduro Advisors | Venture and PE | $120B+ AUA (press, May 2024) | Quote-based |
| Gen II Fund Services | PE, credit, real assets, infrastructure | 12,000+ fund entities, $2T+ AUA | Quote-based |
| SS&C GlobeOp | PE, credit, hedge | About $845B AUA across 345+ clients | Quote-based |
| Citco | Hedge, PE, credit, real assets | $3T AUA, 50+ offices | Quote-based |
| Apex Group | Multi-asset | $3.5tn+ serviced, 10,000+ clients | Quote-based |
| NAV Fund Services | Hedge, PE, VC, real estate, credit | $540B AUA, 2,750+ clients | Quote-based |
Standish and Aduro both serve a bot wall to automated readers, so their rows come from press coverage and a 2020 case study. Treat the figures as the firms' claims.
Why Vessel is our pick for a GP who wants software and service together
Vessel's fund admin product is a ledger (trial balance, journal entries, capital accounts, bank feeds, period close, financial statements) with a team that runs migration, period close and side letter requests as part of the service, and it states waterfall modelling across partners. It launched on October 8, 2026, which is both the reason to look at it and the reason to ask hard questions: get references on the service, ask who signs the quarter-end close, and ask what happens at audit. No price is published.
If you want a ledger you operate yourself with a price you can read first, FundCount's Fund Admin Incubator tier at $14,450 a year is the cheapest published entry point for a small multi-fund shop, with the caveat that implementation and hosting are extra.
Who should choose which
- A GP with no controller. Hire an administrator. Standish or Aduro for venture; NAV if you value a fast transition; Gen II, SS&C, Citco or Apex at institutional scale.
- A GP who wants the ledger and the team in one product. Vessel, or Carta if the portfolio is already on Carta, or Juniper Square for multi-asset institutional LP bases.
- A GP with a controller who wants published pricing. FundCount or Fundwave.
- An administrator, or a GP running fund accounting in-house at scale. Allvue, LemonEdge or FIS Investran, with an enterprise sales process.
- An institutional GP or LP that needs monitoring and data more than a ledger. eFront.
The nine systems, one by one
Who it is for. Emerging managers to multi-fund platforms that want ledger, capital accounts, period close and LP reporting with a service team attached.
Delivery. Software plus administration.
Price. Quote-based.
Limits. New as of October 2026. Not sold to other administrators as far as its site states.
Who it is for. Family offices, administrators, hedge funds and PE firms that want one multi-currency, investment-aware ledger under every entity, with a configurable waterfall engine and a branded investor portal. FundCount states $100B+ on the platform.
Delivery. Software, sold to GPs and administrators.
Price. Published starting prices: $38,389 a year for private equity, $26,950 for fund administration, $14,450 for the Fund Admin Incubator (up to five funds of $50M each, one user, $6,450 per additional fund), all plus implementation and hosting. Final quotes are sized to entities, users and assets.
Limits. The published figures are floors.
Who it is for. General partners, credit managers, administrators, banks and insurers that want a true general ledger built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, with investor portal and an optional waterfall module. Allvue states 21,000 funds tracked and 500+ clients.
Delivery. Software, sold to GPs and administrators.
Price. Quote-based.
Limits. The waterfall is an optional module. Enterprise implementation.
Who it is for. PE, VC, real estate, funds of funds and administrators that want a general ledger designed for private markets with an embedded, audited waterfall and an investor portal. LemonEdge states $5tn+ under client management and 60M+ ledger transactions.
Delivery. Software, sold to GPs and administrators.
Price. Quote-based.
Limits. None stated; expect an enterprise process.
Who it is for. Institutional PE firms and the administrators that service them, with automated carry calculations, digital waterfall administration and the Digital Data Exchange investor portal.
Delivery. Cloud software.
Price. Quote-based.
Limits. Long-standing institutional system; plan for a long implementation and a dedicated owner.
Who it is for. Asset managers, asset owners and asset servicers that want fund administration and accounting alongside due diligence, portfolio monitoring and investor portals, within BlackRock's Aladdin family.
Delivery. Software.
Price. Quote-based.
Limits. General ledger and waterfall details are not stated on the public pages; ask.
Who it is for. Single funds up to about $250M that want published per-fund pricing for the accounting engine, with a liquidation waterfall listed in features and an optional administration service.
Delivery. Software.
Price. Published: $800, $1,200 and $1,800 a month per fund by AUM tier, plus one-time onboarding from $2,000.
Limits. General ledger is not described by name on the site.
Who it is for. Venture, PE and private credit funds that want a connected general ledger inside Carta's fund ERP, with an LP portal and an administration team. Carta states $220B+ in fund assets under administration.
Delivery. Software plus administration.
Price. Quote-based; fund tax, formations and management company admin are unpriced add-ons.
Limits. Distribution waterfall is not stated by name; carry tracking is in the Advanced plan.
Who it is for. GPs that want fund accounting delivered as a service through Juniper Square's administration, with the portal LPs already know. The administration page states over $200B of assets and 650,000 LPs.
Delivery. Software plus administration.
Price. Quote-based.
Limits. Ledger and waterfall are not described in detail on public pages.
What we did
We read each vendor's own pages on October 9, 2026 and recorded only what was written there. Standish Management and Aduro Advisors could not be read at their own sites, so their figures come from press coverage and are marked as such. Where a page did not name a general ledger or a waterfall, we say so.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fund accounting software and fund administration software?
Should a GP buy fund accounting software or hire an administrator?
How much does fund accounting software cost?
Which administrators do venture firms use?
Does the software do the waterfall?
Sources
- FundCount pricingwww.fundcount.com/pricing
- Allvue fund accountingwww.allvuesystems.com/solutions/fund-accounting/
- LemonEdgewww.lemonedge.com
- FIS Private Capital Suitewww.fisglobal.com/products/fis-private-capital-suite
- eFrontwww.efront.com/en
- Fundwave fund admin pricingfundwave.com/pricing/fund-admin/
- Carta venture capital fund management planscarta.com/plans/fund-management/venture-capital/
- Juniper Square fund administrationwww.junipersquare.com/administration/fund-administration
- Vessel fund adminvessel.co/products/fund-admin
- Gen II Fund Serviceswww.gen2fund.com
- SS&C private equitywww.ssctech.com/industry/private-markets/private-equity
- Citco: who we arewww.citco.com/who-we-are
- NAV Fund Services private equity administrationwww.navfundservices.com/fund-strategies/private-equity-fund-administration
Terms used in this article
- Capital account A capital account is the running balance of a single partner's economic interest in a fund: contributions in, allocations of income, gains and losses, less distributions out.
- Distribution waterfall A distribution waterfall is the sequence in which a fund's proceeds are allocated between limited partners and the general partner, typically return of contributed capital first, then a preferred return to LPs, then a catch-up to the GP, then the remaining profit split at the carried interest rate.
- Carried interest Carried interest is the general partner's share of a fund's profits, typically 20%, paid through the distribution waterfall only after limited partners have received their contributed capital and, usually, a preferred return.
- Management fee The management fee is an annual charge paid by the fund to the management company, typically 2% of committed capital during the investment period, often stepping down afterwards to a lower rate or a basis of invested capital, to cover salaries, rent and the cost of running the firm.
- Fund administrator A fund administrator is the firm, or the software operated in-house, that maintains a private fund's books: partner capital accounts, capital call and distribution processing, fee and waterfall calculations, NAV, investor statements and audit support.
For people actually running a fund
One operating problem a week: capital calls, K-1s, LP reporting, waterfall math, onboarding. Every Tuesday. Free.
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