The 5 Best Entertainment Partners (EP) Alternatives for 2025 (And One That Won't Cost You $10,000 Per Project)
For decades, Entertainment Partners (EP) and its SmartAccounting software have been the industry staple. But this “privilege” comes at a massive cost.
Producers and accountants are growing tired of the sky-high licensing fees, the new $39.99/month subscription for Movie Magic Budgeting, and the notoriously steep learning curve for a suite of tools that are often complex and overwhelming.
EP is built for massive studio projects with unlimited budgets. But what about the rest of the industry?
What if there was a better model? What if your software was blazing-fast, cloud-based, and so simple to use, you didn’t need a special training course? What if it included a modern, collaborative budgeting tool for a much more affordable price, and your accounting platform was a profit center for your company instead of a massive expense?
That’s Periscope. Here is an honest comparison of how we stack up against EP and its common alternatives.
Part 1: The Business Model Comparison (The "Big Picture")
| The Big Picture | Periscope (The New Standard) | EP SmartAccounting (The Legacy Giant) | Other Alternatives (Greenslate, Wrapbook) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | One low monthly subscription for your entire company (unlimited projects) | Massive per-project licensing fees ($5k-$10k+) | Per-project fee or tied to payroll services |
| Budgeting Tool | $7 one-time fee for a collaborative, MMB-style app | $39.99/month subscription for Movie Magic | n/a |
| Budget Integration | Seamless, one-click import | Manual import/export from MMB | Manual import/export required |
| Business Impact | Becomes a profit center for your company | A major budget drain on every production | A necessary cost center |
| User Experience | Intuitive, modern, and blazing-fast (zero learning curve) | Steep learning curve, complex, and overwhelming | Varies |
Part 2: Core Accounting Features: Head-to-Head
Periscope delivers the same professional-grade power as EP, but without the complexity, bloat, or 1990s-era interface.
| Core Feature | Periscope | EP SmartAcctg. | Greenslate | Wrapbook | ABS Payroll |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget Import | (Seamless 1-Click) | Manual | Limited | ||
| Film Cost Report | |||||
| A/P Aging Report | |||||
| Check Printing | |||||
| Bank Reconciliation | |||||
| Petty Cash & CC Mgt. | |||||
| General Ledger Report | |||||
| Trial Balance | |||||
| The Bottom Line: | All the "giant's" features, built for the modern, independent producer. |
A Detailed Look at the Alternatives
Here’s a breakdown of the most popular EP alternatives and why they still don’t solve the core problem.
1. Periscope Apps
Overview: Periscope brings speed, efficiency, and simplicity together in one sleek app designed to maximize production workflows. With its modern, intuitive layout and fully paperless design, Periscope transforms how teams manage their finances. Built on a payroll-agnostic foundation, it adapts to your workflow, empowering productions to move faster and smarter.
Core Strengths: Built as an accounting-first platform, Periscope reimagines what modern financial software can be. Gone are the limitations of the traditional per-project model; Periscope handles your entire slate up to 10x faster, whether you’re running an indie film or a full-scale studio lineup. Its cloud-based, lightning-fast system and seamless one-click import make collaboration effortless, allowing your team to work together in real time without missing a beat.
The Periscope Difference: For just a one-time payment of $7, Periscope gives you a professional-grade accounting suite that scales with you from your first independent project to a full portfolio of feature films. Its flexible, payroll-agnostic design lets you choose your providers freely while running unlimited projects in one unified, high-speed platform.
2. Wrapbook
Overview: Wrapbook excels in simplicity and speed, with a platform designed to get productions up and running quickly. It’s a strong modern alternative to EP’s complex onboarding.
Core Strengths: Intuitive payroll, fast onboarding, and compliance tools in a modern interface appeal to small- to mid-sized productions.
The Periscope Difference: Wrapbook is a payroll company first. Their accounting tools are designed to lock you into their payroll service. Periscope is payroll-agnostic and an accounting-first platform. We give you the freedom to choose your payroll provider and a superior financial model that saves you money.
3. ABS Payroll & Accounting
Overview: ABS focuses on streamlining payroll and simplifying accounting for indie and lower-budget projects, where simplicity is key.
Core Strengths: Easier and faster to manage for smaller productions, with a user-friendly interface that is less overwhelming than EP’s.
The Periscope Difference: ABS is a great starter tool, but Periscope is the platform you can grow with. We offer a full, professional-grade accounting suite that scales from your first $2M indie film to a $20M series, all under the same predictable subscription that turns into a profit center.
4. Revolution Entertainment Services (ProBooks)
Overview: ProBooks’s strength lies in its customization and user-friendly approach, providing straightforward accounting tools that adapt to a production’s unique needs.
Core Strengths: Customers can manage budgets, expenses, and reporting more efficiently without the steep learning curve of EP’s system.
The Periscope Difference: ProBooks is a strong modern tool, but it’s still built on the old per-project cost model. Periscope provides the same modern, paperless workflow plus a revolutionary business model. Why pay per project when you can run your entire slate for one low monthly fee?
5. Greenslate
Overview: Greenslate’s strength lies in its modern, cloud-based design, offering streamlined budgeting and accounting features that enable teams to work efficiently.
Core Strengths: More flexible and less cumbersome than EP for productions that prioritize intuitive, cloud-based workflows.
The Periscope Difference: Like Wrapbook, Greenslate’s ecosystem is designed to keep you locked into their payroll service. Periscope gives you total freedom. We provide a more powerful, accounting-first platform and a business model that turns your accounting department into a revenue-generating asset, all while letting you use any payroll service you choose.
Stop Paying for the Name.
Start Paying for What You Need.
The old way of paying a fortune for the “EP” name, a steep learning curve, and a clunky system is over. You can have all the core features you depend on, unified in a single, blazing-fast, cloud-based platform.
Choose the system that’s built for the future of production, not the past.
Join the Waitlist!
Be the first to experience our revolutionary film production accounting software, Periscope Apps. Experience real-time cost reports, payroll, P.O.s, Petty Cash Management, and more. Coming soon!