Back Office vs Fourth

Back Office is restaurant accounting, food cost and payroll software with a service team attached, sold by Buyers Edge Platform to independents, multi-concept groups and franchises in the US and Canada. Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics. Both are listed under Multi-Unit & Enterprise Restaurant Operations. Where the profiles show a difference, it is in price, audience and platforms.

Key differences

  • price

    Back Office publishes a starting price of USD 199 per month. Fourth does not publish a starting price.

  • audience

    The audiences they list differ. Listed for one product only, for example: Back Office: Independent restaurants; Fourth: Multi-location restaurant operators.

  • platforms

    Platform support differs. Back Office: Web; Fourth: Web, iOS, Android.

  • countries covered

    Country coverage differs. Back Office names 2 countries and Fourth names 4 countries. 2 countries appear in every list.

  • integrations

    The integration lists differ. Back Office names 31 integrations and Fourth names 25 integrations. 8 partners appear in every list.

  • company background

    By headquarters, Back Office (Littleton, United States) and Fourth (Austin, United States). By owner, Back Office (Buyers Edge Platform) and Fourth (Marlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority)).

Side by side

Back Office vs Fourth: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldBack OfficeFourth
What it isBack Office is restaurant accounting, food cost and payroll software with a service team attached, sold by Buyers Edge Platform to independents, multi-concept groups and franchises in the US and Canada.Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics.
Best forIndependent restaurants; Multi-concept restaurant groups; Franchisors and franchiseesMulti-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail; Operators wanting workforce and inventory in one vendor
Pricing modelSubscription per locationQuote only
Starting priceUSD 199 per monthNot published
Free planNoNot published
Free trialNot publishedNot published
ContractNot publishedSet by the order form (initial term not stated in the terms)
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CountriesCanada, United StatesAustralia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
LanguagesEnglishNot published
Number of integrations3125
CertificationsNot publishedISO 9001
Security practicesNot publishedCloud hosting in US, EMEA and APAC data centres built to Tier 3 standards with zero-trust network design, Data processing agreement published
FoundedNot publishedNot published
HeadquartersLittleton, United StatesAustin, United States
OwnerBuyers Edge PlatformMarlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority)
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

Named by both

  • Digital dining
  • Focus POS Systems
  • HungerRush
  • POSitouch
  • Revel
  • Micros Simphony
  • Squirrel Systems
  • Toast

Named only by Back Office

  • Brunswick
  • Clover
  • Dinerware
  • Future POS
  • Genius
  • GoTab
  • HarborTouch
  • Heartland
  • Lightspeed
  • Linga
  • Aloha
  • NorthStar
and 11 more
  • OnePOS
  • Micros
  • OrderCounter
  • PAR
  • RPower
  • Skytab
  • SpotOn
  • Square
  • Sync POS
  • Tab it
  • Union

Named only by Fourth

  • Aloha (NCR)
  • BlueCats
  • CareerBuilder
  • Cooper-Atkins
  • Indeed
  • ITD Food Safety
  • Oracle Micros 3700
  • Monster
  • PAR POS (formerly Brink)
  • QU
  • Restaurant Manager
  • Snagajob
and 5 more
  • Sysco
  • Lightspeed U Series (formerly Upserve)
  • US Foods
  • Xenial IRIS
  • Xpient

Which to choose

Back Office

Choose Back Office if you fit its listed audience: Independent restaurants; Multi-concept restaurant groups; Franchisors and franchisees.

Fourth

Choose Fourth if you are in one of these groups: Multi-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail.

What we could not confirm

Back Office

  • Contract minimum term and renewal
  • Founding year and employee count
  • Security certifications and hosting
  • Mobile apps
  • Which integrations are available for which plan or in Canada
  • Bookkeeping service pricing (listed as coming soon)
  • Exact headquarters (site data says Littleton, Colorado; legal terms list Waltham, Massachusetts)

Fourth

  • Any price; conditions of the free year of HotSchedules promotion
  • Legal entity name and registration (several Fourth companies appear in the terms)
  • Current ownership (the latest ownership event stated is the 2019 Marlin acquisition)
  • Initial contract term and minimum length
  • Interface languages and the full list of countries served
  • Fourth iQ app platforms and availability dates
  • Employee count
  • Accounting integrations
  • Customer counts differ between pages (120,000 locations on the homepage; 15,000 customers across 100,000 sites on the about page)

Go further

Back Office profileFourth profile

Other comparisons with these products

Sources

Facts on this page come from the pages below. Prices and features change, so confirm with each vendor before you buy.

Back Office, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepagehttps://bepbackoffice.com/
  2. Packages and priceshttps://bepbackoffice.com/pricing/
  3. Integrations listhttps://bepbackoffice.com/integrations/
  4. POS integration categoryhttps://bepbackoffice.com/blog/integration-types/point-of-sale/
  5. Company, parenthttps://bepbackoffice.com/about-us/
  6. Service modelhttps://bepbackoffice.com/why-back-office/
  7. Accounting featureshttps://bepbackoffice.com/solutions/accounting/
  8. Food cost featureshttps://bepbackoffice.com/solutions/food-cost-management/
  9. Payroll featureshttps://bepbackoffice.com/solutions/payroll/
  10. Franchise fithttps://bepbackoffice.com/franchise-restaurants/
  11. Support hourshttps://bepbackoffice.com/faqs/
  12. Customer exampleshttps://bepbackoffice.com/case-studies/
  13. Legal entityhttps://bepbackoffice.com/terms-and-conditions-operations/
  14. Canadian sitehttps://bepbackoffice.com/ca/

Fourth, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepage: positioning, 120,000 locations claimhttps://www.fourth.com/
  2. Company overview, customer claimshttps://www.fourth.com/company/about
  3. Offices and support numbershttps://www.fourth.com/company/contact
  4. HotSchedules features, apps, promotionhttps://www.fourth.com/product/hotschedules
  5. MacromatiXhttps://www.fourth.com/product/macromatix
  6. Workforce management featureshttps://www.fourth.com/solution/workforce-management-software
  7. Inventory featureshttps://www.fourth.com/solution/inventory-management
  8. Fourth iQ and named customershttps://www.fourth.com/solution/ai-intro
  9. Integration partnershttps://www.fourth.com/partner/integrations
  10. Renewal, fee changes, Fuego serviceshttps://www.fourth.com/legal/general-terms-and-conditions
  11. Hosting and securityhttps://www.fourth.com/legal/fourth-hosting-data-security
  12. Press releases: ISO 9001https://www.fourth.com/company/press-room
  13. 2019 acquisition, founding year, officeshttps://www.marlinequity.com/news/marlin-completes-the-acquisition-of-hotschedules-and-fourth/
  14. Data processing agreement (listed in sitemap)https://www.fourth.com/legal/data-processing-agreement
  15. System requirements page (listed in sitemap, not read)https://www.fourth.com/legal/minimum-system-requirements-for-all-systems