Choosing the right accounting solution; Sage 50 vs Sage Intacct – which is best for my business?

We get asked over and over from companies we’ve worked with – so, why should I choose Sage Intacct over Sage 50? So we thought it would be useful to write this post to help.

Let’s start by saying that selecting the right financial management solution is an important business decision. You want one that will serve you and the business well for years to come and stand its ground when changes happen. Here we look at the difference between two Sage solutions; Sage 50 vs Sage Intacct to help you make the right decision.

For start-ups particularly, it can be tempting to opt for the ‘best-for-now’ least expensive solution, the benefit being low investment costs and ease of set-up.

Thinking ahead to your business’ future plans before choosing your software helps you make the right choice to support you along the journey.

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How do you know if Sage 50 or Sage Intacct is right for you? Ask the following questions:

What are your accessibility needs?

Consider your business needs around the accessibility of information; do you have remote working teams or an increasing need for access to data?

Sage 50 is a great solution for small businesses with a small number of users while Sage Intacct is designed for those with up to 1,000 users.

Sage 50 is a well known, trusted and reliable finance management system for many. However, it is not a ‘true-cloud’ option and therefore will still require ongoing investment for servers, support and in IT infrastructure to facilitate upgrades and support remote access.
Sage Intacct is a native fully cloud finance software solution, accessible via any internet connected device at any time.

When the time to upgrade comes, Sage Intacct is the natural selection for Sage 50cloud users helping them to close the books up to 80% quicker, gain enhanced visibility into key metrics on demand and to consolidate multiple entities in mere minutes.

Growing pains?

Is your business growing quickly, or do you want it to?

Limitations can begin to appear for Sage 50 users when the business starts growing. This can be due to an increase in transaction volume within the system, or an increase in employees needing system access, slowing the system down.
Sage Intacct is designed to grow along with a business, combining the power of the cloud with a multi-ledger system to support businesses with high transaction volumes.
A true-cloud finance software, Intacct eliminates any concerns around data storage space or costly server upgrades.

Choosing an accounting solution that supports business growth with minimal disruption or further investment costs could be a wise option if business growth is in your vision.

Growing with Sage Intacct - Free Guide

Multi-currency requirements?

Expanding into new territories? If so, you’ll need a finance management solution up to the task…

Designed as an on-premises solution, while Sage 50 is capable of multi-currency transactions, the process requires manual inputting of exchange rates regularly. Adding new entities in Sage 50 involves manual processes with increased time spent on excel data exports and manual consolidations.
Sage Intacct automatically gathers exchange rates making multi-currency consolidations possible with just a few button clicks once set up.
The handling of foreign currency, tax and legislation are simplified with Sage Intacct’s multi-currency consolidations.

Businesses who plan on international expansion and who require multi entity consolidations will benefit from using Sage Intacct, which automates these processes and promotes growth.

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What are your reporting needs?

Spending lots of time exporting and manipulating data in excel spreadsheets from multiple systems?

Sage Intacct delivers fully customisable reporting with the ability to drill into granular detail via hyperlinks.
Web-browser access enables your teams to access real-time data on demand, anytime or place.
Permission-based access allows people at all levels within the organisation to view reports relevant to them – from a P&L overview for the CFO down to location-specific performance for sales managers.

When reporting becomes more complex and requires more of a multi-dimensional system, Sage 50 users often start to experience limitations in delivering what’s needed.

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Need better system integration?

When your key business systems don’t communicate effectively, you’re left creating time consuming manual workarounds to synchronise all your information.

Sage 50 relies on a server, so synchronising data from multiple systems can become a more tricky and costly task requiring continuous checks that all is in order.

When error-prone manual workarounds have become the norm, it could be time to upgrade to Intacct.

Sage Intacct is a cloud native solution with open APIs, so it connects with hundreds of key business systems (like Salesforce) synchronising and combining all your information in one easy to access location.
With a single source of truth for all data, efficiency improvements and greater visibility into key metrics promotes better data-based decision making and planning.

And for businesses needing a more basic cloud-based core accounting functionality without the fuss, Sage Intacct Starter Edition is right up your street.

What next?

As a preferred Sage business partner with 40+ years’ experience, we know our Sage – and how to help our customers find the perfect solution for their needs.

Want to learn more about Sage Intacct and Starter Edition, and how you could harness the power of cloud accounting in your business?

Fill in the form below, and one of our experts will get back to you to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation or demo: