Sage Accounting Reviews

Pros

Banking connections, this and the ease of allocation of transactions, I can track my spending habits and allocate my incomes with ease.Bookkeeping should not be hard and the solution makes sure it's a breeze.

Cons

I'm not sure it's this is a thing of the past... But I have multiple bank accounts linked and transfer between accounts can be be very complicated and you can easy duplicate transactions.I really don't like the idea of paying for add-ons such as cloud space. I think the more functionality required the more this can become expensive.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Quickbooks Online and Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

I think pricing for basic bookkeeping functions, it's still the most reasonable.

Pros

This software does everything a small, medium or relatively large sized business would need. The backend database is SQL server, so it's fast and well structured, and we found lots of modules and external products integrate well with it.

Cons

Implementation and training needed external consultants to do it at scale and at speed. The licence model is per user, so as soon as you start adding quite a few employees the cost of running the software gets rather pricey, though it's comparable to SAP B1 for example. We used our own servers to host the application and database, and although it's called "cloud" it's really not, but perhaps in the future.

Alternatives Considered

SAP Business One

Reasons for Choosing Sage Accounting

Sage50 could no longer cope with the number of transactions due to its outdated database setup, and SAP B1 was migrated across when we acquired a business that used this but needed to be integrated.

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting and SAP Business One

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

We already had Sage 200 Business Cloud Accounting so it was logical to migrate everything into this, also SAP B1 was slightly more expensive.

Pros

I love cloud solutions and the reports from this would have been nice.

Cons

I was hit with what seemed like every road block as I tried to switch from my Sage Desktop program into their cloud program. Customer Support was lacking and I ended up joining a Facebook support group of other accountant/bookkeepers making a similar switch. In the end I had to make the decision to let it go or loose my productivity.

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Sage Accounting

I mainly used Sage 50cloud for it's desktop features and felt the cloud connectivity was lacking.

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

I signed up to be a part of the beta testing. I was hoping the migration of data would have gone smoothly from one Sage program to the next with data lose.

Pros

I have a couple of years using Sage Business Cloud Accounting and have had a generally good experience. I liked the interface with its intuitive and clean menus. Although I'm not an accounting professional, setting up accounts was easy. The platform is very easy to use, makes data entry easy and allows you to sync bank accounts for added convenience. Plus, it's perfect for small and medium-sized businesses, and you can even manage two-business accounts at the base price.

Cons

Something I don't like is that it doesn't have good integration with other software, the interface needs to be improved, since it becomes somewhat monotonous, the synchronization of bank information sometimes loads very slowly.

Pros

Features! The wide array of features from automated invoice generation, reminders to follow-up actions, report & analytics generation for sharing with shareholders or investors, etc. make sage a must-use for small and medium enterprises. Cuts down unwanted bottlenecks in finances, payroll, while saving significant costs and downtime.

Cons

Pricing is a bit steeper compared to alternatives. Although the premium pricing is justified by sage's product, I feel it is still not accessible to early stage companies. Maybe, a specific plan focused on start-ups offering only limited features that start-ups use on a day-to-day basis would be fantastic.

Pros

the robustness of the software, it does not save locally any file, is connecting to the server for every query.

Cons

the price is very high, the company need to be bigger to be able to pay this software, the customer service is not very good in the it section, they are accountants.

Alternatives Considered

MNprogram

Reasons for Choosing Sage Accounting

because we needed better support

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

because mn program was not able to start the fiscal year in june as we need, it only accepts january december accounting period.

Pros

The ease of the setup and use of the software. It was written so that anyone can use it. Very simple, yet poewerful.

Cons

Some of the features that were advertised when pitched to us aren't available. The customer and supplier age analysis reports should have totals.

Alternatives Considered

Xero

Reasons for Choosing Sage Accounting

We wanted to go cloud based

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

At that stage Xero did not have a lot of support in SA.

Pros

The ability to integrate with other Sage solutions was great. We had some other 3rd party solutions which needed to be integrated and the ISV already had integration points available

Cons

The price was a little off but we if you need the solution its worth the extra cost

Alternatives Considered

Dynamics 365 and Acumatica Cloud ERP

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

The great reviews and i have a couple of other professionals who recommended it to us

Pros

Very easy to use, so perfect for users with limited financial knowledge. Linked bank accounts make month end bank reconciations quick and accurate, saving a lot of time.

Cons

The reporting section is not ideal for us, but still very useful.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online and Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

Market leader, and previous experience using Sage products.

Pros

We moved from Sage 50 accounts to Sage one around 2 years ago when a member of the team left and it has been beneficial as we can log in no matter where we are and complete our work. It is also very easy to use and quick to train other people on.

Cons

There is still work that needs improved and coming from Sage 50 that had alot of reports and functions it is hard to not have them.

Pros

It is relatively intuitive for people with only a basic knowledge of business accounting. It allows easy manipulation of accounting data and you are able to provide periodical reports which means you always know the state of your companies finances. It can be accessed from anywhere and at any time and allows you to restrict certain users to particular areas. You are able to give your accountant a direct log in to your accounts which makes annual tax accounting very quick and simple.
Sage One can be tied to your bank accounts so that all items that pass through your accounts can be automatically uploaded into sage saving lots of time on entering data.
VAT filing and reports can be done instantly and sent directly to HMRC.
Can also be used directly with Sage Payroll meaning all information from payroll is automatically added to Sage One accounts.

Cons

If you're internet connection is weak this can slow things down a bit though on the whole it is a very stable and trustworthy platform.
The only thing I find a little bit weak is the inability to create direct backups of your accounts either your computer desktop or external drives. The only method of backing up the information is to print reports of all ledgers, invoices, receipts and audit trail. This means you will always have the information but in the event of a catastrophic failure it would be highly time consuming to re-input all the details. There would be no obvious method of doing this.

Pros

The company I got a job with a few years ago used Sage, I was apprehensive about learning a new computer system but Sage was easy. It was intuitive if you have a little experience and accounting knowledge. It gives very great reports and gives you a lot of basic detail. I like.the fact that you can drill down to give various information.

Cons

There were a few times that I wish there was an online help to explain a few questions. There are a lot of reports and I feel like you may have to look at several reports to pull some advanced details.

Pros

The only two good parts of the software are the discounted price and it clearly shows you how long until the end of your VAT period.

Cons

Unreliable
Very little development in the 6 years I have used it
Slow to do basic tasks
The interface isn't user-friendly
There is no way to take a back up your data
The customer service is slow - typical experience is 20+ min wait for live chat, no response to emails and 15+ wait for phone support (on a premium rate number)

Pros

It is intuitive, and my non-accountant clients can usually navigate their way around it themselves, and only occassionally require minimal support.

My clients who have switch from other software have said that they wouldn't go back.

Cons

The marketing for this product is not as flashy as competitors, and so sometimes it can be a hard sell to clients who want the one with the big ad campaign.

As with most cloud products it is constantly evolving and I am not always aware of the new features which come out.

Pros

The software is easy to use. But it it can be 10 times better if the right coders and designers is employed. Price, it is not the cheapest in the market but again African companies like their money and labour is expensive in South Africa. The system is slow as said when when you have more than a 1000 entries or stock items. Export function lacks functionality as only basic stuff can be exported. Compared to other software in the world....There is much better software in the market!

Cons

Speed, the software is very slow for an online system. It lacks functionality. The price per user is expensive. The software also doesn't have a lot of 3rd party integrations. When it comes to e-commerce it integrates with a few shopping carts but the integration is very basic.

Pros

The fact that this is online and can be accessed from any device is a real pleasure. It means as a sole trader that I can enter receipts while I'm on the go or at home when I have a spare few minutes. I know sage was late to the party for online accounting systems but they have managed to make a simple system and one that starts cheaper than the competitors.

The second main feature for me was the ability to automatically connect to my bank accounts and match my transactions as this saves no end of time and is all included in the monthly price.

They also have a feature which allows you download your transaction in a CSV file as well, if you wanted to move them to another system.

Cons

It's not as customisable as the desktop version was but once you get over that hurdle and change your way of thinking and acting then you realise they had a reason for making it so simple.

Pros

a few months ago we use the sage on the computer but if there any problem with the computer then our sage data not secure. Some time we lost lots of files as well. but when we subscribe Cloud service it's so much secure and easy. Our all data is fully secure on the sage cloud. The best thing is we can access anywhere in the world.

Cons

Nothing, when we need any help the sage technicians help me.

Pros

This software was extremely easy to set up and provides excellent access for multiple users. Date entry is very simple and less repetitive than other software I've used. The online chat feature is excellent for solving simple problems or getting help when you cant find what you need in the available online resources.

Cons

Two things need attention. One is the ability for a charity to set up HST receivable in a simpler manner. The other is the ability to contact someone to solve a problem. Support is managed through online chat and it is very difficult to speak to a live person. I've had an issue caused by a glitch in the system and have been unsuccessful in solving the issue for the past 9months.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Sage Accounting

Cost

Pros

The fact that you cannot go modify stuff by the backdoor

Cons

support could be better, it's not easy to reach

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

reputation

Pros

Very easy to navigate system. Clear to understand and easy to run reports and reconcile bank account.

Cons

Nothing that I can think of as all relevant and easy to use

Alternatives Considered

Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Accounting

Recommended by others and had used before.

Pros

Banking integration is very useful, and it is nice to be able to track transactions easily. The reports available are clear and concise. Being cloud based, the mobile integration is very handy.

Cons

It does look a bit dated. Payroll is an added extra, so for a medium to large business the costs could increase dramatically. The ability to track time would be useful.

Pros

Ease of use. I have basic accounting training but, by using the help pages, I have managed to run my business without the expense of accountants. VAT returns are just a press of a button and all information is easily found if needed. The package has grown ( at no extra cost) and the stock control and invoicing side has much improved.

Cons

Sage support is very good if you have to telephone them - HOWEVER it is expensive! Very occasionally the system has crashed (not often) and it can cost you money to find out that it is their error not yours...

Pros

Ability to use on an Ipad - initial reason we moved from SAGE 50 to this software, however after 6 1/2 months with not a huge number of transactions the system has just got slower and slower the ipad works perfectly on all other software just sage is the issue

Cons

Migration didn't work
Unable to adapt reports
Entering payments is a clunky problem as you can't batch in a list of payments you need to keep clicking on payment receipt
Online support forum in SAGE doesn't get answers unless it happens to be something they already have in process they should ignore the quests

Pros

As an online accounting system (enterprise) it does what any company and industry would need. You can configure it based on your company processes, but the reason you would want to use this, is that they have streamlined the process that you can adapt to, instead of the other way around. Why re-invent the wheel?

Cons

Too proprietary. You must go through their accredited vendors to do most of the modifications and reports, unless you train and really go deep.

Pros

It is a complete software to manage your business accounting. We have been using Sage since it was Peachtree. Now you can manage the accounting everywhere with the cloud feature. You can manage sales, inventory, employees, estimates, purchases/sellers, and so much more.

Cons

You can be confused sometimes because all the windows are similar.