AccountEdge vs. Sage 50

If you are handling a large client list, and are selling services, it is dead easy. If you are managing/selling a physical inventory, it seems like it has great options to do that quite well (disclaimer, I do not use those functions, but I have paid attention as that functionality was built into the software). If you want to link your bank account to a bookkeeping platform, this is not the software for you (at least so far).

Incentivized

Sage 50 Accounts is well-suited for small to medium-sized enterprises, where there is a moderate number of expenses and invoices that need processing, typically by a company with a smaller finance team. Sage 50 is probably less suitable for a large organisation that needs to handle a higher volume of transactions and manage significant stock levels.

Incentivized

• AccountEdge has a robust report menu that allows a user to slice and dice data for analysis. Report on projects for the life of the project across fiscal years. Report on different departments with segregated income statements.
• For users who want to run payroll in house that is easily done through the payroll module. Print physical checks or direct deposit to employee's account, process payroll taxes and file year end W2s.
• My personal favorites are time billing and retainers. As a service based business I can at my fingertips review how much money a client has on deposit with me and how much of that will be billed out at the end of the month. The integration with AccountEdge Mobile rounds it all out with being able to log my time on-site.
• Last but not least AccountEdge Mobile in general, as the companion app for the desktop software is invaluable. My heaviest use is the spend money feature. Excellent for logging travel receipts & cash expenses while they are fresh on the brain. Really cuts back the data entry at the end of a trip and trying to recall what something may have been for.

Incentivized

• We can build "templates" for recurrent charges/invoices. This saves some time and also ensures that we always use the right accounting rubric.
• A lot of additional information can be filled out such as client information (name, address, ...) which makes the software a little more complete.
• If you don't need an updated version every year (my case) then the software is not too expensive. The pro version that I'm using was just a little over $300.
• I really like the banking statement consolidation which allows you to ensure you got the right information registered.

Incentivized

• My biggest frustration, and one that I've mentioned to Acclivity for many years, is that it only permits opening nine windows at a time (plus the home window). I hit that limit almost daily, and then I have to decide what do I close so I can complete the transaction that needed the "9th" window.
• The Accounts section includes two quick reports, "Analyze Profit and Loss" and "Analyze Balance Sheet. These can be filtered for the current month or any prior month in the current fiscal year. And that's fine most of the year, but at the beginning of the next year, when I haven't yet started the new fiscal year, these only go to December of the prior year. The regular reports for these can select "next year;" why can't these?
• It would be helpful if the journal entry number would have one or two additional digits available. For example, when I am entering journal entries for a client, I would like to use a number such as CPA2014001, CPA2014002, etc. to distinguish what I enter from the "automatic" entries that AccountEdge does. But that's one more digit than AccountEdge allows, so if I had over 100 adjustments, I would run out of entry numbers.

Incentivized

• Sage 50 could use some improvement in the Invoicing Module to allow for more flexibility in the design of the Invoice fields. The report customization tools could use some upgrading for easier use.
• Fixed assets management module needs to be included with unlimited number of fixed assets.

Without a doubt, when you need to do accounting use the program that will get the job done in the least amount of time with the least amount of errors. Once you are using a program that works you stay with it year after year and you will find yourself even excited about the updates

Incentivized

I use this rating simply because I have a thriving Sage 50 consulting practice and will continue to keep my expertise in the product. I have consulted on both Sage 50 and QuickBooks for over 25 years so I have to maintain expertise in the solution as well as accounting and verticals.

Incentivized

The intuitive interface does all the tasks we need our accounting software to do. Some tasks are slower to process than I would like but overall very usable. Customizable forms let us choose to either go with the easy ready-made out-of-the-box options or retool them to better fit our specific needs.

Incentivized

I think Sage 50 is a trusted product and is reliable from a product delivery and support perspective. They have deep domain expertise in the non-profit space and should be a consideration for new non-profit startups or existing non-profits looking to migrate from other platforms. Overall, I believe that Sage 50 does many things well with few limitations.

Incentivized

One of the finer advantages of desktop software, it's always available. AccountEdge doesn't suffer from outages or sluggish internet like web based applications do. It's always there when you power on your device!

Incentivized

On the few occasions we have needed tech support over the years, they were responsive and worked to get to the root of the issues. However, even though Checkout POS is a separate application, it was pitched to us as a natural extension of the functionality of our AE software that would integrate seamlessly. The company's support for Checkout has been minimal at best, and now totally abandoned. That colors our view of Priority's support unfortunately. And to be honest, that's why it's a 9 instead of a 10. So to be fair, AccountEdge's support itself has been very good over the years.

Incentivized

They were very knowledgeable of the product, understood my timeline was limited for a software issue and allowed me to get back to my day to day work. The dial into your computer is great so you can monitor what they are doing and learn some tricks yourself

unfortunately no.

Incentivized

We implemented Sage 50 Premium Accounting in house, not using any third party or professional service. It was a relatively trouble free process, but can be tricky. Just read all instructions carefully, especially if you need to load the program on a network with more than one user

Incentivized

For Mac enthusiasts, AccountEdge is the complete installed software solution for small to medium-sized businesses, as it has so many capabilities that QuickBooks for Mac lacks. However, it holds your hand less than QuickBooks for Mac does, so you ought to know what your are doing in keeping business books properly. If your needs are simple, QuickBooks for Mac may be a better solution. QuickBooks Online and Xero are excellent cloud accounting solutions that can be used on the Mac equally well as on Windows. QuickBooks Online offers a similar set of features as QuickBooks for Mac, with the addition of anywhere, anytime access. Xero is a great basic accounting solution in the cloud that can also be used equally well on Macs and WIndows, and offers endless customization and flexibility through its extensive third-party app integration for almost any need.

As we did the conversion almost 10 years ago it is hard to answer this question. At the time it was the ease of being able to produce both cash and accrual financial statements and reporting that led us to pick Sage

Incentivized

I define scalable from two perspectives; 1) the scalability to handle more bookkeepers/accountants using the product, and 2) the scalability to handle increasing customer/vendor/employee and transactional data. Sage 50 does a good job on both fronts. From the single users operating a micro-business accounting for customer invoices and bill payments only, to the multi-staff, multi-location, multi-departmental complex transactional operation. Although Sage 50 is quite expensive for that smallest user, it is quite inexpensive for the larger business entity. So, for the new enterprise expecting rapid growth, Sage 50 is the application of choice.

• Increased employee efficiency - Time is no longer spent switching between programs because all of the information can be found in one place.
• Customer service has also improved because employees find the program much easier to use, even at the point of sale.
• Better record keeping - AccountEdge has a very simple invoicing application that allows us to keep track of and balance our accounts.

Incentivized

• Sage definitely needs to do a better job with customer service. I have had to use them only a handful of times and it was not a great experience but not the worse I've seen. They didn't make us a priority and I felt that they didn't have a sense of urgency. They did address my lack of satisfaction and I can see that they are at least aware of the issues and they are trying to correct them.
• Sage is exactly what we need in my current organization and I wouldn't change it for another system. I have used quite a few in my lifetime and I would say that it fits our needs.