QuickBooks Online vs. Sage 50cloud Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Online
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.
$20
per month
Sage 50cloud Accounting
Score 8.1 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Sage 50cloud Accounting (formerly Sage 50 Accounting) is accounting software designed for small businesses. Sage 50cloud Accounting (formerly Sage 50, and formerly Peachtree) lets businesses invoice customers, pay bills, manage inventory, control costs, and pay employees. The solution includes high-level dashboards and in-depth reports.
$299
per year
Pricing
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Editions & Modules
Solopreneur
$20
per month
Simple Start
$35
per month
Plus
$99
per month
Advanced
$235
per month
Sage 50 Pro Accounting
$299
per year
Sage 50 Premium Accounting
$449
per year
Sage 50 Quantum Accounting 3 User
Starting at $1,499
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAnnual traditional plan with license, monthly, and annual subscription plans available.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Online
Chose QuickBooks Online
Sage support knocked the socks off QBO support, but it came at a price.
Chose QuickBooks Online
Quick and easy to set up. QuickBooks Online has a full suite of bookkeeping tools and pricing is affordable. QBO is best suited for Small Businesses and it's cloud-based, which is also well suited for the owners who work remotely. It is flexible and integrates well with …
Chose QuickBooks Online
Zuora was not as user-friendly as QB Online and the pricing was fair for what we needed it for.
Chose QuickBooks Online
I like QuickBooks better. Its updated and online version makes it so so much easier.
Chose QuickBooks Online
We have clients who have used Sage/Peachtree and Quicken. QuickBooks Online seems a little more user-friendly for the average user, as well as offering a better interface. There seems to be more training and help available for the common person with QuickBooks than with other …
Chose QuickBooks Online
I have used JDE, Peachtree, and Timberline. It is a lot easier to get a view of the big picture with QuickBooks compared to the others, but I have never used as much data with QuickBooks as I have with the other systems.
Sage 50cloud Accounting
Chose Sage 50cloud Accounting
Offers a greater range of features, available on different platforms, more integration and cheaper than Sage but less popular and not a lot of accountants prefer it.
Chose Sage 50cloud Accounting
I have used mainframe type programs with more bells and whistles than Sage 50. For what we do, that expensive software is a waste of money. Sage 50 is a solid program. I have used QuickBooks and they have online software that is an advantage. But it's not as good in ways an …
Chose Sage 50cloud Accounting
Sage One and QuickBooks Online can only support a micro-business. Microsoft Dynamics is too hard to use. Sage 50 is just right. Sage 100 is the big brother for the larger business needing more depth in the modules.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
3.6
79 Ratings
69% below category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.1
18 Ratings
21% above category average
Pay calculation4.970 Ratings9.917 Ratings
Benefit plan administration4.832 Ratings8.912 Ratings
Direct deposit files5.865 Ratings8.913 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management1.444 Ratings9.013 Ratings
Reimbursement management1.046 Ratings9.013 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
6.2
70 Ratings
19% below category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.9
12 Ratings
28% above category average
API for custom integration8.656 Ratings9.910 Ratings
Plug-ins3.857 Ratings9.911 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
9.4
110 Ratings
13% above category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.1
26 Ratings
10% above category average
Single sign-on capability9.182 Ratings9.321 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.7104 Ratings9.023 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
7.9
134 Ratings
2% above category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.8
28 Ratings
23% above category average
Dashboards7.8126 Ratings9.427 Ratings
Standard reports8.1130 Ratings9.928 Ratings
Custom reports7.8118 Ratings9.927 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
8.0
145 Ratings
4% above category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.2
31 Ratings
18% above category average
Accounts payable8.6124 Ratings9.930 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.7133 Ratings9.929 Ratings
Cash management9.2122 Ratings9.029 Ratings
Bank reconciliation9.1139 Ratings9.929 Ratings
Expense management8.3124 Ratings8.727 Ratings
Time tracking1.156 Ratings8.913 Ratings
Fixed asset management9.754 Ratings7.618 Ratings
Multi-currency support1.223 Ratings8.811 Ratings
Multi-division support9.844 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Regulations compliance9.739 Ratings9.013 Ratings
Electronic tax filing7.767 Ratings9.715 Ratings
Self-service portal6.067 Ratings9.311 Ratings
Global Financial Support9.717 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers6.936 Ratings9.86 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting9.730 Ratings8.97 Ratings
Localizations9.722 Ratings9.86 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations7.675 Ratings9.218 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting9.526 Ratings9.87 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.639 Ratings9.78 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework8.525 Ratings8.75 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.150 Ratings9.712 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
3.3
48 Ratings
73% below category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.3
17 Ratings
27% above category average
Inventory tracking1.145 Ratings9.817 Ratings
Automatic reordering1.122 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Location management9.722 Ratings9.88 Ratings
Manufacturing module1.217 Ratings8.98 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
5.5
88 Ratings
32% below category average
Sage 50cloud Accounting
9.3
22 Ratings
20% above category average
Pricing5.255 Ratings9.717 Ratings
Order entry5.253 Ratings9.719 Ratings
Credit card processing9.764 Ratings8.912 Ratings
Cost of goods sold7.069 Ratings7.619 Ratings
Order Orchestration5.221 Ratings9.86 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility5.220 Ratings9.77 Ratings
Order exception Resolution1.118 Ratings9.86 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.6 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.4 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 6.8 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 6.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(163 ratings)
9.2
(41 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
2.2
(24 ratings)
9.1
(14 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(78 ratings)
9.6
(11 ratings)
Availability
2.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
1.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(68 ratings)
10.0
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
3.0
(6 ratings)
9.1
(5 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
1.3
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.0
(2 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
1.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks OnlineSage 50cloud Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
QuickBooks Online is well suited for businesses looking for a cloud-based accounting software package allowing staff to work remotely or in a hybrid setting. QuickBooks Online is great for companies that want an efficient accounting software package that lends well to basic financial reporting (income statement and balance sheet). We enjoy working in QuickBooks Online.
Read full review
Sage
Sage is great for portability and exchange with external accountants as it is widely used and people will be able to read your data in. It's a very good and complete solution for a little business where one person can handle all of the accounting. I doubt that it scales well to large companies with several in-house accountants working at the same time.
Read full review
Pros
Intuit
  • It enables me to do a P&L for each specific program as requested by the county for the grant money that they give us.
  • It enables me to do [an] organizational budget as well as a budget for each specific program
  • It enables the accountant and the auditor access at any time for transparency
Read full review
Sage
  • It has the capability of "Single Click" processes that allows you to turn Quotes into orders, instant invoicing and track A/R in the Order Screen
  • I can email Sales Orders directly to my Customer and also remind them of past due from a single screen. I can track Project, Closeouts, Over Seas order by setting up Jobs and clicking the job name in Order Entry.
  • You can use recurring entries and copy and paste on the P&L, using masking for department reporting and budgeting
  • You can use the BI feature and export into Excel in Pivot format and utilize Timeline and Slicer to see the company overall performance by months, day or years
Read full review
Cons
Intuit
  • Purchase Orders cannot be linked to multiple bill payments which makes tracking purchase orders in QuickBooks Online obsolete. Without the function we have to track this within a different more manual spreadsheet.
  • Would be helpful if you could "split" bank transactions directly from the "review" downloads from the bank. Currently, to split transactions to multiple accounts we need to first categorize, then review after assigning to 1 account.
Read full review
Sage
  • 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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
It like the product 'right out of the box' and I trust Intuit will continually improve it over the years based on my experience with their desktop products. The large providers of Apps makes customizing the entire package relatively easy and seamless for a wide variety of business types.
Read full review
Sage
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.
Read full review
Usability
Intuit
While QuickBooks Online is generally easy to navigate, there are some features and functions that often require a Google search in order to find out where they are actually hidden. Additionally, there are some simple customization features that are surprisingly not available for an otherwise advanced program (e.g. only having a pool of 4 fonts to choose from, only having 4 very limited templates for invoicing, not color selection, etc). While I would say that about 75% of users shouldn't have a problem finding their way around with basic functions, there is a learning curve if you want to be able to dive into some of the more useful features, almost to the point that you need to have a dedicated account manager in order to use QuickBooks Online most effectively.
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Sage
Sage delivers what it promises. The whole accounting package is user friendly and can be easily picked up by a novice. The support is second to none. They always keep us abreast of new technologies and/or changes to accounting that would impact us. The range of reports fits both small and large companies.,
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Reliability and Availability
Intuit
We have rarely had outages in the last 10 years. I can only recall 2 times in the last 10 years where we were not able to access our client files.
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Sage
No answers on this topic
Performance
Intuit
There are tab issues. When I tab the field doesn't highlight and I have to backspace or delete what is in the field. Happens on the memo field and sometimes other fields. Very time consuming.
Read full review
Sage
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Intuit
In my experience, most representatives keep me on the phone for hours, literally, for a single issue and then usually cannot resolve it satisfactorily. I have 10 open cases that need resolution and, in my experience, there has been NO follow-up communication on any of them.
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Sage
Although I have only needed to call tech support on three occasions through out the entire time of usage, each time my problem was quickly resolved by people who were obviously well trained and easy to understand. Sage 50 Premium Accounting is a reliable and "bug-free" product that is regularly improved upon.
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
The person in charge of QB needs to be very accurate with record keeping and is recommended to stay on top of tasks. The biggest issue we have is reconciliation, and those issues occur only when too much time has occurred between reconciliations
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Sage
Sage 50 is a strong accounting software package. It will work efficiently if it is installed correctly. If one puts garbage in, one will get garbage out. Also it is important to train the staff to use Sage 50 properly. It is also important to set up security for each user.
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Alternatives Considered
Intuit
Quick and easy to set up. QuickBooks Online has a full suite of bookkeeping tools and pricing is affordable. QBO is best suited for Small Businesses and it's cloud-based, which is also well suited for the owners who work remotely. It is flexible and integrates well with Third-Party Payments. Bank reconciliation is a breeze.
Read full review
Sage
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
Read full review
Scalability
Intuit
As we have grown along our professional path, we have also expanded our use of QB. The scalability is easy and features seem to be waiting for you until you need them. We have increased profits by over 10x from our first year in business to the current and have yet to find a reason to look elsewhere
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Sage
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.
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • It has created a lot of cost and in-efficiency whenever we need to talk to support.
  • I spent a lot of time setting up their automatic reminders for past due invoices and it worked for a couple of months and then it stopped. It's currently being worked on by their tech team but it has been months and it is still not working. It would have saved me a lot of time.
  • Their multi-currency saves time in sending invoices abroad but it's limiting when a customer wants an invoice in USD instead of a foreign currency so I have to set up different customer accounts for different currencies.
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Sage
  • 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.
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