Sage Accounting is online accounting software made to simplify life for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers by providing the functions needed to take care of daily business to-dos.
Users can create and send professional quotes and invoices, track income and expenses and know where the business' financials stand. Every Sage Business Cloud Accounting subscription includes unlimited access to support as well as automatic backups and product updates.
$10
per month
Pricing
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Sage Accounting
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Sage Accounting
Free Trial
No
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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Versions and pricing listed are for US products. Versions available and pricing may vary by country.
QuickBooks is a great tool for new SoleTraders that need basic accounting software and require digital invoicing for their clients to send via email and access key features via a mobile app on the go. QuickBooks is a straightforward tool to use with a simple design and learning curve for business owners that are not very tech-savvy. For businesses that operate on a larger scale and need to provide access to other users on their team, QuickBooks is limited. This type of business may also require more insights into the business outside of accounting, and QuickBooks won't be able to supply insights outside of that.
VAT returns are so simple to do. Just a click of a button and it produces a report for the period in concern. Submitting the return is then just a single click. The only thing I wish it would do is remind me when my VAT submissions are coming up so that I can avoid penalties.
QuickBooks Self-Employed does keep a running total of your income and estimated taxes. Of course, this requires that your entries are accurate.
The mileage feature is particularly helpful. One just needs to either use the phone app in conjunction with QuickBooks Self-Employed, or keep a log of all mileage.
When tax time comes around, it's easy to use TurboTax software and import your data from QuickBooks.
Traceability - where you are spending. I started with a spreadsheet which had a column for 'electronics & computing' this captured everything from monthly software subscriptions to hardware and from light bulbs to dash cams. Sage has helped me streamline the spending.
MTD - I am MTD compliant, although I do not need to be as my accountant is and they complete my HMRC submissions. It does mean that I have a contingency plan if I have to change this service.
Debtor's - It is easy to be a busy fool and not realise that accounts are overdue. For a small business, the restriction in cash flow due to late paying clients is a killer. The dashboard feature helps with this.
Doesn't integrate with Mint, which I use for my home expenses. I think this would be a nice addition to the program, so I could keep track of my whole financial situation.
A Windows 10 app would be a nice addition to the program, so I could access it securely from my desktop.
I find it difficult to record journals in cloud accounting. Maybe I just don’t have the knowledge.
It’s important to export all unrecorded sync bank transactions to Excel to send to clients to explain the payment receipts before being posted. This function is not available on the cloud and makes life harder, having to call out the transactions to clients over the phone.
I could not live without Sage Accounting, it has become an integral part of my everyday. The more I have used Sage Accounting the more I have fallen in love with it. I am excited to be part of this ever-evolving accounting system that has grown from strength to strength, making life easier is something Sage does so well.
I have been using this software for several years now and it has always put out my data in beautiful generated reports that I can use for verification purposes with my financial institute and the IRS. It has all the tools I need to run my business without loosing track of anything
Sage Accounting is built for the business owner/user and not the accountant, it therefore guides the user and thus detailed accounting knowledge and experience is not a necessarily a prerequisite . It offers a monthly price and therefore no significant up front spend and it tailorable to your business with useful dashboards that again you can tailor to instantly see what's important to you.
Sage Accounting availability is generally very good. They post messages which appear on users screen time to time, highlighting where functionality in a particular area is undergoing maintenance. More often than not, maintenance is completed in a timescale quicker than initially estimated by Sage. Where significant maintenance is required, Sage usually perform it overnight.
Sage Accounting work quickly and performs well, I have never had an issue with it running slow. It integrates with other software swiftly, so no waiting for the screen to load. Error messages are only something I have had when I have done something wrong.
I have never faced any difficulties that required me to contact QuickBooks customer service. QuickBooks has plenty of online tutorials, blog posts, and helpful tips and advice for almost any issues you may face using the desktop or app version of the software. Even if you can not find the right answer on the QuickBooks webpages, there are loads of YouTube videos from experts.
The support is world class - never ever during 30 plus years in business I have received such helpful, knowledgeable and genuine support as I have from Sage. At Sage people matter and i can chat to someone safe in the knowledge that they will actually listen and assist. This also backed up by huge online portfolio of help and resources
Staff are always friendly, and patient, always work at a speed that suits you. You are never rushed, and In only a short time they seem to be able to help you make great strides. It has been a pleasure not a chore, learning how SAGE Accounting works and benefits me and the company.
I find the online training was very informative and they answered all my questions. I am also certified in Sage One and provided online training in the program which I have set up several people on and they love how it keeps them organized.
The clients' business owner worked with Sage on implementation before I began working for them. After consultation with them it is clear the process was quickly performed and without complication. The key takeaway was that Sage is seen as a partner to the business. That said, it was always necessary to engage with an accountant such as myself to extract the best out of the software.
FreshBooks limited my ability to categorize transactions, specifically removing duplicates or excluding them. I selected QuickBooks Self-Employed because it allowed me to be in control of items. Sometimes accounting is just making sure things are organized the way YOU think, and FreshBooks wasn't doing that for me.
Sage Accounting is a simpler, more streamlined version of the more complex Sage 50cloud Accounting. For a small, simpler company Sage Accounting is a much more cost-effective option. There are a few features that Sage 50cloud Accounting has that Sage Accounting does not have (such as making e-payments and a few reports are unavailable) but it is still a very good product.
The pricing structure is fair and offers good value for money. The billing is done through their online system and you can access your bills at any time. Most contacts only require 30 days' notice, so no need to feel tied in, although I can't imagine why you would want to leave Sage.
I do not consider Sage Accounting to be Sage's best product for scaling up business as its functionality for doing so is limited. Sage 50 Accounts or Sage Intaact are far more suited for this. I would evaluate very carefully the possible need in the future for scalability in the first instance before selecting software.
Overall, tagging expenses and mileage has saved me thousands in taxes, for a relatively low cost of around $8/mo.
QuickBooks allows me to get invoices to clients quickly and accept online payments, which helps with cashflow.
The app has stopped tracking mileage automatically on my device, so I worry that sometimes I am not tracking business miles effectively, which could end up costing me at the EOY.
Sage One has allowed us to provided better customer service to all our clients. It has allowed us to provide a reasonable price accounting product to our customer who typically just have handwritten invoices, or Excel spreadsheets.
Sage One has reduced the manual data entry that my team does on a monthly basis, which in turn allows us to have more time for our customers.
