Sage Accounting vs. SurePayroll By Paychex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Sage Accounting
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
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.
$19
per month
SurePayroll By Paychex
Score 2.2 out of 10
N/A
SurePayroll offers an online payroll service that lets small business owners run payroll anywhere, anytime. The vendor automatically pays and files federal, state and local payroll taxes.
$29
per month
Pricing
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsVersions and pricing listed are for CA products. Versions available and pricing may vary by country. * 2 months free to start, or free for 1 month to try, then $19/$43/$62 +tax/mo (tier depending). Offer valid for new customers only on monthly subscriptions of Sage Business Cloud Accounting. After the promotional period, the monthly subscription rate will renew at the then current rate. May not be combined with any other offers or discounts. To ensure continuous service the subscription plan is an automatically renewing plan. Subsequent months will automatically be billed to the same credit card each month on the anniversary date of purchase. Plans can be terminated at any time prior to the renewal data and not charged for renewal.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Features
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
9.3
19 Ratings
21% above category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
1.4
16 Ratings
142% below category average
Pay calculation10.015 Ratings2.616 Ratings
Benefit plan administration9.312 Ratings1.27 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.812 Ratings1.213 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.410 Ratings1.212 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.112 Ratings1.210 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings1.012 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings1.09 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
8.6
23 Ratings
12% above category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
-
Ratings
API for custom integration9.120 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins8.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
9.7
42 Ratings
17% above category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability9.931 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.539 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
9.3
44 Ratings
17% above category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.340 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports9.844 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports9.735 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
8.8
194 Ratings
14% above category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
-
Ratings
Accounts payable8.1181 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable9.945 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash management8.3153 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.9184 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management9.934 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking6.611 Ratings00 Ratings
Fixed asset management8.428 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support10.018 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-division support9.918 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance9.529 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic tax filing7.397 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal10.025 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support9.38 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers9.515 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting8.111 Ratings00 Ratings
Localizations8.49 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations9.033 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting6.910 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting9.318 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework8.98 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes9.520 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
6.9
17 Ratings
6% below category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking6.717 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering8.36 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management5.77 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module7.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Sage Accounting
8.2
28 Ratings
10% above category average
SurePayroll By Paychex
-
Ratings
Pricing9.917 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry7.615 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing8.118 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold7.620 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.66 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility7.57 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution8.95 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Small Businesses
Intuit Enterprise Suite
Intuit Enterprise Suite
Score 9.2 out of 10
UZIO
UZIO
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Intuit Enterprise Suite
Intuit Enterprise Suite
Score 9.2 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP Cloud ERP (SAP S/4HANA Cloud)
SAP Cloud ERP (SAP S/4HANA Cloud)
Score 8.6 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
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User Ratings
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Likelihood to Recommend
7.4
(212 ratings)
1.0
(27 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(27 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(179 ratings)
1.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
8.5
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.7
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.6
(30 ratings)
9.2
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.7
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.7
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
7.5
(6 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.9
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
8.2
(3 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.5
(9 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.7
(9 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Sage AccountingSurePayroll By Paychex
Likelihood to Recommend
Sage
Sage Accounting seems appropriate for a small business that has basic accounting needs and is just starting from the beginning to set up its accounting software. It is less appropriate for businesses that have been using Sage 50, as Sage Accounting Standard does not successfully transfer important data from Sage 50.
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Paychex Inc.
We use SurePayroll to make monthly payrolls in our company, as well as to close the month and year with all the income and expenses and most importantly to make tax payments. The application is perfect for making payrolls when the personnel adapted for it is not in the head office, SurePayroll has an application for mobiles that allows to make these operations remotely. The application is perfect when you want to make immediate payments, at the time of loading the payroll to the system, it proceeds to automatically perform transactions for each employee entered without any error.
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Pros
Sage
  • Cloud Based - I work from different offices so I can access anywhere.
  • Whether paying a bill or receiving a payment it's done similarly. The consistency makes it easy to get in workflow.
  • I appreciate the setup of the statements - easy to read.
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Paychex Inc.
  • Super easy interface - honestly running payroll couldn't be easier on their site.
  • Incredible customer service - VERY knowledgeable, professional and friendly. They will walk you through anything you need to do on the site and understand payroll, tax and benefit issues.
  • Tax filing and payments and year-end paperwork for 1099 contractors and W-2s. They make it so easy.
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Cons
Sage
  • Sorting reports - I want to sort my projects by what has and has not been paid, and this is unavailable.
  • Print preview.
  • FONT SIZE: This should be an option directly available to increase screen font sizes. Also, report font adjustments are incredibly difficult.
  • Understanding all options and the performance the program can do, I would much prefer an in-person session or scheduled webinar because it is far too overwhelming to search forums/help centers. Just a useless vortex to get sucked into.
  • Updates are easier than they used to be, but there’s still a big communication barrier. E.g., I install updates and restart programs, and then the next day or two it tells me to restart again because there have been updates. I know, I installed them already! It’s frustrating.
  • Removing inactive vendors or clients - why is this so difficult? Can I not just delete and move to the next one? Every time I try it, it just defaults back to the top of the report… It’s fine for the first couple of letters in the alphabet, but that’s about all. Multi-select would be nice!
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Paychex Inc.
  • My chief complaint is the software sometimes requires me to have a code sent to my phone before I can continue with some process. That in itself is fine. The problem is the check box that lets SurePayroll remember the computer doesn't actually do that. I select that check box every time, but the software doesn't remember me or my computer.
  • Fees have creeped higher every year over the last two or three years. I feel like I'm nitpicking here, though. What I spend for the service is reasonably priced for the amount of headaches it prevents.
  • I have a case where an employee is sometimes salaried and sometimes contract. There's not a way to handle that without terminating him when he needs to switch.
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Likelihood to Renew
Sage
Because we don't have time to migrate to a new system. So, we are kind of stuck with this system until our company grows or we are in a better financial position to afford the larger expense of moving to a new platform and doing what it should be doing in the first place.
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Paychex Inc.
Very likely, easy to use, support system in place.
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Usability
Sage
I find Sage's usability very intuitive. Everything from data entry to high level reporting it easy to navigate. Some of the other accounting software programs I have used have not had adequate forms or menus to help navigate the program. Sage does a good job of balancing providing the proper forms without being overly difficult to understand or use
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Paychex Inc.
It's a poor user interface. It feels like the interface is twenty years old. If you make a mistake with payroll in their terrible UI, and try to correct it 15 seconds later, they want to charge you $39 to correct your mistake. Overall, a very poor experience in terms of user interface.
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Reliability and Availability
Sage
Sage has been always available when I want it. If there is any maintenance work to be done by the Sage team, you are told well in advance. Maintenance is generally carried out late at night or before the day begins for most of us. It continues to be the most reliable software I use.
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Paychex Inc.
No answers on this topic
Performance
Sage
The day-to-day performance is very good. Items such as transactions or reports load and process quickly. You never feel like you're waiting in Sage. I have never seen Sage Accounting affect the speed or performance of any integrated system. However, I do think when you are bringing very old files up to date the updates are slow but that'll be a rare occurrence and not reflective of the day-to-day usage.
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Paychex Inc.
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Sage
Sage Accounting are easy to contact and have knowledgeable and helpful staff. Whenever I've encountered a problem I've always been able to get assistance and guidance and it feels like the person at the end of the phone/screen knows the product well.
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Paychex Inc.
SurePayroll was great when we had questions or needed support, ie. if we messed up with a payroll, needed to submit tax documents or get documents. The ease of communication between us and the organization was great and they made it easy for users to call in with support requests.
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In-Person Training
Sage
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.
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Paychex Inc.
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Sage
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.
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Paychex Inc.
They were awesome. They knew the system very well and could help me very much.
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Implementation Rating
Sage
This was generally a very straightforward process. I have previously implemented other software which required considerable external support. I implemented Sage Accounting with only a minimal amount of reference to the Sage support desk. I was extremely pleased with the implementation process.
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Paychex Inc.
No, I can't think of any.
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Alternatives Considered
Sage
I also like Quickbooks Desktop, however, they are forcing customers to switch to Quickbooks Online. I will be moving forward with SAGE in this case, unless there is a valid reason the client would like to use QBO instead. I have not used the version of SAGE where the client doesn't need to purchase the full version, themselves, in order to access their file so this is something that I may consider looking into, in the near future, for this reason.
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Paychex Inc.
SurePayroll offers a comparable service at a better rate. They are better designed for small companies who need to save money any way they can. Their fees are more appropriate than ADP but the service offerings are just as good.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Sage
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.
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Paychex Inc.
In retrospect, I wouldn't change anything.
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Scalability
Sage
You can use Sage in your company for various aspects/positions such as bookkeepers, invoicing clerks, accountant, purchasing etc. Everyone can have their own user login and permissions can be set that specific people can do specific jobs without being able to access other peoples progress or accounts of the company.
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Paychex Inc.
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Sage
Do not use
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Paychex Inc.
We were able to calculate different hourly numbers when we completed Certified Payroll for professional services.
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Return on Investment
Sage
  • Sage has allowed us to be self-supporting and to perform full-cycle accounting up to the point of handing off to the accountant at year-end.
  • We are self-sustaining and do not need outside accounting assistance, such as an independent bookkeeper.
  • Sage has allowed us to save money at year's end, as we can do all the prep internally up until the handoff to the accountant, minimizing the hours he has to spend on our file.
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Paychex Inc.
  • SurePayroll helps us process payroll quickly and effortlessly 97% of the time.
  • On the rare occasion when there is an issue SurePayroll needs to address, it can take hours and hours of time over many months to get that issue resolved. Through the process, SurePayroll employees have always been professional and courteous in their communication.
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ScreenShots

Sage Accounting Screenshots

Screenshot of the All-in-One DashboardScreenshot of the Accounting DashboardScreenshot of an Invoicing Quote EstimateScreenshot of the Purchases TrackerScreenshot of Stock InventoryScreenshot of a VAT Returns List