When it comes to managing a business – big or small, in its entirety, you cannot leave the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software aside. You want to ensure that every aspect of your business runs smoothly, whether it is accounting, payroll, or payment systems. Sage software is a trusted comprehensive software meant to support business management and resource planning needs. It is quite popular as one of the preeminent accounting software in the world.
In this blog post, we will answer all your questions about Sage software products.
What is Sage Software?
Sage software is a multi-faceted software that helps businesses in accounting, HR management, payroll, and payments needs. The name, Sage, refers to the leading ERP software company founded in the North East of England.
Currently, Sage software is used by around six million businesses across the globe and is also the third-largest ERP software supplier in the world. Its critical solutions fall into the following four categories:
- Accounting
- Payments
- Payroll
- Human resource management
What does Sage software do for accounting businesses?
Initially, Sage software was focused on helping accountants grow their practice and better service all their clients. Over the years, their product range has expanded to cover a wide range of business needs. It is the market leader for integrated payroll, accounting, and payment systems.
Each of the Sage software products differs slightly as per the country/region they are available. This is because they are specifically designed as per each region’s rules and regulations related to accounting, taxation, and payroll legislation. Example – Sage One is a worldwide software product, while Sage 50c Accounts is meant for businesses in the UK.
History of Sage Software – How It Started
David Goldman founded Sage in 1981 as a startup business. The basic idea was to automate the print estimating and accounting process with the help of software. With the growing popularity of desktop PCs back in those days, the Sage software products range grew in popularity and is now a global market leader.
The features of Sage software have improved over the years with constant innovation, making them suitable for millions of users across the UK, Ireland, North America, Mainland Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Features of Sage Software
Although different versions of Sage software have unique features, given below are their top five features in general:
- Cash flow management using automated financial reports
- Sales optimization using reports to create quotes and proposals
- Payment invoicing to minimize the risk of missed or late payments
- Payroll management to track profits, report taxes, and pay the employees
- Inventory management with information about real-time stock data
Reasons to Use Sage Accounting Software for Your Business
Some of the benefits of using Sage accounting software to manage your business are:
- Easy to print and send invoices
- Ease of making payments
- Auto-updating of customer/supplier records
- Automatic altering of stocks
- Quick calculation of payroll
- Summarized customer accounts with overdue balances
- Easy to analyze sales with insightful reports
- VAT returns
- Time-savings
- Lesser risk of human errors
- Cost-effective ERP solution
Difference Between Sage Software and QuickBooks
As a business accounting software, both Sage and QuickBooks are solid options. However, the final selection should be based on your business-specific needs. For many businesses, the simplicity, customer support options, and pricing make Sage software better than its alternatives. However, for others, QuickBooks is a better choice as it supports a wide range of businesses.
What matters most is the fulfillment of your needs using this software. This is possible when you dig deeper into the features and benefits of the software and understand its utility.
Different Versions of Sage Software Products
Sage software is classified into various versions based on several unique parameters, as given below:
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Depending on the Business Size
| For Small Businesses | Sage Accounting |
| Sage 50 cloud Accounting | |
| Sage HR | |
| Sage Timeslips | |
| For Medium Businesses | Sage X3 |
| Sage 100 cloud | |
| Sage 300 cloud | |
| Sage Intacct | |
| Sage Fixed Assets | |
| Sage HRMS | |
| Sage CRM | |
| Sage People | |
| For Any-Size Business | Sage 100 Contractor |
| Sage 300 CRE | |
| Sage Intacct Construction |
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Depending on Industry
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Chemicals
- Wholesale distribution
- Professional services
- Food and beverage
- Non profits
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Depending on Business Needs
- ERP
- Accounting
- HR
- Inventory management
- Business intelligence
- Supply chain management
- CRM
- Payment processing
For more information about Sage software products, click here.
Sage Accounting Software Pricing
Different versions of Sage software: Accounting Start, Accounting Plus, and Accounting Standard are priced at £12, £30, and £24 per month, respectively. Click here for exact Sage software pricing.
Benefits of Hosting Sage Software on Cloud
Sage hosting means hosting or installing Sage software on a cloud server. This is different from the traditional local-hosted environment in which the software is installed on a local computer. While Sage software products offer unmatched benefits to different types of businesses, hosting it on the cloud with the help of a cloud solution provider is more advantageous.
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Enhanced Security
When you switch to Sage software hosting, the hired cloud hosting provider takes care of data security with the help of multiple measures. These include data encryption, firewalls, third-party audits, to name a few. In other words, hosting Sage software on the cloud minimizes the risk of data loss.
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Easy Access from Anywhere and Anytime
Unlike traditionally installed Sage software, you can access cloud-hosted Sage via the Internet whenever you need. It also allows you and your team to collaborate on a file simultaneously from different locations. This is highly useful for businesses with multiple sites or offices but need centralized access to specific software.
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Easy to Switch to Paperless Environment
With Sage hosting, you can maintain a centralized database of business-critical documents, which can easily be shared with your team members or clients. This helps in eliminating time-consuming paperwork and simplifies various work-related tasks.
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Cost Savings
The in-house IT maintenance and installation cost can be much higher than hosting business software in a third-party cloud environment. Switching to Sage hosting means money savings as you need not pay for expensive servers, upgrades, and maintenance charges.
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Round-the-clock Support
Sage cloud hosting also provides a dedicated support team to resolve your hosting issues. Irrespective of the time, you can reach out to them via chat, call, or email to quickly resolve hosting issues that may arise.
Also Read: Using the Best Features of Sage software? You Also Need This.
Sage Software FAQs
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What is Sage software used for?
Although Sage software has features that cater to various business needs, it is mainly helpful for accounting, payroll, and HR management. Therefore, you can select the correct version of this software based on your business needs.
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What type of software is Sage?
Sage falls into the category of ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning software.
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Is Sage an accounting software?
Sage is indeed an accounting software used by CPAs and bookkeepers to simplify various accounting tasks. Its other features include inventory management, all-inclusive reporting, payroll, etc.
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How many versions of Sage software are there?
Sage is available in multiple versions, the selection of which can be based on the business size, industry, and specific business needs.
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Can I host Sage software on the cloud?
Sage desktop products can be easily hosted on the cloud with the help of a reliable cloud hosting provider. Besides selecting the correct version of Sage, you need to pick a suitable hosting plan to make the most of cloud hosting benefits.
