Sage Business Cloud Accounting Reviews

Pros

Ease of use. I have basic accounting training but, by using the help pages, I have managed to run my business without the expense of accountants. VAT returns are just a press of a button and all information is easily found if needed. The package has grown ( at no extra cost) and the stock control and invoicing side has much improved.

Cons

Sage support is very good if you have to telephone them - HOWEVER it is expensive! Very occasionally the system has crashed (not often) and it can cost you money to find out that it is their error not yours...

Pros

Features! The wide array of features from automated invoice generation, reminders to follow-up actions, report & analytics generation for sharing with shareholders or investors, etc. make sage a must-use for small and medium enterprises. Cuts down unwanted bottlenecks in finances, payroll, while saving significant costs and downtime.

Cons

Pricing is a bit steeper compared to alternatives. Although the premium pricing is justified by sage's product, I feel it is still not accessible to early stage companies. Maybe, a specific plan focused on start-ups offering only limited features that start-ups use on a day-to-day basis would be fantastic.

Pros

easy to use, simple interface and figures are always ready to hand

Cons

bank reconciliation feels complicated where you have multiple accounts

Pros

The only two good parts of the software are the discounted price and it clearly shows you how long until the end of your VAT period.

Cons

Unreliable
Very little development in the 6 years I have used it
Slow to do basic tasks
The interface isn't user-friendly
There is no way to take a back up your data
The customer service is slow - typical experience is 20+ min wait for live chat, no response to emails and 15+ wait for phone support (on a premium rate number)

Pros

Banking connections, this and the ease of allocation of transactions, I can track my spending habits and allocate my incomes with ease.Bookkeeping should not be hard and the solution makes sure it's a breeze.

Cons

I'm not sure it's this is a thing of the past... But I have multiple bank accounts linked and transfer between accounts can be be very complicated and you can easy duplicate transactions.I really don't like the idea of paying for add-ons such as cloud space. I think the more functionality required the more this can become expensive.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Quickbooks Online and Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Business Cloud Accounting

I think pricing for basic bookkeeping functions, it's still the most reasonable.

Pros

The fact that this is online and can be accessed from any device is a real pleasure. It means as a sole trader that I can enter receipts while I'm on the go or at home when I have a spare few minutes. I know sage was late to the party for online accounting systems but they have managed to make a simple system and one that starts cheaper than the competitors.

The second main feature for me was the ability to automatically connect to my bank accounts and match my transactions as this saves no end of time and is all included in the monthly price.

They also have a feature which allows you download your transaction in a CSV file as well, if you wanted to move them to another system.

Cons

It's not as customisable as the desktop version was but once you get over that hurdle and change your way of thinking and acting then you realise they had a reason for making it so simple.

Pros

I like the fact that you can easily reconcile transactions, especially if you connect bank accounts to Sage. Also the invoicing system is very easy to use. Reports can also be generated for various data.

Cons

I think the overall security at the Login screen is lacking advanced features. I would like to see more secure option added such as 2 factors auth or similar. It is a cloud service and Sage should invest more in securing the credentials screen.

Pros

Does what its meant to and reliable all of the time

Cons

Most price competitive options are available on the market

Alternatives Considered

Xero

Pros

Sage Business Cloud Accounting is very easy to use. Any non-accountant person can use it easily. We have added our clients' bank accounts to Sage and can trace movement easily. Sage has not disappointed us at any time. :)

Cons

The software is very easy to use but if you have some accounting knowledge you can use it with more efficiency.

Pros

Good interaction with payroll and Pension software, banking etc. Easy to use. Can use from any pc.

Cons

Long list of minor but annoying issues, like it does not accommodate UK net monthly account customers/suppliers, the default dates on functions only show the current month. The only way to avoid the contact name appearing on the invoice address is to put a full stop in the contact name box (so the first line of every invoice is a full stop). Product list doesn't section so you can't add a percentage to one customer or one type of product. Appalling customer service for technical problems.

Pros

I love the usability of this product. As a non-accountant, I feel able to easily keep track of my small business accounts with Sage Business Cloud Accounting. Plus, if ever there is a time where I don't know something and my accountant isn't available, the Sage help is excellent. I love the new addition of the Sage University which is going to be a real help in training my team.

Cons

I feel that for me personally, the cash flow forecasting is a bit complicated, but I'll admit I haven't fully explored this side of things, I tend to do all my budgeting on a spreadsheet but it would be handy to have it integrated with my accounts. Maybe a section that can look at the P&Ls for past years and recommend budgets for the months, quarters and year ahead. Again, it's not something I've fully looked into so it may already exist on the platform.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online and Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Business Cloud Accounting

It was recommended to me by my accountant who was already using the software for some other clients and after trialling it, I found it great.

Pros

With starting on a new venture it was imperative to start off with the right software, Sage gives us everything we currently need in terms of invoicing, banking, ensuring all payments (in & out) are allocated, plus the flexibility to set up your own product codes & pricing structure specific to our business.

Cons

I would like to see a word search feature included in the invoice and purchasing section, rather than have to go through individual invoices to find the product I am looking for.

Alternatives Considered

Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Business Cloud Accounting

Used Sage when working in another industry so familiar with some of the processes.

Pros

The ability to integrate with other Sage solutions was great. We had some other 3rd party solutions which needed to be integrated and the ISV already had integration points available

Cons

The price was a little off but we if you need the solution its worth the extra cost

Alternatives Considered

Dynamics 365 and Acumatica Cloud ERP

Reasons for Switching to Sage Business Cloud Accounting

The great reviews and i have a couple of other professionals who recommended it to us

Pros

It is relatively intuitive for people with only a basic knowledge of business accounting. It allows easy manipulation of accounting data and you are able to provide periodical reports which means you always know the state of your companies finances. It can be accessed from anywhere and at any time and allows you to restrict certain users to particular areas. You are able to give your accountant a direct log in to your accounts which makes annual tax accounting very quick and simple.
Sage One can be tied to your bank accounts so that all items that pass through your accounts can be automatically uploaded into sage saving lots of time on entering data.
VAT filing and reports can be done instantly and sent directly to HMRC.
Can also be used directly with Sage Payroll meaning all information from payroll is automatically added to Sage One accounts.

Cons

If you're internet connection is weak this can slow things down a bit though on the whole it is a very stable and trustworthy platform.
The only thing I find a little bit weak is the inability to create direct backups of your accounts either your computer desktop or external drives. The only method of backing up the information is to print reports of all ledgers, invoices, receipts and audit trail. This means you will always have the information but in the event of a catastrophic failure it would be highly time consuming to re-input all the details. There would be no obvious method of doing this.

Pros

The company I got a job with a few years ago used Sage, I was apprehensive about learning a new computer system but Sage was easy. It was intuitive if you have a little experience and accounting knowledge. It gives very great reports and gives you a lot of basic detail. I like.the fact that you can drill down to give various information.

Cons

There were a few times that I wish there was an online help to explain a few questions. There are a lot of reports and I feel like you may have to look at several reports to pull some advanced details.

Pros

Sage Business Cloud Accounting has all the features one would need from Accounting software. Easy to implement, do the setup, and train new Customers on how to use it. The add-on modules adds value to the software. The Accountant's easy access to assist Clients is a wonderful feature!

Cons

One improvement I would like to see:
When adding a new Item from inside the Invoice screen, the new Item screen should include all features (such as selecting the Purchase account). Currently you have to exit the Invoice, create the new Item, and then continue with your Invoice

Pros

The software saved much time which made my work as a Junior accountant a bit easy. It also made it easy to track down errors that I made during inserting details and it was less time consuming to ractifiy the errors. It was aslo handy for Financial Reporting to investors and the report must be straightforward and reasonable.

Cons

The software needs to be tailored to fit to small and medium sized businesses. The Bank reconciliations system calculation can be consfusing at first which can stop other users from using it

Pros

Easy to use... when it is working. Interface very modern and quick to jump between the menus.

Cons

No after sales. Lots of departments passing the buck. Any software is only as good as their support.

Pros

It is fairly easy to use. It provides the basic needs of small business owners. Helps me with their tax prep needs

Cons

Navigation through the product isn't seamless

Alternatives Considered

Xero

Reasons for Switching to Sage Business Cloud Accounting

I was familiar from my corporate life

Pros

I have been using Peachtree Complete Accounting for over 16 years. It has taken many years to learn because I was never trained on the software.

Cons

My only issue with Peachtree Complete Accounting with Sage is the customer support. You have to wait hours to speak with someone if there is an issue especially if you call you have to just leave your name and number. During tax season it is impossible to reach someone. I once waited over 4-6 hours to get a response.

Pros

Ability to use on an Ipad - initial reason we moved from SAGE 50 to this software, however after 6 1/2 months with not a huge number of transactions the system has just got slower and slower the ipad works perfectly on all other software just sage is the issue

Cons

Migration didn't work
Unable to adapt reports
Entering payments is a clunky problem as you can't batch in a list of payments you need to keep clicking on payment receipt
Online support forum in SAGE doesn't get answers unless it happens to be something they already have in process they should ignore the quests

Pros

It's on cloud, you can access it anywhere. Hardly experience downtime. We were informed when the system was down. They were busy with upgrades. It has very good and user friendly, built-in reports.

I also liked the bank integration by linking sage to the bank and upload seemlessly.

Customer invoices can be emailed directly and there is an email report.

Cons

There is no hard close. Even it the period is closed, you can go back and reopen and make changes. This compromise data integrity.

Pros

What I like is that it's a powerful tool with customization capabilities. It accurately keeps track of our inventory as long as there's no human error

Cons

It's a little buggy at time. Since it's so customizable, it's up to the developers to establish the database and how each database interact with each other. There are just things we wished were implemented by the dev from the beginning.

Pros

Easy to use and understandable. Produces reports that allow you to quickly see the information you need. Easy and quick to create and send invoices out. Like the fact I can access it from anywhere and on any device.

Cons

Frustrating when the server is overloaded or experiencing high-demand and then unable to access Sage One.

Pros

Many customizable options for all areas of bookkeeping & financial reporting.

Cons

We don't use the payroll application available in Sage. But we do 1099 reporting. 1099 reporting works with the payroll application. It would be better if they were separate functions.