Moving from Sage to Xero or another

[Mark Ponsford]

We have been using sage line 50 for years now, it has served its purpose. We have a single bespoke enterprise package that raises all our invoices ( around 100 a day) does all our order management and pretty much everything else other than purchase invoices VAT returns P& L and Balance Sheets

I am looking to move to a cloud based package ( as part of a wider disaster recovery plan) and think that sage for multi currency and multi department is both expensive and archaic.

Any experiences from others moving away from sage to xero or another cloud based package... What were your considerations ?

Many thanks

 

[Cam @ CMZ Accounting]

Hi Mark - I definitely think cloud based accounting packages are the way to go. I believe Sage also offer a cloud based software, so you might want to see what they can offer in their package, as it might be easier for you to transfer existing Sage data onto the cloud system.

Xero and Quickbooks are popular choices for their cloud based accounting systems as they charge a monthly fee and you can terminate the service at any time. If you do decide to switch to an alternative accounting software, it would be best to do this at the end of your financial year, so you can close off the current year accounts first before switching to the new system. Also need to consider your VAT return quarters (if your business is registered for VAT) to make sure you do not miss out any invoices on the VAT returns during the switch over.

The majority of my clients currently use cloud based accounting systems so if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[Glenn Martin]

Hi Mark
I would seriously consider moving to Xero as it will do a great job for you. I wouldn't consider
Sageone as its not a good product and does not integrate with many other products.

The direct bank feeds and whole host of other integrations make Xero stand apart and are real time savers. Look at linking it with autoentry to scan and post your purchase invocies.

there is also a coversion route where you can keep the previous years Sage data along with current year info to date and convert it into a Xero file so you will have also transfer some of your trading history across.

As I am in North East (home of Sage) i am currently doing a lot of switching over.

 

[Clearaccy]

Either Xero or Sage One.

Xero is the more superior of the two in my opinion but I think the prices are more expensive.

 

[Alan]

For some reason accountants prefer Xero.

Being a KashFlow user for quite a long time, I'm not sure why accountants never seem to recommend Kashflow though. I'd be interested to find out why.

 

[Chart Accountancy]

Hi Mark

I would recommend that you sign up for a free trial with Xero and have a play with the software to see if it can meet your business requirements.

Do you currently use Sage to also prepare your VAT returns?

 

[@aiteoconsulting]

Alan, most accountants seem to like to specialise in a single product. This makes some sense for smaller firms and can also help them pre-select customers into their marketing funnel.

As a sales proposition I prefer to have some choices available to new customers so I lead with Quickbooks, Xero and FreeAgent. It does make extra work for the practice though.

I trialled Kashflow and found it an absolute dog to use. It was also bought out by IRIS a couple of years ago and some accountants have an aversion to IRIS as an organisation.

 

[The Byre]

Once again, today, I find myself recommending GnuCash.

It's free (don't let that fool you,it is a very sophisticated and user-friendly package!) and does it all - and is certainly better than the horror that is Sage!

https://www.gnucash.org/features.phtml#main-feat

As for accountants that prefer one or the other software - that is not their call and not their decision to make. They can make suggestions, based on YOUR needs and preferences, but should not be telling you anything based on their pet software likes and dislikes.

 

[@aiteoconsulting]

I disagree with you on the accounting software point, Byre. It is not realistic to expect small accounting practices to be suitably conversant with all of the software options on the market, so specialisms in service delivery make sense and, to a greater or lesser degree, are inevitable. It helps both accountants and clients to self-select each other.

 

[The Byre]

I wish we could dictate to our customers which software they must use, so that they fit in with our pet likes and dislikes!

 

[@aiteoconsulting]

It's more of a mutual decision, though, isn't it?

Practice A specialises in the provision of excellent service using XYZ software. Practice B, however, uses ABC software. And ad infinutm (almost), with the vast array of options that are out there.

If, as a client, I am looking to use ABC software, I migrate towards B-type practices.

In which world would it be preferable for Practice A & B (and C, D E etc.) to provide only an average level of service because they are spread across XYZ and ABC (and other systems)?

I've set my firm up somewhere in between, to give some options to customers, but it is at additional cost, expertise & process. But it is my choice what my firm offers - so I will not offer an integrated finance and accounting service using Kashflow for love or money. I may lose out on potential customers, but I also keep processes leaner.