What's wrong with Sage One Accounting?

[GGGSurrey]

Why is it that Sage One Accounting is so rarely mentioned in discussions about cloud accounting compared to Xero or other providers?

It looks as though it is a similar product to Xero but at a cheaper monthly price - is it just Sage's reputation as being expensive that's putting people off?

 

[john1989]

From an accountants perspective, I think it is more their reputation of offering competitive prices at the start, followed by massive price hikes.


In the past I have used Sage Instant Accounts, Line 50, 200 and 1000. I didn’t think any of them were to sing home about so I haven’t thought to look at Sage One.

 

[@aiteoconsulting]

I've wondered about this. I hear second-hand criticism of Sage One, saying that it is streets behind other developed cloud offerings such as Xero and Quickbooks Online, yet Sage claim 50,000 users in the UK (cf 100,000 for Xero). I certainly haven't run into any Sage One users myself yet.

 

[GGGSurrey]

Thanks for those comments.

Although I use Xero quite a lot, I've just become involved in a company that is already using Sage One Accounts. I expected not to like it but initially it looks pretty good. Certainly looks nicer than Xero which has all sorts of junk scattered about and therefore is harder for new users to pick up. Sage say that Sage One Accounting has more features that are needed such as ability to post MJs and allowing multiple users.

Trying to decide whether to recommend them carrying on with Sage or switch to Xero (the devil I know best) ....

 

[john1989]

Sage are good at making things look pretty. It's usually when you scratch the surface when you find things aren't as good as other software products. But that's just my experience.

 

[Energise Accounting]

I think sage gets too much of a bad press sage one is very good and has various add-ons lets not forget xero is far from perfect it can not even handle payments on a/c among other things and in reality is quite expensive. I personally am a big sage fan most of the problems are down to business owners buying the wrong package for their business.

The thing about other cloud packages are they are normally more user friendly where as sage in reality has been built for people with accounts knowledge.

 

[David Griffiths]

Xero handles payments on account perfectly well. Far better than Sage Line 50 does - I can't speak for Sage One. Don't know what's among the other things that you think it doesn't do.

 

[@aiteoconsulting]

Xero also allows unlimited users - so the multiple user line Sage is feeding you is incorrect.

I wouldn't switch packages until you've done a full assessment of both capabilities and also the time and cost of switching.

 

[Energise Accounting]

maybe saying it can not handle the transactions is a bit strong but you have to use what they call work-arounds. I tried xero with a few of my more capable clients and they were never off the phone. I have never had these problems with sage or accounts portal. that is just my experince

 

[David Griffiths]

It is not true to say that you have to use a work around. There is direct functionality to deal with payments on account and overpayments.

When we set it up for clients, we expect a few phone calls, as we would with any other new accounting system. That's with over 100 clients using the system. I've been using it for six years and have contacted Xero support three times in that period, once for myself and twice for clients. One of those was a data error that they fixed and the other was a question that I should have known the answer to.

 

[john1989]

Has there always been that function in Xero to handle POA?
I vaguely remembering that you had to do a credit note. I could have dreamt it though.

 

[Energise Accounting]

Their was also a problem with UK payroll on the reporting side I believe. personally I don't want paid software with any workarounds like everything else I suppose horses for courses.

 

[David Griffiths]

It can't always have been there, but there's no way that I can remember when individual functions were updated.

As to the so called payroll reporting problems, somebody on AccountingWeb went off the deep end because he couldn't produce P60s for the year ended 5 April 2016 now. They aren't actually required until after that date. Clearly had an axe to grind, and massively over reacted

 

[GGGSurrey]

Xero also allows unlimited users - so the multiple user line Sage is feeding you is incorrect.

To be fair they didn't say Xero couldn't handle multiple users - they just said that Sage One Accounting is also able to do so whereas Sage One Accounts can not. A cloud based accounting system only allowing a single user seems a bit of an oversight.

Has any one experienced the upgrade from Sage one Accounts to Sage One Accounting?

 

[@aiteoconsulting]

Sorry, I re-read your comment and don't follow. Are there two different products - Sage One Accounts and Sage One Accounting? I can only find the latter on the website.

 

[GGGSurrey]

Sorry, I re-read your comment and don't follow. Are there two different products - Sage One Accounts and Sage One Accounting? I can only find the latter on the website.

Yes there are - the company I am working with has Sage One Accounts which costs £10 a month plus £5 for payroll. Sage advise that they now only have Sage One Accounting available and we can upgrade at no extra cost.

Surely others must have experienced this?

 

[Energise Accounting]

The products are Sage one cashbook and sage one Accounting, the payroll option (max 15 employees) for £5 per month can be added to either version.

 

[GGGSurrey]

A question which would be useful to people in the same situation is, "does anyone use Sage One Accounting and if so how good is it?"

 

[Energise Accounting]

most of my clients are now on sage one and find it very easy to use, the clients who are not bothered about bank feeds use accounts portal, I suppose it depends which line of business you are in although I have had a few niggles about xero it is far more flexible than any package I have seen.

 

[GGGSurrey]

most of my clients are now on sage one and find it very easy to use, the clients who are not bothered about bank feeds use accounts portal, I suppose it depends which line of business you are in although I have had a few niggles about xero it is far more flexible than any package I have seen.

Thanks for your input - did you mean that Sage One Accounting is more flexible than Xero?

 

[Energise Accounting]

No xero is much more flexible, their are more than 300+ add-ons and you can tailor xero to your exact business need.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Why is it that Sage One Accounting is so rarely mentioned in discussions about cloud accounting compared to Xero or other providers?

It looks as though it is a similar product to Xero but at a cheaper monthly price - is it just Sage's reputation as being expensive that's putting people off?

Thank you you've reminded me its one I really ought to take another look at.

I freely admit I'm not a Sage fan (due to some horrendous issues with them years ago) but I will take a look at it.