Update:

Sage Business Cloud Accounting Review


Sage Business Cloud Accounting 

Summary

Founded in 1981, Sage is a multinational enterprise software company which develops accounting and invoicing management tools for entrepreneurs. The following is our review of the product.

Advantages

  • Double-entry accounting.
  • 100% online
  • Affordable monthly costs
  • Free trial

Disadvantages

  • Limited number of account users per each plan
Logo of Sage

Sage

Logo of Sage

Sage

Summary

Founded in 1981, Sage is a multinational enterprise software company which develops accounting and invoicing management tools for entrepreneurs. The following is our review of the product.

Advantages

  • Double-entry accounting.
  • 100% online
  • Affordable monthly costs
  • Free trial

Disadvantages

  • Limited number of account users per each plan

Summary

Summary of Sage
Pricing
Setup Sage
Use cases
Ease of use
Features
Customer support
Integrations
Security
Overall verdict

Summary of our opinion

Don’t have time to read it all? Here is a summary of our opinion on Sage Business Cloud Accounting, to help you understand whether Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a good choice for you or not. 

For those who don’t have time to read our entire Sage Business Cloud Accounting review, here’s a summary of our test:

  • Sage Business Cloud Accounting is accounting software very suitable for freelancers, SMB’s and entrepreneurs
  • Sage Business Cloud provides everything you need to manage your bookkeeping, payroll, transactions, and personnel all in one convenient location. You no longer need to be concerned about locating the appropriate product; rather, all you have to do is choose the capabilities that are necessary to fulfill the requirements of your company.

In summary, Sage Business Cloud Accounting is intuitive and easy to use, while the 24/7 customer support means there’s always someone available if you need help with your accounting needs. For a full in-depth review, the following is our opinion of Sage Business Cloud Accounting in detail.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting pricing

Sage Business Cloud Accounting offers 2 different monthly subscription offers and all plans you can cancel or upgrade at any time. No long-term contracts, commitments or hidden fees.

Sage Accounting Start: Since it only charges $10 a month and enables a single user, this plan is perfect for persons who are self-employed or work independently as a freelancer.

This version comes with a bank feed, as well as invoice and cost management, and reporting capabilities. An application is available for download on mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Android.

Sage Accounting: This strategy works well for more established companies that already have at least two individuals on staff. It has a monthly fee of $25 and is able to handle several people as well as businesses. 

  • It includes all of the capabilities that are part of the Accounting Start plan, in addition to basic inventory management and monitoring of bills, and it gives you the ability to generate bids, estimations, and a forecast of your company’s cash flow.

These 2 different offers are adapted to different company needs and sizes.

How to access Sage Business Cloud Accounting

Sage offers a 100% online and real time software solution so you won’t have to download and install anything on your computer. 

In addition to the web version, Sage Business Cloud Accounting Online offers a mobile app, on iOS and Android. These applications are highly rated by users (4.3/5 for iOS and 3.1/5 for Android).

Sales and invoice tracking from Sage
Sage dashboard and sales tracking

Required configuration

In order to access Sage Business Cloud Accounting, all you need to do is use your internet browser. Users just need to ensure they have an up-to-date browser and a decent internet connection and Sage Business Cloud Accounting should work just fine. 

Who should use Sage Business Cloud Accounting?

Because of its many capabilities, Sage Business Cloud Accounting is an excellent choice to fulfill the requirements of accounting for sole proprietorships and other small businesses.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting was developed to compete with other cloud-based accounting software like as Kashoo and FreshBooks. Due to its intuitive user interface and mobile app capabilities, it is an excellent option for single owners and freelancing, as well as those who offer items, services, or both.

If you have workers who need to be paid, you may want to consider using a service like as QuickBooks Online or Xero. Both of these services provide comparable functionality, but in addition, they include a payroll tool.

This accounting software has some scalability, with two plans available; however, it is important to keep in mind that the Accounting Start plan, which is the bottom level, offers minimal features.

This may be acceptable for you if you are just starting out, especially considering how simple it is to upgrade to the more rigorous version at any time.

Ease of use

Sage Business Cloud Accounting is accessed all online. This is a monthly subscription that gives you access to the software platform, from a computer, tablet or smartphone connected to the internet. 

The software also has a mobile application that facilitates its use from a smartphone. Updates are done automatically and all data is securely saved on a server.

Registration is quick with users asked for legal and tax information in order to configure the software according to these elements. 

Upon accessing the dashboard, the homepage offers guides for setting up and getting started with the software and the rest of the app is quite intuitive. The menu is clear and the different actions are easily accessible. 

Features

For a 100% online solution, Sage Business Cloud Accounting offers a very wide range of features. This topic covers the main features, of which we will review the main elements.

Simple accounting 

Online accounting software that makes it easy to understand and eliminates unnecessary steps that slow you down.

Easy invoicing 

Users of Sage are given the capability to create and submit online invoices with as little effort as a point, click, and done. Select the template for your invoice, upload your company logo, fill out the data, and press the submit button.

When it comes to being paid, speed is of the essence when it comes to invoicing.

Track invoices with the Sage dashboard
Create and track invoices with the Sage dashboard

Business insights 

Over 15 built-in reports and statements to tell you exactly where you stand.

Quotes/Estimates

With Sage Business Cloud Accounting, it’s very simple to look professional with customizable quotes and estimates that reflect your business’ brand.

Track invoices with the Sage dashboard
Track invoices and quotes with the Sage dashboard

Bank integration 

Once you connect your financial accounts with Sage One, importing and categorizing your bank and credit card transactions is automatic.

Billing

Sage Business Cloud Account allows users to create various documents including:

  • Quotes
  • Invoices
  • Delivery notes

Quotes and invoices are customizable including the logo, color, font, text. We appreciate being able to transform an estimate into an invoice in one click. Creating invoices is fast, with few fields to complete. 

Commercial documents can be sent by email to the customer, printed or downloaded. An unpaid dunning function lists invoices overdue for payment. This makes it possible to effectively track the payments due.

Accounting functions

Thanks to bank sync’s such as Kabbage and Brex, bank transactions are automatically linked to invoices. It is then sufficient to validate the association and the accounting entry is automatic. The rest of the input is done manually.

The chart of accounts is customizable to adapt to its activity. It will be necessary to have some basics in accounting to know which account to use and to proceed with the accounting entry. Access by an accountant is permitted and will allow him to retrieve the data he needs.

In terms of accounting, the software allows for:

  • Carrying out the entry, partly automatically but also manually
  • Associating banking transactions with commercial documents
  • Managing the chart of accounts and journals
  • Carrying out the opening and closing of the financial year
  • Producing and export end-of-year statements: balance, general ledger, balance sheet, income statement
  • Exporting the accounting entries
  • Obtaining the information necessary for sales tax declarations

It is therefore a complete offer that will meet the needs of entrepreneurs who wish to do their accounting themselves.

Stock management

The stock management function consists of a catalog of products or services with a stock status automatically updated according to purchases and sales. Automation is a strong point and we appreciate being able to consult the status of our stock at a glance however forecasting dashboards aren’t available.

Customer Service & Support

Sage Business Cloud Accounting offers various resources to help you use its accounting solution. 

At any time, you can visit the online help center for additional information on setting up your account, or chat with Sage customer service by clicking the chat button in the upper right corner of your screen.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting does not provide help by email or the phone anymore.

Here are the ways you can contact Sage support:

  • Chat: There is an in-software text chat feature. Business owners can also access the help center directly within the software and leave feedback as well.
  • Help Center: There is a help center with dozens of how-to articles.
  • Community Forum: Sage Business Cloud Accounting has a community forum where you can access help articles and ask questions to fellow Sage users.
  • Sage Knowledgebase: The Sage Knowledgebase allows you to search Sage’s resources and past customer inquiries.
  • Sage City: Sage City is Sage’s community where you can see recent blogs, ask questions to fellow users, hear the latest Sage announcements, and more.
  • Sage University: You can search for and purchase Sage training courses near you.
  • YouTube: Sage does have a YouTube channel, although very few videos pertain to Sage Business Cloud Accounting. Instead, you’ll mostly find business advice and customer success stories.
  • Sage Blog: While not specific to Sage Business Cloud Accounting, there is a Sage blog with lots of insightful small business advice and guidance.

Integrations & Extensions offered by Sage Business Cloud Accounting

Sage Business Cloud Accounting integrates with 65+ third-party apps in the Sage Marketplace including third-party time tracking apps. However, this accounting software has just three payment gateways and an API is available for developers.

Security

Sage Business Cloud Accounting uses data encryption and multi-factor authentication to protect your data and data is hosted by Amazon Web Services.

When Sage customers use the service, their computing devices communicate with the Sage servers and this communication is securely encrypted using latest versions of a technology called Transport layer security, known as TLS.

When Sage customers use the service, their computing devices communicate with the Sage servers and this communication is securely encrypted using latest versions of a technology called Transport layer security, known as TLS.

You can click on the padlock symbol on your web browser to confirm this. This protects your session and your data from interference.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting: Overall verdict

Sage Business Cloud Accounting is competitively priced, easy to use and a decent dashboard, helping it to stand out from its competitors.

It also offers improved invoicing and integrations, advanced inventory features, a cash flow forecast feature, and many automations that will  be suitable for entrepreneurs who have  simple invoicing needs and those who wish to start accounting alone or in collaboration with their accountant. 

It is lacking in some areas however including time tracking, project management, and payroll, which may be important to some and the Sage Accounting Start plan is quite limited.  

All in all, a solid product worth trying out and accessible for beginners who can afford to take the time to learn the accounting basics. 

Summary

Summary of Sage
Pricing
Setup Sage
Use cases
Ease of use
Features
Customer support
Integrations
Security
Overall verdict

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Our mission

We try to provide transparent information on the different products & services for entrepreneurs, the self-employed, freelancers and professionals.

We monitor multiple business sectors & issue opinions on various products and services that we view are worthwhile for any business to thrive and grow.

Our articles are written independently and the opinions expressed are our own. They are in no way reviewed by the various brands before we publish them.