6 Reasons Why Switch from QuickBooks Online to Sage Intacct

During the early phases of your business, you can go with an entry-level accounting solution such as QuickBooks Online or Xero Accounting. But as your business grows and you have to manage multiple departments and multiple entities in various locations, entry-level accounting solutions limit your ability to efficiently manage the finances and the operations of your business.

In this guide, we will cover the top 6 reasons your business should migrate from QuickBooks Online to Sage Intacct.

Reason 1: Your business has outgrown QuickBooks Online

If your business has outgrown QuickBooks Online, it may be time to consider switching to Sage Intacct. Sage Intacct is specifically designed for mid-sized and large businesses, offering robust features and flexibility to handle complex organizational structures.

With Sage Intacct, you can easily manage multiple entities and gain valuable financial insights across different business units. On the other hand, QuickBooks Online is more suitable for smaller businesses, providing a user-friendly interface and essential bookkeeping solutions. Explore the reasons why switching to Sage Intacct can benefit your growing business.

Sage Intacct for Mid-sized and Large Businesses

Sage Intacct is tailored to the intricate needs of mid-sized and large businesses, especially those handling multiple entities. Its design caters to complex organizational structures, where managing various departments, locations, and financial segments becomes a critical task.

This is where Sage Intacct shines, offering a platform that simplifies these complexities. If your business encompasses diverse entities or subsidiaries, each with its own set of financial management needs, Sage Intacct provides the robustness and flexibility you require.

It's not just about handling a larger volume of transactions; it's about delivering nuanced financial insights across different business units, making it a valuable asset for growing and established businesses.

QuickBooks Online for Small Businesses

On the other hand, QuickBooks Online serves as an ideal choice for smaller businesses. It offers a comprehensive bookkeeping solution that aligns well with the simplicity required by startups and small enterprises.

QuickBooks Online is known for its affordability and user-friendly interface, making it a go-to choice for businesses in their nascent stages. The platform simplifies essential financial tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, and basic reporting, catering to the needs of small businesses that don't require the complexity of managing multiple entities.

Feature Comparison Table

Growth and Expansion Considerations

When your business is in its early stages or operating at a small scale with a moderate growth rate, QuickBooks Online is an adequate companion. It escorts your financial management needs without overwhelming you with complexities.

However, as your business landscape expands, encompassing multiple locations and departments, Sage Intacct becomes an indispensable tool. This transition is marked by the need for detailed departmental management, complex financial consolidation, and deeper insights into each location's performance.

Sage Intacct's ability to handle these advanced requirements makes it a strategic choice for businesses evolving beyond the small business framework.

Reason #2: Sage Intacct offers robust customization and Workflow Management

Sage Intacct offers robust customization and workflow management capabilities, making it a standout choice for businesses looking to tailor their financial management processes.

With Sage Intacct, you can customize dashboards and workflows to suit your specific business needs, streamline interactions based on customer and vendor characteristics, and automate routine tasks through accounts payable automation.

These advanced features provide a high level of flexibility and efficiency, empowering businesses to optimize their financial operations.

Sage Intacct's Customized Dashboard and Workflow

Sage Intacct elevates financial management with its informative dashboard, which is a central feature for strategic decision-making. It offers a high level of customization to suit various business requirements.

The platform enables a tailored workflow for different customer and vendor types, enhancing the user experience and operational efficiency. This customization allows businesses to:

Sage Intacct's Accounts Payable Automation

One of the standout features of Sage Intacct is its accounts payable automation. This capability significantly boosts the efficiency of financial processes by:

Comparison of Customization and Workflow Features

• Sage Intacct:
  • Advanced customization for dashboards and workflows.
  • Robust accounts payable automation.
  • Tailored interfaces for various business functions and user roles.

• QuickBooks Online:
  • Basic customization options for dashboards.
  • A simplified workflow is suitable for smaller-scale operations.
  • Limited scope in accounts payable automation compared to Sage Intacct.

The difference in customization and workflow management between Sage Intacct and QuickBooks Online reflects their respective target audiences. Sage Intacct's advanced features cater to larger businesses with complex processes, while QuickBooks Online offers essential tools for smaller entities with straightforward financial workflows.

Reason #3: Sage Intacct offers custom quotes

This section explores the custom quote pricing model of Sage Intacct, which offers unlimited user seats and billable clients, tailored to the specific needs and size of each business.

On the other hand, QuickBooks Online follows a subscription-based pricing model, providing affordability and scalability suitable for small businesses.

Also, Read -> Plan to Implement Sage Intacct

Understanding the pricing and client management differences between the two platforms is crucial in making an informed decision about transitioning to Sage Intacct.

Sage Intacct's Custom Quote and Unlimited Access

Sage Intacct's pricing operates on a custom quote basis, a model designed to cater to the specific needs of each business. This approach is particularly advantageous for companies with varying requirements.

The key benefits of this pricing model include:

QuickBooks Online's Subscription-Based Pricing

QuickBooks Online employs a subscription-based pricing model, where businesses pay a fixed amount at regular intervals. This model is well-suited for small businesses due to its simplicity and affordability.

The advantages of QuickBooks Online's pricing include:

Pricing Comparison Table for Sage Intacct vs QuickBooks Online

Sage Intacct's custom quote pricing is ideal for businesses with extensive and varying needs, offering unlimited access and scalability. In contrast, QuickBooks Online's subscription model, characterized by its affordability and predictability, is more suitable for smaller businesses with straightforward financial management requirements.

Reason #4: Sage Intacct has advanced modules and integrations

Sage Intacct stands out with its advanced modules and integrations, making it a compelling choice for businesses seeking robust financial management solutions.

With enhanced tracking options, double-entry bookkeeping, project accounting, and inventory management capabilities, Sage Intacct offers comprehensive tools for managing complex accounting tasks.

Additionally, its seamless integration with CRM and ERP systems allows for streamlined operations and data consolidation. Discover how Sage Intacct's advanced features can elevate your financial management processes.

Sage Intacct's Advanced Tracking and Project Management

Sage Intacct stands out with its advanced features, offering comprehensive tools for financial management that go beyond the capabilities of QuickBooks Online. Key aspects of Sage Intacct's advanced offerings include:

• Enhanced Tracking Options: It allows for detailed tracking and categorizing of spending, essential for businesses with diverse financial activities.

• Double-Entry Bookkeeping and Project Accounting: These features provide a robust framework for managing complex accounting tasks.

• Inventory Management Module: Ideal for tracking purchases from vendors and sales on e-commerce platforms, adding depth to the financial management process.

• Project Management Module: Though an add-on with additional cost, this module is invaluable for businesses engaged in project-based costing and progress invoicing, offering efficient management across various entities and departments.

Web Browser Accessibility and Reporting Features

While both Sage Intacct and QuickBooks Online offer web browser accessibility, there are distinct differences in their approach and additional features:

• QuickBooks Online's Mobile Accessibility: QuickBooks has an edge with its mobile app, which offers on-the-go access to data, receipt recording, transaction tracking, and mileage calculation for expense claims.

• Sage Intacct's Reporting and Data Consolidation: Despite the absence of a robust mobile app, Sage Intacct compensates with superior reporting features and the ability to manage access to various reports and data within the accounting program. This includes:
  • Advanced reporting capabilities for detailed financial analysis.
  • Simplified data consolidation for multiple entities, enhancing accessibility and ease of management across different departments.

While Sage Intacct offers a more comprehensive suite of advanced features suitable for complex financial management, QuickBooks Online provides greater mobility and ease of access through its mobile application. Sage Intacct's strength lies in its ability to cater to the nuanced needs of larger businesses with multiple entities, whereas QuickBooks Online is more aligned with the needs of smaller businesses seeking straightforward financial management tools.

Also, Check Out Related Topics -> QuickBooks Online to Sage Intacct Data Migration

Reason #5 - Sage Intacct offers support and customization for large enterprises

This section focuses on the user experience and support offered by Sage Intacct and QuickBooks Online. It examines their user interfaces, dashboard customization options, and the level of assistance provided by their respective support teams. Understanding these aspects is crucial in evaluating the usability and support capabilities of each platform.

Sage Intacct's User Interface and Dashboard Customization

Sage Intacct, despite being marked for having a complex user interface, compensates with its comprehensive online help section and a highly user-friendly dashboard. This becomes particularly advantageous in scenarios involving businesses with multiple entities.

The capability to create customized dashboards for different departments, locations, and teams enhances the overall user experience, especially for mid-tier and large enterprises.

Sage Intacct's flexibility in dashboard customization allows for a tailored view that aligns with the specific needs of various segments of the business. On the contrary, QuickBooks Online offers a more basic dashboard with limited customization. It allows the setting up of custom reports but lacks the advanced feature of creating unique dashboard views for different users, departments, or entities.

This distinction in dashboard functionality reflects the suitability of Sage Intacct for more complex organizational structures compared to QuickBooks Online's fit for simpler, single-entity small businesses.

Support and Assistance for Sage Intacct and QuickBooks Online

• Sage Intacct Support:
  • With a Sage Intacct subscription, users receive dedicated support.
  • However, for more complex needs such as additional module configuration or integration enablement, there might be a reliance on external consultants.
  • This aspect is crucial for businesses that need specialized support beyond the standard offerings.

• QuickBooks Online Support
  • QuickBooks Online provides free support to all its customers, with the option to purchase priority support or higher-level subscriptions (Plus or Advanced) for more comprehensive assistance.
  • While QuickBooks is generally easier to use with fewer options, making integrations straightforward, it falls short in areas such as inventory management, payroll, project management, and multi-entity consolidation.
  • This limitation can impact the operational efficiency of businesses that have outgrown the basic functionalities and require more sophisticated systems and support.

Sage Intacct offers a superior user experience with customizable dashboards for complex business structures, while QuickBooks Online is preferable for smaller, single-location businesses due to its simplicity and basic support structure.

The choice between the two depends on the specific needs and scale of the business, with Sage Intacct being the go-to for larger, more intricate enterprises requiring detailed customization and specialized support.

Reason #6 - Multi-Entity Consolidation is available not in QuickBooks Online but in Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct offers a powerful feature called Multi-Entity Consolidation, which allows businesses with multiple entities to streamline their financial management. With real-time consolidation and an automated process, Sage Intacct simplifies report generation and reduces manual effort.

This feature is particularly beneficial for large enterprises or growing businesses looking to efficiently manage complex organizational structures.

Challenges with Multi-Entity Consolidation in QuickBooks Online

Managing multiple entities in QuickBooks Online can present significant challenges. If your business operates across various entities, departments, or locations, you might find yourself depending on the 'classes' feature in QuickBooks to categorize transactions and other information.

This method, however, has its limitations:

• Manual Consolidation: Often, you may need to export reports from QuickBooks Online and then manually consolidate them in Excel or another spreadsheet software.

• Time-Consuming and Error-Prone: This process is not only time-consuming but also prone to inaccuracies and duplicate entries due to its manual nature.

Sage Intacct's Streamlined Multi-Entity Consolidation

Sage Intacct, on the other hand, offers a more efficient solution for businesses with multiple entities:

• Real-Time Consolidation: Sage Intacct enables the consolidation of data across multiple entities in real time. This feature is crucial for decision-makers who need timely and accurate reports.

• Automated Process: Once you set up the departments, locations, dimensions, and metrics, Sage Intacct automates the data consolidation process. This automation significantly reduces the manual effort and time required in report generation.

• Access Control: Sage Intacct allows you to share consolidated reports with specific users, enhancing collaboration and decision-making. Importantly, it also provides the flexibility to revoke access when necessary, maintaining the confidentiality and security of financial data.

By integrating these advanced functionalities, Sage Intacct not only simplifies the financial management of multi-entity businesses but also provides a more accurate and efficient system for managing complex organizational structures.

This level of consolidation and control is particularly beneficial for large enterprises or growing businesses expanding into new markets or segments, where streamlined financial management is essential.

Key takeaways…

The reasons presented in this post provide you with all the details to make an informed decision. Instead of spending time exporting data to Excel and formatting it, you can focus on quickly creating reports and delivering them to decision-makers. We also explore several modules that both applications have, explaining why Sage Intacct can offer you a better user experience and additional features for managing other aspects of your business.

If you need more information about the QuickBooks Online to Sage Intacct migration process, feel free to get in touch with one of our experts.

FAQs

Q. How does Sage Intacct compare to QuickBooks Online?

A. Both Sage Intacct and QuickBooks Online are amazing accounting solutions that cater to businesses of different sizes. QuickBooks Online is tailored for small businesses, whereas Sage Intacct is tailored for medium to large enterprises. As a small business, you can save a lot of money by going with QuickBooks Online. But when your business has multiple entities and departments, then you need an accounting solution that can create consolidated reports in real-time so that you won't have to export data manually to Excel and then combine the data. Multi-entity consolidation is a key feature of Sage Intacct.

Q. Is Sage Intacct suitable for mid-sized and large businesses?

A. Yes, Sage Intacct is suitable for mid-sized and large businesses that want a financial solution that can take care of multiple aspects of their business. Apart from core accounting management features such as accounts receivable and payable automation, general ledger, and financial reporting, Sage Intacct offers additional modules that customers can subscribe to for additional functionality, including inventory management, project management, and payroll.

Q. What are the advantages of switching from QuickBooks Online to Sage Intacct?

A. Switching from QuickBooks Online to Sage Intacct is going to help your business in reducing the total time it takes to generate financial reports. QuickBooks Online users generally have to export the data first to Excel so that they can consolidate reports for multiple entities, whereas Sage Intacct can do that in real time. The consolidation features also enable your accounting and bookkeeping team to quickly reconcile different accounts, analyze business performance, and close the financial year.

Q. Can Sage Intacct handle multiple entities and complex organizational structures?

A. Sage Intacct is designed for organizations with complex structures and operations. If your business has multiple entities and departments operating in multiple locations, then Sage Intacct is going to be vital to all of the decision-makers in your business. It will not only simplify the accounting process for your in-house accounting team but also enable them to create real-time consolidated reports for multiple entities. You can further customize Sage Intacct by configuring additional modules and integrations with customer relationship management programs such as HubSpot and Salesforce.

Q. What customization and workflow management capabilities does Sage Intacct offer?

A. Sage Intacct offers granular control over your accounting data so that you can customize the overall experience for different teams and team members and create streamlined workflows to simplify the accounting and reporting process. Users can create custom dashboards for each entity, department, and location. These dashboards can be further customized and shared with other team members by admin users. The admin users have the right to provide access and to revoke access to specific users.

Q. How does QuickBooks Online differ from Sage Intacct in terms of pricing?

QuickBooks Online has specific pricing tiers. Once you subscribe to a pricing plan, you'll be paying the same sum each year. Sage Intacct offers custom pricing according to the features, the number of entities, and the total number of users that your business requires. The cost can quickly pile up, but the features that you acquire when you subscribe to Sage Intacct reduce the total time of creating reports, closing the year, and managing multiple entities efficiently.

Q. What modules and integrations are available in Sage Intacct?

A. The core financial management features enable you to manage the day-to-day transactions of all the entities and departments of your business. Core features include things like accounts payable, accounts receivables, invoicing, and financial reporting. But as the operations of your business get more complex, you can get additional modules configured for inventory management, project management, fixed asset management, and payroll.

Q. Does Sage Intacct support multi-entity consolidation?

A. Sage Intacct supports multi-entity consolidation. It is one of the primary reasons why Sage Intacct is the highest-ranked accounting solution for mid-tier enterprises. The consolidation happens in real time so that you can efficiently create and share reports with key decision-makers in your business.