Are you having trouble choosing between Sage 50 and Sage 200? Sage 200 is the natural upgrade route for Sage 50 customers who find themselves necessitating a system that can manage more complex business processes and functionality.

Businesses commonly start with Sage 50 as their chosen finance software, and then as their business expands, they upgrade to Sage 200. This is largely due to Sage 50 being better suited to companies of up to 50 employees (and up to £10m turnover), and Sage 200 being better suited to companies of up to 200 staff members (and a £50m maximum turnover).

In this article, we’ll be considering the features of both Sage 50 and Sage 200 and comparing the functionalities of the two. This will help those of you on the cusp of making a decision between the two pieces of software by gaining a better understanding of the advantages of each.

SAGE 50 Software

With SAGE 50, you can keep track of your cash flow, and manage your payments. SAGE 50 assists in providing an accurate view of your cash position with easy bank reconciliation and e-banking. It enables you to manage and submit your payroll information to HMRC, communicate effectively with your accountant, set up a pension with ease or automatically calculate statutory payments.

Sage 50 provides a variety of unique system wide functionalities that differ to Sage 200, these include:

  • A ‘calculate net’ option in ALL data entry processes (Sage 200 offers this facility in common areas of use such as bank payments and receipts)
  • Memorising data entry form content, allowing you to complete a data entry form before saving it as a transaction, and then asking the system to memorise what has been entered and storing it as a named entry. This means you can complete the same data entry screen by recalling the memorised form rather than typing it in again – an ideal functionality when handling the same types of transaction frequently
  • Global data changes. In Sage 50 the user can set the same characteristic on all (all or a group) of customers, suppliers and stock items by altering one record and having the rest update rather than editing each record in turn
  • Portrait reports. Nearly all of the Sage 50 reports are portrait while with Sage 200 the standard layout of reports are landscape
  • Built in database backup and restore, giving you extra peace of mind (automated backups are now available for Sage 200 Extra Online)
  • Accountants Link. The user can send a copy of their data to their accountant and the accountant can make adjustments while the user keeps working on their copy of the data. The accountant then sends a file back to add their adjustments into the users system without losing what they have been doing
  • Audit preparation pack. A set of reports that allows the user to check data for the kind of anomalies that accountants and VAT inspectors look for so they can be addressed before the accountant or VAT inspector arrives
  • Event log. The user can configure the system to record whenever one of a nominated set of processes is run so later, the user can see what has been happening. The diary mimics the calendar in Outlook with import and export options for integration
  • Credit controller function
  • Batch reporting
  • VAT self-audit

SAGE 200 Software

For Small to Medium Businesses (SMEs), SAGE 200 provides complete visibility of information across your business via a full Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. The software allows you to choose the modules and features that are right for your business with a fully customisable solution. It also enables you to manage your finances, customers and business insight all-in-one.

Sage 200 provides a variety of functionalities that Sage 50 does not, these include:

  • Currency; spot and period exchange rates; exchange rate history; support for euro triangulation
  • User definable workspaces
  • Choice of number of accounting periods per year
  • Control of length of accounting period
  • Ability to open/close/re-open a period
  • True transaction audit trail
  • Choice of invoice or movement date for intrastat prep
  • Separate create, amend and view forms
  • Integrated CRM
  • Integrated Business Intelligence

Sage 50 vs. Sage 200

A common misconception is that Sage 200 offers the same tools as Sage 50 but with more advanced features, yet this couldn’t be further from the truth. Both packages provide a great number of useful business functionalities, as you can see from the lists above. It’s just that the Sage 200 package is aimed at growing businesses, whilst Sage 50 is better suited to smaller businesses.

Which Software Suits your Business Best?

Ultimately when it comes down to Sage 200 vs Sage 50 – they are both equally effective and provide winning processes for businesses of all sizes. There is no winner or loser as such. There is only a right and wrong solution for your business.

If you’d like more information on choosing the right Sage solution for your business, contact us today.

By Published On: 25 October 2017Categories: NewsTags:

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