As companies evolve and grow, the demands on their internal systems inevitably grow with them. So after years of using Sage 50 – or another entry-level package come to that – have you started questioning whether your current accounts software still satisfies all the requirements of your business?
As a specialist Sage 200 partner and Sage 200 developer, M2M has been helping clients large and small to upgrade from Sage 50 to Sage 200 for almost two decades. Over that time, our expert team has identified five principal reasons that UK businesses decide to upgrade to Sage 200. If any of the following factors are current considerations for your organisation, it would be worth arranging an initial conversation with a member of our team.
Reasons to upgrade from Sage 50 to Sage 200
- Greater performance and functionality
- More intelligent reporting
- Enhanced stock control
- The need to specialise within your vertical market
- More complex business processes and a need for customisation
In terms of speed and performance, there are limitations to the volume of data that Sage 50 and other entry-level packages can handle. That’s why a need to boost performance is one of the first reasons a company may consider migrating to Sage 200. Company growth may also bring with it the need for more users – possibly with varying “role-based” access – and this too is something that Sage 200 offers over and above standard user permission levels.
Full control over financial periods, stock and foreign currencies
When it comes to functionality, Sage 200 offers three major advantages in the areas of accounting periods, stock management and foreign currencies. Whereas Sage 50 works on transaction dates, an upgrade to Sage 200 introduces formal accounting periods, which means that monthly management accounts are not impacted by posting late transactions – a feature your accountant will really like. Sage 50 does not have a financially integrated stock system, whereas Sage 200 offers flexible and configurable integration with the nominal ledger. Then in terms of its advanced handling of foreign currencies, Sage 200 will set you free from the ‘like for like’ foreign currency trading offered by Sage 50, whereby payments must be recorded in the same currency as an invoice was raised.
Intelligent report that integrates with Office 365 and Power BI
Meanwhile, the need for a more powerful reporting platform drives other customers to migrate to Sage 200, since this software offers multi-level company consolidations and a 3-tier nominal structure (nominal account, cost centre and department). These additional capabilities allow for infinitely more flexible financial reporting, as does Sage 200’s integration with Office 365, Power BI and Power Platform.
If you need to manage multiple stock locations, Sage 200 offers this advantage over Sage 50. It can also handle batch and serial number tracking, landed costs and cyclic (or rolling) stocktakes. Whilst Sage 50 works exclusively on FIFO cost accounting, Sage 200 can be configured (per product group) for either FIFO, Standard Cost, Average Cost, or Actual Costing.
Integration with EDI, ecommerce, and other third-party apps
Many customers are looking to personalise their accounts system to the specific demands of their sector and, for these companies, the motivation to upgrade can be the availability of an industry-specific Sage 200 add-on such as Manufacturing, Warehousing, Construction or Hire Management.
But maybe most significant of all is the opportunity for Sage developers like M2M to integrate Sage 200 with third party applications in order to simplify data entry and provide a clearer overview of your business. For clients who sell online, we’ve completed numerous ecommerce integrations with leading platforms such as Shopify, Magento, Amazon and WooCommerce, as well as fully bespoke projects. Furthermore, we’ve delivered countless EDI integrations with major supermarkets and full order workflow projects involving retailers such as Dixons and The Range.
If you feel your business could benefit from an upgrade from Sage 50 to Sage 200, why not call our friendly team on 01245 494847 for an initial conversation.