Sage 50c is accounting software that includes functions such as accounts payable and receivable, general ledger reporting, and inventory management. Additionally, the solution offers features like sales tax reporting, automated W2s, and precise tax calculations for employee withholdings.

Best For:

Sage 50c Accounting is best for small companies (1-50 employees) and mid-size companies (50-500 employees).

QuickBooks Online is the most popular financial software on the market. This cloud-based accounting solution enables tracking of sales and expenses, generating estimates, customer management, and seamless collaboration with external accountants.

Best For:

QuickBooks Online is a good fit for a range of businesses, from small companies (10-50 employees) to larger organizations (500-5,000 employees). Popular sectors include accounting, information technology, and professional services industries.

7.0

Our Rating

based on our expert editorial analysis

4.6

USER RATING

based on 23 user reviews

Our Verdict:

While it doesn’t have the most modern UI, Sage 50c offers decent job costing. We like that users can customize reports specific to their industries in construction, distribution, and manufacturing. Its accountant-first approach also makes it intuitive for financial professionals.

However, we don’t like the platform’s poor inventory management or the lack of remote access to data without a third-party add-on.

Pros:

Powerful job costing
Robust financial reporting
Great invoice customization

Cons:

Poor inventory management
Dated user interface
No remote access to data without add-on

7.8

Our Rating

based on our expert editorial analysis

4.6

USER RATING

based on 56 user reviews

Our Verdict:

Many users are upset by Intuit’s forced move to subscription pricing. That said, we liked its intuitive user interface and custom invoicing. QuickBooks is the most widely-used financial software, allowing unlimited invoicing even at basic subscription levels, while offering bank reconciliation and scalability.

We dislike QuickBooks Online’s limit of 25 concurrent users, its absence of advanced inventory features, and the requirement for some accounting knowledge to use it effectively.

Pros:

Widely used by most accountants
Tons of integrations available
Customizable invoicing
Extensive pre-built and custom reports
Automatic exchange rates

Cons:

Comparatively expensive
Few industry-specific features
Limited users per plan

Price Range
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
Starting Price $439/user/year
Client OS Windows

Price Range
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
Starting Price $30/month
Client OS Web

QuickBooks Online and Sage 50cloud Accounting are two of the oldest accounting platforms available on the market. We’ve reviewed and tested both extensively.

Let’s take a birds-eye view and compare these two in terms of their distinct strengths and suitable industries. We’ll also give a hint on which software seems to be the best for most businesses.

QuickBooks Online - The Crowd Favorite

QuickBooks Online is the most widely used financial software. It’s particularly appealing to small-to-mid-level companies in the accounting, IT, and professional services industries, owing to its numerous powerful features such as tracking sales and expenses, managing customers, comprehensive reporting, and easy collaboration, among others.

QuickBooks has tons of integrations and an intuitive UI that makes it an approachable for most users. The most common sticking point? Many users find the subscription plans slightly pricey. This becomes evident particularly when integrating payroll or when a business requires access for more than 25 users.

Sage 50cloud Accounting

To address the elephant in the room, Sage 50cloud is frankly quite dated looking. Its UI was designed in the early 2000’s and there hasn’t been many interface updates. That said it can be a pretty affordable option that doesn’t necessarily require subscription pricing. Its strength lies in tracking cash availability, budgeting, and especially in job costing and reporting.

Another factor to consider is that Sage 50cloud operates with a locally installed model, which limits remote data access without an add-on.

Final Thoughts

For most businesses, we’ve found that QuickBooks Online is a better fit. Its intuitive interface and feature set makes it more amicable to a broad range of businesses, including those without a financial background. Its cloud-based nature provides an edge in terms of accessibility and collaboration.

In contrast, Sage 50cloud does well in its niche. We recommend it for contractors and businesses in the service industry.

Sage 50cloud Accounting

★★★★★

(23)

Price Range

$ $ $ $ $

Starting Price

$439/user/year

Client OS

Windows

Deployment

On-Premises

QuickBooks Online

★★★★★

(56)

Price Range

$ $ $ $ $

Starting Price

$30/month

Client OS

Web

Deployment

Cloud Hosted