Making use of cloud technology gives your company the flexibility you need and eliminates some common drawbacks of traditional accounting systems.
Cloud accounting solutions are becoming the mainstream for today’s businesses, and for good reasons. But after you’ve read about the advantages of cloud accounting solutions, how do you decide which one to buy? Are they all pretty much the same or will one be a better fit for your business?
On the surface, all cloud solutions might sound similar, but there are critical differences. Understanding the differences will help you choose a solution that works best for your business. Let’s compare Acumatica Cloud ERP and Sage Intacct’s financial management solution in five important areas:
Cloud
It’s important that your cloud accounting system is built for the cloud, not just adapted to run in it. At the same time, the whole point of the cloud is freedom and flexibility, so you don’t want to be confined with a rigid, cloud-only solution.
Sage Intacct offers only public cloud deployment, which may be a problem for organizations that must meet strict regulations or compliance requirements.
Acumatica gives you a choice of deployment options: on-premises, private cloud, or public cloud. And with Acumatica you’ll also have the option to transition seamlessly back and forth between deployment options.
Functionality
Product functionality should be among the most important factors in evaluating cloud core financial management solutions. The cloud accounting solution you choose should have the functionality to meet the specific needs of your organization and be able to scale with you as your business grows and changes.
Sage Intacct has financial management services for accounting firms, but it doesn’t have built-in functionality for verticals such as manufacturing. Costly add-ons for Sage Intacct may be necessary in order to obtain the level of functionality you need.
Acumatica has built-in ERP functionality. In addition to financials, Acumatica has vertical solutions for manufacturing, distribution, field service, ecommerce, and professional services companies. On top of that, Acumatica has been rated #1 in Customer Satisfaction and Usability.
Another plus for Acumatica is that it is a full cloud ERP suite that includes integrated CRM. Sage Intacct has no built-in CRM.
Customization
Another important factor in choosing a cloud ERP solution would be the product’s ability to integrate with other products and solutions necessary to your business. With the ability to mix and match tailored complementary solutions, you can have exactly what you need to meet your company’s needs best, now and as you grow.
Sage Intacct imposes strict limitations on how the much the solution can be modified. User defined field limits are imposed, and complex integrations need to be created by the manufacturer; that can be costly.
Acumatica was developed with an industry-standard code known as the .NET framework, which provides easy interoperability, customization, and integration. Many developers know how to program in .NET, so if you need customization, that could make your costs more manageable. Acumatica also allows unlimited user defined fields and the flexibility to modify the interface to meet your needs. There is no extra charge for the tools to create customizations. Customers can build their own solutions using the Acumatica xRP Platform which uses .Net, C# and HTML5.
Scalability
Employees and their training may be your single largest investment. Ease of use along with anytime/anywhere access and clear configurability of a cloud accounting solution will simplify the process of setting up and training new users in the system. Those assets make cloud accounting a good fit for companies that are growing. It’s important that your cloud accounting system is cost-effective when it comes to adding more employees or more functionality as you grow.
Sage Intacct charges for each user you add to your system and requires different kinds of licenses for different functions. While you can add users with Sage Intacct, you must wait until your annual renewal to remove users. This may mean that you are paying for licenses you are not using.
Acumatica allows unlimited users of any kind for free: executives, developers, supervisors, employees, business partners, customers, etc. Additional users do not require additional licenses; you can add or remove as many as you want, whenever you want.
Acumatica is more cost effective for companies that have multiple entities or facets, because Acumatica comes with five tenants at a single price point, whereas Sage Intacct comes with only one allowed tenant. Being financially penalized for growth is counterproductive.
Headaches
What if you have an important task and a tight timeline and your computer lets you know it’s going to perform a critical update? Or you need to export or print a file, and your computer refuses to comply. You can’t afford to have your business screech to a halt because of glitches with your cloud accounting system.
Sage Intacct releases quarterly updates and installs them on their timeline regardless of what your employees might be working on. Those updates could interfere with any customizations you’ve implemented. And if you decide to switch from Sage Intacct, it will cost you real money to transfer your data.
Acumatica releases multiple, cutting-edge updates a year, but, importantly, it lets you choose when you want to install them. If you wish to export your business data out of the cloud ERP for any reason, Acumatica makes that simple and free to do. You own all your data.
If the cloud financial solution you’re looking at doesn’t measure up in these areas, you’ll have to wonder if that solution can truly meet your business’s long-term, evolving needs.
There’s a reason why is the fastest-growing cloud ERP solution – and a reason why manufacturers and distributors are choosing it over Sage Intacct.
If you’d like to know more about the benefits of Acumatica and how it compares to other cloud accounting systems, .
By Dynamic Tech Services, an Atlanta-Based Acumatica Gold Certified Partner
