Financial Edge (legacy) vs. Sage Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Financial Edge (legacy)
Score 6.8 out of 10
N/A
A legacy software offering, Blackbaud now instead offers and supports their cloud-based accounting solution, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT as a modern alternative.N/A
Sage Accounting
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Sage Accounting is online accounting software made to simplify life for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers by providing the functions needed to take care of daily business to-dos. Users can create and send professional quotes and invoices, track income and expenses and know where the business' financials stand. Every Sage Business Cloud Accounting subscription includes unlimited access to support as well as automatic backups and product updates.N/A
Pricing
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsVersions and pricing listed are for CA products. Versions available and pricing may vary by country. * 2 months free to start, or free for 1 month to try, then $19/$43/$62 +tax/mo (tier depending). Offer valid for new customers only on monthly subscriptions of Sage Business Cloud Accounting. After the promotional period, the monthly subscription rate will renew at the then current rate. May not be combined with any other offers or discounts. To ensure continuous service the subscription plan is an automatically renewing plan. Subsequent months will automatically be billed to the same credit card each month on the anniversary date of purchase. Plans can be terminated at any time prior to the renewal data and not charged for renewal.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Features
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage Accounting
9.3
Ratings
18% above category average
Pay calculation1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration1.00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Direct deposit files1.00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management1.00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Reimbursement management1.00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage Accounting
8.6
Ratings
12% above category average
API for custom integration1.00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Plug-ins1.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
157% below category average
Sage Accounting
9.7
Ratings
15% above category average
Single sign-on capability1.00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Role-based user permissions1.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
155% below category average
Sage Accounting
9.3
Ratings
16% above category average
Dashboards1.00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Standard reports1.00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Custom reports1.00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage Accounting
9.1
Ratings
16% above category average
Accounts payable1.00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Accounts receivable1.00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Cash management1.00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Bank reconciliation1.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Expense management1.00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Time tracking1.00 Ratings6.60 Ratings
Fixed asset management1.00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Multi-currency support1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Multi-division support1.00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Regulations compliance1.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Electronic tax filing1.00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Self-service portal1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Global Financial Support1.00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers1.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting1.00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Localizations1.00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations1.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting1.00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Configurable Accounting1.00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework1.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Standardized Processes1.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
152% below category average
Sage Accounting
6.9
Ratings
6% below category average
Inventory tracking1.00 Ratings6.70 Ratings
Automatic reordering1.00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Location management1.00 Ratings5.70 Ratings
Manufacturing module1.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage Accounting
8.2
Ratings
6% above category average
Pricing1.00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Order entry1.00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Credit card processing1.00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Cost of goods sold1.00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Order Orchestration1.00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility1.00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Order exception Resolution1.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.6 out of 10
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Usability
2.0
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
  • Financial Edge is well suited for traditional day to day accounting, accounts payable, and related needs.
  • Financial Edge dashboard does not provide a snapshot view of data that I have found are available through other platforms (like QBO).
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My experience comes from the integration and development level, and Sage Accounting has been overall great to work with. The tools provided and support offered have been extremely useful for our implementations, and they continue to update and improve at a quick pace. Any issues we've encountered with integrations have either been resolved by Sage Accounting through updates, or different methods brought to us from support to handle those issues from a different angle.
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Pros
  • Grant Management - nothing is more harrowing than grant reporting, and FE does it best. It allows for layered budgets and limitless division of expenses among grants, overhead, or other projects/programs.
  • Reporting - Most financial software tries to adapt for-profit accounting into a non-profit mode without addressing the unique needs of a nonprofit for reporting and auditing.
  • Multiple projects and/or cost centers within a budget and system - nothing is more challenging than trying to manage expenses over several cost centers and FE is a champ at allowing that complexity.
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  • Bank integration - being able to extract banking transaction into Sage Accounting.
  • Allocation rules - transactions are auto-allocated once allocation rules have been set up. This is a great time-saver.
  • Flexibility - the ability to view transactions, click on them to the allocation point and rectifying if required saves having to create journals, and therefore time. General ledgers therefore stay cleaner and more user-friendly.
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Cons
  • Customer service blames the customer, and never offers solutions other than "wait it out." I've always been told it's my computer, even though everyone else at my work has the same issues.
  • Website is constantly "under maintenance" and it somehow never gets better.
  • The Database View is outdated and glitchy. Honestly get rid of it.
  • The Crystal Report is the only way to handle monthly recurring statements, and Financial Edge does not offer support for it anymore. Good luck figuring that out on your own.
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  • I find it difficult to record journals in cloud accounting. Maybe I just don’t have the knowledge.
  • It’s important to export all unrecorded sync bank transactions to Excel to send to clients to explain the payment receipts before being posted. This function is not available on the cloud and makes life harder, having to call out the transactions to clients over the phone.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
I could not live without Sage Accounting, it has become an integral part of my everyday. The more I have used Sage Accounting the more I have fallen in love with it. I am excited to be part of this ever-evolving accounting system that has grown from strength to strength, making life easier is something Sage does so well.
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Usability
It's user friendly, when it wants to be.
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I was new to accounts and am constantly doing more through Sage than we have ever done in the company. Our accounts software has taken the stress out of many aspects of accounting. Highlights would be statement runs, purchase automation, and quick and professional remittance advice.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Sage has been always available when I want it. If there is any maintenance work to be done by the Sage team, you are told well in advance. Maintenance is generally carried out late at night or before the day begins for most of us. It continues to be the most reliable software I use.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Performance is top notch, if it is not, it is probably your wi-fi connection. It has happened that pages load slowly because of an error on Sage side but almost never. Overall reports load fine, the site is fast, navigation is fine. I have a client that has so many invoices, it is slow or gets stuck when you try to load a report for a whole year but it is just too many invoices, it makes sense. Just take 2 report for 6 months and combine them, its not an issue for me. I am happy with Sage Accounting's performance.
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Support Rating
I would give this a zero if I could. Here's the deal. Once you request a chat with a representative, they immediately respond. So responsiveness: 10/10. However, they have a tendency to (always) tell you that whatever problem you're experiencing is your problem, not theirs. They offer no solutions and never take responsibility for their website malfunctioning
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Sage Accounting are easy to contact and have knowledgeable and helpful staff. Whenever I've encountered a problem I've always been able to get assistance and guidance and it feels like the person at the end of the phone/screen knows the product well.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
Staff are always friendly, and patient, always work at a speed that suits you. You are never rushed, and In only a short time they seem to be able to help you make great strides. It has been a pleasure not a chore, learning how SAGE Accounting works and benefits me and the company.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
I find the online training was very informative and they answered all my questions. I am also certified in Sage One and provided online training in the program which I have set up several people on and they love how it keeps them organized.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
The clients' business owner worked with Sage on implementation before I began working for them. After consultation with them it is clear the process was quickly performed and without complication. The key takeaway was that Sage is seen as a partner to the business. That said, it was always necessary to engage with an accountant such as myself to extract the best out of the software.
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Alternatives Considered
Financial Edge is more economical than GuideStar, and more focused on the financial successes than simply the management of funds and general data.
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We’ve also used and evaluated QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks. Each has its strengths, QuickBooks is feature-rich for North American tax workflows, Xero has strong multi-currency and reporting options, and FreshBooks is very simple and user-friendly for invoicing, but we found Sage Accounting strikes the best balance between ease of use, cloud collaboration, and reporting for our client-focused workflows
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
You can use Sage in your company for various aspects/positions such as bookkeepers, invoicing clerks, accountant, purchasing etc. Everyone can have their own user login and permissions can be set that specific people can do specific jobs without being able to access other peoples progress or accounts of the company.
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Return on Investment
  • We have been able to more effectively track utilization of budgets
  • Scholarship management has more than tripled over a five year period
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  • It accommodates enormous amounts of data, and it is compatible with almost any laptop or desktop machine.
  • It works for almost any accounting issue, from normal daily receipting to month-end reconciliations, balance sheets, and payroll to maintaining and keeping a safe soft record of transactions and audit checks.
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ScreenShots

Sage Accounting Screenshots

Screenshot of the All-in-One DashboardScreenshot of the Accounting DashboardScreenshot of an Invoicing Quote EstimateScreenshot of the Purchases TrackerScreenshot of Stock InventoryScreenshot of a VAT Returns List