Sage 50 Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts is the product a great many UK accountants learned on, and it is still the answer when a business has outgrown cloud bookkeeping but is nowhere near needing an ERP. It runs on the desktop with cloud connectivity layered over the top, which is either its greatest strength or the reason you will rule it out, depending on how your team works.

What it does well

Depth. The Professional tier carries sales and purchase order processing, a fixed asset register, project costing, advanced stock management and management reporting across multiple companies, departments and budgets. Cloud rivals at a third of the price simply do not have these modules, and businesses that need them tend to need them badly.

Stock control is the standout. If you hold inventory, track movements, manage reorder levels and need to see free stock against allocated stock, Sage 50 handles it properly rather than approximately. The same goes for foreign currency, which is included on Professional rather than charged as an extra.

The AI document capture is a real time saver. Purchase invoices are uploaded or emailed in, details are extracted and pre filled for approval, duplicates are flagged, and supplier details and nominal codes are suggested. Standard includes 50 captures and Professional 75, with additional captures at 20p each.

Where it falls short

The price is the headline problem. Standard starts at £115 per month excluding VAT and Professional at £234, both with two users included and extra users charged on top. That is five to ten times what a cloud package costs, and the gap is only justified if you are genuinely using the depth. Plenty of businesses pay for Professional and use it like a cash book.

It is also desktop software with cloud features rather than a cloud product, and that distinction shows. Remote working is possible but less fluid than a browser native tool, and you carry more responsibility for data, backups and version upgrades than you do with Sage Accounting.

CIS and extra users both cost more, and foreign currency costs extra on Standard. Price the configuration you actually need rather than the entry figure.

The UK detail that matters

Sage describes it as HMRC recognised and MTD ready, covering Making Tax Digital for VAT and for Income Tax Self Assessment. CIS submission to HMRC is available with additional fees. Bank feeds connect to UK banks directly, and there is a 30 day free trial, which you should use properly rather than skim.

Who should buy it

Established UK businesses turning over enough to need stock control, project costing or multi company reporting, and who have someone in house who knows Sage 50 already. If your requirements are invoicing, VAT and payroll, you are paying for a great deal you will never open.