Many small businesses begin their life using Sage 50. Often starting on the Essentials package them moving up to Standard and finally Professional
Sage 50 is well supported, affordable and covers most financial needs of a small business.
However, growing businesses often find Sage 50 begins to lack features, which you’d expect to find in business systems software. Things like
- Business automation
- The flexibility to grow to over 20 users
- Sales pipeline CRM features
- Manufacturing features
To solve this problem, business often look for ERP systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
To give you an idea of how Dynamics 365 Business Central compares to Sage 50, take a look at the comparison below
| Dynamics 365 Business Central | Sage 50 Professional | |
|---|---|---|
| Price/licence (per month) | Premium £78 Essential £53 Team member £6 | First user £125 For up to 20 users, the total price is £150 |
| Price for 15 users | £795 per month | £140 per month |
| Number of users | No limit | Up to 20 users |
| Transactions | No limit | Up to 1.5 million per annum |
| Features | ||
| Finance | Yes | Yes |
| Supply chain | Yes | Limited |
| Sales CRM – from lead to purchase | Yes | No |
| Project management | Yes | No |
| Warehouse management | Yes | Limited |
| Service management | Yes | No |
| Manufacturing | Yes | Limited out of the box |
| Other Features | ||
| Customisation | Highly customisable | Limited customisations, mainly via add-ons |
| Do you need a server? | Generally the system is held in the cloud, but on premises is possible | Usually hosted locally but cloud access is possible |
| Reporting and analysis? | Yes, using Microsoft Power BI | Some |
| Artificial Intelligence | Yes | No |
| Connectivity with other systems | Yes. Connects with most major systems and it’s possible to build new connectors to work with custom systems | None |
| Microsoft Office 365 integration? | The systems are integrated out of the box | Available from £10 per month |
In summary, the comparison is difficult to make, as Sage 50 focuses on finance, whereas Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central covers many aspects of your business. Sage 50 has the edge for microbusinesses where it’s important to keep costs low. For larger businesses, Business Central offers far greater flexibility and room for expansion.
