Sage 50 & QuickBooks are head-to-head competitors in the small business accounting software environment. Sage 100 is a more robust accounting software for the mid-market that can scale with growth. All three do standard accounting functions to track revenues & expenses to generate financial reports. Which product is best for your business is determined on specific features that help improve efficiencies within your business.
Inventory is the heartbeat of all distribution, manufacturing and most service based business’s. Controlling inventory costs, availability and turns is extremely important to profitability.
This chart is an over-view to show the major differences in inventory functionality and is not intended to be a comprehensive list of features.
All three products handle inventory & each has its strengths & weakness. The chart below shows the key differences.
Feature | Sage 50 |
QuickBooks |
Sage 100 |
Costing method | Fifo, Lifo, Average & Serialized | Average 1 | Fifo, Lifo, Average, Standard & Serialized and Lot Tracking |
Price Levels | Yes, maximum of 10 | Yes, multiple | Yes, multiple. Can be item specific, customer specific, product line Specific, Contract Pricing by Customer or any combination. |
Timed Sales Promotions | NO | Yes | Yes |
Discounts | No specific function (volume discount available in Quantum) | Yes, various flexible options | Yes, numerous options. |
Serial # tracking | Yes | Yes, with Advanced Inventory. | Yes |
Lot tracking | No specific function | Yes, with Advanced Inventory. | Yes, tracking by Lot # |
Volume discounts | Simple schedule – specific product. | Variety of schedules by product or order. | Yes, by customer, product, or item |
Volume purchase cost discounts | NO | NO | Yes, by Vendor |
Track Product Vendors | 1 only | 1 only | Yes, unlimited |
Vendor Part Numbers | 1 only | 1 only | Yes, by Vendor |
Bar coding | Yes, specific fields | Advanced Inventory Module includes Bar Code Scanning for Data Entry | Yes, additional modules required |
Assembly & Bill of Materials | Yes | Yes | Yes. Can be complex & multi-level. Also support Phantom Bills |
Sub-assemblies | Yes, manual build | Yes | Yes, set up automatic build |
Auto-build sub-assemblies | No specific function | Yes | Yes |
Auto-build assemblies from sales invoice (kitting) | NO | Yes (enterprise only) | Yes |
Multiple Warehouses | No specific function | Yes, Limited. Transfer inventory from one location to another with Advanced Inventory. | Yes, multiple options |
Costing by Warehouse | NO | NO | NO |
Location tracking within warehouse | Yes, simple protocol | Yes, simple protocol. Track specific Bins with Advanced Inventory | Yes, multiple options |
Custom fields | Maximum of 5 | Maximum of 20 | Unlimited |
Re-ordering stock | Set minimum & reorder quantity | Set minimum & maximum quantity | Various methods supporting min, max, reorder points, and economic order qty. |
Negative Inventory 3 | System allows, must manually adjust. 2015 version includes option to prevent | System allows, must manually adjust. | System has various reports to reconcile negative inventory. (Serialized and Lot can not go negative) Security by user can be set to prevent exceeding quantity on hand during entry. |
Units of measure (UOM) | Yes | Yes | Yes. Support multiple UOMs. |
Buy & sell in different units of measure | Yes, | Yes, | Yes |
UPC/SKU | Build-in field | Optional customized field | Yes |
Master & Sub-stock items – set up attributes. 2 | Yes, primary & secondary attributes. i.e. Size & color combinations | NO feature | Add-on Module |
Manufacturing functionality | simple assembly & light manufacturing | Kits & light manufacturing | Full MRP & manufacturing functionality. |
Track Warranty info | Simple schedule | No specific feature | Yes |
Pay Commission Rates by Item | NO | NO | YES |
Landed Cost | NO | NO | YES |
View inventory item status from (1) screen, Item Maintenance or Item Inquiry | No | No | Yes, including warehouse QOH, available, Purchase orders, sales orders, work orders, and receipts. This info is also available through S/O Line Entry, P/O Line Entry, and BOM Detail entry. |
1 – QB Advanced inventory offers FIFO for an additional subscription
2 – Master & Sub-stock items – example. You sell T-shirts, they come in various colors & sizes. Master stock feature allows you to set up the attributes – size & color. The system generates all the combinations of those 2 attributes.
3 – Negative inventory – each system handles this issue differently. User must understand the how the software handles, to prevent costing problems.
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