Sage Intacct Best-in-Class Cloud Accounting: What Does it Mean?

We’re often asked to compare Sage Intacct with other products like Oracle NetSuite, Acumatica, Workday, or others. We love Sage Intacct, of course, but want to be as even-handed as we can be in explaining how they differ. Ultimately, it comes down to the approach.

Sage Intacct is a believer in a best-in-class approach to rounding out the solution. This means that the standard Sage Intacct solution is powerful and robust and can be configured for most business needs. But when trying to extend the solution, Sage Intacct uses a vast marketplace to add additional functionality. The result? Customers can build their own ecosystems. They can find the right set of options that they need for their unique criteria. Since each system can talk to each other through modern APIs, customers can have a seamless solution perfect for them. We love that our customers only buy what they need.

But another approach is the Accounting Suite tactic.  With this approach, functionality can be extended by writing a “suite” of custom code. The benefits of this plan is that the final product can be exactly to specifications needed.

This was how software was traditionally extended, dating back to on-premises installations, so this model makes sense.

But for every positive online review of software or partner, you can find negative reviews of the Suite-style of software. By customizing the software, you now must write and maintain (or pay someone to write and maintain) that code. Upgrades become problematic as you must plan for changes in code. Suite-style implementations usually mean that the publisher added a lot of minimal components that either serve as column-filler or as a starting point to program against. This means customers are paying for extra modules they do not need and would not be able to use without additional investments in coding.

That’s why Sage Intacct goes with the best-in-class approach. By making a the very best solution possible, but then having a way to make it talk seamlessly with other solutions, customers can pick the right mix for them.

That means being able to add components at a later date, swap out pieces as needs evolve, and be the AICPA’s only preferred financial management solution. So when asked to compare Sage Intacct to other platforms, there really isn’t much of a comparison. Just a clear cut winner.