Sage 200 vs Sage 50 - employees sat at table in meeting

Sage 200 vs Sage 50 – Which Is Right For My Business?

Sage 50 and Sage 200 are both accounting software products that give small and medium-sized businesses access to all of their financial and stock data in one place, which allows for detailed reporting and better, more informed decision making.

Whilst many think Sage 200 is simply a step up from Sage 50 (and for lots of businesses this is the case), in reality they both serve their own clear purpose for businesses and are used in quite different ways, depending on business size and accounting processes.

We’ll discuss the difference between Sage 50 and Sage 200 below, so you can make an informed decision about which is best for you, and be confident that the sage accounting system you choose will see you long into the future.

Sage 200 vs Sage 50: Which Should You Choose?

What is Sage 200?

Sage 200 is designed to support separate departments within a company, from sales and finance, through to dispatch and warehousing. One of the best features of Sage 200 accounting software is its modular design, which means your business can customise and build the software to match your exact requirements and scale as you grow.

Sage 200 >

What is Sage 50?

Sage 50 accounts software is perfect for small businesses needing a robust accounts solution to handle everyday cashflow transactions, manage invoicing and produce simple reports. This accounts software will help you to manage your finances, customers and business insights in one simple solution and is ideal for businesses with predicted growth.

Sage 50 >

Sage 200 vs Sage 50: Comparison of Finance Capabilities

The key difference between Sage 50 and Sage 200 and their finance capabilities is that, whilst each system will ensure you know the financial position of your company at any point in time and allow you to analyse historical trends and data to give you the accurate information you need to make critical business decisions, Sage 50, Sage 50 is very much aimed at smaller businesses who won’t exceed 1.5 million transitions annually, whereas Sage 200 has more intelligent, automated processes and can allow up to 9 million transaction per annum.

Features	Sage 50	Sage 200
Manage cash flow, income, expenses and payments
Personalised invoice and quotes
Create discounts
Automated statements to customers
Automatic bank reconciliation
Manage multiple companies, departments and budgets
Connect to Microsoft 365
Fixed assets
Can handle higher number of transactions
Insights on the go, in Excel
20 accounting periods
Close and reopen accounting periods
Flexible nominal code structure
Batch journal upload, with approvals
Advanced multi-currency options

Sage 50

Manage cash flow, income, expenses and payments

Personalised invoice and quotes

Create discounts

Automated statements to customers

Automatic bank reconciliation

Manage multiple companies, departments and budgets

Connect to Microsoft 365

Fixed assets

Can handle higher number of transactions

Insights on the go, in Excel

20 accounting periods

Close and reopen accounting periods

Flexible nominal code structure

Batch journal upload, with approvals

Advanced multi-currency options

Sage 200

Manage cash flow, income, expenses and payments

Personalised invoice and quotes

Create discounts

Automated statements to customers

Automatic bank reconciliation

Manage multiple companies, departments and budgets

Connect to Microsoft 365

Fixed assets

Can handle higher number of transactions

Insights on the go, in Excel

20 accounting periods

Close and reopen accounting periods

Flexible nominal code structure

Batch journal upload, with approvals

Advanced multi-currency options

Sage 200 vs Sage 50: Comparison of Commercial Capabilities

The key difference between Sage 50 and Sage 200 and their commercials/ supply chain capabilities is the sophistication of processes. Both will allow you to easily see what’s owed to you and collate important and relevant information for analysis, but when it comes to Sage 200 vs Sage 50, Sage 200 is designed to help you manage every element of your supply chain.

Its Purchase Order Processing fully integrates with Stock Control, Purchase Ledger and Sales Order Processing, so you’ll know that goods are available to your customer as soon as you receive them. You can respond quickly and efficiently to customer demands and be agile about products and pricing to maintain loyalty and satisfaction, whether you’re in or out of the office.

Features	Sage 50	Sage 200
See what you’re owed
Automate payment collections
Manage late payments
Schedule supplier payments
Connect your bank account
Personalised invoices and quotes
Flag invoices “under dispute” (won’t add to PL)
Apply authorisation limits and alerts
Match invoice line items to orders
Compile order lists based on POs

Sage 50

See what you’re owed

Automate payment collections

Manage late payments

Schedule supplier payments

Connect your bank account

Personalised invoices and quotes

Flag invoices “under dispute” (won’t add to PL)

Apply authorisation limits and alerts

Match invoice line items to orders

Compile order lists based on POs

Sage 200

See what you’re owed

Automate payment collections

Manage late payments

Schedule supplier payments

Connect your bank account

Personalised invoices and quotes

Flag invoices “under dispute” (won’t add to PL)

Apply authorisation limits and alerts

Match invoice line items to orders

Compile order lists based on POs

Sage 200 vs Sage 50: Comparison of Stock and Warehouse Capabilities

The key difference between Sage 50 and Sage 200 and their stock and warehousing is the level of control and transparency. With both you can optimise stock levels, keep costs down and deliver what your customers want. But the difference is Sage 200 you can control stock items by serial or batch number, include criteria like ‘sell-by’ and ‘use-by’ dates, as well as specifying your own information for each item. You can also monitor stock movements and traceability.

Features	Sage 50	Sage 200
Service and stock items
Manage stock levels
Create and receive purchase orders
Create and despatch sales orders
Multiple warehouses
Container/shipment tracking
Courier integration
Batch and serial number tracking
Work with different quantities
Drop shipping

Sage 50

Service and stock items

Manage stock levels

Create and receive purchase orders

Create and despatch sales orders

Multiple warehouses

Container/shipment tracking

Courier integration

Batch and serial number tracking

Work with different quantities

Drop shipping

Sage 200

Service and stock items

Manage stock levels

Create and receive purchase orders

Create and despatch sales orders

Multiple warehouses

Container/shipment tracking

Courier integration

Batch and serial number tracking

Work with different quantities

Drop shipping

Sage 200 vs Sage 50: Comparison of Reporting Capabilities

The key difference between Sage 50 and Sage 200 and their reporting capabilities is how detailed your reporting can be. Sage 50 is very much aimed at a small businesses in this sense, as it doesn’t allow you to drill down into much detail and is mostly used for high-level reporting on key financials. With Sage 200 however, you can create bespoke reports and with its integration capabilities, collate, export and analyse much more data. Sage 200 also has integrates seamlessly with Excel, meaning you can report in a familiar format—fully customisable, it allows you to filter, format, and formulate reports within a single click.

Features	Sage 50	Sage 200
Sage Report Designer
Built-in reports
Bespoke reports
MI reports for multiple companies, departments and budgets
Excel reporting
Power BI
Business Intelligence
20 analysis codes
Original and revised budgets

Sage 50

Sage Report Designer

Built-in reports

Bespoke reports

MI reports for multiple companies, departments and budgets

Excel reporting

Power BI

Business Intelligence

20 analysis codes

Original and revised budgets

Sage 200

Sage Report Designer

Built-in reports

Bespoke reports

MI reports for multiple companies, departments and budgets

Excel reporting

Power BI

Business Intelligence

20 analysis codes

Original and revised budgets

Sage 200 vs Sage 50: Comparison of Cost

(Correct as of Dec 2022)

As a ballpark, Sage 50 Professional starts from £155 per month, whilst Sage 200 Professional starts from £275 for standard subscriptions, but you would need to factor in implementation costs (which could depend on hosting options), additional modules and support.

One key difference between Sage 50 and Sage 200 is that Sage 50 can be bought and supported directly through Sage, but you could come to expect delays in support given the volume of people who will be attempting to reach their teams. Whereas, Sage 200 can only be implemented with an official Sage 200 partner like The HBP Group.

We’ve been supporting businesses with their accounting software packages for over 40 years and work with a number of the UK’s leading accounting systems, so our experts are well versed in helping determine the right system that will power productivity and help you to make informed decisions. If you’re not sure when it comes to Sage 200 vs Sage 50, our free accounting software is the perfect place for you to start.

Our review will help identify your current challenges and show you how to fix them.

Still not sure which system is best for you?Get a Free Accounts Review.

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As a leading accounts software provider, we won’t force one system to work for you. We work with a number of the UKs very best accounting systems, so we’ll take the time to match you with a system that will help you succeed.