The classic UK desktop accounting software, now cloud connected with Sage Copilot
We may earn a commission if you buy via links on this page. It never affects how we rate software — how we make money.
Operations Manager
The product works as it always has. That is both the compliment and the criticism, the world moved and the screens did not.
Document capture is a real improvement to daily posting.
New staff training takes weeks not days.
Office Manager, Netherfield Trading
We looked hard at moving to cloud software and concluded the features we rely on do not exist there yet. Staying was right, but I wish staying were cheaper.
Recurring transactions and standing orders run themselves.
Foreign currency on Standard being a paid extra feels mean.
Company Accountant, Thorne & Mercer Shopfitters
We moved to a cloud system in 2024 chasing a lower subscription and came back this year. Job costing on the cloud product was a bolt on that never worked properly and the fitters costs ended up in spreadsheets again. Returning felt like putting on an old boot, unglamorous and completely comfortable.
Job costing that actually ties to the purchase ledger. The onboarding call Sage include was genuinely useful, the chap set up our report pack live on the call. Copilot flagging unpaid applications is new since we left and surprisingly good.
We pay more than we did on the cloud product and accept it as the cost of features that work. Two of the team needed retraining after two years away.
Office Manager, Wetherall
It does everything our business needs and has for years. Marked down purely for the cost trajectory and the occasional slow afternoon on the network.
Fast batch entry once staff are trained.
Support waits stretch badly around VAT deadlines.
Operations Manager
LinkedIn verifiedBeing able to give the auditors read access and let them help themselves saved us a week of pulling samples this year.
Recurring invoices and standing entries run themselves reliably.
Remote access is good but not the same as true cloud.
Payroll and Accounts Manager, Brackenridge & Sons
Moved from a cloud product back to Sage 50 because stock and order processing on the cloud side were toys by comparison. The difference in capability is not subtle.
Departments and budgets give each manager their own numbers.
Data checks and rebuilds are an occasional ritual you learn to schedule.
Company Accountant, Harwood Group
LinkedIn verifiedThe 30 day trial of a cloud competitor did more for our team morale than the last three Sage updates combined. That should worry someone in Newcastle.
Our data exported cleanly when we tested the exit.
Relentless price increases with little visible return.
Company Secretary, Whitby
The functionality is genuinely strong, stock, orders, reporting, all of it. The experience of using it is where the age shows, dense screens and a real learning curve.
Accountants everywhere know it, which smooths year end.
Getting data into BI tools takes ODBC patience.
Bookkeeper
LinkedIn verifiedSupport was hit and miss this year, one excellent data rescue and two calls that went nowhere. The lottery element wears you down.
Multi company still beats running parallel cloud subscriptions.
Data checks and the occasional rebuild interrupt busy weeks.
Financial Controller, Ravensworth Holdings
LinkedIn verifiedThe group runs seven small companies, property, trading and two dormant. Sage 50 holds them all, intercompany recharges are routine, and the consolidated management pack that used to take me most of a week now lands by Friday lunchtime in the first week of the month.
Multi company is native and switching between sets of accounts is instant. Departments and budgets give each director their own view. The report designer, once mastered, produces the exact board pack format our chairman likes.
Multi company pricing needs care at renewal, each company adds cost. Remote data access works but a colleague on hotel wifi will feel the difference from true cloud.