On a broad level, Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP helps organizations manage their business activities, be it accounting, project management, risk management, or supply chain. You can plan, predict, budget, and report the financial results related to your business using an ERP system.
But does that mean you only need robust ERP software to get technology to pave the way for a better future?
In reality, ERP software, though it does many things for businesses, is only partially productive unless paired with the right intermediary software. For accounting needs, you might have chosen Sage – a robust software with superior financial management capabilities. The degree of coordination between your licensed Sage software and ERP solution will ultimately determine overall business productivity.
While selecting powerful accounting software is highly advantageous, it also requires you to know how to get the total value out of these systems. If you have been using Sage desktop software, you might have heard of backing it up with the power of cloud computing.
“I will think about it later as everything is going well in the local environment.”
If that’s how you also think about the transition to the cloud, you are not alone. Putting off the transition to Sage application hosting until it becomes necessary might be a way of life. No question that keeping the Sage software hosted in a local IT environment does not lead to any negative consequences.
But why should you still make a move and turn to the cloud-hosted Sage? Here, you will get the answer.
What Makes CPAs Switch to Sage Application Hosting?
One of the most popular beliefs about change says that you do not need to change anything if everything’s going fine and normal. But in terms of business, it also means that you are going too slow and not changing as per the changing dynamics of the business environment.
The accounting activities related to a business were once paper-based. The software and other machines took over, making us do more in less time. Now that we have the power of software at our fingertips, cloud computing is the next level of evolution. Backing your licensed Sage software – whether you have Sage 50, Sage 100, or Sage 300, can make your work even more productive.
As a user, you have two options to leverage the power of cloud computing:
- Switching from Sage desktop software to Sage 50c, a SaaS-based solution offered by the Sage maker.
- Migrating your local-hosted Sage software and data to a cloud server with the help of a third-party Sage hosting provider
While the former is suitable for you if you need the feature set of Sage 50 only, the latter can be harnessed in the form of Sage 50 hosting, Sage 100 hosting, etc.
If you want to get into the details of Sage 50c vs. Sage application hosting comparison, continue reading.
Common Features of Sage 50c You Should Know About
At the fundamental level, you should first know the technical difference between Sage 50 desktop software and Sage 50c.
When you purchase the Sage 50 desktop software license, you buy the software for post-local installation. You need to install it on a particular system(s) to get started with using its features. On the other hand, Sage 50c is the cloud-based version of Sage 50 software offered under the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model by the Sage group. You only need to pay for the plan you select – Sage 50cloud Pro Accounting, Premium Accounting, or Quantum Accounting. This does not involve buying the software license separately.
The following table covers the primary features of Sage 50c:
| Feature | Description |
| Intelligence reporting | Supports flexible reporting to generate meaningful insights for the business |
| Business performance dashboard | For simplifying and recording complicated data sets to a complete view of the business performance |
| Sage capture | Useful to capture charges, receipts, invoices, and other documents using Microsoft OneDrive |
| Cloud document storage | To support cloud-backed file storage, data sharing, access, and more |
| Mobile invoicing | To help you track costs and generate invoices whenever needed |
Is Sage 50c Different From Sage Hosting?
Yes, it is. Sage 50c is the SaaS-based version offered by the Sage software maker. Sage application hosting consists of two parts:
- Licensed Sage desktop software
- Application hosting plan
You need to buy both the license and a suitable hosting plan to benefit from accessing your Sage software remotely. Take a closer look at this again and you will find:
- With Sage 50c, there is no cost to buying the software license.
- With Sage hosting, you can host the purchased desktop software on the cloud.
Like many other people, you might also be wondering if Sage application hosting is worth the price payable. Indeed, it does because
- Sage hosting is not limited to just migrating Sage 50 on the cloud. You can benefit from Sage 100 or Sage 300 hosting as well, depending on the software license you have invested in.
- Depending on the control and flexibility provided by your cloud solution provider, you can upscale or downscale the resources/configuration, such as RAM, number of users, or storage space.
- You will benefit from rolling data backups to recover information in case of data loss resulting from an unpredictable event.
- The cloud solution provider you select will provide you with an SLA-backed server uptime guarantee. For instance, Ace Cloud Hosting – a leading Sage hosting provider, offers an uptime guarantee of 99.999%.
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution or recommendation as the final decision is based on individual business requirements. Hence, the most effective way to proceed toward cloud-based accounting solutions is to first identify the need for it and address the same with the help of experts.
Not Switching to Cloud-backed Sage May Mean Lagging Behind Your Peers
Acknowledging what keeps your business lagging behind your competitors is the first step to kicking toward the right course. If you feel the accounting team takes more than they should to complete a task or the technical downtime often creates workplace chaos, understanding what drives such events will eventually help you understand the need for Sage application hosting.
Here’s how Sage 50 hosting or Sage hosting, in general, can help your business achieve a competitive edge:
- You and your accounting team can access cloud-hosted Sage software remotely at your convenience. This will most likely benefit your business in the form of effective resource planning.
- The onus of maintaining server-level security and software upgrades lies in the hands of the hired cloud hosting provider. All you need to care for is to get the benefits of Sage hosted on the cloud and pay the price of the selected hosting plan.
- Instead of sharing different versions of the same accounting files, your accounting team can work on the same files simultaneously when hosted on the cloud. This will eventually save the time and effort of finalizing accounting files for business taxation purposes.
Ultimately, the decision to switch to Sage application hosting stems from dissatisfaction with the current approach to using the software. If you weigh the pros and cons of switching to cloud-backed Sage software, the pros will outweigh the cons, as detailed above. This technological transition will also enable you to look at the current trends in your industry from an open perspective.