Embracing the Cloud for Modern Financial Management
Stephen Little, Sage Intacct Lead Consultant at Percipient, examines the digital journey from Sage 200 to Sage Intacct and highlights an example of how organisations can benefit from a more intelligent, comprehensive, cloud-native platform.
Whether it’s dictated by change management and transformation agendas or a set of processes creaking under the weight of legacy systems no longer fit for purpose, we’re all familiar with the digital crossroads that signifies a move to new software.
For many, this crossroads is commensurate with business growth. Typically, start-ups invest in entry-level accounting systems before rapid expansion, and this change in pace inevitably necessitates a more comprehensive and scalable system.
But for some, this crossroads is borne out of a need to shift to a more modern, cloud-based platform that can instil intelligence, collaboration, and long-term scale.
Growing Up: Beyond Sage 200
We’re lucky enough to work with organisations at variable stages of their digital and growth journeys, and we see many different systems as part of this.
Sage 200 is a system we frequently come across as organisations navigate this crossroads, as while it delivers the core accounting functionality typically demanded by finance departments, it lacks the intelligent reporting, collaborative and forward-looking capabilities of its cloud-native peer, Sage Intacct. Sage Intacct allows organisations to manage complex financial processes and delivers insights and intelligence from which to inform decisions and planning. It also provides greater functionality for organisations expanding, whether via acquisition or overseas.
Crucially, what many organisations don’t realise is that the migration from Sage 200 to Sage Intacct can be incredibly smooth and, in fact, can be completed in a matter of weeks.
According to Christine Davies, Finance Director (now retired) at boutique hotel group Exclusive Collection, the spreadsheets and manual processes necessary to maintain its Sage 200 system resulted in significant duplication and repetition.
Having decided to move to Sage Intacct, the hotel group went live with Sage Intacct following a 10-week deployment. The cloud-native platform quickly delivered on its promises and brought substantial improvements.
One area which has brought value to the entire business, not just the finance team, is how reports are available to the senior team. Exclusive Collection’s General Managers can instantly see where the business is on any given day and can keep drilling down to access more detail, as required.
In addition to viewing profit and loss (P&L) and balance sheets, they can view cost centres and departmental results for a given hotel against another in a mere click or two.
“Previously, our management accounts would be available two weeks after month end, so at times, the data was often outdated or irrelevant by the time we could look at it,” Christine explains. “Using Sage Intacct, fully integrated with our property management system (PMS), we can now see what happened the previous day. This means we can instantly act on any anomalies or flags, which is crucial in our industry.”
“The solution’s cloud architecture was also very appealing from a cost, risk, and scale perspective, with four automatic updates each year, rather than a need to factor in potentially painful projects to implement new versions that require dedicated resources and budget each time. In addition, the Sage eco-system, which allows customers to provide feedback and ideas for refinement and improvement, means that these updates typically include features identified as value adds from those using the system.”
Breaking New Ground
Sage Intacct’s intuitive design and ease of use break it out of the confines of the finance department and into the hands of business managers. This ability to deliver real-time insights on any aspect of business performance directly to the business represents a game changer in supporting better decision-making, planning, and all-important business agility.
As with any change, timing is everything. But as markets continue to bring new levels of demand and dynamics, opting for a modern, cloud-native platform whereby updates are released regularly and the latest capabilities are continuously at your fingertips is key to the scale and agility necessary for long-term performance and profitability.
Which Sage Product is Right for Me?
Download our handy Sage product comparison guide if you’re considering moving from Sage 200 to Sage Intacct. We’ve highlighted and graded the core features of each product so you can easily differentiate the levels of core capabilities against your business needs.
If you’d like more information on how we can support your transition from Sage 200 to Sage Intacct, contact us or call our expert team on 01606 871332.
