Sage Intacct Ultimate Guide: A CFO’s Blueprint to Modernizing Finance

What Is Sage Intacct?

Sage Intacct is a modern cloud accounting software platform that gives you a clear, real-time view of your finances in one place. This enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is ideal for small to midsized businesses. It simplifies core accounting functions like accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management and general ledger management with real-time reporting and dashboards to make day-to-day operations more efficient.

The software helps reduce administrative headaches by centralizing your financial data, so users don’t have to dig through spreadsheets or re-enter information across multiple systems. For example, you can automatically consolidate financials across multiple entities, saving time and reducing manual errors.

• Types of Businesses That Use Sage Intacct
• Why Finance Leaders Choose Sage Intacct
• Challenges Sage Intacct Solves
• Which Version of Sage Intacct Is Right for You?
  • Sage Intacct Construction
  • Sage Distribution and Manufacturing Operations
  • Sage Intacct for Real Estate
  • Sage Intacct for Nonprofits
• Where Sage Intacct Stores Data
• Sage Intacct’s Pricing and Subscription Model
• Process for Transitioning to Sage Intacct
• Best Time to Transition to Sage Intacct
• Best Practices to Implement Sage Intacct

Types of Businesses That Use Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is geared for small to midsized organizations that are growing and need user-friendly, agile finance tools. It’s designed to evolve with your business. While it’s a standout choice for industries like healthcare, nonprofits, family offices, SaaS, manufacturing, construction and real estate, it can be an excellent solution for any organization that is multi-entity, multi-currency and/or has outgrown basic accounting software like QuickBooks.

Why Finance Leaders Choose Sage Intacct

It’s hard to know if your business is functioning according to plan when your financial data is everywhere except where you need it, especially if you’re managing multiple locations and entities. Here’s why finance leaders choose this cloud-based ERP:

• Clear financial insights: Sage Intacct allows you to manage cash effectively. You can view real-time data on revenue and expenses, analyze cash flow trends and generate detailed financial reports on metrics like forecasted revenue and profitability. This transparency helps you quickly assess financial performance and make informed decisions.
• Flexible solutions: An adaptable ERP solution is essential if your organization has unique processes or operates within industry-specific frameworks. Sage Intacct has customizable options that integrate with other business systems such as Workday Adaptive Planning, Concur, Coupa, Tipalti, Salesforce, Solver and more.
• AI-powered automation: Sage Intacct simplifies operations by automating routine accounting and finance tasks such as invoice generation, payment processing, reconciliation and the monthly close. This helps your finance team maintain consistency across processes and redirect their efforts toward more strategic initiatives.
• Enhanced security and compliance: Sage Intacct’s compliance controls include automated audit trails, role-based access and user permission controls. These tools help you protect sensitive information, maintain data integrity and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders. Sage Intacct is also certified by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) , meaning it adheres to the highest levels of security, privacy and compliance set by the AICPA.
• Cloud accessibility: As a cloud-based ERP, Sage Intacct offers users the flexibility of accessing critical data anytime, from anywhere with an internet connection. Teams can work collaboratively across multiple locations or remotely and key financial insights are always within reach.
• Ease of data migration: Transitioning to Sage Intacct seamlessly from legacy systems requires data migration that helps transfer your existing financial data securely and effectively. Sage Intacct’s import tools facilitate data mapping and cleansing. If you’re dealing with legacy software or multiple entities, this approach helps ensure that historical data is validated, transferred and structured correctly, with minimal downtime for your business.
• Scalability: Sage Intacct grows with your organization. Unlike legacy systems that have limited operational capacity, Sage Intacct accommodates a changing business environment. Its flexible architecture allows you to customize workflows and adjust reporting as your requirements grow.

Alternatives to Sage Intacct

While Sage Intacct is a popular choice, other options exist. For example, NetSuite offers a comprehensive suite of features for larger businesses. Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides extensive customization capabilities. And QuickBooks offers a user-friendly experience that’s ideal for small businesses. It’s important to compare options against your organization’s current and future needs to select the solution that makes the most sense for long-term success.

Challenges Sage Intacct Solves

As a finance leader, your team faces persistent challenges that hinder productivity and growth. Whether it’s accomplishing more with fewer resources, eliminating manual errors, keeping up with compliance demands or enabling your finance team to shift focus to value-added work, Sage Intacct can help you overcome these daily obstacles:

• Spreadsheet chaos: Many organizations struggle with disjointed spreadsheets that create bottlenecks and increase data inconsistencies and error rates. Sage Intacct centralizes financial data in one place, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the risk of errors associated with version control.
• Disconnected systems: When your financial, operational and project management tools don’t talk to one another, it forces your team to re-enter data and invites mistakes. For example, if your accounting software doesn’t integrate with your project management tool, project managers may need to manually input budget figures, increasing the chance for errors. With Sage Intacct, these systems can communicate without human intervention, allowing for real-time updates across departments.
• Resource shortages: Growing pains and strategic shifts can leave your finance team pressured to do more with less. Sage Intacct can bridge resource gaps by automating time-consuming tasks like invoicing and expense reporting , helping you complete routine administrative work without adding headcount.
• Legacy software issues: Outdated software is difficult to maintain, costly to upgrade and struggles to keep up as your business grows. Since Sage Intacct is a cloud solution, you don’t have to worry about data backups or software maintenance — these are handled automatically. This means you can shift focus toward innovation and strategic growth, rather than technical upkeep.
• Slow financial closes: Long month- and year-end closing processes eat up time and resources and kill productivity. A faster close means you can quickly respond to changes, plan more effectively and give stakeholders up-to-date numbers. Sage Intacct speeds things up by automating workflows and reducing time spent on reconciliations. Real-time data helps you spot issues early, avoid last-minute scrambles and complete reports quickly and accurately.
• IT reliance: Constantly relying on IT to make changes, fix problems or generate reports can drag down your team’s efficiency. Sage Intacct’s user-friendly tools and customizable dashboards help you access the data you need when you need it, so you don’t have to file an IT ticket.

Which Version of Sage Intacct Is Right for You?

Sage Intacct offers specialized solutions and modules for various industries. Here’s a breakdown of the key benefits, features and considerations for Sage Intacct industry-specific modules for construction, distribution and manufacturing, real estate and nonprofit.

Sage Intacct Construction

Ideal if you need:

• A comprehensive, cloud-based financial management system designed for construction
• Standardized invoicing and payment applications
• Real-time visibility into your financials
• Accurate work-in-progress (WIP) forecasting and reporting
• A solution that will grow with your expanding business

• Project accounting and financial management
• Real-time financial reporting
• AIA-like billing for payment applications
• Multi-entity and multi-currency support
• Customizable dashboards
• WIP management
• Joint check functionalities

• Primarily focused on financial project management
• Supports only one project per project contract

Sage Distribution and Manufacturing Operations

• Financial management and cost control for manufacturing
• Reduced lead times to respond quickly to customer orders and minimize delays
• Integration with inventory and supply chain management tools
• Simplified operations for enhanced productivity and fewer manual errors
• Accurate data for informed decision-making

• Cost management
• Inventory control
• Real-time financial and operational reporting
• Real-time visibility into inventory levels
• Integration with manufacturing execution systems
• Advanced cost management features that include hidden costs (labor, overhead, materials, etc.) so you can accurately calculate actual product costs

• May need additional modules for complete integration

Sage Intacct for Real Estate

• Efficient property management and financial reporting for real estate portfolios
• Better lease management
• Rent roll tracking across multiple properties

• Lease administration and revenue recognition
• Comprehensive dashboards for occupancy and financial performance
• Built-in common area maintenance reconciliation

• May need integrations with a property management software for a complete solution

Sage Intacct for Nonprofits

• Financial management for nonprofits, including grant tracking and donor management
• Automated compliance reporting for funders and regulatory bodies

• Grant tracking and billing
• Project accounting and budgeting management
• Customizable dashboards and reports for fund accounting
• Donor and revenue recognition management

• Requires careful setup to align with specific nonprofit reporting needs

Where Sage Intacct Stores Data

Sage Intacct operates entirely in the cloud. This has several advantages compared to traditional, on-premises accounting systems:

• Cloud efficiency. Data is stored securely in the cloud, removing the need for physical servers and minimizing IT maintenance. Your IT team no longer needs to worry about managing storage or troubleshooting server issues, freeing them up for higher-level projects.
• Easy integration. Sage Intacct integrates with a wide range of business applications, including legacy and cloud software like CRM, payroll and industry-specific solutions. It also offers open APIs for custom integrations, and you can harness a data migration accelerator to validate and transfer your legacy data before system implementation.
• Advanced data security. Sage Intacct provides advanced security measures like encryption, multi-factor authentication and automatic backups to protect your data from unauthorized access or loss. Unlike on-premises systems, there’s no need to worry about data loss from hardware failures because everything is stored in secure, redundant data centers that are continuously monitored.

Sage Intacct’s Pricing and Subscription Model

Sage Intacct’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription model differs greatly from the traditional on-premises perpetual license models.

With on-premises ERPs, you usually pay a substantial upfront cost, including licensing, hardware and infrastructure costs. Perpetual licensing models don’t typically include the ongoing support costs for your ERP, so you’ll need to consider that in your side-by-side cost comparison.

Here’s how the Sage Intacct SaaS model costs break down

• Core product pricing: With a cloud product like Sage Intacct, you can expect a lower upfront cost and a predictable recurring monthly or annual fee. This fee structure includes access to the core software and all maintenance.
• Additional fees for add-on modules: You can expect an increased subscription fee if you add on extra functionality, such as an industry-specific module. However, you can still access updates and maintenance without additional costs.
• Subscription fee increases: You’ll also want to account for annual subscription fee increases. Sage Intacct offers at least four major releases each year, which include expanded and improved functionality across the core and optional products.

Considerations for Sage Intacct’s cloud pricing model:

1. It’s not easy to scope Sage Intacct’s pricing yourself. Sage Intacct does not provide general pricing on its website or automatic subscriptions like QuickBooks or similar products because they customize the solution to your business needs.
2. You can adjust your subscription as your business grows and changes. The pay-as-you-go model can be a more flexible and scalable option when you consider what you need right now and in the future. It makes it easier to project and spread costs over time.
3. Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a factor to evaluate over time. ERP system costs — for both on-premises and cloud solutions — tend to even out over time. This could be a consideration if you need to spend capital improvement funds to improve your tax position.
4. Plan for implementation and integration consulting fees. When you’re planning your ERP budget, expect that you will need support customizing Sage Intacct or similar cloud-based ERP systems for your business environment. Add this into your upfront costs as you consider your best ERP scenario.
5. Don’t forget the cost of user training. While Sage Intacct offers a lot of training within its subscription pricing through Sage University, your team may need training specific to their individual roles. This user training is often included in the integration and implementation consulting fee structure. However, don’t forget to factor in ongoing and new-hire training costs in your TCO.
6. Expect predictable pricing increases each year. Planning for the expected pricing increases is simple because Sage Intacct announces its pricing updates each September. These updates typically include expanded modules and functionality, such as AI and automation enhancements.

Process for Transitioning to Sage Intacct

Transitioning to Sage Intacct involves a structured, step-by-step approach to minimize business disruption and ensure a smooth migration. From start to finish, the process usually spans about 12 weeks, followed by six weeks of post-deployment support. Here’s what to expect:

Step 1: Kickoff call and planning

Attend a joint kickoff call with your Sage Intacct provider and internal stakeholders to set expectations, agree on resourcing strategies, establish timelines and review necessary documents. This ensures that everyone involved is aligned and ready to proceed.

Step 2: System configuration and build

Your Sage Intacct provider will configure the system to match your specific business processes and requirements, including setting up workflows, accounts and integration with other systems (like payroll or CRM). This process also includes data migration mapping and security modeling, actively refining the system to meet your needs. Since it’s a cloud solution, there’s no need for onsite servers or maintenance, but your provider will work with you to integrate any systems that need to communicate with Sage Intacct.

Step 3: Testing and validation

Once the system is configured, testing begins. During this stage, your internal team will work alongside your provider to test your Sage Intacct setup and make sure everything functions as expected. This includes testing the accuracy of migrated data, security testing, making sure all integrations work and confirming that day-to-day processes run smoothly. It’s a collaborative effort to validate configurations, identify potential issues and ensure smooth operation.

Step 4: Training and user adoption

After testing is complete, your Sage Intacct provider will conduct detailed, hands-on training sessions with your team, covering how to use the platform, navigate key features and apply best practices. Since Sage Intacct is accessed entirely via the cloud, your team will learn how to log in and work securely from any location. This step equips them to use the system effectively, helping them become comfortable with it before going live.

Step 5: Go-live guidance

During the go-live phase, your team begins using Sage Intacct for daily tasks. Your provider will closely support them and address any questions or issues that arise as you transition to the new system.

Step 6: Ongoing support

After the system is live, your Sage Intacct provider will focus on continued monitoring and system refinement. Experts will continue to optimize performance based on real-world usage and feedback. Your provider will also assist with future phase planning and system enhancements to ensure Sage Intacct continues to evolve with your organization.

Best Time to Transition to Sage Intacct

Evaluate your current workflows and identify a transition timeframe that minimizes disruption. Some considerations for the least disruptive timing include end of fiscal year versus during a quieter period for the organization seasonally, budgeting cycles and timing relative to other IT upgrades.

But you need to prioritize your transition. While waiting for a quieter period or specific milestone in your operations can make sense, waiting for the “perfect moment” can hold your organization back. Consider the impact of waiting: prolonged inefficiencies, diminished productivity and increased frustration across your team. The reality is that the perfect time may never come, and each month you delay could mean enduring another server outage, another failed backup or yet another late Friday in the office manually pulling data into spreadsheets.

Tip: A Sage implementation provider with an outsourcing function can offer extra support with daily accounting tasks and additional staff resources while you’re in the middle of your transition to the cloud. This helps ensure that core finance work isn’t pushed to the wayside, and your team gets up and running smoothly.

Best Practices to Implement Sage Intacct

An effective Sage Intacct implementation requires careful planning and execution. But it goes beyond just following a step-by-step approach; it’s about prioritizing collaboration, being receptive to change and ensuring everyone is on the same page. Based on our experience implementing Sage Intacct for thousands of clients, these best practices make the transition smoother and faster:

• Set clear goals: Define what success means for your organization right from the start. Know your end goals to drive effective implementation.
• Engage stakeholders early: Early involvement simplifies the transition and gets users up to speed faster. Get buy-in early from everyone the change will impact and make it a team effort.
• Prioritize open communication: Maintain open lines of communication and coordinate closely with your team, implementation experts and all stakeholders involved.
• Embrace expert guidance: Look to your Sage Intacct provider for strategic guidance. Their expertise will help you navigate complicated aspects of the switch, save time and make informed decisions.
• Prepare to pivot: Understand that moving to Sage Intacct involves adapting to new processes. Be prepared to update your chart of accounts and embrace new workflows.
• Perform rigorous testing and strategic rollouts: Conduct thorough testing to help catch issues early and roll out features in phases to ensure successful and complete adoption.
• Invest in training: Equip your team to use Sage Intacct confidently and effectively so you can all be equally invested in its full adoption and long-term success.
• Champion continuous improvement: Monitor how Sage Intacct performs and continuously refine processes based on user feedback and real-world use.

Get Full ROI From Sage Intacct

Choosing the right implementation firm is just as important as selecting the right software. As a premier Sage Intacct partner for over 10 years, we’ve helped more than 2,500 small and midsized companies implement the software to unlock the benefits of total financial visibility and simplified workflows. Learn more about what contributes to the success of your ERP project and explore how our award-winning Sage Intacct experts can help you address your unique challenges and get the most ROI from your Sage implementation.