For businesses that have outgrown their existing accounting solution and are looking for a replacement it can be hard to select the right system for your organisation. When selecting the right technology, it is critical that you consider your current requirements but also consider where your organisation will be in 3 to 5 years’ time. Will the chosen solution still fit your requirements then?
Finance system comparison
We have created the below table to allow you to easily compare Sage, Xero and Dynamics 365 Business Central. When looking at Sage 200 we have used the professional option. We have focused on the cloud-based subscription models to provide an easier source of comparison.
Business Central |
Sage 200 – Professional |
Sage 50 |
Xero |
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Overview |
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Price/licence (per month) |
Essential £53 Premium £78 Team member £6 |
First user & modules £418
Additional users £49.50 Team member £6 |
First user £125 20 users £140 (total) |
Starter £10 Standard £24 Premium £30 Team members are free. |
10 full users price |
£530 pm | £773.50 pm | £140 pm | £300 pm |
Users |
No limit | Up to 100 users | Up to 20 users | No limit |
Transactions |
No limit | Up to 9 million per annum | Up to 1.5 million per annum | 4,000 per month |
Functionality |
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Finance |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes – multiple currencies only available in premium |
Supply chain |
Yes | Yes | Limited | Basic inventory management capability |
Sales CRM |
Yes | Yes | No | Generate sales quotes, store and track contacts |
Warehouse management |
Yes | Yes | Limited | Limited |
Service management |
Yes | No | No | No |
Manufacturing |
Yes | Via separate module | Via Sage 50 manufacturing separate module | No |
Additional information |
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Configuration |
Very configurable | Minimal configuration | Minimal configuration | Moderately configurable |
Cloud or on-premise |
Both | Both | Hosted locally but access via cloud is available | Cloud only |
Devices |
Any device | Any device | Any device | Any device |
Data analytics |
Yes, embedded with Power BI | Limited | Not available | Financial reporting and an editable dashboard available |
AI |
Yes | No | No | No |
Connectivity |
Fully connective via CDM, 200+ connections available | Yes via APIs | No | Good connectivity with 500+ business applications. Limited API transactions per month allowed. |
Office 365 integration (Outlook, OneDrive and Excel etc) |
Extremely strong two-way integration | Available from £10 pm | Available from £10 pm | Limited |
Automation and custom applications |
Yes, via Power Platform | No | No | No |
Making Tax Digital compliance |
Yes | Free for latest subscription, additional cost for previous versions and perpetual licence | Free for latest subscription, additional cost for previous versions and perpetual licence | Yes |
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central represents a strong alternative to the traditional choices. Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one business solution that provides small and midsized businesses (SMBs) with the capability to efficiently and effectively manage finance, operations, sales and customer service.
As you can see from the table, Dynamics 365 Business Central offers organisations a much better range of functionality than Xero or Sage. Dynamics 365 Business Central also offers organisations confidence that it can grow as your organisation does. The way Dynamics 365 Business Central presents information and access to insights combined with the strong Office 365 integration provides your organisation with a compelling set of benefits that will drive a strong return on your investment (discover how to build a business case for Business Central here).