General Consultant Discussion

Putting aside reseller loyalties to products (Sage, Acumatica), what ERP software would you recommend for a small consulting firm (Azamba)? We currently use Sage 300 On Premises but the server is dying. We could jump to Sage 300 Online but Sage wants to charge us $69 per user per month and it's a bit excessive for what we need. We use basic GL/AP/AR with credit card processing. (Anyone who recommends Sage Live will be ignored.)

Lol. Love the Sage live diss!!

My suggestion is go with what you know. If it is 300. Load it on a new server

We have considered that. We barely use our system though. My Controller (aka my wife) probably uses the system 10 hours per week (at most). The cost and hassle of migrating to a new server seems dreadful. Does everyone here use Sage 100 internally? I'm wondering about something lower end like QB in the cloud or one of the newer ones (Xero?? is that accounting?)

As long as you have someone you trust, then QB is the easiest and least investment - either deployment (do you trust your wife?) I can't believe I'm recommending that, but it's true.

If only your controller (1 user) uses your Accounting/ERP system for only 10 hours per week, install it locally on her workstation. No server costs. Just make sure the controller's local drive gets backed up frequently.

If you need just a single user, $69 per month is competitive for a hosted accounting system. I use Sage 100 on an in-house server. Server cost is $2,000 (with OS). I get about 4 years, so around $40 per month for the platform during that period. Also, what are the conversion and implementation costs moving to something else? Would future saving offset that cost? Don't say you're wife works for fee so there is no implementation cost. Spouses don't work for free. There is a cost somewhere. I hear ""we only use about 20% of the functionality in Sage 100"" all the time. What is meant is ""I should be charged less for maintenance as I only use 20% of the functionality."" I try to change the viewpoint to, ""What is the 20% you use worth to you.

I'm with @JimWoodhead - go with what you know. Single user license. Figure QuickBooks is $400 every two years (they force upgrades). The most expensive part could actually be payroll as QB and others have caught on that payroll is a pretty important part of my ERP so they charge $$$. My mom does our accounting on QuickBooks (about $400 every 2 years plus $300/year payroll) and all of our billing is on Freshbooks (about $360/yr for single user). I love Freshbooks because it got us totally out of printing and mailing paper invoices - everything goes out by email. Zero paper to put in an envelope. I'm looking at adding on credit card ""click here to pay"" next (3.9% + .30/transaction, no monthly fee).

Paperless Office in Sage 100 eliminated the paper invoices for me.

Even if you install Sage 300 on a local drive, there are ""ways"" to share access to other computers, if you need to ""look up something"" or print a report or two.

Go with what works for you - It is what I tell prospects all the time. Why buy the luxury car when it sits in the garage. If the bike works for you, it is inexpensive, green and gives you value. I have used QB at several non profits as their treasurer. I hate it. But the board gets their monthly financials. If you can live with Excel invoices and QB, then consider no more.

Assuming you don't need time tracking (you are a big value billing shop :) ) I'd say Quickbooks. You want a system you can easily retrain others on and that makes for fast corrections etc. This assumes you trust your bookeeper since its a little too easy to make corrections. We started on MAS90, then went to Dynamics NAV. When we added Connectwise for time/billing, support, & CRM, we went to QB to make life easy and as usual, Connectwise's integrations worked best with QB. No complaints

RealWorld on UNIX It works for @JeffSchwenk

Get a copy of 100, put on the latest SP's that are available and never update it. If it's just accounting, it will run forever and with the current ""no timebomb"" keys, you will have no maintenance cost. If you need PR, just update the rates as needed manually and do a file dump to Aatrix for your W-2's if you want. Put it on a standalone workstation and it will pretty much run forever. No server required...

what about moving your Sage 300 to a cloud server on GoDaddy?

I agree with @WayneSchulz regarding Freshbooks being a good option, however, I have never used it. There is also a product called Zoho in addition to xero that are both cloud. I also know there is another one that I have seen, but I cannot remember the name.

Thanks to everyone for the great options. I might just pull out some old green bar ledgers.

As long as your wife/bookkeeper doesn't mind....

Let me know if you need any more. I also have a Oki Data dot matrix printer in the shed.

@Jeff Schwenk - You moved it from Iowa? What else do you have in the shed?

I think there is a CRT out there ...........

What is a CRT? Is that a new mobile app for Sage?

It is a mobile HOME app. I hear they are quite popular in your neck of the woods....

I always love these questions on boards because the answer is almost always, what I use or sell is the best (for me at least). Typically you get what you pay for and what is easiest for you (likely least change) or simplest to use (likely QB) is probably the best!

You know the question I love best? Should I get Android or an iPhone...