Financial Edge (legacy) vs. Sage 500 ERP

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Financial Edge (legacy)
Score 6.8 out of 10
N/A
A legacy software offering, Blackbaud now instead offers and supports their cloud-based accounting solution, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT as a modern alternative.N/A
Sage 500
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Sage 500 ERP includes accounting and finance, distribution and supply chain, and manufacturing operations support modules. The latest Sage 500 release includes accounts payable enhancements, credit card processing, and general updates, as well as updates to the solution's modules.N/A
Pricing
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500 ERP
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500 ERP
Considered Both Products
Financial Edge (legacy)
Chose Financial Edge (legacy)
It doesn't even compare. Sage is far better than Financial Edge. No contest.
Chose Financial Edge (legacy)
I like Financial Edge for non-profit accounting the best as it provides a great foundation for fund accounting. It integrates the best with a donor database and the reporting options are truly amazing.
Chose Financial Edge (legacy)
Financial Edge is more economical than GuideStar, and more focused on the financial successes than simply the management of funds and general data.
Chose Financial Edge (legacy)
Most FE installations I have participated in were from QuickBooks Pro. QuickBooks, if set up well, is a great alternative for the smaller association or nonprofit, but it has challenges handling some of the unique aspects of nonprofit accounting. Recent editions of QuickBooks …
Chose Financial Edge (legacy)
I have used EMPS system, which also works the same as Financial Edge. Financial is easier for A/P entry and A/R entry. However, it isn't very user-friendly when trying to look up batches or check-runs previously made. EMPS system works better when looking for check-runs.
Chose Financial Edge (legacy)
There is no comparison. Fundware was such a dated application and I couldn't believe we were using it as long as we were. Financial Edge allows us to post entries to multiple dates in a single entry and edit the post date as we go. When we used Fundware, we had to edit the …
Sage 500
Chose Sage 500
Quickbooks is more user friendly and intuitive but can be clunky when dealing hard chunks of data. Morever, I did not operate a cloud based solution like Intacct and this is key in my report.
Chose Sage 500
Sage is by far the worst program I have ever used in the construction industry. It has the capability to be a wonderful program for an entire organization but it severely lacks user interface. For instance, Their field reports section has a character limit. That's …
Chose Sage 500
500 seems much smoother at handling some of the basic accounting tasks, for example both issuing and later reconciling checks in Dynamics AX seems a little tedious.
Chose Sage 500
The functionality and ease of the software is what we love but we remain on the 7.05 because the price to upgrade is too high.
Features
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500 ERP
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
7.0
Ratings
2% below category average
Pay calculation1.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration1.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files1.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.5
Ratings
11% above category average
API for custom integration1.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Plug-ins1.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
157% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.5
Ratings
4% above category average
Single sign-on capability1.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
155% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.0
Ratings
10% above category average
Dashboards1.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Standard reports1.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Custom reports1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.0
Ratings
4% above category average
Accounts payable1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Accounts receivable1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Cash management1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Fixed asset management1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-division support1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic tax filing1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers1.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Localizations1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
152% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.0
Ratings
1% above category average
Inventory tracking1.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Automatic reordering1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Location management1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Manufacturing module1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
1.0
Ratings
154% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.8
Ratings
11% above category average
Pricing1.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Order entry1.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Credit card processing1.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold1.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Order Orchestration1.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
5.9
Ratings
24% below category average
Billing Management00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Period Close00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
6.9
Ratings
10% below category average
Budgeting and Forecasting00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Project Costing00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Cost Capture00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Capital Project Management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
4.5
Ratings
42% below category average
Task Insight for Project Managers00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
7.5
Ratings
2% above category average
Award Lifecycle Management00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
6.0
Ratings
15% below category average
Contract Authoring00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Contract Repository00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Supplier Management00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
4.3
Ratings
41% below category average
Risk Repository00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Control Management00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Remediation and Certification00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
1.3
Ratings
138% below category average
Forecasting00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Inventory Planning00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Performance Monitoring00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
Financial Edge (legacy)
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
5.3
Ratings
29% below category average
Proposal Management00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Product Master Data Management00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500 ERP
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Zoho One
Zoho One
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Score 10.0 out of 10
24SevenOffice
24SevenOffice
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500 ERP
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
6.3
(0 ratings)
Usability
2.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Financial Edge (legacy)Sage 500 ERP
Likelihood to Recommend
  • Financial Edge is well suited for traditional day to day accounting, accounts payable, and related needs.
  • Financial Edge dashboard does not provide a snapshot view of data that I have found are available through other platforms (like QBO).
Read full review
Sage is wonderful for payroll and employee management. Although it has the capabilities to be a one-stop-shop program, it seriously lacks the interface necessary for wide use. I've had to consult Sage professionals on numerous occasions to explain and walk me through the program as there are so many redundancies. This program has wonderful potential, but they need to update the software and user interface before I can recommend it to any colleague.
Read full review
Pros
  • Grant Management - nothing is more harrowing than grant reporting, and FE does it best. It allows for layered budgets and limitless division of expenses among grants, overhead, or other projects/programs.
  • Reporting - Most financial software tries to adapt for-profit accounting into a non-profit mode without addressing the unique needs of a nonprofit for reporting and auditing.
  • Multiple projects and/or cost centers within a budget and system - nothing is more challenging than trying to manage expenses over several cost centers and FE is a champ at allowing that complexity.
Read full review
  • Payables and receivables handled beautifully
  • Projects has the reporting capabilities we need
  • Cash management is easy to do
Read full review
Cons
  • Customer service blames the customer, and never offers solutions other than "wait it out." I've always been told it's my computer, even though everyone else at my work has the same issues.
  • Website is constantly "under maintenance" and it somehow never gets better.
  • The Database View is outdated and glitchy. Honestly get rid of it.
  • The Crystal Report is the only way to handle monthly recurring statements, and Financial Edge does not offer support for it anymore. Good luck figuring that out on your own.
Read full review
  • The application is very functional, but the interface is a little "stale" compared to more modern applications.
  • The underlying client software is written in an old version of Microsoft Visual Basic. I suppose SOME DAY, Microsoft will be discontinuing, although Microsoft has its own ERP software written in that same code.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
We will renew our investment in Sage 500, mostly because the competition is very expensive and are bloated with options that are not needed.
Read full review
Usability
It's user friendly, when it wants to be.
Read full review
I have been using Intacct for almost 10 years in 2 different companies and I just simply love it. I tried SAP (GUI) and Netsuite and they dont come close to what Ive seen.
Read full review
Support Rating
I would give this a zero if I could. Here's the deal. Once you request a chat with a representative, they immediately respond. So responsiveness: 10/10. However, they have a tendency to (always) tell you that whatever problem you're experiencing is your problem, not theirs. They offer no solutions and never take responsibility for their website malfunctioning
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
No answers on this topic
The online training courses are not up to date. We experienced technical issues with two of the classes.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
Keep your database and application in different servers.
Install Microsoft Office on your application server so you can use some of the data analysis tools in Sage.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Financial Edge is more economical than GuideStar, and more focused on the financial successes than simply the management of funds and general data.
Read full review
500 seems much smoother at handling some of the basic accounting tasks, for example both issuing and later reconciling checks in Dynamics AX seems a little tedious.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • We have been able to more effectively track utilization of budgets
  • Scholarship management has more than tripled over a five year period
Read full review
  • Efficiency - enhanced automation
  • Cost reduction - simple workspace is enough
Read full review
ScreenShots