Sage Intacct vs Sage 1000: why Intacct is the natural next step for your business

As you're no doubt aware, Sage officially ended product support for Sage 1000 on the 31st of December 2024. That means no more updates and no new features.

Sticking with the platform after this point leaves you open to various cybersecurity and compliance risks. And these will only increase the longer you remain on it. The question is, where do you go from here?

For many businesses, Sage Intacct, is the natural next step. To illustrate why, we pit Sage Intacct vs Sage 1000.

Product comparison

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is a cloud-native financial management solution designed for growing businesses.

Because it's fully cloud-based, Sage Intacct reduces IT overheads. It's also more flexible than on-premises tools like Sage 1000, scaling effortlessly with your business needs.

Dynamic dashboards provide instant access to live data from across your business – enabling you to make informed decisions, faster. While time-saving automation streamlines processes across your business, saving time and reducing errors.

Sage 1000

Sage 1000 is an on-premises enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution aimed at mid-sized businesses.

In its heyday, it stood out from the crowd thanks to its accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), and reporting capabilities. However, as technology evolved, Sage 1000 began to lose ground on newer solutions that embraced automation and the cloud.

Cloud-native solutions, like Sage Intacct, offer a degree of scalability Sage 1000 simply can't match. Coupled with real-time reporting and advanced automation, Intacct soon became the obvious choice for forward-thinking business.

Sage Intacct vs Sage 1000: key features

Why Sage Intacct?

Before you can chart the course of your Sage 1000 migration, you need to set your destination. For growing businesses, Sage Intacct is the obvious choice.

Sage Intacct's advanced financial management capabilities and built-in automation streamline complex processes, saving time while reducing errors. Its modular design and diverse range of integrations makes it easy to scale to your needs.

This flexibility means Sage Intacct can adapt to almost any scenario or industry: from companies experiencing steady growth to those on the cusp of a sudden expansion; product-centric businesses to professional services firms and non-profit organisations.

The benefits of migrating to Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct vs Sage 1000 isn't all about features. Saying Sage Intacct has AI-enhanced automation certainly sounds impressive, but what does it actually mean for you? To put it another way, what are the benefits of migrating?

Enhanced productivity

Sage Intacct's built-in automation capabilities can boost productivity by up to 40%. Smart workflows streamline traditionally manual tasks – like invoice processing, payment approvals, and account reconciliation – saving you considerable time each month.

Additionally, advanced tools, such as smart revenue recognition, simplify complex billing processes. Not only does this help you win back more hours every week, it reduces human error.

Better decision making

Customisable dashboards, dynamic reporting capabilities, and sophisticated analytics tools allow you to make strategic decisions faster.

Sage Intacct's dimensional analysis lets you view, organise, and analyse data in whatever way best supports your goals. This includes digging deeper to access more granular insights – whether that's at a project or department level or even something as specific as revenue per square foot of your warehouse.

Improved scalability

As a cloud-native solution, Sage Intacct bypasses the hardware constraints of using on-premises software like Sage 1000. What that means in practical terms is that you can scale your solution up or down depending on your current needs, without additional IT investment. Think adding new users or modules.

Businesses that migrate to Sage Intacct typically achieve a 250% return on investment in less than six months. 

How secure is Sage Intacct?

Moving to the cloud often raises security questions. "Where does my provider store my data? How do they protect it? Do they back up my data regularly?"

One of the many reasons financial institutions trust Sage Intacct is its commitment to security.

Sage Intacct uses tier 3+ rated European data centres that offer advanced security features, including robust access controls, multi-factor authentication, and continuous surveillance. They also have multiple layers of redundancy for a guaranteed 99.982% uptime.

Plus Sage Intacct complies with leading data privacy standards. These include: 

• GDPR

• HIPAA

• SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type II

• ISO 27001

• PCI-DSS Level 1

• SOC 2 Type II

Implementing Sage Intacct

Implementing Sage Intacct is a gradual process. However, it can take as little as eight weeks to get it up and running – depending on several factors. These include the complexity of your solution, the amount of data you're migrating, and the capabilities of your Sage Intacct implementation partner.

At Datel, we guide you through every stage, using our product expertise and proven five-step implementation process to minimise disruption and set you up for success.

1. Define
   

   This is where we lay the foundations of your project. Over several project scoping sessions, we work with key stakeholders to understand your business needs today and your goals for the future. You'll also begin your Sage University training, so you're ready to hit the ground running. 

2. Build
   

   With the foundations laid, we use static and sample transactional data to build your solution. If you're migrating from another Sage solution, we use pre-built scripts to accelerate data extraction and loading. Once we've completed the initial build, we invite you to a configured solution walkthrough so you can see how everything works.

3. Model
   

   Now you're ready to try Sage Intacct for yourself. During the Model phase, we run hands-on training and user acceptance training (UAT) sessions where you can familiarise yourself with the solution. We conduct the UAT sessions in a controlled, pre-live environment. Finally, we ask you to demonstrate what you've learned in a Ready for Go Live Walkthrough.

4. Deploy
   

   The moment of truth. Once we've finished gathering and reconciling any remaining data, we launch your solution. We also outline the next steps.

5. Support
   

   Deployment isn't the end of our journey together. Shortly after launch, you'll hear from your dedicated customer success manager. They'll check in with you regularly over the coming months and years to keep your Sage Intacct solution aligned to your business goals.

Time to make your move

Sage 1000 will function until 2029, albeit in a limited capacity. However, delaying your migration not only increases your cybersecurity and compliance risks, it prevents you from realising your business's full potential.

When it comes to Sage Intacct vs Sage 1000 in 2025, there's a clear winner. Whether you're looking to improve productivity or accelerate decision making, Sage Intacct's advanced capabilities put it head and shoulders above its predecessor.