Sage X3 vs Sage Intacct: Which is Best for Your Business?

Sage X3 vs Sage Intacct: if you’re reading this article, you’ve probably heard of both solutions but aren’t sure which is right for you.

Each solution has unique features that cater to distinct business needs. Understanding how these capabilities align with your processes and goals is the first and most important step in deciding which one is right for you.

Let's take a closer look at Sage X3 and Sage Intacct’s capabilities, use cases, and more to help you make an informed choice.

What are they?

Sage X3

Sage X3 is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. It unifies core business units, operations, and processes in one platform to give you complete visibility and control. With its modular architecture and flexible hosting options, Sage X3 adapts to your needs – not the other way around.

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is a best-in-class, cloud-based financial management solution. Built-in automation streamlines manual processes, saving time, reducing errors, and improving data quality. Coupled with dynamic dashboards and multi-dimensional reporting, Sage Intacct gives you the insight to accelerate business growth.

Sage X3 vs Sage Intacct

Who are they for?

Sage X3

Native multi-entity, multi-location (including legislation), and multi-currency capabilities make Sage X3 ideal for product-centric organisations that operate on a global scale or have ambitions to grow.

Sage X3 lets you manage production, supply chain, and finances in one integrated system. As a single source of truth for business data, it delivers real-time insights that help you optimise your processes and identify growth opportunities.

Crucially, Sage X3 is available as a on-premises, cloud, and hybrid solution. Want to keep control of your infrastructure in-house? Go on-premises. Looking for greater scalability? Host your solution in the cloud.

Sage Intacct

As a dedicated financial management platform, Sage Intacct suits businesses in service-based industries that don’t have complex production or supply chain requirements. Extensive reporting capabilities unify your finance data, providing a consistent, business-wide performance view that’s perfect for multi-entity companies.

Unlike Sage X3, Sage Intacct is an cloud-native solution. Its intuitive API lets you add, upgrade, and remove optional modules and third-party integrations effortlessly, so you can customise it to your needs.

Core capabilities

Sage X3

Three core modules underpin Sage X3:

1. Production management
2. Supply chain management
3. Financial management

Production management consolidates manufacturing and distribution, providing greater visibility and control than traditional ERP solutions. From bill of materials (BOM) planning and scheduling to quality control, Sage X3 optimises your processes so you can go-to-market faster.

Sage X3 brings inventory, sales, purchasing, and finance together in one solution to help you keep supply chain operations running smoothly. It also offers robust budgeting, accounting, and reporting capabilities. Although less advanced than Intacct, these provide valuable financial insights to help you stay on top of your bottom line.

Sage Intacct

Made by financial professionals, for financial professionals, Sage Intacct uses automation to deliver more advanced capabilities than basic accounting packages.

From bill creation and approvals to payments and reconciliation, Sage Intacct gives you full visibility of your accounts payable (AP) cycle. Intelligent automation eliminates manual data entry and workflow inefficiencies, saving time and money.

Sage Intacct’s accounts receivable module streamlines your collections process to improve team efficiency and increase cash flow. It integrates effortlessly with other business systems, including your CRM, to give you a single view of your finances.

AI-enhanced general ledger (GL) transforms your accounting processes. Easy to configure and even easier to use, it offers daily financial insights that let you capture, post, and report transactions in real time.

Find everything you need to know from features and implementation to use cases and success stories, in our Sage Intacct handbook.

Sage X3 vs Sage Intacct: use cases

Want to know how Sage X3 and Sage Intacct can power your potential? The fastest way is to read real-world case studies.

Stephenson Group (Sage X3)

The Stephenson Group is a UK manufacturer specialising in cosmetics and skincare products. With Sage 1000 end-of-life fast approaching, they were in the market for an integrated ERP solution to help them optimise their production processes.

After weighing up their options, Sage X3 was the natural choice. However, with limited internal resources to dedicate to the project, they needed an experienced Sage X3 partner to guide them on their journey.

Working together, we designed a futureproof Sage X3 solution that caters to the exact specifications of a blue-chip manufacturing company. This includes:

• Quality control
• Barcoding
• Shop floor batch control
• Integrated financial management

Sage X3 has been a catalyst for change. In addition to streamlining management reporting and other critical processes, it gives the Stephenson Group access to powerful insights to support its ambitious growth strategy.

Markerstudy Group (Sage Intacct)

The Markerstudy Group is the UK’s largest managing general agent (MGA). Comprised of 64 companies working primarily in the motor insurance industry, it supports over 1,000 broker partners and three million policyholders nationwide.

Regular acquisitions and rapid growth presented unique challenges, especially when integrating disparate ledgers into a coherent system. The team needed a single solution to meet its multi-entity company structure and, following a thorough evaluation process, it chose Sage Intacct.

Managing a project of this size is no small undertaking. Keen to keep disruption to a minimum, the team brought Datel on board as its Sage Intacct partner. Thanks to our in-house experience and expertise, we migrated 40 of the group’s 64 companies onto Sage Intacct in a few short months, paving the way for the remaining 24.

Consolidating its financial management process into one system gives the Markerstudy group unprecedented visibility. By harnessing the latest automation tools to streamline reporting, the finance team reduced its month-end cycle by 15 days.

Cost considerations

Numerous factors determine the cost of implementing and managing Sage X3 and Sage Intacct. Some are universal, while others are specific to each solution.

Sage X3

Sage X3 is a subscription-based solution where a standard license covers core software functionality. As Sage X3 has the flexibility to be fully customised to meet business requirements, pricing is often bespoke and depends on:

• Number of companies
• Number of modules and users
• International requirements
• Third-party integrations
• Preferred deployment method
• Implementation and post-implementation support

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is a cloud-native, subscription-based solution. A standard license covers hosting, core software functionality, and updates. Like Sage X3, Sage Intacct has an extensive list of optional add-ons extending beyond its core financials to cater to different business requirements.

Other factors that affect costs include:

• Number of entities
• Number of modules and users
• User-access requirements
• Third-party integrations
• Implementation and post-implementation support

Implementation

Average implementation times differ significantly between Sage X3 and Sage Intacct.

Depending on the complexity of your solution, you can get Sage Intacct up and running in a few months. Sage X3 incorporates a wider range of business units and complex operational requirements, making it more time-consuming to implement.

Many businesses work with accredited Sage partners to support them through their projects. Aside from freeing up your internal teams, this offers a range of benefits.

Close working relationship with Sage

Accredited partners work closely with Sage. They understand the software, have the inside scoop on the latest releases, and can escalate your feedback directly to Sage – giving you a say in how your solution develops.

Product expertise

With in-depth product knowledge developed over years of successful implementations, Sage partners provide invaluable advice and guidance. For example, a Sage X3 implementation partner can advise you on the right modules and add-ons to meet specific industry requirements.

Project management

Sage partners manage the entire implementation from start to finish, ensuring your journey is as smooth as possible. For example, a Sage Intacct implementation will help you define your requirements, train key users, and prepare your team for launch.

Post-launch support

Sage partners provide ongoing support to help you get the most out of your solution. This includes everything from standard break/fix support to strategic product guidance years down the line.