General Accounting
|
|
Sage
|
Odoo Online |
| General Scope | ||
| Multi Currency | ✔ | ✔ |
| Consolidation |
✘
|
✔ |
| Multi User | ✔ | ✔ |
| Multiple Journals | ✔ | ✔ |
| Number of Languages | 10 | 85 |
| Supported Countries | 15 | 80+ |
| Access Rights | ||
| Access Rights per Screen |
✔
|
✔ |
| Access Rights per Field |
✔
|
✔ |
|
Customizable Validation Steps
|
✘ | ✔ |
|
Third-Party Integration
|
||
| Availability of an API | ✔ | ✔ |
| Spreadsheet Integration |
✔ |
✔
|
| Import : Excel or CSV |
✔ |
✔
|
| Export : Excel or CSV | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customer Portal |
✔ |
✔
|
Accounts Receivable
|
|
Sage
|
Odoo Online
|
| Customer Invoice | ||
| Pro forma Invoices |
✔
|
✔
|
| Multiple Taxes Per Line |
✔
|
✔
|
| Advanced Taxes (fixed, tax of taxes, etc.) |
✔
|
✔
|
| Discounts | ✔ | ✔ |
| Pricelists | ✔ | ✔ |
| Multi-Step Payments Terms |
✔
|
✔
|
| Cash Discounts |
✘
|
✔
|
| Outstanding Payments Reconciliation |
✔
|
✔
|
| Emails Discussion as Attachment |
✘
|
✔
|
| Configurable Email Templates |
✔ |
✔
|
|
Send Invoices
|
|
|
| Generate a PDF Invoice |
✔
|
✔
|
| Batch Send Invoices by Email |
✔
|
✔
|
| Post Invoices by Standard Mail |
✘
|
✔
|
| Customer Statements | ||
| Aged Receivable Balance |
✔
|
✔
|
| Customer Statements |
✔
|
✔
|
| Automated Follow-up Letters |
✘
|
✔
|
| Automated Follow-up Actions |
✘
|
✔
|
| Unpaid Fees and Penalties |
✘
|
✔
|
| Third-Party Debits Recovery |
✔
|
✘
|
| Online Payments | ||
| Credit Cards |
✔
|
✔
|
| PayPal |
✔
|
✔
|
| SEPA Direct Debit |
✘
|
✔
|
| Recurring Revenues | ||
| Automated Recurring Invoices |
✔
|
✔
|
| Subscription Upsell / Renewal |
✘
|
✔
|
| KPIs: Churn, MRR, Upsells, etc. |
✘
|
✔
|
| Alerts for Contract Renewal |
✔
|
✔
|
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Automated COGS Entries |
✘
|
✔
|
| Automated Deferred Revenue |
✘
|
✔
|
Accounts Payable
|
|
Sage |
Odoo Online
|
| Vendor Bills | ||
| Billing Control (Purchase Orders / Receptions) |
✘
|
✔
|
| Multiple Taxes per Line |
✘
|
✔
|
| Purchase Agreements |
✘
|
✔
|
| Multi-Step Payment Terms |
✔
|
✔
|
| Fleet Bills & Disallow Expenses |
✔
|
✔
|
|
Peppol / UBL Support |
✔
|
✔
|
| Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Bills OCR Recognition |
✔
|
✔
|
| Learning Intelligence |
✘
|
✔
|
| Payment Data from OCR |
✘
|
✔
|
| Realtime OCR (<10 minutes) |
✘
|
✔
|
| Vendor Payments | ||
| Aged Payable Report |
✔
|
✔
|
| Print Checks |
✘
|
✔
|
| Automate Wire Transfer (SEPA) |
✔
|
✔
|
| ACH Transfers |
✘
|
✔
|
| Expenses | ||
| Employee Expenses Report |
✘
|
✔
|
| Expenses Validation Flow |
✘
|
✔
|
| Mobile App for Expenses |
✘
|
✔
|
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Assets Management |
✔
|
✔
|
| Bank & Cash | ||
| Bank Interfaces |
✔
|
✔
|
| Import Statements : QIF |
✔
|
✔
|
| Import Statements : OFX |
✔
|
✔
|
| Import Statements : CSV |
✔
|
✔
|
| Import Statements : Coda |
✘
|
✔
|
| Import Statements : Camt.053 |
✘
|
✔
|
| Deposit Tickets |
✔
|
✔
|
| Efficiency | ||
| Reconcile while Matching |
✔
|
✔
|
| Misc. Operations while Matching |
✔
|
✔
|
| Automated Rules |
✔
|
✔
|
|
Miscellaneous |
||
| Bank Reconciliation Reports |
✔
|
✔
|
| Automated Currencies Rate Update |
✔
|
✔
|
Extras
|
|
Sage |
Odoo Online
|
|
Analytic Accounting / Grouping
|
||
|
Analytic / Cost Accounting
|
✔
|
✔
|
| Multi-Level Analytic Accounting |
✘
|
✔
|
| Multiple Plans |
✘
|
✔
|
| Budgets | ||
|
General Budgets
|
✔ | ✔ |
|
Analytic Budgets
|
✘
|
✔
|
| Payroll | ||
|
Payroll
|
✔
|
✔
|
| Valuation | ||
|
Standard Price
|
✔
|
✔ |
| Average Price |
✔
|
✔
|
| FIFO |
✘
|
✔
|
| Perpetual Inventory Valuation |
✘
|
✔
|
Reporting
|
|
Sage |
Odoo Online
|
|
Legal Statements
|
||
| Profit & Loss |
✔
|
✔
|
| Balance Sheet |
✔
|
✔
|
| Cashflow Statement |
✔
|
✔
|
| General Ledger |
✔
|
✔ |
| Tax Reports | ✔ | ✔ |
| Tax Audit Report |
✘
|
✔
|
| Reports | ||
| Pivot Table on Multiple Dimensions |
✔
|
✔
|
| Customizable Reports |
✘
|
✔
|
| Customizable Dashboards | ✔ | ✔ |
| Annotate Reports | ✘ | ✔ |
| Customizable KPI’s | ✘ | ✔ |
| Predefined Executive Summary | ✘ | ✔ |
| Perpetual Fiscal Year Closing | ✘ | ✔ |
Usability
|
|
Sage |
Odoo Online
|
|
UI
|
||
| Full Web Interface |
✔
|
✔
|
| Mobile App |
✔
|
✔
|
| Android App |
✔
|
✔
|
| iPhone App |
✔
|
✔ |
| Market Place | ||
| App Store / Add-ons |
✔
|
✔
|
|
Subjective Ratings
|
||
| Navigation and Search |
|
|
| Data Entry |
|
|
| Reconciliation Tool |
|
|
| Mobile App |
||
| Reports Flexibility |
||
| Other (integrated) solutions | ||
| eCommerce |
✘
|
✔
|
| Expenses |
✘
|
✔
|
| Inventory |
✔
|
✔
|
| Manufacturing |
✔
|
✔
|
| Operations (project, timesheet, etc.) |
✘
|
✔
|
| Human Resources |
✔
|
✔
|
| Document Management |
✘
|
✔
|
| Subscriptions |
✘
|
✔
|
| Point of Sale |
✘
|
✔
|
| Purchase |
✔
|
✔
|
| Sales |
✔
|
✔
|
User Interface
When it comes to efficiency and end-user satisfaction, fine-tuned usability is one of the most important factors in any software platform. This is especially true of accounting software, as the end user might spend the majority of their time working within the software. In order to provide functionality, speed, and convenience to an accounting team, a software solution must maintain a balance between ease of use and a robust set of features. The user interface supports the overall product design in deciphering human factors such as preferences, habits, and learned skills in order to effectively serve the intended purpose of the software as it relates to the businesses that utilize it. A strong functional design is critical in providing a positive user experience and maximizing user efficiency.
Usability is qualitatively measured as a software’s ability to anticipate what a user might need to do. This includes ensuring that all of the elements in the interface are easy to access, understand, and use. Well designed software establishes familiarity by maintaining a consistent interface and predictable interactions throughout so users feel comfortable with the system, allowing them to complete their desired tasks quickly. It will help users perform actions quickly as well as become more efficient in their day to day tasks. Best practices also suggest having a simple interface with consistency (common elements) and a page layout based on hierarchical importance and flow.
The next section includes screenshots to help you compare the user interface, both in the list and form view, for each software in the comparison.
User Interface - Sage
|
User Interface - Odoo
|
Dashboard |
 Accounting Dashboard
|
Reconciliation |
Reconciliation |
Pricing & Conditions
|
|
Sage |
Odoo Online |
| MONTHLY PRICING | $10 | Free Odoo Accounting is free for unlimited users, as long as you use solely the Accounting app; when other apps are added (ex. Subscription, Sales, eCommerce, Inventory), the cost is $25/user with apps priced individually (support is included). |
| Number of Users | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Contract Duration |
Monthly |
n/a |
| Free Trial |
30 days |
✔
|
| Free Updates |
✔
|
✔
|
| Hosting & Maintenance |
✔
|
✔
|
| Support |
✘
only forum & tutorials |
✔ |
Conclusion
The selection of a software solution is a process which, if undertaken with scrutiny and a willingness to obtain as much information as possible, can result in a huge increase in efficiency amongst your team.
No single factor (cost, number of features, UI) is the most important, but rather a balance of many interdependent factors. Which factors are really important for your business? Is your planning focused around budget? Integration with third-party apps? Are you looking for software that simplifies your accounting or do you have an accounting expert on staff that needs a powerful solution? Proper balance between all these elements will lead to optimal end results when selecting the accounting software that suits your unique business needs.
In order to select the best accounting software for your needs, it is also vital to weigh the desired benefits against the management team’s constraints while also considering the accounting team’s day to day operational needs. The most fundamental goals for any decision maker are to grow the business and support the teams which makes the success of your organization possible. As collaboration is the key to success with any team, it is beneficial to choose a simple and user-friendly solution which will help your colleagues to work quickly and effectively while avoiding the need for expensive and time consuming training sessions.
So whether you are a small startup comparing accounting solutions for the first time or a large enterprise thinking about changing your current software, the information in this document will help you compare the most important aspects of each accounting solution to help you find the software that best works for you.