Thinc insights
Let’s take a look at Sage Intacct vs NetSuite and compare which solution is best for your needs as a growing SME.
Comparing Sage Intacct vs NetSuite? You’re not alone. It’s common for a growing or ambitious organisation to reach a point where the business or accounting systems that have served it well so far – the likes of Xero, QuickBooks or Sage 50 – can no longer keep pace.
The team may start to look at accounting or enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions that offer more power and scalability – and it’s then that Sage Intacct and Oracle NetSuite may enter consideration. But which is best for your business?
Before you embark on the journey of investing in a new system, we’d always advise you to start by doing some high-level thinking about your requirements and how you can ensure your chosen system will deliver the greatest value. We talk you through some of this in detail in our article on setting your technology requirements – we can also help you get started on a free diagnosis call.
But, if you need a head start, or you know what you need and now want to consider the available solutions, read on. We’ll give you a comparison of Sage Intacct vs NetSuite against the following criteria:
We hope you find this guide a useful starting point in your NetSuite vs Intacct research – and, if you have any questions, our team is here to help.
Let’s start with what matters most – what does each solution do? Before we give a side-by-side comparison of the features, let’s start with some fundamentals.
A quick disclaimer: at Thinc we are an award-winning Sage partner. But we’re also proudly independent, offering a breadth of ERP solutions and holistic IT services beyond Sage Intacct. We never recommend a solution that we don’t think is the right fit for an organisation. We have hundreds of conversations with finance, IT and operations leaders every year and understand deeply that their organisations’ needs differ. Our advice here is therefore just that – advice. We’ve also looked at external sources for the view of customers and analysts, using G2 and TrustRadius.
With that out of the way, let’s dig into the features of Sage Intacct vs Oracle NetSuite. In the table below, we’ve listed what each system can do, based on the main financial management needs we hear from businesses every day.
Note: most of the features listed here are core, or out-of-the-box, functionality. However, some are made possible through the addition of further modules. Where that is the case, you’ll see the letters ‘EC’ to indicate ‘extended capability’.
| Sage Intacct | Oracle NetSuite | |
| General Ledger | Intelligent GL provides AI-powered outlier detection | NetSuite general ledger (GL) solution automates core accounting processes |
| Billing and payments | Automated accounts payable/receivable workflows, invoice/billing automation (EC), collections tracking, payment processing and application | Accounts payable/receivable, billing (including subscriptions/usage models via SuiteBilling), payment automation, and support for complex billing and revenue models (EC) |
| Cash management | Real-time visibility into cash flows, automated bank reconciliations, and cash position tracking | Cash/bank transactions, automated bank payments/collections, and broad financial management |
| Orders and inventory | Order entry, purchase orders (POs), procurement workflows; all integrated with AP/AR, inventory (if enabled) and order-to-cash workflows | Order and inventory management, procurement, multi-warehouse support, demand-based replenishment, serial/lot tracking, warehouse management, and order-to-fulfilment workflows |
| Reporting and intelligence | Dimension-based tagging (eg by department or customer); customisable dashboards and report building; real-time financial reporting and analytics | Built-in analytics (SuiteAnalytics), large library of prebuilt reports, custom reporting, cross-module dashboards, real-time data and unified reporting |
| Fixed assets | Automate asset management and depreciation (EC) | Fixed assets management comes out of the box |
| Projects | Project accounting, expense/time tracking, cost/revenue allocations, flexible revenue recognition (EC) | Project-management module with resource planning, timesheets, expense and billing, project profitability, project accounting, scheduling/resource allocation (EC) |
| Planning and forecasting | Integrated budget and planning (EC) | Integrated budget and planning (EC) |
| Multi-entity | Supports multi-entity setups and consolidation (multi-currency, inter-entity transactions) (EC) | OneWorld enables management of multiple subsidiaries, business units and legal entities (EC) |
| AI-enhanced productivity | Sage Copilot agents provide AI support for financial intelligence, closing the books, financial assurance and AP automation | AI advisors embedded in a range of products, eg Planning and Budgeting and Analytics Warehouse; workflow automation enabled by SuiteCloud |
Having compared the main capabilities of Oracle NetSuite vs Sage Intacct, we’re now going to dig a little deeper into some of these and give our take on the strengths and weaknesses of each system.
To do this, we’ve compared Sage Intacct vs NetSuite across four categories that are key to your success with either solution: financial management, scalability, pricing and long-term success.
If you’ve any questions, our team are ready for your call.
Earlier in this article we listed the financial capabilities of NetSuite and Intacct. Now let’s examine the pros and cons of each system for your financial management, broader needs and business size.
| Strengths | Weaknesses | |
| Sage Intacct |
|
|
| Oracle NetSuite |
|
|
Scalability is a key consideration when you’re looking to step up to a new finance or ERP solution. So, how do Sage Intacct and NetSuite perform against this criterion? Let’s take a look.
| Strengths | Weaknesses | |
| Sage Intacct |
|
|
| Oracle NetSuite |
|
|
Investing in a new business system is no different than any other investment – you’ll want to know how and when you’ll pay, what the one-time outlay is, what ongoing subscription and licence costs there are, and what ongoing support looks like. With scalable systems like Intacct and NetSuite, it’s not possible to give a one-size-fits-all price – often, a firmer cost can be given once we’ve spoken and set out your needs – but here are some of the key considerations.
| Strengths | Weaknesses | |
| Sage Intacct |
|
|
| Oracle NetSuite |
|
|
If you’d like to explore costs of Sage Intacct more, you may find our downloadable pricing guide and ROI calculator useful. You can access both on our Sage Intacct pricing page.
It’s important to know that the solution you choose is the right one for your future. That’s not just about ROI and scalability; it’s also about the commitment from Sage and Oracle to invest in their technologies and to support its users. So, how do Intacct and NetSuite perform against these criteria?
| Strengths | Weaknesses | |
| Sage Intacct |
|
|
| Oracle NetSuite |
|
|
Our Head of Practice for Sage solutions, Gary McKnight, has spoken to thousands of people over the years about the finance and ERP needs of their organisations. Here’s what he has to say about Sage Intacct and Oracle NetSuite’s suitability.
“If you’re choosing between Sage Intacct and NetSuite, then congratulations! Your organisation has clearly been growing or is gearing up to do so. Sage and Oracle’s solutions are trusted by thousands of organisations around the world, and both can be transformative – so you stand at an exciting point in your journey. Which is best for you? Well, that depends on your business, and to a degree, where you are on your growth journey.
“Increasingly, at Thinc we work with organisations where the finance team is becoming involved in more than just transactional activity – it’s integral to unlocking value across the business. For these sorts of organisation, Intacct is often ideal – it not only streamlines time-consuming processes and cuts costs in the team, but empowers that team to engage in a much more strategic way with other functions. While NetSuite is an out-of-the-box ERP solution, trusted by big businesses, Intacct trumps it on financial functionality (read the G2 reviews for evidence). What’s more, Intacct has been designed with SMEs in mind – it can scale with you without the need for adding headcount.
“Of course, choosing the right solution for your business is a big decision – and it can be daunting, as there’s so much to get right even before you get started. The good news is – you don’t have to do any of this alone. At Thinc, we’ve got more than 30 years of experience advising ambitious businesses on how to unlock productivity and growth. We know that the tools are only part of the equation – the bigger part is about amplifying the power of your people.
“While Thinc is a partner to Sage, we’re proud to be impartial in the advice we give – there’s no benefit to anybody if the solution we work on isn’t the right fit for you. So, if you’re thinking about the next big step for your business technology, book in a call with us, and we’ll help you set out exactly what your perfect business system should be and do.”
We hope that this guide has given you some clarity on how Sage Intacct and Oracle NetSuite compare. If you’d like to know a little more about Sage Intacct, here are some additional resources you may find useful:
If you’re ready to talk about Sage Intacct, then our friendly team is here to discuss your requirements. Book a Sage Intacct meeting today.
Related Topics
Get in touch
Fill out the form below to connect with our team. If you’re an existing customer, please visit our Support page.
–
