The promise of robust functionality in an accounting solution doesn’t mean much if your team struggles to use it.
While Sage Intacct can be a solid enterprise solution, it can be overly complex and costly for mid-sized businesses. Limited customization may also make it less user-friendly.
In this article, we’ll highlight some of the limitations users have mentioned and why Gravity Software is the preferred Sage Intacct alternative.
Where Sage Intacct falls short for mid-sized, multi-company businesses
When it’s not feasible to have a direct conversation with other users of a particular software solution, a reputable tech review site like SoftwareAdvice or G2 may be the next best thing.
According to reviews on these sites, here are some of the primary shortcomings of Sage Intacct as a mid-sized accounting software for multiple entities.
It’s a proprietary, legacy platform
Longevity can be a plus for a software vendor, but it can also make vendors complacent.
The Sage Intacct platform was built more than two decades ago and integration flexibility is limited. Additionally, the solution’s shared database model can be a hindrance to customization and scalability.
There are user experience challenges
When employees use an application every day, the user experience can mean the difference between an effective workforce and a disgruntled one. Reviewers noted a few Sage Intacct problems in the user experience arena.
- User interface: “It does not have a fantastic visual aesthetic when navigating where other systems I have seen do tend to offer a sleeker user interface,” one G2 reviewer states.
- Confusing menus and long learning curves: “The learning curve is real,” one user said on SoftwareAdvice. “Definitely not something you just pick up in one day.” (Take Sage Intacct’s AP menu, for example, with its 25 options. Compare that to Gravity Software, where the AP menu contains only 9 options.)
- Deployment and onboarding timelines: “We had to give copious amounts of training to our teams,” one user noted on SoftwareAdvice.
Personalization limitations
Many users mention difficulty personalizing Sage Intacct to meet their workflows, specifically with regards to reporting. One user on G2 mentions that custom reports cannot be downloaded at the entity level, while another said certain report customizations require additional payment.
One user titled their review “Sage - Customizable but very DIY” and in it called report design “a voyage of self-discovery and individual effort.”
Workflows are another common element that typically require some level of personalization to truly save employees time. Unfortunately, according to one Sage Intacct reviewer on G2, for a user to change a workflow after the initial setup, they must be granted top-level access.
High and unexpected costs
When searching for cloud-based accounting software, beware of hidden costs. These can include hosting fees and consultant fees as well as the cost of additional integrations to fill in the gaps where the core solution falls short.
When it comes to Sage Intacct pricing, certain core functions are add-ons, including multi-currency support.
Even without add-ons, multiple reviews expressed frustration with Sage Intacct’s pricing model.
One user on SoftwareAdvice cited “very large” price increases each year as a primary drawback of the solution, while a nonprofit user wrote that the software is “too expensive for the small portion that we use.”
AI and reporting tools are disconnected
Sage Intacct users have access to a wide range of capabilities, but not all of them are native to the software.
Invoice processing, for instance, isn’t built into the software but is a recently acquired AI tool.
Accessing leading data visualization tool Power BI, as well as workflow tools like Power Automate, requires integrations.
One Sage Intacct user reported on G2 that debugging API issues could be tricky.
“It is not easy to integrate with outside programs,” another user wrote. “You have to go through a complicated process” to integrate a new application.
Why Gravity Software is the ideal Sage Intacct Alternative
When it comes to accounting software for multiple entities, there are Sage Intacct alternatives for companies looking for software with ERP-like capabilities but geared more toward mid-size businesses. For small- to medium-sized multi-entity businesses, Gravity Software is the best alternative to Sage Intacct.
Here’s why.
Built on the Microsoft Power Platform
Gravity Software is built on the Microsoft Power Platform, meaning access to leading business tools like Dynamics 365 CRM, Power BI, Power Automate and Microsoft Copilot are natively integrated.
While Gravity does integrate with a variety of useful third-party applications for niche needs, robust business essentials are available right out of the box.
Having the Microsoft ecosystem as a foundation also ensures Gravity is continually evolving, with new releases like using Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services for AI-powered AP automation and with regular automatic security updates aligned to the latest threats.
One database per company
In a company with subsidiaries or franchises, it's imperative that each separate entity be able to operate with complete independence. It could create chaos if a change made to one entity’s database unintentionally affects others’.
Gravity Software affords full autonomy to each entity within an organization – unless it’s specified that a change or update should be applied to multiple databases – while allowing users to work within multiple entities’ databases under a single login and to compile consolidated financial reports without relying on spreadsheets.
Gravity users can also create individualized dashboards, customized workflows and allow role-based access by entity for greater security.
User-friendly, intuitive interface
A sleek user interface is an effective user interface, and Gravity Software’s UI is designed for finance teams who want power without the clutter. With Gravity, there are fewer menu items to sift through so users can spend less time hunting for features and more time on value-add tasks like scenario planning. Less information overload translates to faster onboarding, which saves time and aggravation not just at implementation but every time a new employee joins the team.
Embedded AI & automation
Too many add-ons can make for an unwieldy, sluggish system as well as opening the door for technical glitches. As Microsoft Power Platform accounting software, Gravity offers embedded AI and automation features like Copilot and Azure Form Recognizer. Your team can generate charts, perform advanced searches with natural language and extract data from invoices – all without third-party solutions that can be a hassle to integrate and won’t provide as seamless an experience as native applications.
Real-time reporting and dashboards
If the perfect acquisition opportunity presents itself, will your company know whether it’s in the financial position to make the move? Or will another organization snatch up the deal while your team is still busy crunching numbers?
With Gravity Software’s robust multi-entity capabilities, your team has organization-wide visibility at their fingertips, from budgeting to forecasting to consolidated reporting. Built-in Power BI visualizations drive the data home in a colorful, easy-to-digest way for decision-making that’s not only faster but better.
Cost-effective, scalable licensing
Companies like healthcare private equity firm Brandon Capital love Gravity Software because it offers the key features of an ERP without the complexity – or the high price tag.
With Gravity, there aren’t surprise upgrade fees: all core multi-entity accounting features are included with the monthly price of the annual subscription, which also includes secure Microsoft cloud hosting. As for specialty features like revenue recognition or subscription billing, if your company doesn’t need the capabilities, you don’t have to purchase the modules
Real-world benefits for growing, multi-entity teams
The merits of Gravity Software aren’t just hypothetical. Here are some of the ways Gravity has been a game-changer for clients:
- An eye care franchise reduced their month-end close time from 30+ days to under 15.
- A renewable energy company now spends drastically fewer hours on manual data entry across multiple entities.
- Real-time visibility empowers strategic decision-making for WW of Maine, who switched to Gravity from a legacy solution, Dynamics GP, to avoid the high costs of upgrading to a new server.
- Instead of taking days, settling intercompany transactions for a 47-entity hospitality enterprise now takes about 30 minutes.
Gravity Software is continually innovating to incorporate the latest technological advances. For example, AP automation cuts invoice processing time from minutes to seconds.
Choose software that grows with you
Too much software can be just as problematic as not enough. For teams that feel like Sage Intacct is too much – too complex, too pricey, too many menu items, too many third-party integrations – there are other options.
Don’t settle for a legacy system when there’s a modern, user-friendly Sage Intacct alternative built just for businesses like yours.
Schedule a demo today to see for yourself why Gravity Software is the best alternative to Sage Intacct on the market.
Gravity Software
Better. Smarter. Accounting.
