Sage 200 Standard is lower cost but feature restricted version of Sage 200. This guide provides both a “big picture” comparison between Sage 200 Standard and Sage 200 Professional, and a detailed Sage 200 Standard vs Professional feature level comparison. Please contact us to discuss the differences as they apply to your specific circumstances and requirements.
Big picture Sage 200 Professional vs Standard
Before discussing the differences between Sage 200 Standard and Professional, it’s appropriate to first emphasise how similar they are. In particular from a user point of view they are near identical, to the extent that if you upgrade to Professional little or no user training is needed. Similarly Sage 200 Standard’s underlying data is a subset of Sage 200 Professional’s but otherwise identical, to the extent that it’s straight-forward to move data from Sage 200 Standard to Professional and vice versa.
Sage 200 Standard:
- typically is much lower cost, indeed its annual software cost is quite close to Sage 50 Professional
- is cloud based (so can be used from anywhere with good internet access; user numbers can be increased or decreased as needed; Sage provide and manage the servers that Sage 200 Standard runs on)
- can be implemented quickly for startups and some businesses moving from Sage 50
- can be regarded as both “Sage 50 plus” and “Sage 200 Professional” minus
Sage 200 Professional:
- has significant additional features (either direct from Sage or as fully integrated addons from third parties) including: project costing; manufacturing; construction; fully feature purchase requisition and approvals
- has many individually small ways in which it’s more capable than Standard including: stock control fully integrated with nominal; support for batch and serial numbers; flexibility over number of accounting periods so easy to extend or shorten financial years
- is customisable, whether as tweaks to Sage supplied screens, or bespoke modules to provide capabilities specific to your business but fully integrated with Sage 200
- allows direct access to the underlying data for custom reports, so that it’s quick and easy to get and present any data in the way that’s most useful to you
- perhaps fits better with organisations that manage IT in quite a formal way, for example if you need to test changes before they are deployed; and generally fits better with larger organisations
Detailed comparison Sage 200 Standard vs Professional
New versions of Sage 200 are typically released twice a year. This comparison was prepared in autumn 2023, and it’s anyway always the case that it’s best to check directly with us if there are features that are critical to your choice between Sage 200 Professional and Standard.
Please use the search to filter the list eg enter “nominal” to see only items which refer to the nominal ledger (but please note that the filter checks all columns).
Area | Feature | Sage 200cloud Standard | Sage 200cloud Professional | Importance | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
General | Data volumes | Transaction volumes into the low hundreds of thousands | Transaction volumes to the high hundreds of thousands, and subject to more detailed review well beyond that | 3 | The primary consideration here is that with Professional the user has control of the IT infrastructure that runs Sage 200, so can provision as necessary for higher data volumes. |
General | Deploy on premise or cloud / hosted | No. Cloud only | Available | 3 | |
General | Ease of support | Good | Better | 3 | Support tasks that require a backup or direct changes to underlying data are significantly easier with Professional. |
Integration and customisation | Custom reports | Available, but largely limited to reports created with the Sage provided report designer | Available | 3 | Custom reports for Professional can be created as Excel reports directly refreshing from the underlying data. These reports are usually quick to create, can access any Sage 200, and are Excel reports so familiar and easy to manipulate further for most users |
Integration and customisation | Customisation by third parties | Via ISV add-ons only. | Available | 3 | |
Integration and customisation | Fully integrated addons that extend core functionality | Not available | Available | 3 | There are significant number of third party modules available for Sage 200 Professional. Some greatly extend its core functions, other are industry specific. |
Integration and customisation | Integration | Available (via api) | Available (via api, third party add-ons, and sdk for fully bespoke addons) | 3 | The "api" which is common to Standard and Professional allows integration with most core areas; the "sdk" which is only available for Professional allows integration with all areas, and also allows much wider automation of Sage 200 actions. |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether stock quantities are updated on despatch or invoice | No. Set to update on order despatch | Available | 3 | We typically advise updating stock quantities on invoice. This is most relevant when cost of sales postings are being generated. Once sales orders have started to be processed this setting can't be changed easily. |
Modules | Manufacturing | Not available | Fully integrated third party manufacturing modules available | 3 | |
Modules | Project costing | Not available | Available | 3 | |
Nominal Ledger | Consolidation | Base currency only. | All currencies, but with limitations | 3 | We generally suggest that consolidated reporting is done in Excel. For Professional this can be done as a directly refreshable Excel workbook; for Standard this is a largely manual process. |
Stock Control | Batch / serial number tracking | Not available | Available | 3 | |
Stock Control | Nominal ledger integration | Not available | Available | 3 | For Professional nominal ledger integration includes cost of sales postings and goods received not invoiced accruals. This allows, for example, cost of sales posting by cost centre (and so location, sales channel etc). |
Bill of Materials | Bill of Materials | Simplified BoM only | Full BoM module | 2 | Professional's BmM has many more features including versioning and ability to include labour and other costs, but Standard's BoM will be adequate for many users particularly those upgrading from Sage 50 |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether invoices and credit notes have the same or different number sequences | No. Always separate number sequences | Available | 2 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether or not to print picking lists | Not available. Picking lists are required | Available | 2 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether to allocate stock on order entry or as a separate step | No. Stock always allocated on order entry | Available | 2 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Control stock fulfilment method by order line | Not available | Available | 2 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Control whether revenue nominal is determined by the customer or stock item defaults | No. Nominal account is linked to stock item and cost centre and department linked to customer | Available | 2 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Manual entered or automatically generated order and return numbers | Auto generated order numbers only | Available | 2 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Order acknowledgements | Not available | Available | 2 | |
Modules | CRM | Available (Sage CRM via ISV add-on). | Available (Sage CRM via ISV add-on; or as a fully integrated third party add-on) | 2 | |
Nominal Ledger | Display account balance in nominal ledger list view | Not available | Available, user setting | 2 | |
Purchase Ledger | Suggested payment - number of payment groups | Fixed number (7). One group per type. | Up to 10 amendable groups | 2 | Professional's amendable payment groups allows you to split suppliers pay in the same way, for allowing separate payment runs for expenses and trade suppliers. |
Purchase Ledger | Suggested payment - post summary or detail | Fixed as post detail. | Available | 2 | Professional allows BACS payments which typically appear as a single aggregated bank statement to also show in the cash book as a single transaction, so making reconciliation easier. |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose whether or not to allow amendment of analysis codes | No. User can always change analysis codes | Available | 2 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose whether or not to allow amendment of nominal codes. | No. User can always change nominal codes | Available | 2 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose whether or not to record details of cancelled order lines | Not availble. Cancelled order lines always recorded. | Available | 2 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose whether to breakdown balance sheet posting cost centre | No. Not possible to breakdown balance sheet postings by cost centre. | Available | 2 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose whether to generate purchase orders for back to back and direct delivery sales orders | Available for back to back orders only. Direct deliveries not supported | Available | 2 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Control if text and service order lines are included in accruals | No. | Available | 2 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Generate accrual for goods received not invoiced | Not available | Available | 2 | |
Sales Ledger | Account type | Fixed as open item | Setting, including open item and auto allocate | 2 | Auto allocate potentially useful if invoices and receipts match easily, perhaps because of use of direct debits or card receipts that clear account balance. |
Sales Ledger | Consolidated billing | Not available | Available | 2 | |
Sales Order Processing | Fulfilment method of "supplier direct to customer" | Not available. Other fulfilment types are available | Available | 2 | |
Sales Order Processing | Selling units | Not available | Available | 2 | Allows user to choose selling units by product, with pricing adjusted accordingly. |
Stock Control | Control by warehouse whether stock from the warehouse can be sold | Not available | Available | 2 | |
Stock Control | Multiplier suppliers per stock item | Not available | Available | 2 | |
Stock Control | Option to allow or not allow negative stock | Always allows negative stock | Available | 2 | |
Stock Control | Units of measure | Not available | Available | 2 | |
System settings | Archive transactions and account maintenance | Not available | Available | 2 | |
System settings | Cost centre breakdown for balance sheet postings | Not available | Available | 2 | |
System settings | Number of accounting periods | Fixed number - 12 | Up to 20 | 2 | Variable periods are useful even if your accounting periods are calendar months, as they make financial year length changes easy. |
General | Accountant role | Available | Not available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether or not to record details of cancelled order lines | Not availble. Cancelled order lines always recorded. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether order number pops up after sales order saved | No. Always shown | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether posted invoices always update sales ledger immediate or go into a pending file with a separate manual step to update sales ledger. | No. Always posts direct to sales ledger. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether the exchange rate for a sales order or invoice is set when the document is entered or when it's printed. | No. Always uses system exchange rate at time of posting to sales ledger. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Choose whether to allow amendment of sales order analysis codes (at sales order and sales order line level) | No. Always allowed. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Control if cash orders (which are processed through a single sales account) are allowed. | No. Always allowed. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Control if quotations and pro formas are allowed for prospects (which are entered through a single sales account) are allowed | No. Always allowed. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Control over whether confirmation of despatch is required for service and free text order lines | No. Service and free text lines are confirmed as part of confirming despatch of goods | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Control whether picking list can be amended | No. Always allowed. | Available | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Include entries Intraset based on: | Invoice date | Invoice date or despatch date | 1 | |
Invoicing and sales orders | Show items which haven't been allocated / despatched on picking lists and despatch notes | No | Yes, optionally. | 1 | |
Modules | Business Intelligence | Not available | Available | 1 | The Business Intelligence module is rarely used now, so this is classed as a minor difference. |
Modules | Invoicing | Available | Available | 1 | Professional has an additional feature that allows creation of free text invoices and credits, but this is very rarely used. |
Nominal Ledger | Change narrative / name of each budget year | No. Fixed at the obvious values such as "next year" | Available | 1 | |
Nominal Ledger | Choose whether to allow prior year postings. | No. Always prior year settings are always possible. | Available | 1 | Very minor difference. In the unlikely event of wanting to prevent prior year postings with Sage 200 Standard, this can be achieved by preventing access to the prior year posting menu via security. |
Nominal Ledger | Choose whether to post journals immediately or only manually on demand | No. Always posts immediately. | Available | 1 | |
Nominal Ledger | Choose whether to see prior year only or last 5 years of budget history | No. Always set to show last 5 years | Available | 1 | |
Nominal Ledger | Option to summarise transactions (rather than post every one) when posted from other modules to nominal ledger | Not available | Available | 1 | Very minor difference, which was more relevant historically when storage space was more limited / costly |
Purchase Ledger | Account type | Fixed as open item | Setting, including open item and auto allocate | 1 | Very minor difference. Only really relevant if supplier payments are managed and generated outside Sage 200. |
Purchase Ledger | Change the default maximum number of transactions to show in transaction enquiry from 100. | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Choose whether or not suggested payments update the purchase ledger and other modules | No. Always updates | Available | 1 | Very minor difference, as it's hard to envisage real world situations where it wasn't appropriate to update the purchase ledger and other modules |
Purchase Ledger | Choose whether or not to integrate supplier payments with bank | No. Always allowed. | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Choose whether to allow transactional analysis of purchase ledger transaction | No. Always available | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Control of whether batch processing is permitted | No. Batch processing is always permitted | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Control whether the default transaction enquriy view is showing all or only outstanding transactions | No. The default is always show outstanding only | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Force all suppliers to use the same payment group | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Option to auto generate account number | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Ledger | Trading period reporting based on account periods or independent purchase ledger trading periods | No. Account periods only.. | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose if invoices can be matched to just orders, or have to be matched to orders and GRNs | No. Matching is to orders and GRNs | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose if unauthorised orders can be processed. | No. Can only process authorised orders | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Choose whether or not to show outstanding quantity during goods received | No. Outstanding quantity always shown | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Control over if and when stock prices can be updated. | No. Pices to be updated when goods are received and exchange rate is fixed when order entered. | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Control over whether confirmation of receipt is required for service and free text order lines | No. Confirmation is not required | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Disputed invoice processing | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Include entries Intraset based on: | Invoice date | Invoice date or receipt date | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Manual entered or automatically generated order and return numbers | Auto generated order numbers only | Available | 1 | |
Purchase Order Processing | Option to print copy orders | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Change the default maximum number of transactions to show in transaction enquiry from 100. | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Choose whether to allow transactional analysis of sales ledger transaction | No. Always available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Choose whether to define sales ledger analysis periods independently of accounting periods. | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Control of whether batch processing is permitted | No. Batch processing is always permitted | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Control whether or not to revalue foreign currency transactions | No. Always enabled | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Control whether the default transaction enquriy view is showing all or only outstanding transactions | No. The default is always show outstanding only | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Copy statements | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Document messages | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Finance charges | Not available. | Available | 1 | |
Sales Ledger | Option to auto generate account number | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Sales Order Processing | Trade counter sales order entry screen | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Stock Control | Choose whether to keep transaction history | No. Stock transaction history always kept | Available | 1 | |
Stock Control | Control whether to allow multiple warehouse | No. Always allowed. | Available | 1 | |
Stock Control | Label printing eg on goods received | Not available | Available | 1 | |
Stock Control | Search categories as an additional means of finding stock items. Search by stock code and description are standard. | Not available | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Choice of nominal ledger types | No. Posting only | Available: posting, memo and group | 1 | |
System settings | Choose whether or not to use period exchange rates | No. Period exchange rates always used | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Choose whether or not to use transaction analysis codes system wide and module by module. | No. Transaction analysis always available | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Consolidate low value Intrastat settings | Not available | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Control if and how transaction dates are validated on data entry. | No. Fixed as ‘accounting period validation’ and ‘acceptable’ | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Control whether the nominal ledger is updated as soon as transactions are entered in other modules, or only manually | No. Updates immediately | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Currencies and exchange rates – Amendability status | Not available. Set to ‘Amendable – All’. | Available | 1 | |
System settings | Currencies and exchange rates – revaluation nominal code | Cannot specify against individual currencies. All posted to default nominal account. | Can specify different nominal code per currency | 1 | |
System settings | Customer and supplier accounts have 2 address formats, where the more recent and structured option is known as segmented addresses. | Segmented addresses only. | Segmented and (less) structured address formats available as option | 1 | |
System settings | Update Pending / Current Waiting Postings | Not available | Available | 1 |