Sage 50 to Sage Intacct Migration
Our client is an environmental charity dedicated to creating and maintaining natural greenspaces for the wellbeing of people and the environment.
Like many growing charities, they started out using Sage 50 and it served them well for several years. But as the organisation expanded, their financial reporting became increasingly difficult to manage.
With the help of our migration and implementation services, upgrading to Sage Intacct has transformed not only their reporting, but other processes too.
In this article, we’ll share an overview of the project and how Sage Intacct has made a difference to the day-to-day running of their finance team.
Why it Was Time to Migrate from Sage 50
While Sage 50 had supported the charity well in its early years, they required a system that could meet them where they are now, as well as planning for the future. They needed more advanced features, remote accessibility and better reporting.
Their main goals were clear:
- Move to the cloud for remote access and automatic updates
- Reduce reliance on Excel spreadsheets for reporting
- Minimise manual data entry and processing
- Share information with managers outside of finance
- Improve reporting across funds, projects and departments
After discussing their requirements in detail, Sage Intacct stood out as the ideal solution.
Why Sage Intacct Was the Best Fit
Sage Intacct has all the tools a charity needs to maintain financial stability and ensure regulatory compliance.
Some of the stand-out benefits for this client include:
More Detailed Data Analysis
Instead of being restricted by a traditional chart of accounts structure, Sage Intacct Dimensions give you the flexibility to structure your data how you want for reporting. For example, splitting data by location, project and funds.
Faster Report Generation
One of the biggest pain points with Sage 50 was the time it took to manually create reports. With Sage Intacct, reports can be easily built, stored for future use and scheduled to run automatically and send to the relevant people.
Full Visibility & Accessibility
Sage Intacct is fully cloud-based, so everyone is always looking at the most up-to-date information and can access it anywhere. Admins also have full control over which users can see what information.
Reduce Manual Purchasing Processes
AP Automation reduces manual data entry by using AI to automatically populate Purchase Invoices. Approval Workflows also organise your approval process and make sure every purchase is approved in a timely manner.
More Accurate Budget Spend Tracking
For more accurate reporting against budgets, costs can be committed as the Purchase Orders are entered in the system. This gives you better visibility over budget spending by recognising a cost before it has been paid.
Managing VAT Partial Exemptions
Partial exemption can be managed easily by marking line items as partly exempt on eligible purchases. This makes it easier to track and manage which items are eligible for charities to partially claim back input VAT.
Migrating From Sage 50 to Sage Intacct
Our implementation team worked closely with the client to discuss their processes and what they needed from their new system, so they could build it around their requirements.
During the project, the organisation welcomed a new Finance Director, who was keen to improve processes and reduce manual input. Together, we designed a solution that supported those goals, using approval workflows, AP automation and more.
We set up dimensions for funds, analysis, departments, site and class which can be tagged to transactions as they’re entered in the system. These dimensions allow them to slice and dice their data in seconds for both internal management decisions and external shareholders.
Once the project was completed, the client was handed over to their Account Manager and the dedicated Sage Intacct Support team for ongoing support with any issues that arise.
How The Finance Function Looks Now
The biggest driver for their move and the area of the most transformation was reporting. Now, they’re able to structure their data however they want, analysing their data sets by donors, sponsorships and grants.
Their purchasing process has gone from a complex offline process where nobody knew what stage a request was at or who ordered what, to a fully online process which requires very little input from the finance team.
Now, staff can enter a purchase request into Sage Intacct, which automatically sends to the department approver. Once it’s approved, the invoice is scanned in using the OCR scanning from their drop box or email address and the system automatically matches them together.
They’ve also got view-only licenses which allows staff outside of finance to request purchases and view the information they need, keeping things moving and reducing the number of queries for the finance department.
How Sage Intacct Could Help You Too
If your finance team spends more time building reports than analysing them, or if Excel is starting to feel like a permanent extension of your accounting system, it may be time to consider the next step.
We’ve worked with lots of charities to help them upgrade their systems. Whether you’re currently using Sage 50 or another finance system, we can help you understand what’s possible and find a solution that fits the way your organisation works.
Related FAQs
What should charities look for in a cloud accounting system?
Charities should look for a system that can handle funding and grant management, VAT partial exemption and produce the reports needed for regulatory compliance, without needing to build them manually in spreadsheets.
Can non-finance staff access information in Sage Intacct?
Yes, non-finance staff such as budget holders can have view-only licenses which only allow them to see the relevant areas in Sage Intacct. Known as Employee users, these are cheaper than full users but still provide what they need.
How is Sage Intacct different to Sage 50?
Sage Intacct is an AI-enabled cloud financial platform built for multi-entity businesses, complex automation, and unlimited scalability. In contrast, Sage 50 is a primarily desktop-based accounting software best suited for small, single-entity businesses looking for a simple, entry-level solution.
Written by: Jessica Allen, Marketing Executive at PKF Smith Cooper Systems.
Reviewed by: Philippa Leonard, Sage Intacct Team Leader at PKF Smith Cooper Systems.
Last reviewed: July 2026.
