2013 Review of Sage 100 Fund Accounting

Strengths

• Deliverable in two formats: desktop or cloud-based
• Extensive budgeting customization
• Affordable single-user system makes it accessible to smaller nonprofits
• Broad selection of modules which can be purchased as needed

Potential Limitations

• Costs can be prohibitive depending on users and modules needed
• Complex system installation and setup

Designed for nonprofit organizations and government entities, Sage 100 Fund Accounting is a comprehensive financial software product that offers superb fund accounting, comprehensive reporting, and grant management capabilities. Extremely scalable, Sage 100 Fund Accounting offers an extensive list of system modules that can be added to the core system at any time.

Basic System Functions: 5 Stars

Sage 100 Fund Accounting is available as a desktop product or as a hosted solution. Sage 100 Fund Accounting contains set up, documentation, and customer support options, although it is recommended to read the Installation Guide prior to installing the software. An updated user interface utilizes the One-Click Navigator interface, providing greater user customization capability.

The navigator features workflow diagrams, reports, and checklists that make it easy to navigate through the program. Links can be set up for quick access to system functions. Available in Administration, Accounting, Electronic Requisitions, and Payroll modules, the One-Click Navigator allows users to customize their user interface to suit their needs. To the left, the Navigation Pane displays functions directly related to all installed modules.

Clicking on a function will display a related workflow diagram in the task window. Data entry screens are easily navigated, and offer easy data access and look up capability. Sage 100 Fund Accounting makes good use of tabs, making it easy to quickly access multiple functions.

Sage 100 Fund Accounting offers an extensive selection of modules, which include Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable Reporting, Accounts Receivable Billing & Sales Order, Advanced Security, Allocations Management, Bank Reconciliation, Budget, Data Consolidation, Data Import/Export, Direct Deposit, Electronic Funds Transfer for Accounts Payable, Electronic Requisitions, Employee Web Services, Encumbrances, Executive View License, Fixed Assets, Forms Designer, GASB Reporter, General Ledger, HR Management, Inventory Control, Multicurrency, Payroll, Purchase Orders, Scheduler, and Visual Analyzer.

Version 2013 of Sage 100 Fund Accounting also contains several key system enhancements in the Accounts Receivable, Billing, and Reporting modules, enhanced email functionality, and HR enhancements.

Core NFP/Fund Accounting Capabilities: 5 Stars

Sage 100 Fund Accounting offers nonprofits and governments an extremely flexible chart of accounts that provides an unlimited number of segments when setting up funds. Using a table-driven structure, users can quickly set up multiple funds and grants. Sage 100 Fund Accounting can easily handle multiple transaction types including prepayments, allocations, recurring JE’s, encumbrances, and budgets, along with standard AR and AP entries. Sage 100 Fund Accounting contains excellent budgeting capability, with users able to set up budgets for funds, programs, accounts, and grants.

Sage 100 Fund Accounting allows users to create an unlimited number of budgets quickly using the budget worksheet. Adjustments are easily entered, with users able to access all budget variations for reference. Budgets are available for multiple years, and can be consolidated when an organization budget if necessary.

For those requiring a CRM/donor management solution, Sage Fundraising 50 easily integrates with Sage 100 Fund Accounting and allows users to easily track and manage donor details including donations, appeal information and campaigns. The Sage Grant Management product is perfect for those who rely on grant funding for programs tracking all the details relevant to grant processing including initial submission, decision, and amounts.

All related grant data is also managed in this module, where users can also create budgets and track expense activity against each grant. Sage 100 Fund Accounting offers automatic fund balancing capability, and the addition of the Advanced Organization Audit strengthens the already strong audit trail functionality.

Sage 100 Fund Accounting offers a host of e-features including the Electronic Requisition module, where purchase orders and expense requests can be managed and maintained electronically. EFT capability is also available in both the AP and AR modules. The Employee Web Services offers easy online access to payroll and HR details. Reports, statements, and acknowledgements can all be processed electronically as well. Available in both desktop and online versions, Sage 100 Fund Accounting can be accessed remotely with ease.

Management Features: 5 Stars

The Visual Analyzer module provides users with an extensive selection of financial dashboards that all contain drill-down capability. Not just a dashboard, the Visual Analyzer is a complete business tool that makes it easy to monitor accounts and manage risks. Users can choose to activate the advanced warning function to be notified when budgeting expenses are exceeded.

Users can also create a “what-if” scenario by creating future period budgets to assess different financial scenarios, a plus in the nonprofit world. The Advanced Security module allows managers to set security rights by group or employee. System access can be assigned at varying levels including program, department, report, or account.

A prepayment process has been added to the AR module, and users can now create templates for AR invoices for easy electronic distribution. The Sage Fundraising 50 product manages all incoming donations, pledges, and campaign dollars, with users able to attach related documents to donor records for a complete donor file.

Financial Statements & Reporting: 5 Stars

Sage 100 Fund Accounting comes with over 100 standard reports, all of which can be easily customized using the built-in report writer function. Users can also easily create custom reports from report templates if necessary. Both FASB and GASB compliant reports are available, as are other nonprofit reports such as Statement of Cash Flows and Statement of Budgeted Revenue. Grant reporting capabilities are also excellent, with users able to track and report data for each grant, including income, expenses, and multiple budgets. All Sage 100 Fund Accounting reports can be exported to Word, Excel, HTML, or formatted as a PDF.

Integration & Import/Export: 5 Stars

Sage 100 Fund Accounting allows users to import data from a variety of third-party applications. Data can be imported using a .csv format, and balance and transaction data can be exported in spreadsheet, database, and word processing formats including Word, Excel, .csv, and PDF. Sage 100 is a completely integrated system, with modules available for purchase as needed. A hosted version of Sage 100 can also provide easy access for accountants.

Help/Support: 5 Stars

Sage 100 Fund Accounting contains an excellent selection of tools designed to assist users with everything from software installation, to setting up the system. A comprehensive Help function is accessible from any module and offers solid answers. An active online user community is available as is a knowledgebase and customer portal where users can access software updates or fixes. Training options vary, and include online learning, classroom training, and custom training to suit individual customer needs. Both Silver and Gold level support options are available, with Gold Level support offering training discounts as well.

Summary & Pricing

Sage 100 Fund Accounting is available in a single-user version for $2,995. The online version of Sage 100 Fund Accounting starts at $249 per month. The Online version of Sage Nonprofit Online starts at $349 per month and includes Sage 100 Fund Accounting, Sage Grant Management, Sage Fundraising Online and Sage Fundraising 50 products. Extremely scalable, Sage 100 Fund Accounting is suitable for nonprofits of just about any size.

2013 Overall Rating: 5 Stars