Each business and its processes are different. So, it’s unlikely that the same management software will be appropriate for all businesses. This is why developers came up with the idea of designing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that responds to the unique needs of a business while staying on budget.
Both SAP Business ByDesign and Sage Intacct are ERP solutions that promise to significantly streamline business processes and improve overall business functions. Each of these ERP solutions accomplishes these goals in a slightly different manner.
What Is SAP Business ByDesign?
SAP Business ByDesign (SAP ByD) is a cloud-based, on-demand business management solution designed for small or medium-sized businesses. It is loaded with tools and intelligence support to help businesses better manage their everyday business operations.
SAP ByD was developed as a one-stop solution, integrating processes needed for decision-making, process management, goal assessment, production management support, and other processes. The system is also quickly configurable, easy to adopt, and scalable to align with the growth plan where it is integrated.
Businesses can customize SAP ByDesign to suit their requirements to bring seamlessness in all aspects of business administration, including product management, financial accounting, customer resource management, procurement, human resources, and supply chain management.
What Is Sage Intacct?
Sage Intacct is a premier cloud-based accounting solution that automates a wide array of accounting processes, allowing businesses to achieve significant productivity improvement, compliance with relevant regulations, and scalability without excessive onboarding of new talent.
Although the application focuses on accounting, Sage Intacct has extensive integration capabilities to cover other business areas including payroll and customer relationship management. Sage Intacct comes with extensive functionality to help businesses increase operational efficiency, manage IT costs, and gain valuable real-time insights into their financial situation.
The core modules of Sage Intacct handle general ledgers, cash management, order entries, account receivables, purchasing, reporting, dashboards, and accounts payable. However, Sage Intacct also offers advanced financial and operational modules for time and expense management, contract revenue management, planning, dynamic allocation, spend management, project costing, multi-currency and global consolidations, and other features.
Comparing SAP Business ByDesign and Sage Intacct
When comparing SAP ByD and Sage Intacct to determine which ERP solution is better for your business, you need to compare their strengths, weaknesses, and offerings with your business's priorities and requirements.
Here are the major differences between the two ERP solutions:
Functionality
Sage Intacct is a robust horizontal platform that is consistently rated at the top in the accounting software category. However, SAP ByD offers a broader range of functionality, including modules for accounting and supply chain management, among others.
The major difference between the two systems is that Sage Intacct offers a strong function-specific application while SAP ByD offers broader functionality that is not as deep as Sage Intacct when it comes to accounting. Choosing between the two depends on what the business needs to accomplish.
Scalability
SAP ByD was designed specifically for small or midsize businesses, while Sage Intacct is more scalable for different business sizes. The on-premises version of Sage Intacct is more scalable too.
Sage Intacct was launched a decade after SAP ByD and is built on a modern technology platform. This means that Sage Intacct is designed to handle modern challenges better (e.g., remote work) and has a higher performance ceiling than SAP ByD.
For more information on SAP’s scalability capabilities, be sure to read our post on SAP Business ByDesign versus Acumatica.
Flexibility
SAP ByD offers more flexibility than Sage Intacct because it has an intuitive user interface and is easier to configure with many other applications and modules. ByDesign users report that the solution is easy to learn and many are able to realize value immediately through its reporting and automated accounting features. However, they also say that it is more predisposed to errors and requires training.
Integrations
Their different designs mean SAP ByD and Sage Intacct handle integrations very differently. Because SAP ByD was built to be a one-stop solution for small businesses, integrating other applications into the system can be a bit of a challenge. However, it is not impossible to find applications that can be integrated with little hassle, but it usually requires a considerable amount of effort.
Sage Intacct, on the other hand, is a multi-tenant environment that gives businesses the option to make configurations and easily integrate third-party software without having to spend months building them as is required by SAP ByD.
Security
As cloud-based solutions, SAP ByD and Sage Intacct offer enhanced security and have dedicated resources that focus on making sure their hosted environments remain secure and protected.
However, both have their respective shortfalls. While SAP ByD is older, Sage Intacct has its own security concerns because it is a multi-tenant cloud system. Because security is a crucial part of every business, you should decide which hosting system works better with your organizational structure.
Want more information on SAP security? Check out our latest article on Compliance Management with SAP.
