sage

Firm size

  • Small
  • Medium
  • Large

Integration

Sage 50, Sage Practice Suite, CSV, SNF

Templates

Charity, Farm, FRS 102, FRS 102 1A, FRS 105, Mgmt Pack, LLP, Partnership, Sole trader

Functionality

Adjust, Cashbook, Drill, Import, Journal, Map, Multi-user, Submit, Tag

Pricing

Prices are tiered according to number of clients and users. From £368/user/year (10 clients) - £1,470/user/year (100 clients) to £16,223/year (15 users, 9,000 clients)

User reviews

3.6
(20 user ratings)
Our trusted reviews are independent, first hand opinions taken from the UK's largest survey of business software users. These ratings are used to decide the Software Excellence Awards from the Accounting Excellence 2018 programme

Functionality

3.8

Support

3.7

Ease of use

3.7

Value for money

3.3

Key Features

  • Suitable for accountants working in practice and industry who prepare management and statutory accounts
  • Integrates with the Sage Practice Suite or can be used as a standalone product
  • Client data can be entered directly or imported from Sage 50cloud Accounts and other third-party bookkeeping products
  • Validation checks are applied according to the entity type to ensure all data is present and accounts balance
  • Consolidation routine merges subsidiaries into holding company accounts, where inter-company balances can be journalled
  • Check in/out controls lock the client record while a user is working on their accounts
  • Full audit trail report and lead schedules can be produced, but SAPA does not generate working papers
  • Flexible report generator can output management accounts, ratio/variance reports and performance summaries

Product screenshots

Click an image to enlarge

What Sage Accountants says

Sage Accounts Production Advanced is a sophisticated and flexible program designed to meet the needs of practices and business entities with complex requirements. The system is used by many of the top 50 UK accounting practices to generate a wide range of business accounts including groups, charities, pension schemes, doctors and farms.

Built-in validation checks reduce the risk of rejection as users are updated as submissions are made to Companies House and HMRC.

Alongside year-end accounts, Sage Accounts Production Advanced can create full management accounts and analytical reviews, with graphical ratio, variance analysis and summary reports.

Sage has drawn on extensive user research to ensure the program has the functionality and flexibility to meet the demands of leading practices for bespoke final accounts and bespoke client reports.

2018 roadmap

Sage Accounts Production Advanced is an established application and already does the things most customers expect. Over the next year, Sage will focus its efforts on keeping up to date with the latest compliance changes and addressing customer feedback raised through the Sage Community. 

What users say about Sage Accounts Production Advanced

Read user reviews

    Pros

  • Simple and easy to use
  • Charity layouts and group accounts
  • Easy to post entries and can clearly see trial balance and drill down into figures

    Things you might change

  • Accounts are not updated immediately when a journal has been made
  • Poor method of iXBRL production
  • It is sometimes hard to get period ends and interim accounts to follow on from the last set of accounts

Functionality

3.8

    Pros

  • Charity layouts and group accounts

    Things you might change

  • Presentation of accounts and detailed trial balance and ledgers
  • Poor method of iXBRL production
  • It is sometimes hard to get period ends and interim accounts to follow on from the last set of accounts
  • Accounts are not updated immediately when a journal has been made
  • ROPS dates do not roll forward and have to be manually changed

Ease of use

3.7

    Pros

  • Easy to alter accounts and produce accounts tailored to your clients needs
  • Easy to amend report formats
  • Easy to post entries and can clearly see trial balance and drill down into figures

    Things you might change

  • It has become more difficult to use since the introduction of FRS 102
  • It would be useful to be able to click on errors on the front page of the draft accounts to go to the ROP or report pad
  • It's very long winded to allocate specific income/expenditure to each partner on the software

What AccountingWEB says

Originating many years ago from Deloitte, Sage Accounts Production Advanced (SAPA) appears to have strayed off course in recent years as Sage wrestled with the competing priorities and requirements of its three accounts production applications.

This lack of direction and product focus appears to have affected all Sage’s applications, from Sage 50 Accounts to its tax and practice tools, all of which have dropped in their share of ratings in the different categories.

Against this background decline, SAPA actually gained a few points on its product rating scores this year, but it still comes out with one of the lowest scores for value for money. SAPA was not affected so much by technical issues with the transition to new UK GAAP and FRS 102, but a couple of comments indicate that the program has become harder to use.

With the final accounts module of Sage Accountant Cloud emerging from the latest product branding overhaul, the rationale for maintaining all three is wearing thin. Many customers will be watching to see which of Sage’s other AP products will emerge as the focus for further desktop developments.

User reviews (6)

About the reviews
Filter by
2.5
Partner, £500k-£999k
12 April, 2018

What do you like?

It is not difficult to do the basic work.

What would you change?

The poor performance with respect to compliance. The poor method of iXBRL production.

Pages

Share your experiences with the community

Share your thoughts with others about the product
Leave a review