You have a multi-entity company. You’re interested in Sage 100 because of how affordably it handles multiple companies, but you know you’ll need an expert to implement and support your complex multi-company databases.
From your research, you’ve found two options: work directly with Sage or hire a Sage 100 partner (an independent consultant or firm certified by Sage to sell, implement, and support Sage 100).
Which is the better option for your needs?
Here’s the detailed, unbiased answer you’re looking for.
…But first, a little bit of background.
Why Businesses Use Sage 100 for Multiple Companies
Sage 100’s affordable and flexible multi-company capabilities stand out in the accounting software market. Whereas most other accounting solutions charge per organization, Sage 100 does not.
Instead, it natively supports multiple companies within a single installation through its Company Maintenance feature. This allows businesses to create “unlimited” company codes.
This flexibility allows you to create separate company databases with distinct books, inventories, and customer lists. But, as you can imagine, it also creates complications.
Why Multi-Company Support Takes Different Skills
Multi-company Sage 100 systems demand specialized expertise beyond basic setups, due to their inherent complexity.
Sage 100 helps you tame that complexity, but to get everything running right, your Sage expert must be able to handle:
- Configuration intricacy
Creating and maintaining multiple company codes requires a nuanced Company Maintenance setup, intercompany GL mappings (Due To/From accounts), and manual consolidations, which generalists often misconfigure, leading to inaccurate roll-ups or reporting errors.
- Add-on integrations
Sage 100 doesn’t include built-in automation for cross-company AP/AR posting or vendor list syncing across companies, so completing those tasks requires custom enhancements. Specialists know which enhancements to deploy, avoiding costly trial-and-error.
- All the “little” details
Data migration across companies, workflow mismatches, and performance degradation (e.g., slow switching or processing large datasets) can catch less-experienced consultants off guard. Experts preempt these issues with optimized SQL tuning, archiving strategies, and thorough testing.
Comparing Smaller Sage 100 Partner Support to Sage Direct Support
When you consider the skills listed above, it’s clear that effective multi-company support for Sage 100 isn’t based on a support provider’s size, but on their consultants’ expertise and experience.
The real differences lie in three areas:
1. Pricing
Smaller Sage 100 partners tend to have more flexible pricing models, with options to bundle implementation, customization, and support to meet their clients’ unique needs. For example, they might offer discounts for add-ons when included in the implementation, or provide special support deals for the first year.
Sage Direct Support has a highly structured pricing model focused on consistency and compliance. As a large, global corporation, they can feel more systematic in their pricing, but that structure keeps their model scalable, allowing them to serve a massive number of customers fairly.
2. Timelines
Smaller Sage partners can often meet faster implementation or support timelines. They follow the same framework as Sage, but typically have nimbler internal decision-making. This helps them more easily adapt timelines and priorities to fit individual client needs.
The Sage Direct team follows structured implementation and support phases, with a very methodical approach. Some companies needing custom configurations find this approach slow and rigid, whereas others prefer the firm structure paired with its precise, predictable process.
3. Ongoing support
Smaller Sage 100 partners offer more personalized support than the Sage team because they can assign a single rep to your company. Over time, that person gets to know your business and your people, building a responsive, friendly support relationship. A Sage partner can also often offer faster turnarounds due to shorter ticket queues and agile prioritization processes.
Sage’s direct support excels at providing standardized resolution for critical issues affecting all Sage 100 users simultaneously. For security patches and common bug fixes, Sage is often the fastest option. Since they’re the team that creates those fixes, they can deploy them quickly, provided you don’t have highly customized configurations to work around. (Sage partners handle patches and fixes, too, but may have a slight resolution delay if all their clients are affected at once.)
Both paths can lead to successful multi-company support. The right choice depends on your business’s size, complexity, and support preferences.
A Third Option: Why Not Use Both?
Instead of choosing Sage 100 partner support OR Sage direct support, you have a third option: choose both!
The two support options can be complementary. Some businesses use a partner for day-to-day needs while relying on Sage resources for major platform issues.
Which Support Option Is Right for You?
Smaller Sage 100 partners are well-equipped to implement and support multi-company systems, particularly for SMBs that value personalized service.
Sage’s support team is also a solid choice, especially if you can invest in higher support tiers like Gold or Platinum.
Ultimately, the right fit depends on your company’s individual needs and preferences.
If a Sage partner sounds like the right fit, we’d be happy to show you what that looks like in practice. Contact our Sage 100 expert team and get clear, direct answers about your multi-company setup and support options.
