Sage Business Cloud Accounting vs 1&1 Online Accounting Comparison

Every business has its own needs, but when it comes to accounting all companies will want everything to be done fast and precisely. Online accounting solutions can help businesses achieve just that alongside so many other great benefits, making them especially useful for those who want to automatize as much as possible. But what about those companies – the ‘minimalists’ – that only require the bare minimum when it comes to digital bookkeeping? Thankfully, there is a perfect solution for both maximalists and minimalists alike: Sage Business Cloud Accounting and 1&1 Online Accounting.

These features are pretty impressive on their own, but it’s the extras that truly make Sage’s solution worth your investment. One such example is the summary page, which serves as a multi-faceted dashboard showcasing additional information about your business, such as a handy cash flow forecast. In addition to that, the program also provides an insanely detailed inventory, built-in integration with Google Drive, checking functionality, and even the ability to manage multiple businesses within the same account. And we haven’t even mentioned that Sage’s software can be enhanced further by reinforcing it with any of the 28 integration options provided for the U.S. clientele.

There is one catch, though: most of these features are available only in the top plan, which is a fixed $25 a month with no option for discounts due to the lack of longer-term subscriptions. However, it’s worth noting that both this subscription plan and Sage Business Cloud Accounting Start can both be trialed for free for the first 30 days of use.

It’s worth mentioning that there is an inventory available for the program but, quite shockingly, it requires manual data entry – an issue that is also present when it comes to creating and sending out payment reminders to clients, too. This can become pretty annoying after a while, but it’s something that is at least manageable; the lack of mobile support or integration options, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

Despite not being as well equipped as Sage’s solution, there is a key factor that could make 1&1 Online Accounting worth considering: its prices. The simplest version of the software can be purchased for as low as $5 a month – which also includes a 30-day risk-free trial – but even the full experience available with the top plan, Inventory Management, only costs $19.99 a month when paid on an annual basis.

Conclusion

Admittedly, picking a winner out of these two online accounting solutions seems like an easy task at first – and we wouldn’t blame you for automatically favoring Sage Business Cloud Accounting. The cloud service is indeed a behemoth compared to 1&1 Online Accounting in almost every aspect, whether that is its list of features or any of the available extras.

However, even if it’s inferior next to Sage’s solution, 1&1 still has its advantages over the accounting software giant. In fact, being a simple, straightforward solution with only the most necessary features on board and having very affordable prices makes 1&1 ideal for those who only want the basics or are unfamiliar with the world of online accounting. But if you’d rather stick to an intelligent digital accountant that has withstood the test of time, then Sage is the perfect solution for taking care of your books.