Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks: Compare Features & Pricing

QuickBooks Online offers many features for businesses across different industries while Sage 100 Contractor is tailor-made for general, service, and other contractors that need specialized functionality, such as unitary billing, equipment tracking, and project scheduling. QuickBooks Online might be enough for very small contractors that need to track activity by class and location.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks At a Glance

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Monthly Pricing	Quote-based	$30–$200
Users Included	Unlimited	1–25
Billable Clients	Unlimited	Unlimited
Create & Send Invoices	✓	✓
Connect Bank & Credit Card Accounts	✓	✓
Manage & Track Unpaid Bills	✓	✓
Run Advanced Financial Reports	✓	✓
Track Income & Expenses by Projects	✓	✓
Create Estimates, Including Budgeting Hours	✓	✓
Track Equipment	✓	✕
Loan Draw Applications	✓	✕
Unitary Billing	✓	✓
Consolidate Financial Statements From Multiple Data Files	✓	✕
Manage & Track Fixed Assets	✓	✕
Mobile App Functionality	Time tracking only	Accounting
Mobile App Accessibility	iOS and Android	iOS and Android
Bookkeeping Support Option	Sage-certified Consultants	QuickBooks ProAdvisors
	Visit Sage 100 Contractor	Visit QuickBooks Online

Who Should Use Each

Large general contractors and home builders: Sage 100 Contractor offers more construction-specific features than QuickBooks. For instance, it includes multiday service dispatch capability, equipment tracking, and enhanced job progress reporting, which allows you to track job profitability by cost type, cost code, job type, divisions, and salespersons. It combines accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in one platform, making it one of our best QuickBooks alternatives.
Businesses that need to track fixed assets: Sage 100 Contractor allows you to set up asset depreciation schedules, generate IRS-ready depreciation tax forms, track fixed asset transfers, and more. QuickBooks Online has no features for tracking or depreciating fixed assets.
Speculative builders and developers: The program has a loan draw request module designed for speculative builders who need to submit a percentage of completion draw requests to capital providers.
Businesses that carry a large inventory: Sage 100 Contractor and QuickBooks Online both have good inventory management features, but QuickBooks Online has no options for tracking assemblies and can’t track inventory in multiple locations. These advanced features can be found in Sage 100 Contractor.

Read our review of Sage 100 Contractor to see if it’s a good alternative to QuickBooks.

Visit Sage 100 Contractor

Small contractors that need basic construction accounting features: QuickBooks Online will track your income and expenses by project, which is great if you want to track your service department income and expenses.
Businesses looking for a mobile accounting solution: It has a robust mobile app that lets you send invoices, accept payments, track mileage, and scan receipts. Sage 100 Contractor has a mobile app, but it’s only used to track time.
Businesses that often need bookkeeping support: QuickBooks Online is popular for its vast network of independent QuickBooks ProAdvisors to help you with your complex bookkeeping needs. You can also subscribe to QuickBooks Live for basic bookkeeping services directly from Intuit. Sage 100 Contractor has no dedicated bookkeeping service, but you can find Sage-certified consultants to support you. Since QuickBooks Online is more commonly used, it’s easier to find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor than a Sage-certified consultant.

Check out our review of QuickBooks Online to see if it’s right for you.

Visit QuickBooks Online

Who Should Use an Alternative

Businesses looking for free accounting software: Sage 100 Contractor and QuickBooks come with a cost, which can be an issue for very small businesses. If you’re on a budget and need basic accounting features for free, you should consider Lendio Accounting (formerly Sunrise).
Companies that prefer desktop-based accounting software: Sage 100 Contractor and QuickBooks Online are both cloud-based, which means they need an internet connection to run. If your internet connection and connectivity are a concern, then a locally installed accounting software like QuickBooks Desktop is a good alternative.

Are you seeking other options for your construction business? Read our guide to the best construction accounting software to discover our top picks.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks Online: Pricing

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Monthly Pricing	Quote based	$30 (Simple Start) $55 (Essentials) $85 (Plus) $200 (Advanced)
Number of Users	Unlimited	1 (Simple Start) 3 (Essentials) 5 (Plus) 25 (Advanced)
Number of Billable Clients	Unlimited	Unlimited
Free Trial	✕	✓
	Visit Sage 100 Contractor	Visit QuickBooks Online

It’s difficult to compare Sage 100 Contractor and QuickBooks in terms of pricing because Sage’s price is quote-based. However, Sage 100 Contractor is more sophisticated than QuickBooks Online and likely more expensive as well.

Tip:

If you need help deciding which QuickBooks Online version fits your needs, check out our QuickBooks Online comparison.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks Online: Features

Accounts Receivable

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Create & Send Invoices	✓	✓
Customize Invoices	✓	✓
View Outstanding Invoices	✓	✓
Create Recurring Invoices	✓	✓
Issue a Credit Memo to a Customer	✓	✓
Accept Short Payments From Customers	✓	✕
Set Up Billing for Loan Draws	✓	✓
Track Change Orders	✓	✓

Both programs have a great accounts receivable (A/R) function. However, Sage 100 Contractor offers special billing options such as loan draws, which help contractors improve collection management.

Accounts Payable

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Manage & Track Unpaid Bills	✓	✓
Create & Manage Vendor	✓	✓
Capture Expense Receipts	✓	✓
Create Recurring Expenses	✓	✓
Record Purchase Orders (POs)	✓	✓
Record Vendor Credits	✓	✓
Track Payments to Independent Contractors	✓	✓
Short-pay Vendors	✓	✓
Queue Payments for Review	✓	✕
Track Liability Insurance and License Expiration Dates of Subcontractors	✓	✕

QuickBooks Online and Sage 100 Contractor both have powerful bill management features, such as the ability to track unpaid bills and create recurring expenses. Sage 100 Contractor offers some nice ERP features like tracking expiration dates on subcontractors’ liability insurance and licenses, which will help you determine which subcontractors haven’t provided their required documentation prior to paying them.

Inventory Management

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Accessibility	Cloud	Cloud
Requires Installation	✕	✕
Shortcut Buttons	✓	✓
Ease of Setup	Moderate	Moderate
Overall Ease of Use	Moderate	Easy

Sage 100 Contractor has more options for tracking inventory than QuickBooks Online. Both allow you to track inventory from the time you receive it until you consume it, but Sage 100 Contractor does some other things that QuickBooks Online can’t. It helps you track inventory by bin and lot numbers, and you can track inventory in multiple locations and warehouses. If your business carries a large inventory, then Sage 100 Contractor is preferable.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks Online: Ease of Use

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Accessibility	Cloud	Cloud
Requires Installation	✕	✕
Shortcut Buttons	✓	✓
Ease of Setup	Moderate	Moderate
Overall Ease of Use	Moderate	Easy

Both QuickBooks Online and Sage 100 Contractor have a fairly intuitive interface. However, Sage 100 Contractor has a more extensive feature set, which can be a bit overwhelming at first. You may need some time to learn basic functions like creating and customizing reports. Meanwhile, QuickBooks Online’s dashboard is cleaner and uncluttered, making it more user-friendly than Sage 100 Contractor.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks Online: Integrations

Sage partners with many construction developers whose integrations can help to increase the productivity of your business. There are currently more than 25 integrations available for Sage 100 Contractor, which include:

Customer management: TopBuilder CRM and Followup CRM
Payroll: PayDataLynx, TimeBank, and Arcoro
Budgeting/forecasting: insightsoftware and Prophix
Project management: FIELDFLO, Procore, RedTeam Software, and ToolWatch
Accounts payable (A/P): GCPay.com and AvidXchange,
Time tracking: mJobTime, TimeCardLynx, and ExakTime

QuickBooks Online integrates with more than 650 business apps that range from customer management to budgeting and forecasting. There are also two direct integrations that can be accessed from within the QuickBooks Online application: QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks Time, which are described below:

QuickBooks Payroll: This feature gives you access to payroll, tax filing, workers’ compensation, health benefits, and other functions related to human resources (HR).
QuickBooks Time: Allow your employees to track time from any location, and the data will automatically sync to your QuickBooks account in real-time. You can also create schedules and send them to members of your team, review and approve timesheets, and track projects. QuickBooks Time has 11 standard reports, including team member job costing and payroll hours summary.

Learn more about QuickBooks Online’s built-in integrations in our reviews of QuickBooks Payroll, QuickBooks Payments, and QuickBooks Time.

Here are some available third-party integrations for QuickBooks Online:

Customer management: Method:CRM, Aero Workflow, and Insightly
Payroll: RUN Powered by ADP, Gusto, and Square Payroll
Budgeting/forecasting: Cash Flow Frog, Fathom, and Budgeto
Project management: Buildertrend, Jobber, Quotient, and ServiceTrade
A/P: Bill.com, Checkflo, Beanworks, Plooto, and Veem
Time tracking: ClockShark Time Tracking, Time Tracker by eBillity, and OnTheClock Time Clock

As compared to Sage 100 Contractor, QuickBooks Online offers a much more comprehensive list of available integrations. However, most of Sage 100 Contractor’s tools are specific to the construction industry, which allows you to home in on the items necessary for your business.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks Online: Mobile App Functionality

Unlike QuickBooks, Sage 100 Contractor lacks a mobile accounting app that handles most accounting functions. However, it does have an app that allows employees in the field to submit job-related or non-job time entries directly to the Sage 100 Contractor application. The QuickBooks mobile app is much more robust, providing many of the same features that are in the online interface, such as the ability to send invoices, accept payments online, and capture expense receipts.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks Online: Assisted Bookkeeping

QuickBooks users have an option to hire a virtual bookkeeper through QuickBooks Live, which provides assistance with the cleanup of your accounting history, onboarding, monthly financial reports, and video calls. There isn’t an official equivalent for Sage 100 Contractor, but you can hire an authorized business partner for help with training, implementation, and software demos.

Sage 100 Contractor doesn’t have a dedicated bookkeeping service available, but Sage Professional Services provides Sage-certified consultants that can assist with both on-site and online software implementation and training. All services are fee-based and include data merges, onboarding, and custom reporting implementation.

QuickBooks users that are looking for assistance with bookkeeping have access to QuickBooks Live, which offers virtual bookkeeping support. While you’ll still need to manage your A/R and A/P, and inventory, QuickBooks Live will reconcile your accounts and provide monthly financial reports. Video calls with your QuickBooks Live bookkeeper allow you to ask questions and discuss the report data. Another option is to find a local QuickBooks ProAdvisor who can provide support to your bookkeeping needs.

QuickBooks Online offers access to online bookkeepers and provides a guarantee that all data will be accurate. Sage 100 Contractor will help you find a Sage-certified consultant that’ll provide more in-depth services than QuickBooks Live, but presumably at a higher price.

Sage 100 Contractor vs QuickBooks: Customer Support

	Sage 100 Contractor	QuickBooks Online
Phone Support	You Make the Call	Send a Request and Wait for a Call
Live Chat Support	✕	✓
Chatbot	✓	✓
Email Support	✓	✕
Self-help Resources	✓	✓

We also compare Sage 100 Contractor and QuickBooks Online in terms of customer support, and we found that Sage 100 Contractor has the upper hand. It allows you to call customer support directly during extended business hours. With QuickBooks, you have to send a request first, and then wait for them to call you.

Bottom Line

While QuickBooks Online can be relevant for any business, Sage 100 Contractor focuses on the construction management industry. Each software provides many of the same features, such as expense tracking and management, invoice creation, and project management. However, the difference is that Sage 100 Contractor is more of a tailor-made solution, allowing you to eliminate the features you don’t need and focus on those you do.