What is Sage 200 Professional?
Sage 200 Professional is a robust Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that centralises all key business processes in one place. It manages things like financials, inventory, supply chain, sales order processing and purchase order processing in a single piece of software.
By managing these key business processes in one system, businesses can truly trust the accuracy of their data because it exists in one database. They can also streamline their operations by moving away from disparate systems and software for different business functions.
What is the difference between Sage 200 Standard and Professional?
Sage 200 Standard is an out-the-box ERP offering from Sage that is entirely cloud-based. It features core financials and commercials, and is often a popular choice for businesses who have outgrown Sage 50. It’s designed for up to 200 users, and will suit a multitude of businesses who don’t have industry specific requirements.
Sage 200 Professional is an on-premise ERP that is cloud-connected. It can also be hosted on managed servers by a third-party, and more recently, businesses are choosing to host Sage 200 Professional on cloud-platforms such as Microsoft Azure.
Unlike Sage 200 Standard, Sage 200 Professional has a wide range of additional modules available, making it highly customisable. The modules tackle industry specific needs, most commonly in industries such as manufacturing, construction and warehousing and distribution.
Sage 200 Standard features one base currency, whereas Sage 200 Professional is fully multi-currency. Also, Sage 200 Standard only features 5 analysis codes for reporting on data, whereas Sage 200 Professional features 20. This means the reporting capabilities in Sage 200 Professional are more advanced than Standard, with the additional analysis codes allowing you to analyse your data to greater depths.
For a full comparison you can read our article Eventura Compares – Sage 200 Standard vs Professional.
What are the core features of Sage 200 Professional?
First and foremost, Sage 200 Professional has exceptional accounting capabilities. The Sage 200 Financials module features a range of essential accounting functions including;
- Sales Ledger
- Purchase Ledger
- Nominal Ledger
- Cashbook
- Invoicing
These key functions allow businesses to accurately manage their finances. Because all Sage 200 modules are fully integrated with Sage 200 Financials, data flows seamlessly into one centralised location, offering a real-time view of the businesses financial status.
For a more in depth look at Sage 200 Financials, you can read our informative article Sage 200 Financials Explained.
Another core module within Sage 200 Professional is Sage 200 Commercials. The module is designed to make stock and supply chain more manageable. Its main features include;
- Sales Order Processing (SOP)
- Purchase Order Processing (POP)
- Price Book
- Advanced Stock Management
- Invoicing
With Sage 200 Commercials, businesses can accurately track and manage inventory entering the business on purchase orders in order to meet sales order demand. Costings can be tracked accurately, with all the information feeding back into Sage 200 Financials. Again, this gives businesses a true view of their current finances including cashflow and profitability.
Want to learn more about Sage 200 Commercials? Read our in-depth article Sage 200 Commercials Explained.
What additional modules are available for Sage 200 Professional?
As we’ve already mentioned, Sage 200 Professional has a range of modules aimed at solving industry specific challenges. Some of these modules have been developed by Sage themselves, whilst some have been developed by trusted Sage Development Partners.
One of these partners is Sicon. Sicon has a long history with Sage, having developed modules for them for almost two decades. They have taken a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to create solutions for the challenges faced in many different industries. Below, we’ll focus on three industries where Sicon developed modules for Sage 200 have been a real game-changer;
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Warehousing
Sicon Manufacturing for Sage 200 Professional
Sicon Manufacturing is now the chosen manufacturing solution offered by Sage 200. Although Sage 200 had their own manufacturing suite, it has now been retired in favour of Sicon’s offering. The module consists of the following;
- Works Order Processing
- Projects
- Estimating and Capacity Planning
- Resource Planning
- Material Planning
- Labour Recording
With Sicon Manufacturing, businesses can gain complete control over every aspect of the manufacturing processes. From high volume repeat production, to bespoke one-off project costed jobs, the module offers full process control and visibility of costs.
The main function of the module is to identify the resources, materials and labour required for production, and create detailed works orders to follow. Estimating and capacity planning allow businesses to meet future demand, ensuring the manufacturing process doesn’t become stalled.
You can learn more about the module in our article Sicon Manufacturing for Sage 200.
Sicon Construction for Sage 200 Professional
The Sicon Construction module was designed to navigate the niché challenges faced within the construction industry. Construction firms are required to deliver large scale projects, with vast inventory requirements, labour and machine resources and even industry specific VAT regulations for subcontractor payments. Sicon’s Construction module helps deal with these challenges and includes the following;
- CIS/CITB (available as a single module)
- Projects
- Retentions
- Applications & Valuations
With Sicon’s CIS/CITB module, contstruction companies can easily submit VAT payments for work carried out by subcontractors, in-line with HMRC’s VAT reverse charge in the construction industry.
The projects module allows all aspects of the construction process including costs to be monitored in one place, offering an accurate view of the projects current status and profitability.
The Applications, Valuations and Retentions module allows construction firms to hold supplier and subcontractor payments on a dedicated register until works are completed. This means payments made at the end of a project are reflective of the work carried out/parts supplied.
Find out more about how Sage 200 can help construction businesses in our article Why Choose Sage 200 for Construction Companies?
Sicon Barcoding and Warehousing for Sage 200 Professional
Although the Sicon Barcoding and Warehousing module is particularly useful within the warehousing and distribution businesses, it’s actually invaluable to any business dealing with inventory management, purchase orders and sales orders. This is why the module is also extremely popular with manufacturing businesses.
The module allows businesses to manage their inventory at batch and serial number level, on any hand-held Android device on the shopfloor. This means all stock entering a business on purchase orders can be scanned in and put away in a warehouse location accurately.
Stock can then be located easily to fulfil sales orders, and subsequently booked out once sales orders are despatched. For manufacturing businesses, component parts can be accurately managed in order to complete production. Some of the main features include;
- Receive purchases orders, and put away into existing or new bins.
- Pick & despatch sales orders.
- Pick & despatch sales orders.
- Add ‘found’ stock.
- Write off damaged stock.
- Complete a Stock take for both traceable and non-traceable items.
- Transfer stock in the warehouse, even if it is allocated.
- Print bar-code labels at goods in.
- Print warehouse bin location labels.
- Print barcodes on purchase orders and sales orders.
If you want a more in depth look, check out the article The Benefits of Sage 200 for Warehousing & Distribution.
Which version of Sage 200 should I choose?
The answer to this question comes down to your business requirements. Sage 200 Standard is a powerful cloud-based ERP that will more than satisfy the needs of many businesses. With core financials and commercials, it can help you streamline your processes, improve accuracy and reporting. If however you require more in-depth reporting, multi-currency, or industry specific requirements, Sage 200 Professional might be a better choice.
With its wide range of additional modules, multi-currency and advanced reporting, Sage 200 Professional is a best-in-class ERP solution. Its ability to meet the sometimes niché needs of specific industries sets it apart from Sage 200 Standard, and other ERP systems on the market.
When deciding on which version to go with, it’s important you take the time to identify your business needs in immense detail, and speak to an expert who can guide you through the ERP selection process.
If you would like to get an idea how much Sage 200 costs, you can visit our Sage 200 Pricing Page.
Why choose Eventura to help deliver your Sage 200 project?
With two decades of Sage deployments under our belt, we are experts in delivering robust Sage 200 solutions that are meticulously designed to suit your specific business needs. We take a full 360-degree view of your business, and help you identify all of your requirements.
Our team of expert business analysts, developers, consultants, technicians and support staff will guide you through your Sage 200 project from conception, through to deployment and ongoing support.
If you would like to speak with one of our Sage 200 experts, you can request a free call back here.
