Sage has been a player in the ERP software market since 1981 when its founders started talking about how to develop better accounting software. The company recently re-branded its different ERP offerings into four primary products: Sage ERP 100, 300, 500, and X3. Each one is geared towards progressively bigger companies, which makes Sage ERP 100 (formerly Sage Master Builder) the choice for smaller to mid-sized construction businesses.

It positions itself as a good choice for companies who are outgrowing their simpler accounting software. Its various features cover all the bases of the construction cycle, including estimates, schedules, management, accounting, costing, and service. In all cases, new data is only entered once, and is accessed through a robust dashboard that gives instant views of where a company is at on performance, costs, and other metrics. With hundreds of available reports, and many more possible through customization, the system can also be configured to send out alerts for a variety of critical incidents, such as the expiration of insurance certificates, dwindling bank balances, and many more. Teams can quickly and easily see everything related to a job from one central location, whether punch lists, RFIs, cost reports, estimates, and so on. Sage also claims superior customer support, especially through its call centers, but also its online help options.

Pros

Several users note that the ability to copy information from one screen to another is a huge relief. In general, this is highlighted by many users who are happy with high degree of integration between the different functions, which allows information to flow smoothly and effortlessly throughout the system. Many also find their introduction to the software easier than expected due to how similar it is to Microsoft Excel in how it works.

Cons

Depending on what your business needs, some users feel like every report they need has to be custom built, which feels like a big drain on time and energy, slowing down workflows significantly. This is especially the case when the report you need must draw information across functions or modules. In terms of customer support, some have noted that the phone calls can be lengthy to get to the solution, but are also quick to point out that this is due to Sage giving each customer its full attention and support. Some have noted that while searching the knowledge base happens quickly, viewing the desired document takes a frustrating amount of time. More than one user has noted that if you need a form that doesn’t already exist, you can’t modify it, and writing a new one is a cumbersome process.

In addition to taking full advantage of Sage support, several users note that it’s possible to experiment with what you want to do, either in the Sample Company or by creating a copy of your company’s data. Keep in mind that there are lots of bells and whistles in Sage 100 that your company may not need, which means a less expensive ERP software solution may be just fine for you.