Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate - Avis

I would have to say that 22 years ago when I starting using and implementing Sage 300 (Timberline) there were many pros with industry leading solutions for the construction industry, unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

Sage 300 CRE is stuck in a rut. There is always "promise" of updates and better user interface but literally nothing ever happens. The fact that you can't even use the system remotely on a standard laptop has been frustrating beyond anything I have dealt with this last year. Sage seriously needs to get current with user's expectations.

Once you get used to the format that everything is a drill-down task then it gets easier to use. This program probably intergrates the best especially for a multi-divisional company to have a single system that does everything, A/R, A/P, Contract Management, Payroll it's great.

There is a large learning curve going from any other system to this one it is different but it is capable.

Job Cost module is very helpful. It could have options that are more easily accessible to add change orders and paid date on the job cost reports.

That the entries in one module don’t post to every other module.

You can easily track or manage your project. It also provides you with accurate financial reporting so everyone has visibility into every aspect of the projects including progress and financials. You can easily identify gaps and issues before early while they can be easily resolved before they become problems and incidents. You can easily print both cost based and fixed price invoices

The software is a bit pricey if you are to enjoy fully all the modules which small businesses might struggle to raise.

It had the ability to customize features in the program

The service module is way behind the times and will be the ultimate reason we leave Sage at some point. Even though we haver added SSO for some time now it still does not change the fact the back office program is the problem. We need more flexibility with departments and costing to meet the real service world.
Also in order to make Sage work to meet todays requirements we have had to add third party programs such as Timberscan, Cabbage, hh2 and any even a program to get better access to your data. Sage is exactly the kind of program third part developers want and keeps them in business. Having Sage 300 Re means you will be forced to use other companies to get what you want out of the program.

I did not realize how the programs we pieces bolted on and that there not actually built together. Once I knew how the purchasing module had to use Macros to make it work and communicate to the rest of the program was extremely disappointing. The program does not easily allow you to perform the payroll function easily with Payroll companies. Basically you cant get job costing to pickup until you process a weekly payroll to get it on the jobs. You are left handcuffed to do payroll in house when smaller companies want to move that process out of their company.

The program was moved into the cloud last year in my company but it is really not cloud based. So you have to work in a remote desktop way verses a true cloud based program.

We integrate other estimating and purchasing software for our home building division and that works fairly well. As a database repository, it works well. It is easy to get information in the system and you have a lot of ability to customize and create fields.

The reporting tools in Sage 300 CRE are not good. Getting information out of the system has always been our challenge. We end up extracting the data via other tools and creating our own reports in other tools (i.e. excel). The financial statement and other report writing tools are not easy to work with, and frequently have issues that need to be corrected (or acknowledged... still not sure why Sage can not figure out how to round properly to make a balance sheet balance)...

I like that in general you are able to import tables from other software or ones created in Excel rather than either not having history or having to manually enter it. There are many very sophisticated modules to help you manager your business. There are awesome video's with lessons that you can use (over and over) for a period of time to learn each module broken down step by step. The job cost is able to import estimates created in Timberline (SAGE) Estimating, another very sophisticated program. From those estimates you can actually create purchase orders for items estimated, and email them directly to your vendors. Very slick if the program is set up correctly.

This is a complicated system and not for the average AP person or Controller/Accountant. You will more than likely need to hire an expert to train and walk you through implementation. The reports are rarely exactly what you want, so you either have to pay the expert to change them or to learn to change them yourself. The whole implementation process is lengthy - there is a learning curve.

Sage 300 cre is robust. It can be all encompassing with “modules”. From Estimating (which is an excellent product) through the accounting modules to project management, the workflow is pretty seamless.

The annual maintenance cost for a product that is not SAS is pretty high. It is not clouds accessible and project management modules has fallen behind the times, especially compared to a product like procore.

The ability to create specific roles for users.

The upgrades are a nightmare. Have to touch all desktops while doing an upgrade is extensively time consuming.
The support is atrocious. I open a ticket online and get an answer that doesn't even relate to my question. I've already scoured the knowledgebase, but the response I get it just sending me to a knowledgebase article. Then I'm told to call in. When I do call in, I get to listen to a message for 1 minute that tells me to go online and look at the knowledgebase (waste of my time), than I sit on hold for an hour to get a first level support person that doesn't know the answer and I need to schedule time to get a call back from some one else.

One of the best things about the software is that the core applications were designed together, unlike other software that tries to integrate applications from several sources. So, Job Cost, Payroll, AP, AR GL and CM flow together very well. Also, the software was originally designed specific to the construction industry so it really incorporates most of the financial needs of our industry.

We are running into issues in payroll due to the size of our current file. We are subject to job audits and we have many large projects so we like to keep several years' data in one file. However, Aatrix is not able to generate quarterly reports without archiving some payroll data.

Also, it's really nice to have the ability to post to future GL periods. It would be even nicer to be able to roll FORWARD for financial statement the way we can roll back.

The add-ins that allow for easier use of the Software has changed the friendly use of the product.
Adding excel export has made it much easier to create reports instead of using report writers.

The size of the entry, it's too small and you cannot change it.
You are limited to the screen that shows and it normally is too little space or area to view.
The conditioning is far too difficult. You need to understand some basic coding to properly condition.
Formulas also require too much information about IT to properly set up.

I like that there are many work arounds and alternate ways to "get what I need". For example, If someone is in AP, I can generate a report that I need by going to IA. I can also trust but verify results by running multiple reports and annotating their correlation and reconiliation.

I wish there were automatically more User licenses available for the AP and JC module. We are a SME and often run into the issue where two staff members need to be in AP or JC at the same time. They are performing separate functions too.
For example, if I am cutting checks in AP my accounting assistant has to wait until that task is done before she can export new invoices from Paperless into AP.
Perhaps, based on either sales volume or entity size, more licensing can be included with our renewal each year at no additional cost.

Ease of use
Customer Service
Training and Sage U
Reporting
Custom Reports to fit your business needs.

Other than the odd Software Glitch which Sage is more than happy to fix I have no real complaints. Anytime I seem to bring something up that would make the product better Sage seems to be working on/implementing that change.

Some of the financials with rolling numbers and the ability to use intercompany functions. There really isn't much I like about it though.

It's very slow and antiquated. Using modules is very old school and not being able to drill down from one module to another. The pervasive database is horrible and we need to restart the server at least once a week.

Support is responsive when called or emailed. Although a few of the support team have not been able to assist and we have to move up a level

sage is not user friendly. The modules are difficult to maneuver and advancing and closing months should be one step not many. Closing a period should truly make it closed, meaning that no entries or voids can be made without special pw or permissions. Reports take forever to run. Conditions and Ranges are confusing.