Odoo vs Sage - Accounting software comparison guide for the UK

To compare accounting software effectively, you need a common benchmark

Vendors bundle features differently. 

Some include core functions like SEPA or deferred revenue. Others split them into add-ons or leave them out entirely.

This comparison looks at the features UK businesses typically rely on once accounting becomes operationally critical. Here’s what that typically includes:

• Multi-currency support: Needed for working with international suppliers or clients
• BACS & SEPA payment formats: Required for smooth UK-wide and cross-border EU payments
• Deferred revenue handling: Critical for subscription or prepaid business models
• Automation (OCR, reminders): Reduces manual effort and error-prone data entry
• User access: Important for managing financial roles and security, where entries need to be locked for accountants, financial teams, and general views
• Multi-company consolidation: Needed to close books across multiple entities, have a full overview of business results, and a company’s financial health
• Custom reports and KPIs: Useful for investor reporting, board packs, and forecasts
• Smart reconciliation: Saves time with matching logic and AI rules

We compared:

• Odoo Enterprise: full accounting with automation, SEPA, and reporting tools
• Sage 50 Accounting: standard UK package for small and midsize firms.

These reflect the plans most teams use once they’ve outgrown lightweight accounting tools. 

We also contrasted both options with Sage Intacct, their high-end cloud accounting option for multi-entity and compliance. In contrast with Odoo Enterprise and Sage 50, which have fixed prices and are ready to use, Sage Intacct can only be contracted on consultation.

UK tax compliance requires HMRC recognition and MTD

HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) is the UK government department responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing compliance.

Odoo is officially recognised by HMRC as compliant with the UK’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) requirements, the government’s initiative to digitalise VAT returns and accounting records. 

That means UK businesses can use Odoo to:

• Submit digital VAT returns
• Maintain digital VAT records
• Stay MTD-compliant without third-party plugins.

Sage has supported MTD since its introduction and also meets all HMRC-recognised requirements. 

Both tools meet the digital VAT and MTD compliance requirements for the UK. 

Odoo vs Sage key accounting features

Before diving into specifics, here’s a high-level comparison of the features UK businesses typically depend on, from consolidation and automation to reporting and localisation.

In a nutshell:

Sage covers the core needs of UK finance teams with MTD, VAT, and invoicing tools.

Odoo adds automation, SEPA payments, AI, and multi-entity consolidation all under one licence.

Customer invoicing & accounts receivable

We compared how both tools manage recurring invoices, subscription billing, and customer communication.

In a nutshell:

Odoo suits businesses with complex billing, subscriptions, or EU clients.

Sage is ideal for straightforward invoicing but lacks advanced billing logic for upsells or renewals.

Vendor bills, AP automation & SEPA / BACS support

This section compares how Odoo and Sage handle vendor payments, OCR, and approvals.

In a nutshell:

Odoo automates the full accounts payable chain, from OCR vendor bill scanning to SEPA payments and subsequent support.

Sage offers solid vendor billing tools, but advanced payment formats and approval logic are only found in Intacct.

Purchase approvals and purchase agreements, ready to be reconciled in Odoo Accounting.

Bank feeds & reconciliation

From supported formats to matching logic, here’s how both systems handle reconciliation.

In a nutshell:

Sage offers smooth UK bank feeds and reconciliation.

Odoo supports more formats and adds AI-powered matching rules for multi-entity setups.

Auto reconciliation in Odoo 19.

Reporting & dashboards

We compared what reporting options each platform provides out of the box and how customisable they are for UK finance teams.

In a nutshell:

Sage delivers strong, compliant reports with clean visuals.

Odoo enables multi-dimensional pivot analysis and KPI tracking, which is ideal for growing teams and group reporting.

Automation & AI

We reviewed what automation and AI features each system provides.

In a nutshell:

Sage uses Gemini AI to support simple recognition and tagging.

Odoo goes further with native AI for accounting, reconciliation, and reporting. Odoo is also open source, which means that users can add custom automation via API or the app store.

One example is our AI app for Automated Actions, which extends AI to any workflow in Odoo.

Platform scope, pricing & deployment options

*Range depending on subscription plans (from monthly billing to 5-year contracts)

In a nutshell:

Odoo delivers all-in-one ERP capabilities with a flat licence model, from small businesses starting off to large enterprises with multi-entity operations. 

Sage scales through product tiers. Sage 50 works for small to medium businesses. Sage Intacct is best for enterprise, but with higher costs and limited flexibility.

When to choose Odoo and when to choose Sage