Sage 100 Contractor Vs. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

At Techware, the difference between Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate is often one of the first topics we cover with folks.

To be a successful construction or real estate company, you’ll eventually need to implement an integrated software solution that allows you to control costs, manage a higher volume of more complex projects, and account for all the construction-specific processes that are critical to your operation.

You need powerful job costing, an integrated estimating and management software, and an accounting platform that allows clarity on insurance licenses, retainage, certified payroll, and invoice differentials.

But deciding on a software is challenging because you’re essentially choosing the platform your entire business will work on, meaning you need to get it right.

Sage is the dominant solution in the construction industry, and they provide two powerful pieces of software – Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 CRE.

It can get really confusing trying to figure out the differences between Sage 100, Sage 100C, Sage 100 Contractor, Sage 300 and Sage 300 CRE.  Sage has been creating construction software for so long, and it provides so many a-la-carte options to the accounting field. However, this tends to lead to a bit of confusion about the different versions that are available.

Let us clearly show you the difference between Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 CRE (Construction and Real Estate).

First of all: Sage 100 and Sage 300 are different from Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate.

That’s really confusing, but it’s important to note as you’re gathering information.  When you see “Sage 100” and “Sage 300,” they are referring to generic accounting software that Sage has built – and it’s different from the powerful construction specific software the industry has come to love.

If you’re in construction, you don’t want Sage 100 or Sage 300, you’ll want Sage 100 Contractor or Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate.

Integrated for Construction

Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 CRE are both an integrated system that combines project accounting, estimating, project management, scheduling, document management and even service management,  all together under one roof.

This means that you’ll be able to enter data once, manage each process accurately, and have high-definition visibility to your business.

Increase Cash & Reduce AR

Integrated Software will increase your cash and speed of payment as well, because you’ll be generating more accurate data instantly, rather than managing processes in spreadsheets and Quickbooks.

What Both Sage 100 and 300 Can Do

Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 CRE are at their core project management software tools.

With each of these programs, you can manage your accounting, create estimates, make schedules, generate reports, and correspond with vendors, subcontractors, and clients.

Both Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 CRE will do a masterful job at helping a construction company measure, manage and control their processes from end to end, while only entering data once.

That’s probably the key value proposition for the Sage Construction suite of products – you’re able to enter data once, and that same data will flow through your entire work-flow; from estimate, to bid, to take-off, to the job-site, to the financial statement.

Basically, each is designed to run your whole business, not just a portion, like job cost accounting software packages do.  With either Sage 100 or Sage 300, all the different areas of your business come together under one roof, making sure you stay on schedule, and on budget, while eliminating the need for double data entry

Also, both can be integrated with Sage Anywhere, giving you access to your full database from a phone or mobile device.

What’s the Difference Between Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 CRE?

Sage 100 Contractor is built for small to mid-sized construction companies, while Sage 300 CRE is designed for larger companies with greater intercompany transactions and consolidated reporting.

InterCompany Transactions and Consolidated Reporting

The market has many accounting solutions for managing multiple companies, and Sage 100 Contractor is absolutely capable of handling most of what you’d throw at it.

Sage 100 Contractor tries to keep things streamlined for smaller teams to manage and implement.

Larger companies want additional features, reporting and customization to fit each individual company within their enterprise – which Sage 300 CRE is built to do.

When it comes to inter-company transactions, and the consolidated reporting, you’ll want Sage 300 CRE.  Sage 300 helps you manage the due-to, and due-from, between each company within your organization, so there’s no need to start tracking on spreadsheets or using multiple systems.

Sage 300 CRE is perfect for handling more complex inter-company transactions.

Sage 300 CRE will use one database for each individual company, which means that when you make changes to a vendor or sub contractor’s file, that information will be reflected across all companies.

Real Estate Development & Property Management

Real Estate and property management companies love Sage 300 CRE because each individual legal entity is able to manage the complex inter-company servicing, which is critical when dealing with businesses with depreciation, cost segregations and such large differences in taxation.

Which is Right for Me?

If you’re not as concerned about the complex inter-company billing or consolidated reporting, then Sage 100 Contractor is probably a great answer for you.

If you’re a larger company that not only has the intercompany due-to and due-from needs, but also the need for customized reporting, then Sage 300 CRE might be a better solution.

Sage 100 Pricing & Sage 300 Pricing

Pricing-wise, Sage 100 C is made to be affordable for small to mid-sized construction companies while Sage 300 CRE is priced more for mid to large-sized companies.

Both of these solutions differ in pricing based on a number of variables such as the number of users required by your organization.

We’d be happy to have a quick conversation with you about the kind of pricing you can expect – just give us a call or shoot us an email and we’ll get back to you.

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