Sage counts the money. It was never asked to run the floor.
We build one of the two systems on this page, so read it knowing that. This compares against Sage 50 and Pastel, which is what most Kenyan businesses mean by Sage — and the rows where Sage wins, payroll first among them, are left in the middle of the table.
Two bills, and one of them grows.
Sage is sold by the user and by the module, through a partner. That is a sensible way to sell software and an awkward way to buy it: every new storekeeper is a conversation, and the capability you need next tends to be in the module you do not have.
Records ERP is Ksh 9,500 a month for the whole business, however many people use it, with production and multi-store stock already in it. Nobody has to work out whether the clerk is worth a seat.
Where Sage is better.
Payroll
Genuinely good, and plenty of Kenyan businesses are on Sage for it alone. We have no payroll. If that is why you are there, stay.
Your accountant knows it
Pastel has been here for decades. That is worth real money at handover and at audit, and we know it.
A long, boring track record
Decades of audits and filings have gone through it. We are newer, and that is a fair thing to weigh.
Side by side.
Against Sage 50 and Pastel, as they stand today.
| What you need | Sage | Records ERP |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices, receipts, customer statements | Yes — this is what it is for, and it has done it for a long time. | Yes. Plus one link that opens the customer’s own statement on their phone. |
| Profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, VAT summary | Yes, and your accountant almost certainly likes the output. | Yes — from the same invoices, payments and stock movements. A figure on the trial balance opens into the ledger behind it. |
| Payroll | Yes, and it is genuinely good. A lot of Kenyan businesses are on Sage for payroll alone. | No. Salaries are an expense you record. This is a real gap and you would feel it. |
| Stock, in one place | Yes. Items, quantities, valuation. | Yes, and a ledger of every movement rather than only the current figure. |
| Stock in a godown and a depot or two, with transfers | On the larger products. Not the way most Kenyan SMEs are set up on Sage 50 or Pastel. | Per store, transfers between them, and a movement ledger, in the one price. |
| Production runs and recipes (bills of materials) | Not what the SME products were built around. It usually arrives as a module, or as a spreadsheet. | In the middle of the product. What went in, what came out, what each unit cost. |
| Correct a price you paid three months ago | Corrects the bill. The stock and the cost of what you already sold do not follow. | Follows the goods — through the production run, across transfers, into the cost of goods already sold. |
| Two units for one product — buy by the kilo, sell by the sack | Varies by product and edition; on the SME packages, expect one unit per item. | Yes, and the conversion holds in stock, in cost and in every report. |
| Where it runs | Desktop on the SME products, with a cloud option. What you have is what your partner installed. | A browser. The office computer, a laptop at home, the phone in the yard. |
| A rep selling out on the road | Nothing for stock on a van or a rep’s own credit. | Invoices and payments from the phone they already have, and you see who sold what. |
| Ask a question in plain words and get a figure | No. You go and find the report. | Yes — it answers from your own records and shows the table it counted. |
| Getting somebody who knows it | Easy. Pastel has been in Kenya for decades and accountants know it cold. | Newer. We train your people ourselves, at no extra cost, because we have to. |
| How the bill is shaped | Per user and per module, through a partner. Adding people or capability changes it. | Ksh 96,000 a year — or Ksh 9,500 a month, or Ksh 180,000 once and Ksh 35,000 a year from the second year. Everything included, however many people use it. |
| Who you are actually buying from | A local business partner. What you get depends a great deal on which one. | Us, in Nairobi. Within 5 hours, usually on WhatsApp. |
When to stay on Sage.
If payroll is the reason you are there, stay — we have nothing to offer you on that and pretending otherwise would waste your month. Same if you are a services business or a single-site retailer with no production: Sage is the simpler tool for that job and you would be trading down.
Questions people ask.
- Is Records ERP a Sage or Pastel alternative?
- For a manufacturer or distributor, in most respects yes — with one honest exception, which is payroll. Sage 50 and Pastel are accounting packages: invoices, bills, stock and the books, and they do that well. Records ERP does those and also runs the operation — production runs with recipes, stock across godowns and depots with transfers, cost that follows the goods — in one system and at one price. If you are on Sage mainly for payroll, keep it.
- What does Sage do better than Records ERP?
- Payroll, first and most importantly — Sage’s payroll is good and we do not have one. Then reputation: Pastel has been in Kenya for decades, every accountant has used it, and that is worth real money at handover and at audit. And for a services business or a retailer with no production and one location, Sage is the simpler tool and we would say so on the phone.
- Which Sage are you actually comparing against?
- Sage 50 and Pastel, because that is what a Kenyan SME normally means by “Sage”. The larger products — Sage Evolution and above — are a different proposition with modules we are not pretending to match feature for feature; if you are running one of those with a manufacturing module, this page is not really about you, and you should ask us hard questions rather than read a table.
- We pay per user. How does that compare?
- We do not price per user, which is the whole difference. Records ERP is Ksh 9,500 a month for the business, whether that is three people or thirty — so the storekeeper, the two clerks and the reps all get accounts without anybody doing arithmetic about whether it is worth it. We are not going to guess what you currently pay; take your renewal quote and compare it yourself.
- Can I move from Sage to Records ERP?
- Yes. Export customers, suppliers, products and open balances, bring them in from a spreadsheet, correct anything the screen highlights, and start — and if it goes wrong the whole import undoes in one action. Setup is included rather than a separate consulting line. Your accountant still gets a trial balance, a balance sheet and a profit and loss.
- What about KRA and eTIMS?
- eTIMS is about the invoice rather than the return — an electronic tax invoice has to reach KRA when it is issued, not when a return is filed. Records ERP does not transmit to eTIMS yet: today you issue through whatever eTIMS route you already use and keep the business’s own records here. Integration is being built and is first on the roadmap. What applies to your particular business is a question for your own accountant.
Put one month through both and compare the trial balance.
Thirty days free, no card, and we do the setup. Keep Sage running while you do it — the only comparison worth anything is the one on your own figures.
- 30-day free trial
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- Free setup