Sage 50 vs LiveCosts

Sage 50 is trusted by thousands of businesses for accounting, invoicing, payroll and financial reporting. LiveCosts is purpose-built for construction companies that need real-time visibility of project costs, procurement and profitability. Rather than replacing Sage 50, LiveCosts works alongside it, helping contractors manage projects while Sage continues to manage the accounts.

Dedicated construction workflows for purchase requisitions, RFQs, purchase orders, deliveries, variations, progress claims, subcontractor commitments, retentions and cost-to-complete forecasting.

Live budget vs actual tracking with committed cost visibility, real-time profitability and early warning of budget overruns.

AI-powered document processing that extracts line items from supplier quotes, purchase orders and invoices, reducing manual administration.

Construction purchase orders, mobile site deliveries, labour and time tracking built specifically for contractors.

Human support in under 3 minutes, one-to-one onboarding and assisted implementation.

Side-by-side comparison

Column 1	LiveCosts	Sage 50
Time to implement	1 to 5 days	2 to 6 weeks
AI invoice extraction	AI line-item extraction with automatic coding	Manual invoice entry
Quote to PO workflows	RFQs, quote comparison, approvals & purchase orders	No
Construction forecasting	Live cost-to-complete & profitability forecasting	Basic project reports
Variations	Built-in variation management	No
Retentions & progress claims	Built specifically for construction	No
Construction purchase orders	Construction purchase orders with approvals	Basic purchase orders
Mobile site deliveries	Mobile delivery capture linked to purchase orders	No
Time & equipment tracking	Labour, plant & equipment tracking by project	Basic time tracking
Human support	Human support in under 3 minutes with one-to-one onboarding	Standard support

Trusted by construction companies globally

Why teams pick LiveCosts

LiveCosts and Sage 50 features compared

Compare features and real customer-tested differences on forecasting, POs, variations, CIS and retention.

Cost to Complete & Forecasting

See where every project is heading before small issues become costly overruns.

LiveCosts

LiveCosts provides real-time cost-to-complete forecasting, committed cost visibility and live project profitability. As labour, purchase orders, invoices, variations and subcontractor costs are recorded, budgets are updated instantly, helping teams identify issues early and make informed decisions before projects go over budget.

Sage 50

Sage 50 provides financial reporting based on completed accounting transactions. While project costs can be reviewed, it doesn't provide live cost-to-complete forecasting, committed cost tracking or real-time project profitability.

Procurement & Committed Costs

Control every stage of procurement, from requisition to supplier payment, in one connected workflow.

LiveCosts

LiveCosts gives contractors complete control over procurement with purchase requisitions, AI-powered RFQs, supplier quote comparisons, purchase orders, delivery tracking, invoice approvals and committed cost reporting. Every commitment is linked back to the project budget, providing complete visibility of current and future spend.

Sage 50

Sage 50 includes basic purchase order functionality for purchasing and accounting but doesn't provide dedicated construction procurement workflows, committed cost tracking or supplier quotation management.

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Implementation timelines

Here is what to expect before you go live. Planyard usually pilots in days, Construction Manager often needs weeks of setup and data migration, and EVision is a partner-led ERP rollout that can run for months.

Product	Typical duration	Typical steps
LiveCosts	1 - 3 days	Connect Sage 50, import budgets, configure workflows, train users, go live on your first project, expand across the business.
Sage 50	2 - 6 Weeks	Install software, configure company accounts, import customers and suppliers, configure VAT and reporting, train finance users and begin processing accounts.

Implementation timelines vary depending on the size of your business and the complexity of your projects.

Most LiveCosts customers are up and running within a few days. Our onboarding team helps you connect your accounting software, import budgets and project data, configure workflows and launch your first live project. Once your team is comfortable, it’s easy to roll LiveCosts out across the rest of the business with dedicated support every step of the way.

Where LiveCosts fits — and common drawbacks

Sage 50 is an excellent accounting platform, but it wasn’t designed to manage day-to-day construction operations.

As projects become more complex, many contractors supplement Sage 50 with LiveCosts to gain greater visibility of project costs before they reach the accounts department.

Where LiveCosts Fits

Real-time construction job costing
Procurement management
Budget vs actual reporting
AI invoice processing
Cost-to-complete forecasting
Labour and subcontractor tracking
Mobile site management

Common Drawbacks of Using Sage 50 Alone

Limited construction job costing
No committed cost tracking
No RFQ workflows
No purchase requisition management
No live construction forecasting
Manual procurement processes
Heavy reliance on spreadsheets for project control

Related Comparisons

Xero vs LiveCosts

Compare Xero and LiveCosts side by side. Learn how LiveCosts extends Xero with construction job costing, purchase orders, AI invoice processing and live project profitability.

QuickBooks vs LiveCosts

Compare QuickBooks vs LiveCosts to see which solution is best for construction companies. Discover the differences in job costing, procurement, budgeting, forecasting and project profitability.

Frequently asked questions

No. LiveCosts complements Sage 50 by managing construction projects while Sage 50 continues to manage your accounting.

Yes. LiveCosts synchronises approved financial data with Sage 50, reducing duplicate data entry and improving accuracy.

Sage 50 is an excellent accounting solution, but many contractors use LiveCosts alongside it to gain real-time visibility of project costs, procurement and profitability.

Together they provide a complete solution, combining robust accounting with dedicated construction cost management, procurement, forecasting and real-time project profitability.

Trusted by Contractors Worldwide

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Discover how easy it can be to track and control costs in real time.