Enterprise resource planning
Sage X3 ERP
Sage X3 brings finance, supply chain and manufacturing onto one platform. We implement it, migrate to it, integrate it with the systems around it and support it afterwards — as a Sage partner since 1997, and a Sage developer for nearly as long.
The platform
What Sage X3 is
- Finance
- Purchasing
- Inventory
- Sales
- Manufacturing
- Distribution
- Supply chain
- Reporting
Sage X3 is an enterprise resource planning system: one platform holding the processes that most organisations run across several. Finance, purchasing, inventory, sales, production and supply chain share the same records, so the numbers people argue about in meetings all come from the same place.
That matters most where complexity has outgrown a finance system. Multiple companies, multiple sites, international trade and real manufacturing are handled as standard rather than bolted on, and reporting runs against live operational data rather than month-old exports.
It deploys on-premise or in the cloud.
- Finance, purchasing, inventory and sales on shared records
- Manufacturing and distribution in the same system as the ledger
- Multi-company, multi-site, multi-currency and multi-legislation as standard
- Reporting against live operational data
Fit
When Sage X3 becomes the right answer
Sage X3 is not the automatic next step from a smaller system, and we will say so when it is not. It earns its place when the organisation has become genuinely complex — not simply larger.
If most of the following describe your business, the conversation is worth having.
- Several legal entities, or trade across more than one country
- More than one site, warehouse or production facility
- Manufacturing beyond light assembly — real BOMs, routings and planning
- Inventory that has to be tracked and traced rather than counted
- Transaction volumes or user numbers a smaller system is struggling with
- Business-critical processes running outside the finance system, in spreadsheets
- Systems that do not talk to each other, and reconciliation work to prove it
Manufacturing
Built for how things are actually made
Manufacturing is where the difference between an accounting system and an ERP shows. Sage X3 carries production in the same platform as the ledger, so a works order, the stock it consumes and the cost it carries are the same set of facts rather than three reconciled versions of one.
- Bills of materials and routings
- Material requirements planning
- Production scheduling and works orders
- Quality control and traceability through the process
- Stock control across locations
- Costing that reflects what was actually consumed
Distribution
Stock, orders and everything between
For distributors the pressure is usually visibility: what is on hand, what is committed, what is inbound, and whether the answer is the same in every system that holds part of it. Sage X3 keeps those in one place across sites.
- Inventory across multiple warehouses and locations
- Purchasing driven by demand rather than by habit
- Sales orders through to fulfilment
- Supply chain visibility from order to delivery
- Stock valuation consistent with the ledger
Finance and reporting
One ledger, several companies
The finance case for Sage X3 is usually consolidation. Where a group has grown into several entities, month-end becomes an exercise in assembling numbers from separate systems before anyone can look at them.
Sage X3 holds multi-company accounting in one place, with reporting drawn from live operational data rather than exported at a point in time.
- Multi-company and multi-currency accounting
- Consolidation across entities
- Operational reporting alongside financial reporting
- Budgeting and cash visibility
Integration and development
The systems either side of the ERP
An ERP is rarely the only system in a business, and the value often sits in what happens between them. We are a Sage developer as well as a Sage partner, which means that when the standard product does not fit, we can change it rather than telling you to change how you work.
That capability is not theoretical here. We have built our own fintech platform since 2001, EPOS integrations into Sage, and bespoke operational software for customers — experience that applies directly to connecting an ERP to the rest of a business.
- Integration with existing internal systems
- Ecommerce and customer-facing platforms
- Payment and financial platforms
- Bespoke applications built around the ERP
- Reporting and data feeds
Delivery
How an implementation runs
An ERP programme is a change to how a business works, not a software installation. We run it as a structured piece of work with your people in it, and a typical Sage X3 programme takes four to nine months depending on scope.
- 01
Discovery, and an honest view of whether X3 is the right size
- 02
Requirements analysis against how the business actually operates
- 03
Solution design, agreed before anything is configured
- 04
Configuration, and development where the standard product does not fit
- 05
Data migration, with processes mapped before data is moved
- 06
Integration with the systems that stay
- 07
Testing, run in parallel until the numbers agree
- 08
Training for the people who will use it daily
- 09
Go-live, and optimisation once real work is running through it
Migration
Moving to Sage X3
A bad migration is worse than an old system. Most of the rescue work we are called into follows an upgrade where data was moved but processes were not, or where modules were switched off to get live and never switched back on.
We map the processes before we map the data, and we run the two systems in parallel until the numbers agree. Before any of that, a migration should assess business processes, existing customisations, integrations, the data itself, reporting requirements and how the organisation is structured.
If you are coming from Sage 200 specifically, our article on upgrading from Sage 200 to Sage X3 covers what the move involves — including when it is not the right decision.
Choosing between them
Sage 200 or Sage X3?
These are different sizes of system rather than better and worse ones. Plenty of organisations are well served by Sage 200 for years, and moving to X3 before the complexity justifies it buys cost and change management for nothing.
| Aspect | Sage 200 | Sage X3 |
|---|---|---|
| Companies | Single, or a few | Many, multi-country |
| Manufacturing | Light assembly | Full MRP and production |
| Typical users | 5–50 | 25–500+ |
| Sites | One or a small number | Multi-site as standard |
| Legislation | UK-focused | Multi-legislation as standard |
Afterwards
Support and optimisation
Go-live is the point at which people start finding what they actually need. The relationship continues from there — supported by our own team, who also know the infrastructure the system runs on.
- Day-to-day support for the people using it
- Reporting changes as the questions change
- Process improvements found once real work is running
- Further integrations as other systems change
- Configuration as the business reorganises
The partner
Why Impress Solutions
We are not an ERP-only reseller. Sage sits alongside software development, integration, infrastructure and security work done by the same company — which is what makes the joins between systems something we can take responsibility for.
- 01
A Sage partner since 1997, and a Sage developer for nearly as long
- 02
Both Sage X3 and Sage 200 delivered, so the recommendation is not foregone
- 03
Our own software and fintech platform, built and maintained since 2001
- 04
Integration and EPOS work already running in customers' businesses
- 05
Infrastructure and security handled by our own engineers
Delivered work
ERP work we have delivered
These are Sage 200 and Sage 50 projects rather than Sage X3 deployments, and they are here because the work is the same shape: complex operations, migrations done properly, and integrations that had to hold.
Alplas
A Sage 50 to Sage 200 upgrade put right after a poor migration — modules switched back on, data repaired and processes automated.
Read the case study ↗Loon Fung
32 integrated tills across five London sites, upgrading Sage Line 100 to Sage 200 with dual-language EPOS and no lost trading time.
Read the case study ↗The IPA
Sage 50 outgrown and crashing under transaction volume, rebuilt on Sage 200 with a clean general ledger to support a new CRM platform.
Read the case study ↗Learnlight
Month-end reporting brought under control on Sage 200, ending the queue of staff waiting for year end before they could post transactions.
Read the case study ↗Common questions
Sage X3 questions
What is Sage X3?
Sage X3 is an enterprise resource planning platform that holds finance, purchasing, inventory, sales, manufacturing and supply chain in one system, with multi-company, multi-site and multi-currency operation as standard.
What size of business is Sage X3 designed for?
Complexity matters more than headcount. It suits organisations with several legal entities, more than one site, real manufacturing or international trade. As a rough guide, we see it at 25 to 500-plus users, against 5 to 50 for Sage 200.
What is the difference between Sage 200 and Sage X3?
Sage 200 covers finance, commercials and reporting for growing organisations with moderate complexity. Sage X3 adds full manufacturing and MRP, multi-company and multi-legislation operation, and multi-site working as standard. They are different sizes of system rather than better and worse ones.
Can you migrate from Sage 200 to Sage X3?
Yes, and we do — but only where the complexity justifies it. A migration should assess processes, customisations, integrations, data and reporting before anything moves. We map processes before data and run both systems in parallel until the numbers agree.
Can Sage X3 integrate with our existing systems?
Yes. We are a Sage developer as well as a partner, and we build integrations to internal systems, ecommerce, payment platforms and bespoke applications.
Can Sage X3 handle multiple companies and sites?
Yes — multi-company, multi-site, multi-currency and multi-legislation operation are standard rather than additions.
Do you provide ongoing Sage X3 support?
Yes. Support, reporting changes, further integrations and configuration as the business changes are all handled by our own team.
Considering Sage X3?
Tell us about your organisation, the systems you run today and what is not working. We will give you an honest view of whether Sage X3 is the right size — including when it is not.