Sage
Accounting, payroll and HR software for small and mid-sized businesses, founded in Newcastle in 1981, listed in London, with £2.6bn of recurring revenue.
| Founded | 1981, Newcastle upon Tyne |
|---|---|
| Founders | David Goldman |
| Ownership | Listed on the London Stock Exchange (SGE) since 1989 and in the FTSE 100 since 1999; CEO Steve Hare since 2018 |
| Revenue | £2.51bn underlying total revenue in the year to September 2025, up 10%; annualised recurring revenue £2.57bn, up 11%; £2.06bn in the nine months to June 2026, up 11% |
| Customers | Millions of small and mid-sized businesses, reached directly and through tens of thousands of accountants and thousands of resellers; 11,170 staff |
| What it does | Accounting, payroll, HR and expense software: Sage Accounting, Sage 50 and Sage Payroll for small businesses; Sage 200 and Sage X3 for mid-sized companies; Sage HR and Sage People for HR. Its mid-market cloud financials product, Sage Intacct, has its own profile |
| Recent moves | Sage Copilot AI assistant in Sage Accounting, Sage 50, Sage X3 and Sage Intacct, followed by accounts payable, close and finance intelligence agents; bought Fyle (expenses, July 2025), Criterion (HR and payroll, October 2025), Akao (January 2026), Doyen AI (data migration, April 2026) and Paperless (construction AP automation, October 2026) |
| Pricing | UK: Sage Accounting Start £20, Standard £43 and Plus £59 a month; Sage 50 Accounts Standard £115 and Professional £234 a month, excluding VAT; US: Sage 50 Pro US$132.17, Premium US$182.50 and Quantum US$271.17 a month, with a one-year minimum |
| Markets | North America (45% of revenue), UK, Ireland, Africa and Asia-Pacific (29%), and France, Iberia and Central Europe (26%) |
| Peers | Intuit QuickBooks, Xero, FreeAgent, Pennylane, Zoho Books, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central |
Why it matters
Sage grew underlying revenue 10% to £2.51bn in its last full year, and North America is now its largest region at 45% of revenue. It is adding AI agents across its small and mid-sized business products and buying expense, HR and construction software firms, which puts it in direct competition with QuickBooks, Xero and the AI-native accounting startups.
Part of Accountio’s accounting technology coverage.
