Sage has unveiled new capabilities in Sage Intacct aimed at helping finance teams close faster, automate more, and integrate sustainability insights into daily operations. The update introduces intelligent reconciliation capabilities, embedded payment solutions, and sustainability reporting. Sage is a leader in cloud-based finance, accounting, HR, and payroll software for SMBs seeking operational efficiency.
According to Sage, the latest enhancements deliver AI-powered close automation, expanded accounts payable (AP) functionality, embedded payments, and carbon accounting. These tools are designed to reduce inefficiencies, improve resilience, and free finance teams to focus on higher-value activities.
Dan Miller, EVP of Sage’s Financials & ERP Division, emphasized the strategic focus on eliminating inefficiencies: “Finance teams are always looking to save time so they can invest in growth and their business’s success while maintaining clarity and control. We’re delivering AI-powered automation in everyday finance tasks, helping leaders move with agility, reduce risk and operate with greater confidence.”
AI-Powered Close and Smarter AP Automation
The AI-Powered Close enhancements include a Subledger Reconciliation Assistant that uses Sage Copilot to continuously monitor ledger balances, flag discrepancies, and provide drill-down visibility to resolve issues before they delay month-end. A new Close Workspace standardizes close tasks with customizable templates, checklists, and real-time notifications. Both are available to early access customers.
Sage is also extending smarter AP and procurement automation through several features:
- Sage Vendor Payments powered by MineralTree embeds payments directly in Intacct, offering ACH, check, or virtual card payments with improved visibility and fraud protection (available in the US).
- AI-powered Line-Level Matching automatically matches invoice lines to purchase orders, reducing manual AP review effort (early access worldwide).
- Sage Intacct eProcurement expands to all industries with embedded vendor punchout capabilities, enabling direct vendor shopping with automated order data capture (available in the US).
Together, these features address the 87% of finance leaders Sage research found are seeking more advanced AP automation.
What This Means for ERP Insiders
Finance leaders face increasing demands for speed and accuracy. According to Sage’s internal research, 84% of finance leaders want to accelerate their book closing processes, while 87% are actively seeking more sophisticated accounts payable automation solutions. These statistics underscore a broader industry shift toward intelligent automation as finance teams struggle with manual processes and fragmented systems.
Finance automation is becoming table stakes across ERP. Sage’s rollout mirrors similar developments in SAP S/4HANA Finance, Oracle NetSuite, and Workday. For ERP executives, the competitive landscape highlights that AP automation, intelligent reconciliation, and carbon accounting are becoming baseline expectations. Organizations that delay adoption risk inefficiencies and missed opportunities for faster close cycles and improved compliance. This trend underscores the need for finance leaders to evaluate and modernize their ERP capabilities actively rather than wait for customer or regulatory pressure to force upgrades.
Key evaluation criteria are shifting toward integration and usability. When assessing finance automation tools, CFOs and IT leaders should prioritize embedded AI capabilities, integration with existing ERP landscapes, and user experience. Context-aware assistants such as Sage Copilot demonstrate how conversational interfaces are quickly becoming a must-have for finance teams seeking productivity gains. These evaluation priorities reflect a broader industry move toward systems that are not only powerful but also intuitive, minimizing training time and maximizing adoption rates across finance teams.
