Sage Intacct is a professional accounting platform used by mid-market businesses with multi-entity, multi-currency, or heavy compliance needs. It handles complex accounting well. It is not a diagnostic on whether the business the platform reports on is funded against its Minimum Mandatory Profit floor, whether the Working Capital Gap is opening, or whether pricing produces the required breakeven at Realized Gross Margin.
The Two Different Questions
Sage Intacct answers: "Are the accounting records complete, compliant, and reportable in real time?"
The Aldebert Diagnostic answers: "Can this business fund MMP at its operating floor?"
Two different questions. Both matter. Confusing them is where owners lose time and money.
Side by Side
| Sage Intacct | The Aldebert Diagnostic (RTO + MMP + Layer Cake) | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Cloud accounting for multi-entity and complex SMBs | Continuous operating diagnostic of solvency and funding |
| Core question | Are the books complete and reportable? | Can the business clear MMP at its operating floor? |
| Time orientation | Real-time reporting on historical transactions | Continuous reading of current operating reality |
| Primary inputs | Multi-entity transactions, dimensions, projects | 11 proprietary Business Biomarkers plus MMP composition |
| Debt view | Records debt across entities correctly | Tests grossed debt service against MMP coverage |
| Reporting output | Financial statements, dashboards, drill-downs | MMP, Layer Cake, Breakeven, written verdict |
| Best use | Mid-market accounting operating system | Diagnostic layer above any accounting system |
| Integration | Integrates with hundreds of business apps | Consumes the accounting output as one input to diagnostic |
What Sage Intacct Does Well
Sage Intacct handles what QuickBooks starts to strain on. Multi-entity consolidation with proper eliminations. Project accounting for construction and professional services. Multi-currency for businesses with international vendors or customers. Real-time dashboards without the manual data pulls QuickBooks requires. The dimension-based reporting allows an owner to slice the same transactions by department, project, location, or product line without duplicate data entry. For businesses at $5M to $50M revenue with complexity, it is the right accounting system.
What the Aldebert Diagnostic Adds
Sage Intacct reports the books accurately. It does not test whether the business the books describe is above or below its MMP floor. It does not restate Owner Compensation to market rate. It does not size Working Capital Required against Actual and name the gap. It reports Cost of Goods Sold correctly and does not tell the owner what Realized Gross Margin is doing relative to Intended. The Aldebert Diagnostic reads through the Sage output the way a cardiologist reads through a blood panel. The panel is data. The diagnosis is what happens with the data.
The Multi-Entity MMP Test
Sage Intacct's strength is multi-entity consolidation. That strength also produces a specific blind spot at the diagnostic layer.
Each entity has its own P&L, its own balance sheet, and its own tax and debt structure. The consolidated view rolls them up. Consolidated net income can look strong while one or two entities are diagnostically insolvent against their own MMP floors. The consolidation hides the failure at the entity level.
The Aldebert Diagnostic runs MMP on each entity separately, then reads the consolidation. Which entities are above their floor? Which are below? Where is the group being subsidized by one entity's over-performance masking another's under-performance? Sage tracks the numbers. The diagnostic reads them.
How They Work Together
Sage Intacct is the record. The Aldebert Diagnostic is the read. Businesses at Sage's scale (typically $5M to $50M) benefit most from the combination because complexity produces more places for the diagnostic layer to surface hidden gaps. Use Sage for accounting. Use Return to Owner for the diagnostic reading on top of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
At what revenue level does Sage Intacct make sense?
Typically $5M+ for single-entity businesses and $2M+ for multi-entity groups. Below that, QuickBooks handles most needs. Above $50M usually requires more enterprise-grade systems (NetSuite, SAP).
Can the Aldebert Diagnostic use Sage data directly?
Yes. The diagnostic consumes accounting output from any system. Sage's export capabilities make it straightforward. QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite all work the same way.
Does Sage Intacct calculate breakeven?
Sage has FP&A and budgeting modules that can compute breakeven based on the accounting definition (fixed costs / contribution margin). That is not Layer Cake breakeven. Layer Cake includes MMP grossed-up debt service and Working Capital funding. See the breakeven explainer.
Should I switch to Sage before running the diagnostic?
No. Run the diagnostic on whatever accounting you have. The diagnostic reads the current-state books. If Sage makes sense as an accounting upgrade after the diagnostic identifies data limitations, that becomes a specific recommendation.