Online accounting provider for multicompany with turnover £10m

Online accounting provider for multicompany...

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We are looking to switch online accounting providers and need to get a shortlist of providers for a multicurrency group with a turnover of about £10m.  We are looking to escape the excel hell that we have consolidating the accounts. 

At the moment, we have accountsiq, xero, sage 50/200 (what is the difference between two versions of sage) in the list.  Can anyone advise on their experience of the software packages and if there is an independent review available anywhere online.  Also, if there are other accounting packages that should be considered, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

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By cheekychappy
10th Feb 2016 14:18

You have listed very different software packages.

 

What functionality do you need? What budget are you working with?

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Replying to Martin B:
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By douglastubbs
11th Feb 2016 16:27

We are an IT company with about 1500 customers so invoicing and debt control is critcal.  We have employment  subsidiaries in 5 different countries in Europe with support staff. One of those countries having a development and web design team working .  Our head office does all the management accounting.

budget is about £4000 a year so pretty tight.  There are 3 users but would also like the Directors to have access to the accounting system

Sorry, didn't mention this but we only use MAC so the best option will have probably have to be browser independent

Thanks for the replies

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Replying to witney_212:
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By Brend201
18th Feb 2016 12:13

Maybe AccountsIQ, maybe not...

douglastubbs wrote:

we only use MAC so the best option will have probably have to be browser independent

We use and like AccountsIQ and it could be worth looking at.  It seems to be a bit more "heavy-duty" than many other products, although we don't use all of the functionality, being a SaaS business.  Big problem for you though: at present, it works only with Internet Explorer.  Some features are available in Chrome - but not all so for me there is no point using anything other than IE at present.  I'm not sure how you can resolve that.  

One other point to check with the various options: can they handle separate VAT returns in different jurisdictions and currencies within one company dataset? AIQ did have some shortcomings on this but recent upgrades may have resolved these issues. We no longer have this requirement so I can't say what the current position is.  If each company is registered in only one country with one currency, the issue won't arise.  

 

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By User deleted
10th Feb 2016 15:12

Pegasus Opera 3 Cloud

There is a cloud offering from Pegasus. 

We will be upgrading from Opera 2 to Opera 3 (not the cloud version because our internet connection is poor) next week.  Prior to committing to the upgrade I looked at Sage and Iris Exchequer as possible alternatives.

Sticking with Pegasus for us was by far the cheapest option, but cost aside what sold me on Opera 3 was the XRL reporting.  I too currently have to prepare our monthly consolidated management accounts using excel, with XRL reporting you can crete a link between the accounting data in Opera and excel so that it produces reports (ie P&L, Balance sheet etc), which will (hopefully!) reduce the time it takes to prepare the management accounts.  

Incidently I work for a £12m group of companies which deals in multicurrency transactions.

http://www.pegasus.co.uk/

 

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By PastelUK
10th Feb 2016 15:13

Sage Pastel Evolution Software

Hi There,

 

Sage Pastel Evolution is our best-in-class software package, that really does provide your business with a fully integrated, flexible CRM, Accounting and Support Desk solution – a true holistic view of your business. I am sure you will agree that having a holistic view of your business is something many companies never actually achieve.

 

There really is quite a lot to tell you about this package and for ease, please read all about the features and benefits of the software here – Sage Pastel Evolution software. However, I firmly believe that a demonstration of the software will provide you with a really good understanding of the software. It will also allow you to ask any questions that you may have regarding the integration of the software into your business and the benefits it will bring.

 

We have many customers using Sage Pastel Evolution including the likes of The Salvation Army and FastJet Airlines. Please let me know if you would like to know if you would like to know further details regarding our users of Sage Pastel Evolution and even if you would like to speak to one of them.

 

If you could please let me know what functionality you need and what budget you will be working with, I can then arrange for one of our consultants to come on site and discuss your requirements with you.

You can email me on [email protected] if this is easier for you.

Kind regards,

Colin Maher

Head of Sales & Marketing Pastel UK & Ireland

 

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RedFive
By RedFive
11th Feb 2016 17:25

ERP

With a £10M turnover you need a package for grown ups.

You have outgrown Xero, Sage 50/200 etc..........Take a look at Sage X3

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By 1146ben
18th Feb 2016 13:23

More questions than answers, but

Hi

I implemented an Advanced Exchequer system 2 1/2 years ago at my current business with overseas entities etc. The ongoing cost may (just) fit within your budget but the professional services and intial licence fees would blow it out of the water based on my experience. When we looked at Sage 200 and AN other system whose name escapes me now the cost profile was much the same.

If you purely want multi currency then I think you will find something that does what you need.

If you want multi tax (VAT etc) then it gets more complicated and multi languages does the same again. Multiple charts of accounts to cater for local requirements ditto.

Is your budget really £4K - who does your local VAT overseas returns at present, local stat accounts etc and will there be any savings on those you will get from using one combined system that will bulk out the budget?

I would also think about the future - if your strategic plan has you at £20m+ turnover in 3 years time you don't want to be doing this again, so a provider that will scale the offering is key. 

Best question I think you can ask is how many customers does the provider have in each of the countries you operate in. If they don't sell there, the odds on them dealing with local requirements are miniscule....

Best of luck

Ben

 

 

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By bigBlueMango
18th Feb 2016 20:47

Xero plus Receipt Bank

We use Xero for multi-currency and multi-company in multi-country, and happy for the most part. One thing you'll have to incorporate with Xero is an SAS for foreign expenses - like Receipt Bank. Xero doesn't handle personal expenses for employees spending their own cash or using their own credit cards in currencies other than your home currency - especially if the spend gets mixed between two currencies. We bolted on Receipt Bank for that purpose, which links to Xero easily, and sends the forex invoices over to Xero Purchases. While it's en route, it translates from foreign currency to home currency. If you have to invoice your foreign client for all the foreign currency you spent in their country, it's easy to download filtered reports from Receipt Bank in the original foreign currency (along with photos of receipts). If you want to view that same project spend in your home currency, it'll be already translated in Xero.

Mobile device capturing is terrific for both as well. Dead simple for anyone to pick up which means no employee excuses that they didn't have time to capture receipts. In fact, your staff won't have to touch Xero at all, just get them on Receipt Bank and connect the dots.

Finally, I think Xero is pretty good about bolt-ons from all sorts of third party developers. Check out an earlier story on this site reporting on Payoneer and MidPoint for foreign exchange applications.

By the way, I tested the Sage product SAS (Sage 50) about 18 months ago, and it was woefully behind everyone else in the world of cloud computing. Maybe they've gotten better, but if you or your client travel between countries often, spend all sorts of currencies that you know you're going to re-bill for, SAS platform is a must. Plus, no matter where you are, you'll have access to your data.

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By tom123
18th Feb 2016 22:42

Sage 200 would cope fine.

Contrary to the poster above, I think Sage 200 should cope fine. I previously used it for a 15m manufacturer, and currently use it for a 4m business.

Note it is a proper 'period based' system, with user profiles and access etc.

I quite like it, actually, it is easy to see what the system is actually posting etc - good for month end review.

We do have multi currency, and you can set up consolidation companies. I do use that feature - but confess ours is fairly simple, with a trading co and topco which is just a holding company.

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By Sbailen
19th Feb 2016 09:35

iFRC Ltd

Hi Douglasstubbs

The most important decision to make is 'what information do want to get out of the system'. Once you know this you can ask vendors how they will support you.  If they can't/won't do this for you, you may want to question why.

Choosing Sage or one of the more popular packages will ensure that you won't have difficulty in finding experienced users, however the downside is that sometimes the packages can be a little inflexible, but you can address this in discussions with vendors.

As for the consolidation, the iFRC application will sit over virtually any application and would take the 'hell' out of consolidating your accounts, whether this is sitting over your current application or over something else you buy. We do not charge for licence fees so you are free to provide access to the application to any or all of your staff, ensuring a very cost effective solution.

Take a look at www.ifrc.co.uk to see more detail of what iFRC can do or call me on 07921 941178 (email [email protected]) to discuss things.

Good luck and all the best

Stephen

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By NJF1
20th Feb 2016 08:41

Hi,

I am a Group Accountant for 13 digital based companies.

I have had a Sage partner come to discuss Sage 200 as my biggest problems relate to multicurrency processing (both invoicing and payment uploads to out banking platforms) and inter company invoicing.

The first estimation I have had is circa £32k.  I have spent hours reviewing various demos.  Might somebody have any suggestions?

 

 

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