What's the cheapest way for us to be able to support Sage?

What's the cheapest way for us to be able to...

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We are a very new practice with very limited resources. I've been very happy with the choice of VT and all new clients so far have been put on to VT Cashbook for bookkeeping.

We have a new client however who uses Sage 50 and I can't really in good conscience ask them to change. I don't really want to have to buy Sage 50 though, I just can't absorb the cost at the moment when we have only one client using it. I know that in the SME arena Sage is very common and we will in all likelihood have to support it eventually. Just not yet!

What are my alternatives, bearing in mind that I would like to make it seem seamless to the client?

If we bought Sage Instant, what would that allow us to do? I am assuming that we could open a Sage 50 backup but could we do journals? Or could we open it in Sage Instant and then export a TB into VT and then make year end adjustments there?

I've looked at Online 50 and to be honest I've baulked at the cost of that too!

Many thanks for your thoughts.

Replies (22)

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By petersaxton
06th Feb 2012 22:28

Go to client

Go to the client, download the trial balance and download any nominal codes you need to analyse.

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By James Hellyer
06th Feb 2012 22:59

Either...

Either go to the clients and export the trial balance, nominal ledger and various debtor, creditor and bank reports into csv files, or open a Barclays bank account on their accountants programme and get Sage Line 50 and Quickbooks free!

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By simonmercer
06th Feb 2012 23:57

don't quote me on this

Sorry, not sure what VT means, anyway, get the Sage Disk from your Client and install it on to your PC, use your Client's serial number and acc no. and the program will run fine.

If you wanted to be completely legit, get your Client to upgrade their software to include an additional user - which would cost £250 retail.

Alternatively, find a local Sage dealer, see if he will put a demo copy of his software into your Practice and you will feed potential leads to him, most will be keen for that (make sure you get 10 - 15% kick back on future leads as they will work on 30-40% margin).

Finally, speak to Sage Accountants Club, usually costs £300 - £400 per year and you get 25% margin on most sales, they will also give you access to Sage Support included in this package, not sure if there is a sign up fee but worth a call - 0845 111 1111.

Hope one of the above is a solution

 

SM

 

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Kevin Salter
By Kevin Salter
07th Feb 2012 07:36

Sage 50

Have a look at ledgerscope - import the data and work on it there - on a pay as you use basis

http://www.ledgerscope.com/

 

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Replying to Carwidow:
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By andy.partridge
07th Feb 2012 10:07

I agree with ksalter

ksalter wrote:

Have a look at ledgerscope - import the data and work on it there - on a pay as you use basis

http://www.ledgerscope.com/

 

Do look at this. I have signed up and you can get free credits to start you off.

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By Sarah P
07th Feb 2012 08:11

Thank you

Some nice solutions there, I will look into them.

Thanks for your help.

I'm conscious that operating in this arena means we should support Sage, which is why I'm nervous really about asking the client for a copy!  Makes us look amateurish possibly.

Very interesting about Barclays.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By Cloudcounter
07th Feb 2012 08:40

Check the Barclays offer carefully

weaver wrote:

Very interesting about Barclays.

Apart from the ongoing monthly charge, be aware that you won't get updates of Sage - just the version that they give you when you sign up.  I've had a couple of updates of Quickbooks, but those are stated to be concessionary.  There is other stuff in the monthly fee, but nothing that I've felt to be of value

 

Check out the deal before you commt.  We've stuck with it, but if we hadn't had the Quickbooks update I doubt that it would be worth it

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By UK Tax
07th Feb 2012 09:44

Additonal note of caution re Barclays and SAGE
Check very carefully, as I don't think the version from Barclays can be expanded to allow for additonal companies etc as your SAGE user base grows. It certainly used to be stuck at 1 company only.

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By User deleted
07th Feb 2012 08:58

Client provides Sage reports

Get the client to provide PDFs of all the nominal ledger, sales ledger etc that you want (I prefer PDFs to csvs because they're easier to read) and email them to you. If you buy Sage once you'll have to keep updating it as clients update theirs. Most clients can manage to provide PDFs though I have one muppet who I know will get it wrong because she can't follow the simplest instruction even when it's in black and white and words of one syllable! (She does manage to post bank interest received to at least 3 different codes each year despite their being only 12 tiny amounts!!)

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
07th Feb 2012 09:51

Log Me In - its FREE!

I work with a client where we do the bookkeeping and update their Sage accounts remotely.

You and the client sign up to Log Me In.

Client leaves a spare PC on and connected to the network permanently. This doesn't need to be a fancy machine, just one that has access to Sage.

You can then access Sage whenever you want

Benefits are that you can provide your client with real time support and advice, accessing Sage whenever you want.

This works really well and its FREE!

https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/

 

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
07th Feb 2012 09:53

I use VPN access to the big client we have who does use it, and actually needs it. For everyone else we get them on some decent software ASAP.

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By The Black Knight
07th Feb 2012 10:12

Software licence abuse

Quite a lot of the above examples are a bit naughty.....If you belong to a professional body they will take this offence seriously and punishment may even be a kicking out.

Probably even a money laundering offence !

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By simonmercer
07th Feb 2012 11:17

Just updating

Hi Weaver, just updating  my earlier comments -

Two points:

1. We do alot of CIS work for Clients and have recently adopted a stratagy of taking on a Sage License "on their behalf". The trade off for the Client is a cheaper bill each month for the service we provide. Not one of my Clients have commented negatively about paying for software to help run their business more efficiently - my comment is do not be worried about suggesting to your Client that they take an extra lisence for you to use, perhaps sweeten the proposition by the offer of a quarterly accounts update or similar - sell it as a benifit to them.

 

2. I have just spoken to Sage Accounts Club, there are no set up fees to join, so for £395 + VAT you can offer Sage Payroll & Line 50 to Clients, make a 20% margin on sales, get an up to date copy of Line 50 Proffessional and Payroll and get it supported. As a new Practise this seems to be a sensible investment and will allow you  to support future Clients who have Sage (which in my Practise is about 40% of my business Clients!)

Rgds

 

SM

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Replying to chewmac:
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By RussellD
07th Feb 2012 12:14

Other version?

simonmercer wrote:

get an up to date copy of Line 50 Proffessional and Payroll and get it supported.

What happens when a client has older Sage 50 Accounts software?  Do they have to upgrade to your version or do you purchase the version they use?

Russell

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Replying to chewmac:
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By Sarah P
07th Feb 2012 13:53

Sage Accountants Club is £395

Sage Accountants Club is £395 +VAT per annum, is it not?  I entirely agree that it is a sensible investment, but when we only have one client currently using Sage £395 + VAT wipes out a significant part of the income!

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By The Black Knight
07th Feb 2012 11:23

Accountants club

The free line 50 (as was) is for your own use (own records) !! You still need a client manager licence.

Same applies to the Barclays packages

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Adrian Pearson
By Adrian Pearson
07th Feb 2012 12:12

Ledgerscope

As our product was kindly mentioned by Kevin and Andy above, I thought I should clarify a few points directly relevant to this thread:

Clients securely upload their accounting data directly from their own copy of Sage, or QuickBooks, to Ledgerscope. You, the accountant, can then login to review and easily make adjustments. The upload is a one-click process for the client.We will be supporting import from Xero soon and KashFlow soon after that.Ledgerscope automatically analyses the received transaction data, line by line, then produces a "Review" schedule for the accountant. We check for consistency, completeness, capital v revenue errors etc. ("Flash Gordon"'s client misposting bank interest received would be picked up in this review process).

So, if you want to try doing a few jobs for free, visit www.ledgerscope.com.

Adrian

 

P.S. - I am happy to answer any questions, but clogging up this thread would not be fair or appropriate. Instead please email me on [email protected]. Thanks.

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By paulwakefield1
07th Feb 2012 13:14

If you do not want Sage

I would download csv files. They do not need much work to tailor and then you can have quick and very flexible analysis in Excel.

"What happens when a client has older Sage 50 Accounts software?  Do they have to upgrade to your version or do you purchase the version they use?"

Newer versions of Sage can import older versions so no need to change unless things have changed recently - I'm on Sage 2011. It may be that very old Sage versions can not be imported but I do not have experience with those.

 

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Replying to bernard michael:
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By johndon68
07th Feb 2012 13:24

Versions

paulwakefield1 wrote:
Newer versions of Sage can import older versions so no need to change unless things have changed recently - I'm on Sage 2011. It may be that very old Sage versions can not be imported but I do not have experience with those.

2011 can restore data from v11 onwards, 2012 from v12 onwards and so on - of course, once the data has been restored and upgraded, it cannot be sent back to the client.

John

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By petersaxton
07th Feb 2012 14:42

Bite the bullet

The vast majority of my clients use Excel spreadsheets and only a few use QuickBooks or Sage. When I started my practice I felt that I had to be able to efficiently support clients with the software they were likely to use. Besides QuickBooks and Sage, I also invested in TASBooks, Access Accounting, MYOB and MS Office Accounting. This involved paying for software (except MS Office Accounting!). I would have thought being able to service clients easily if they were using QuickBooks and Sage is the minimum for an accountant and will pay off in the long run.

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By accountright
08th Feb 2012 15:49

Ledgerscope

I've just taken up Adrian Pearson''s offer for more information on Ledgerscope and am quite impressed.  Just had an online demo of the software and will definitely be going down this route to service the few clients I have on varying versions of Sage

Polly

 

 

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Adrian Pearson
By Adrian Pearson
25th Mar 2015 08:20

Checkmybooks - an update

Hi All

I just wanted to bring my earlier comments on this thread up to date.

We rebranded the Ledgerscope product to "Checkmybooks" some time ago and full details can be found on the website here: www.checkmybooks.co.uk.

The fact that Checkmybooks means you no longer need a copy of Sage (or QuickBooks) to support clients using those packages is still the same.

Checkmybooks is currently completely free to use too.

Regards
Adrian

 

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