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Sage teams up with Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

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30th Jul 2015
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Sage has formed a partnership with the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) to educate, empower and inspire bookkeepers around the world.

As revealed at the Sage Summit in New Orleans this week, the new alliance will educate bookkeepers and help them to “realise their true potential”, as well as providing the right technology solutions to grow.

Jennifer Warawa, global vice president of product marketing for accountants at Sage, said: “Together with ICB, Sage is reshaping the future of small businesses.

“Even the smallest companies want the ease of trading effortlessly across borders, and both bookkeepers and accountants will play a pivotal role in these transactions. This truly represents a fresh – and much needed – approach to international trade management.”

According to Sage, bookkeepers will now be able to help their organisations uncover and seize new business opportunities beyond the traditional confines within which they operate.

Garry Carter, chief executive at the ICB, added that now was the time for small and medium-sized businesses to capitalise on opportunities to grow their businesses globally.

“The barriers to global commerce are dropping faster and more dramatically than ever,” he said. “Combined with continuous advancements in technology, the business landscape is ripe for even the very smallest companies to have international ambitions – more so now than ever before.”

The connection with the ICB forms part of Sage’s global and more unified approach to accounting and bookkeeping, as referred to throughout the summit.

Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Sage, revealed the company’s global programme for independent software vendors as well as the launch of a fresh global partner programme in October. He said: “Small and medium businesses represent a global opportunity for ISVs, and we want to make it possible for Sage customers to find the right solution with the right partner, regardless of where they are.”

The message of bookkeepers embracing technology was also a key theme at the recent Bookkeepers Conference in Birmingham. Reporting from the event earlier this month Mike Foster said developments in technology were allowing bookkeepers to differentiate and be seen as specialists with certain products.

In addition to greater collaboration with clients, it also presented an opportunity for bookkeepers to lead and support clients through change and presented an added value service, Foster said.

Nelson Da Silva of Receipt Bank also urged bookkeepers to explore the use of the cloud.

“The future of bookkeeping is about embracing new technology and becoming more efficient, in order to have more time to provide more value added services for new and existing clients. The path to becoming more efficient is through reviewing processes and looking to technology to make things simpler,” Da Silva said.

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
31st Jul 2015 06:58

Good

This will be interesting to watch how it develops .  I am looking forward to hearing that they have to say at Bookkeepers summit in London.

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