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AIA

Sage enhances Instant range with accounts production and advice service

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5th Mar 2008
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The Sage Instant brand has been expanded this spring not just with the traditional annual upgrade of the accounting application, but also with free customer support and health and safety advice for users, plus a companion accounts production package for their accountants. John Stokdyk reports.

Sage Instant is a small, but highly successful niche within the listed UK business software group and the accounting package only just missed out on the podium positions at last year's Software Satisfaction Awards.

The main difference is that the latest version of Sage Instant Accounts can now handle credit card payments from customers automatically via Sage Payment Solutions, which is available as an optional extra for Sage Instant users. There is also an e-VAT system that will let users in Ireland and the UK submit their quarterly returns electronically.

Further information on any major new additions to the application is a little thin on the ground, but it appears that Sage has put a lot of emphasis on training and support around the new release, with a "practice mode" facility to let users try out tasks before entering data in earnest, plus free online training modules to help users familiarise themselves with accounting processes. The developer has also thrown in a year's free health & safety advice for new buyers - as a taster, no doubt, to encourage them to continue the subscription in subsequent years. Sage Instant costs £115+VAT from the Sage online shop.

Also available is Sage Instant Accounts Production, a £99 program designed to lure smaller accountants away from Microsoft Excel and Word-based techniques for producing final accounts. Sage Instant Accounts Production can import data from Sage Instant Accounts and Excel to generate final accounts and can output the results as Word files or PDFs.

The new version comes from the Sage accountants division, which is also responsible for Sage Accounts Production (SAP) and Sage Accounts Production Advanced.

Accounts division managing director Greg Ford explained that the new Instant edition is based on SAP, equipped with an intuitive interface to help in importing data from Excel.

"Sage Instant Accounts Production completes our range of AP products, which now covers all accountancy practitioners from the accountant working on his own all the way up the big four. It provides customers with the comfort of knowing that as their practice grows, Sage will have the solution that is right for their business," he said.

"Our research has shown that a significant number of small practitioners still produce accounts either manually or via Word/Excel. We wanted to offer these smaller practices a cost-effective product which would make accounts production easier and allow them to take advantage of our compliance expertise and award-winning support," said Sage Accounts Division managing director Greg Ford.

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By satowell
18th Mar 2008 18:13

Accounts Production
We are about to launch a new accounts production package written entirely in VBA for Excel (97 - SP2, 2000, XP (2002), 2003 & 2007 compatible).

The system enables the user to input opening balances, cash, bank, journals and comparatives via data input sheets or imported CSV files (such as from a Sage TB report) and will produce a full set of statutory accounts in Excel for Sole Trader, Partnership, LLP and Limited Company.

The sheets available include cover and table of contents, company iinformation, audit/accountant report, directors report, master lead schedule, comprehensive notes section with separate data entry, P&L, balance sheet, management balance sheet, trading profit & loss, cash flow, fixed assets, user created working papers and much more.

There are a whole series of forms for data input of static information such as client and accountants details.

We also provide a wealth of new tools for Excel including accounting styles, two new accounting functions, accounting format line and double underline for totals, suppression areas for automated reporting, merge across cells formatting, 4 and 6 column sheet formatting, automated note numbering, table of contents and many more.

Finally we have a publications control section to control the final output of a set of accounts.

This is just a summary of what is to come and of course you can add sheets for any other purpose; for example pie charts and your own schedules.

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By chriswarrillow
07th Mar 2008 09:04

SIA for management accounts?
Has anyone used this product yet?

We're considering using it to produce monthly management accounts for clients using Sage Instant.

Currently we enter the Sage TB into an Excel template each month. We're reasonably happy with this method because it allows us to be flexible with the reports we provide our clients. ie some have monthly, year to date and comparison columns, some like a very detailed balance sheet.

If Sage Instant Accounts is flexible enough for our needs it looks like very good value, even if it cuts preparation time by 15 minutes.

Incidentally, can anyone offer any other solutions for the preparation of management accounts from a Sage TB that can be tailored easier that the reports produced by Sage?

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