Sholto MacPherson for Digital First writes: Quick – which online accounting program for small business has almost 90,000 customers and is launching in Australia in the next two months?
If you answered “Sage One” go to the top of the class!
Sage is the largest accounting software company for small and medium businesses in the world, by some metrics. Sage has more employees than Intuit (12,000 vs 8,000) although Intuit does better on revenue ($4 billion vs $2 billion, USD in 2013).
Sage has taken a long time to make headway with its online accounting software, named Sage One. When it was relaunched in 2011 it had only three reports, no API and managed to attract 1,500 customers in 10 months.
“To describe this as a poor performance from the UK’s largest accounting software provider with a claimed 10,000 firms of accountants in its ‘club’ is an understatement,” wrote accounting technology commentator Dennis Howlett.
Fast forward three years and Sage has decided its online accounting baby is ready to leave the nest. Customers hit 88,000 in October with 4,450 units added in that month.
Sage Australia lined up an online demo of Sage One and it includes some interesting ideas. And it is further proof that the cauldron of competition created by cloud is cooking up innovation even in the biggest and slowest companies.
A new release is due this week with features such as multiple price lists, a new BAS report for Australian businesses and integration with the HandiSoft practice management suite.
The screenshots below will give you an idea of what to expect. You can find a free trial of Sage One here.
Accounting Interface
The accountant’s view of Sage One. Click to enlarge.
Accountants can view a list of clients that gives direct access to each client’s file. Clients can be viewed as a list of tasks categorised by duration, start and due date. A calendar view helps accountants plan their workload.
Dashboard
Sage One Dashboard. Five types, customisable. Click to enlarge.
There are five types of dashboard, including one for the accountant. The accountant’s one shows notes from the client with documents attached, a list of tasks for that client and BAS details such as registration and frequency.
The dashboards are customisable – users can add and delete widgets, and drill down on a dashboard to see source documents.
Workspace
Sage One MyWorkspace. Shortcuts for beginners. Click to enlarge.
Sage One includes a screen it calls My Workspace. It’s a page of shortcuts that is also customisable. My Workspace has been designed to help new users familiarise themselves with Sage One and accounting practices.
It has nice big icons with a little description written in plain English such as “Create a Credit Note: credit your customer for goods returned”. Sage has also made wizards to help new users.
Document Storage
Sage One lets you attach store and attach documents. Click to enlarge.
Sage One can store many types of documents, not just bills and receipts. These could be financial reports, GST or tax reports, company notes or miscellaneous items.
Compatible with HandiSoft
Sage One’s BAS Worksheet – an update is due this week. Click to enlarge.
The software interface (API) between Sage One and HandiTax and HandiLedger is in final testing and will be in the next Handisoft release in January.
The Handisoft packages are also moving to the cloud but they won’t be ready for some time. Sage hasn’t started development of its practice management suite but it will continue to add to the accountants’ console instead.
Invoices
Sage One’s Invoice screen. Yes, it has quotes. Click to enlarge.
The invoices screen is pretty comprehensive with the ability to customise postal and delivery addresses without changing screens.
About DigitalFirst: Digital First sums up a philosophy that suits the challenge facing business owners trying to keep up with the pace of technological and social change. In the same way that websites are often designed “mobile first”, so businesses should be built “digital first”.
Sholto is a journalist, presenter and public speaker with 14 years’ experience writing about IT for enterprise and consumer audiences. He has written for many publications including the IT section of The Australian and IT business magazine CRN Australia. Sholto is a passionate advocate of cloud computing and its potential to transform small businesses.
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