Sage accounting software

Nor

Nor

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Anyone use this at all? Looking for some advice on the appropriate package to get for a small business wanting to do wages and tax records.

Thanks.
 
I'm currently using Sage 100 and Sage 50 for two different companies. Sage 50 Accounts + payroll add-in would probably suit you well. Suitable for SMEs and simple to use with a user-friendly GUI.
 
Our accounts dept (2 people) use Line 50 v16, Payroll v16 and Winforecast here. Ive never used it but installed it a couple of times
 
Ive tried using the free trial of sage, but since I don;t understand a single peice of the information or gumpf it describes, I found it useless! Are there guides out there for idiots like me?
 
Thanks for the information lads, about to make a decision on it. The company is small, under 50 employees. Something that can do wages/PAYE, calculate tax and perhaps do invoices would be perfect.

Just reading through just now. Sage 50?

[edit] Called Sage there. They say the Instant Financial Package is what I want for small business wages, tax and invoices. Anyone used it?
 
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I help look after a number of small businesses and they pretty much all use Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 50 Payroll.

I couldn't say if Sage 50 is better/worse for your needs than the Instant Package. I just install it, point it at the accounts data and let the beancounters at it.
 
Sage Instant is going to be your best bet I think but I'm tech not financial.
Line 50, Line 500, Line 1000 is meant for larger companies.
From a tech point of view, Sage products are awful to support. Corp Tax, Winforecast etc etc
Just call their pre-sales and have a chat.
Actually we are a cert reseller, drop me an email in Trust if you like, I can arrange a free chat for your options.
 
Ive tried using the free trial of sage, but since I don;t understand a single peice of the information or gumpf it describes, I found it useless! Are there guides out there for idiots like me?

Sages big monopolisation is the post sales support, I'm sure they build in deliberate bugs so you're tied to them...
 
Anyone use this at all? Looking for some advice on the appropriate package to get for a small business wanting to do wages and tax records.

Thanks.
There's a post on the accountingweb.co.uk forums which sums up my own feelings about Sage:

SAGE is the only software we ACTIVELY discourage clients from using, unless they have a top notch bookeeper who really likes it, or the advantages in multi-user enviroment and audit trail for adjustments are really necessary.

I dont let small clients doing their own books anywhere near it - huge level of support required vs next to nothing on pretty much anything else.

I've always used Sage for my own couple of small businesses (started off with Instant Accounting, now using Sage 50), but only because it's the de facto industry standard and it keeps my own accountant happy. I certainly wouldn't say it was particularly simple to use, in any of its versions - even after several years I still find the interface an awkward, unintuitive chore to navigate, and you really do need a solid knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping if you're not going to end up totally at sea.

It's also extremely unforgiving of mistakes - I guess the reasoning is to provide a rock-solid audit trail, but very often the only way to correct errors is through a load of messy contra entries, or restoring from a backup and starting again from the point where you went wrong (hint: if you do use Sage, back up every time you open the program, and again every time you start a new procedure).

I'd have a word with your accountant first, but if you're new to computerised bookkeeping I honestly think you'd be much happier with something like Intuit Quickbooks or MYOB. :)
 
Thanks all, and cheers Crash. I'll have a look at Intuit Quickbooks and MYOB. I've only been looking at Sage because I was unaware of any alternatives.
 
Shocker as accounting package requires knowledge of double-entry!
Perhaps not really a shocker I suppose, but the fact remains that some other small business accounting packages are easy to just dive in and use *without* any such knowledge. :p

I do suspect people who have neither the time nor the inclination to learn the nuts and bolts of formal double-entry bookkeeping procedures will find Sage a wrist-slittingly joyless experience...
 
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