As part of our commitment to provide all local businesses with high quality professional services and competitively prices solutions, sbc are always on the lookout for different ways to promote the company.

With this in mind, we have recently produced over 6,000 fliers for the FSB (Federation of Small Business) to be sent out with this months “Thames Valley News”.

We would like to personally thank both the FSB for this opportunity and more importantly the new customers and contacts that we have made through this campaign, as it has proved to be a great success.

If you are not currently a member of the FSB and would like more details on how to join, please visit their web site here: www.fsb.co.uk

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Increased usage and levels of recommendation

May 2006. A new survey has revealed that Sage’s business management software has further increased its popularity amongst businesses. According to an ICAEW report into financial software in the business market, the overall use of Sage Line 50 has increased from 28% to 36% since 2004, reinforcing its place as market leader for accounting software. Moreover both Sage Line 50 and Sage Instant Accounts lead the competition in terms of overall satisfaction and are the software most likely to be recommended - 100% of respondents who use Sage Instant Accounts and 93% of Sage Line 50 users stated that they were likely to recommend the product to others. No other product received a 100% recommendation rating.

Sage Line 50 is not only the most popular financial software overall but also the most widely used software amongst micro, small and medium sized businesses, with its usage as high as 39% in the micro market. Usage of Sage Line 50 has also increased in the medium sized market from 10% to 16%. Whilst Sage Line 50 and Sage Instant Accounts surge ahead - in terms of usage and recommendation levels respectively - the usage and satisfaction levels of some competitive products has decreased since 2004. In addition to Line 50’s success the use of Sage Line 500 has also increased, moving up to second place in terms of usage in the large business sector.

Paul Stobart, CEO, Sage (UK) Limited, comments, “This report is unambiguous. The customer focused strategy that we have dedicated ourselves to for the past two years is now returning real value: not just to our customers but to Sage as a business which continues to invest heavily on our customers behalf in product and service development, technical support and customer services. We are noticeably furthering the gap between ourselves and the competition who, as can be read in the independent survey, are falling behind our leading positions in a number of areas. What really pleases me though is the fact that our customers are willing to recommend Sage to others. After all, customer recommendation is the best evidence that we are doing things right for them and as long as we continue to do this we will be in good shape for future growth.”
ICAEW Consultation and Research Centre Report "IT In Business - a review of the market for financial and business software." May 2006

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I received our Business Partner copy of MYOB RetailBasics this morning and I have to say that they now have THE product for small retail outlets.  

The product works out of the box with very little set-up. I was up and running in under 10 minutes. You can run the program on a standard PC and add peripherals such as till draws, bar code scanners, receipt printer and many more as and when you see fit. There are even features such as lay-bys (Take a deposit then pay by instalments), customer accounts, and foreign receipts!!! All the standard end of day reports are included, as is the facility to export the days activity to MYOB Accounting / Accounting Plus. 

With all this taken into consideration, I checked with Graham, our Sales & Marketing Director to find out how many hundreds of pounds this product was going to cost our customers. The reply was even more shocking and I find it hard to believe how they ship this complete retail solution for just £99.00. That’s makes this one of the best value products I have ever come across!!! 

Paul Ebrey
Professional Services Director
Swan Business Consultants Ltd

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10% Off Sage Custom Cheques*
Benefit from the ultimate in secure branded cheques at a fantastic price. From as little as £352.80
*This offer will end 31st July 2006

Discounted SageCover for early adopters
With the launch of Instant Accounts v12 comes an exciting opportunity for you to take advantage of Sage's Award-winning SageCover support at a reduced rate. Any Instant Accounts customer purchasing Sagecover during their warranty period of 45 days will benefit from a reduced cost of £60 - a saving of nearly 30%, and equating to less than 20p a day!
* This offer will end 31st May. This offer only applies to Instant Accounts Single User customers and the reduced cost is for first year only, annual renewals will be at the standard rate

Upgrading from Instant to Line 50
If you have Sage Instant and wish to run more than one company, we are now being offered a fantastic 50% off when upgrading to between 2 and 5 companies of Line 50. You can also benefit from a years fixed cost SageCover from the point of renewal – costs as below;

• Sage Line 50 Accountant - £225
• Sage Line 50 Accountant Plus - £275
• Sage Line 50Financial Controller - £325

Charities Starter Solutions 30% off
When Sage Line 50 and SageCover are purchased by/for a registered charity at the same time they will receive a 30% discount. 

End of life policy
As part of Sages’ end-of-life policy, they will be contacting all Line 50 version 8 customers without some of whom require support. Although Sage are using this opportunity to offer these customers SageCover Extra at a discount of 10% as a route to v12 (NB the product upgrade component of the Extra bundle is already discounted by 25%) sbc are able to match or possibly beat these prices. For any customers who are not interested in SageCover Extra, we will also offer the product upgrade only at a discount of 20%. Any customer who upgrades through either of the above options can also purchase Sage Intelligent reporting for 15% off RRP and take advantage of the benefits below:

• To offer a customer service solution to customers on version 8 wishing to take out a support contract.
• To drive upgrade revenue by persuading customers to upgrade to the latest version of Line 50.
• To drive primary revenue by increasing the number of Sage Intelligent Reporting sales.

 

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Discounted SageCover for early adopters
With the launch of Instant Accounts v12 comes an exciting opportunity for you to take advantage of Sage's Award-winning SageCover support at a reduced rate. more
Any Instant Accounts customer purchasing Sagecover during their warranty period of 45 days will benefit from a reduced cost of £60 - a saving of nearly 30%, and equating to less than 20p a day!
Please Note: This offer will end 31st May. This offer only applies to Instant Accounts Single User. Reduced cost for first year only, annual renewals will be at the standard rate.

Upgrading from Instant to Line 50
Instant customers who wish to run more than one company are now being offered a fantastic 50% off when upgrading to between 2 and 5 companies of Line 50. You will also benefit from a years fixed cost SageCover from the point of renewal – costs as below;

• Sage Line 50 Accountant - £225
• Sage Line 50 Accountant Plus - £275
• Sage Line 50Financial Controller - £325

Charities Starter Solutions 30% Discount
When Sage Line 50 and SageCover are purchased by/for a registered charity at the same time.

End of life policy
As part of Sages' end-of-life policy, they will be contacting all Line 50 version 8 customers with the news that thier product will no longer be supported.
To overcome this issue, sbc are offering a 20% discount off upgrades from v8 to the latest version 12 product.
In addition to this, we are also offering our customers who upgrade, 15% off the purchase of the new "Sage Intelligent Reporting" module. Please contact us for more details on this new product.
Click here to go to our contact page.

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MYOB today announced the release of its 2005/06 Personal Tax software, PerTAX v11.00.

Having already received approval for filing online, v11.00 has been released to MYOB testing partners with self-certified copies of the 2005/06 returns.

This is the tenth year in succession that MYOB is first to market with its Personal Tax April update.

This year sees a lower number of legislative changes than in previous years; however, there are modifications to the Trust Tax Calculation guide and, of course, there are the new rules relating to the Civil Partnership Act.

Anne Porter, Tax Product Manager, said today: "Today's budget reminds us how accountants have to constantly look at many years when dealing with their clients' affairs - not only looking to the changes which will affect them in the future and those which influence the current tax year, but also those of the last tax year which are obviously reflected in the tax return being filed in the next 10 months."

Anne went on to comment: "It is a fantastic start to the tax year for MYOB. Being able to provide our users with software for the new tax year weeks before it even begins is a great demonstration of our dedicated approach to client service."

Simon Crompton, GM, commented: "PerTAX has always led the way for UK Personal Tax software, and that is why it is so important for us to continually be first to market with our updates."

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We have just been heard that Sage have made an offer of approximately £334m, for Visma ASA, based in Oslo.

Visma are providers of business management software to small and medium-sized businesses including employment and debt collection services.

With reported revenues of approximately £166m for the year to 31 December 2005, this represents an interesting market for Sage who intend to use the finance arrangements it already has in place to fund the deal.

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MYOB today announced that BusinessBasics won the Computer Shopper "Best Buy" Award in a recent small business accounting software group test. Computer Shopper reviewed entry level accounts products rating them on the features and facilities on offer, how easy they are to use for one-off and recurring transactions and the amount of feedback they provide. It also looked at how easy they are to set up and the amount of help that is on offer to people who have not used this type of software before.

MYOB BusinessBasics came out a clear winner, topping the poll with five stars whilst its nearest rival was only awarded three. According to Computer Shopper, BusinessBasics is "a great introduction to business finances" and "will soon pay back its investment by saving you time and giving you plenty of feedback."

"We are delighted that Computer Shopper has given us this award and feel that it confirms our view that BusinessBasics is number one for small businesses", commented Simon Smith General Manager of the Business Division, MYOB UK. "At MYOB we aim to develop products and services that help business owners run their operations more effectively and efficiently which makes this award even more pleasing."

Download the Computer Shopper Business Finance Software Review 2006 here

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MYOB today announced that its business management software has been accredited by the largest bookkeeping institute in the world, the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB).

The ICB has agreed to recommend MYOB software to its members because the ease of use and low cost are ideally suited to the requirements of its members. The ICB was established to represent bookkeepers at all levels, to promote the profession and to offer a support network to its members. It is committed to helping bookkeepers develop their skills, improve their knowledge and provide them with the information they need to enhance their career prospects.

Garry Carter, Chief Executive of the ICB said: "We are delighted to be working with MYOB and feel that the strong customer-service-focused ethos of both companies will help build a solid partnership. We are committed to helping our members and are giving this software our seal of approval as we feel it can offer some key benefits to our growing number of self-employed bookkeepers. The main advantage we see is its ease of use and value for money."

General Manager of MYOB UK, Business Division, Simon Smith said: "We are very happy to have received this accreditation from the ICB as we feel this reaffirms the quality of our software. At MYOB we are passionate about helping small businesses be successful, and we have long recognised the vital role that bookkeepers play in making this happen. I can see many opportunities for us to work together with the ICB to raise the standard of bookkeeping, with the resulting benefits flowing right through the business community."

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Although, as we mentioned in a previous news item, we strongly agree that "The new release of MYOB Accounting & Accounting Plus is a 'must have' if you". We have an important update for you.

“Over the last few days we have discovered that should you upgrade, or purchase this new version now (without MYOB annual support), you may need to upgrade again in April to update you payroll table for the 2006/07 payroll year”.
Graham Phelps (sbc Sales & Marketing Director)

One of a valued customers added to this, mentioning
“I spoke with MYOB this morning and they tell me that if I order V15 after the 5th April the cost will be £99.00* with not extra cost for the tax tables as they will be included in the updated versions.  It obviously makes sense for me to wait and save £69.00.”
*These prices apply to a MYOB Accountant upgrade.

We have to agree that waiting until after the 5^th April is the better option and we are happy to take any pre-orders for these upgrades.

For more information on version 15, or to obtain a quote, please contact us directly on 0845 838 1236 or email myob@swanbusiness.co.uk

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sbc have a very special offer for all users of Sage Payroll, Version 8.

We are offering 30% off the Sage Retails price for your upgrade to version 12.
Please contact us on 0845 838 1236 or

* Please note that this offer is only valid until March 31st, so you have a short time to take advantage of this offer and have the latest software your side when Payroll Year End comes around.

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NEW Sage Intelligent Reporting provides a cost effective, intuitive and powerful solution for professionally gathering, processing and analysing information.

+ Advanced business reporting in Microsoft Excel
+ Financial report builder
+ Set of pre-defined reports
+ Customisable reporting
+ Drill down capabilities
+ Multi-dimensional analysis
+ Dashboards
+ Includes annual support and ongoing updates

What can I use Sage Intelligent Reporting for?
+ Find out who your most profitable customers are
+ Easily produce Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports
+ Discover which products are your most profitable by region
+ Identify customer buying patterns and trends
+ Be in a stronger position to negotiate with suppliers
+ Produce regularly updated reports for distribution to managers
+ And much more………….all at the touch of a button

What are the benefits of Sage Intelligent Reporting?
+ Easy to learn and use
+ Pre-defined reports save you time
+ Provides a deeper understanding of your Sage Line 50 data
+ Data needed to make decisions is easily accessible
+ Makes information more meaningful and therefore more valuable
+ Quickly spot trends, uncover new opportunities and minimise risks
+ A better alternative to complex spreadsheet reporting

To find out more about NEW Sage Intelligent Reporting or to request a demonstration please contact us on0845 838 1236 or email

Sage Business Intelligence gives me instant access to key information, so I can quickly analyse business performance and view as a graphical snapshot.
Deryn Moeckell, Director. EWGA Ltd

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Throughout the last twelve months MYOB has been working to further improve our award-winning software, using feedback from both customers and Partners.

MYOB Version 15 is the same easy-to-use small business accounting package you're used to, but it's packed with extra features and benefits.

The new release of MYOB Accounting & Accounting Plus is a 'must have' if you:

- Manage stock
- Receive stock before receiving the supplier invoice
- Need to enter budgets for the next financial year
- Want access to seven years of transaction history without restoring backups
- Have similar recurring transactions for more than one customer or supplier and would like to copy them to multiple cards
- Would like to combine cards or nominal ledger accounts
- Employ staff, and record timesheet information
- Need to choose a date when posting transactions from the To Do list
- Issue statements after the end of a month- Hold stock in multiple locations

For more details, please contact sbc directly.

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Sage (UK) today announces its intention to create a new and advanced mid-market product in the business management software market with the launch of Sage 1000.

Sage 1000, due for launch in April 2006, will enable businesses to map processes across an entire organisation in a single instance, allowing departmental functions access to previously unavailable critical data. This will aid both the retention and acquisition of customers and reduce total cost of ownership. Sage 1000 will be primarily suitable for customers with a £10m+ turnover.

Sage 1000 combines the benefits of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) into a single integrated product. It has been introduced to satisfy the demand from businesses buying separate ERP and CRM products who require a fully integrated system which maps business processes across a company.

The new product is built on Sage’s proven technology combining business logic from Sage Line 500 and Sage CRM MME to deliver an integrated business management software solution. It offers customers in-depth functionality and an existing range of third party add-ons. Easy to configure, it will enable its users to reduce the total cost of ownership through company-wide installation leading to reduced levels of training, reduction in the re-keying of and errors in data capture.

“By introducing Sage 1000 we are offering our customers greater choice in the business management software market. Sage customers can choose single point solutions such as SalesLogix or Line 500, or go for a complete integrated business management software product with Sage 1000,” said David Pinches director of ERP at Sage UK Ltd. “Sage 1000 enhances the available product range and provides a compelling reason for potential customers to consider Sage and for existing customers to upgrade.”

“The sharing of customer and supplier data between departments is critical in gaining competitive advantage - especially as increased competition has led to a rise in business process outsourcing, in virtual departments and a tighter control on all costs. Stricter international legislation requires accurate data collection and the ability to report to all stakeholders. We estimate that less than 10 per cent of companies in the UK have integrated core information systems to do this effectively at present and Sage 1000 will address this gap in the market.”

Sage 1000 will be sold through its nationwide network of business partners.

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Actinic are pleased to announce their purchase of Checkout Retail Systems, a leading EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) software and hardware vendor. Checkout Retail is the developer of the Checkout software range, a best-of-breed EPOS product for small to medium businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors.

Actinic will be investing in a significant marketing and development programme for the Checkout software. They intend to compete aggressively on price, and obviously we will also be developing a close integration with the Actinic ecommerce range.
 
Bringing together two leading ecommerce and EPOS solutions is a natural progression, and will enable our users to combine online and offline systems, offering customers a seamless multi-channel experience.
 
Actinic believe this development is very significant strategically and will open up major new opportunities.

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The release of MYOB version 15 is imminent and we are looking to have this available in a couple of weeks time.

As you are a valued reseller of MYOB software, sbc will be contacted with the exact date of release, nearer the time.

Watch this space!

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SBC are pleased to announce our new online store is now live. Products from Instant Accounts and Payroll, Act to Mamut and MYOB are all availble to buy now. Payments can be made by paypal (No account required).

Click here to go to the store.

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Free Downloads for Sage Line 50 and Instant Accounts.

sbc are pleased to announce the release of our new downloads area, offering free downloads Sage reports in the form of our Excel reports pack, and money saving stationery layouts.

Click here to see whats on offer.

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sbc would like to take this opportunity to wish all their contacts a very happy new year and inform you some changes that you will see and hear about throughout 2006.
Due to the demand of our customers and prospects, sbc have now signed up with a number of Software solutions for small to medium sizes business in the UK. These now include: MYOB (Mind Your Own Business), Quickbooks, Mamut and more importantly, Microsoft.
The reason for this is to enable us to provide totally impartial consultancy, leading to the supply of the correct solution for your business and budget.
The first thing that you will notice is that we have moved away from our previous strap line “Making Sage Work For You”, to "Software To Shape Your Business", as we feel the describes the complete solution that we now offer.
New product pages for each of the products now available are being produces as we speak, so please check back soon for the latest information.

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Later this month, expenses software provider Signifo is to launch WebExpenses for Sage users, a new version of their award-winning expenses software.

The company has built up a sizeable Sage customer base over recent years, and it is these users who have provided much of the impetus and input to the significantly expanded functionality of the new product, which includes a large number of configurable features, advanced mileage recording, user-definable reports and streamlined integration with Sage products.

At the same time, Signifo is taking the opportunity to rebrand, and in the future the company and its products will be known as WebExpenses, rather than Signifo Expenses.

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