Sage Insights 2010 Collaboration via Google Wave
March 20, 2010
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The Sage North America Insights 2010 Conference takes place May 17 to 20, 2010 in Denver Colorado. As usual the three days of sessions and networking promise to provide lots of value for Sage partners, CPAs and Vendors.
We’ll be there in the audience for all the major keynotes as well as the all new 1.5 hour Insights 2010 Sage Executive Question and Answer session.
Each year though it’s nearly impossible to sit in on all the major sessions, so this year we’re going to collaborate on note taking – sharing our notes with any others who care to join us. This will help ensure that nothing is missed during product sessions – and also allows those collaborating to make comments or share their own opinions on the happenings.
This year we’ll be using Google Wave which is a free collaborative tool from Google that you access via the Internet and your web browser. It will allow for anyone to update our notes at sessions — as well as to catch up on notes for sessions that they may have missed or want to know more about.
If you’ve never used Google Wave (or if you’ve tried it and given up) it’s a free collaboration tool in open preview from Google. Most of the use of Wave seems to be to jointly take notes or share bits of information — something that we think makes it an ideal tool to use for Sage Insights 2010.
Here’s a short video that explains and demonstrates Google Wave
During the keynotes and other sessions you’ll be able to search for and participate in the live creation of notes – provided that you’re a member of our conference Google Group (which is the only way Google Wave allows for easy sharing with a group of users).
If you’re not attending Insights you can still join the Google Group and participate in viewing the group Waves as well as providing feedback or asking questions. Google Wave’s are updated in real time so you’ll see people creating notes as the sessions are happening.
Here’s how we’ll use Google Wave for Insights 2010 – and you’re invited to join us
First, if you don’t have a Google Wave account — apply for one right now. You won’t be able to read or reply to any of our conference Waves without an account. The approval process for those appying with their Gmail accounts appears to be 3 to 5 days — so you’ll need to apply well in advance of stepping off the plane in Denver.
Secondly, after you’ve applied for the Google Wave invitation – join our Google Group. By being a member in the group you’ll be able to view and edit any of the Wave’s we create at Sage Insights.
Because of the way that Google implements group sharing – these Waves will only be visible and shared with the group.
When you join the Google Group – be sure you join with the same email address you used to sign up for Wave (Do NOT join with your @googlewave.com address).
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| Subscribe to Insightful |
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A few things to keep in mind:
This group has nothing to do with Sage.
They’re not sponsoring it – though they’re welcome to participate if they wish.
Once you are active with both Google Wave and a member of our Sage Insights Conference Google Group you’ll be able to search for Wave’s that are directed to anyone in the group.
It’s important to note that until you’re a member of our Google Group that any Google Wave search for Insights Conference notes won’t work.
Within Google Wave – simply search for:
group:insightsconference@googlegroups.com
If you’re already on Wave and have questions – contact us at wayne.schulz@googlewave.com or email wayne@s-consult.com.
Sage Extended Solutions For MAS90 & MAS200 Sales Policy – Updated 2/23/10
February 23, 2010
I’ve just learned that Sage will now sell “kept” Extended Solutions for installation to MAS90/200 at level 4.3 AND EARLIER.
Update March 19, 2009:
Now you see it — now you don’t…
After being told via one on one conversation with a Sage manager (and explicitly asking if Sage was making an exception or whether it was a policy) that the 56 kept solutions would most definitely be available (until they were incorporated) to any users on maintenance who also were on a level prior to 4.3.
And being sold the solutions (in this case AP-163) and then having the order entry clerk refuse to ship the client all of their existing Extended Solutions —- I have again come full circle with Sage and they now say that being shipped the AP-1063 was a “special exception”.
Long story short — avoid purchasing the 56 kept Extended Solutions from Sage.
They’re no longer making them available at earlier levels.
Please note – although Sage will sell them – -they do NOT support the older solutions (prior to 4.3). This has always been the case. The purchase of older solutions should only be made in situations where an upgrade to the latest version of MAS is not possible.
As you probably know, starting with the release of MAS 90/200 v4.4 Sage announced in 2009 that they’d be doing away with their Extended Solutions catalog of what appeared to be 500 or more custom enhancements while keeping 56 of the most popular Extended Solutions for incorporation to versions 4.4+ of Sage MAS90 and 200.
Sage Extended Solutions in many instances replaced the need for custom MAS90 and MAS 200 programming.
Starting with release 4.4 of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Sage will incorporate (add into the MAS product) 56 of their most popular enhancements on a two or three year rollout schedule.
Discontinued solutions are being provided under an open source license to Sage Preferred Development Partners (view the list here) who can upgrade them (possibly for a fee) and resell them.
In the interim there was considerable confusion about whether a licensed user of MAS 90 or MAS 200 could purchase any of those “kept” Extended Solutions at a level other than 4.3.
If you view the Sage Extended Solution web site you’ll see the issue is not entirely clear as the site states that the 56 kept Extended Solutions ” can be added to your Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.3 system“.
What about those customers on a version earlier than 4.3 who needed one of the 56 “kept” enhancements?
Until this policy shift they were being told by Sage that they must upgrade to version 4.3 before they could purchase any enhancements.
Before you suggest to me that I’m crazy – and that Sage was selling the 56 kept solutions for any version – read on.
The prior policy of the sales desk appeared to have been that kept Extended Solutions would only be sold at 4.3.
Sage Refused to Sell Extended Solutions at Versions Prior to 4.3
Here’s the email that I’d received as recently as last Thursday telling me that Extended Solutions that Sage was keeping for incorporation wouldn’t (then) be sold at any version other than 4.3.
From: xxxxx
Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 6:02 PM
Subject: FW: Selling older Extended Solutions to existing customers
To: Wayne Schulz
Hi Wayne
Please see the email below.
xxxx
title
Sage Business Solutions Division
(800)-854-3415 xxx
www.sagenorthamerica.com
Sage. Your business in mind.
From: xxxx
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 2:59 PM
To: yyyyy
Subject: FW: Selling older Extended Solutions to existing customers
We can sell this to them since it’s one of the 56 extended solutions that will be eventually embedded into the product but it has to be for MAS90/200 version 4.3 only!!
Thanks,
yyy
Sage Changes Policy – Will Sell Kept Extended Solutions At Older Version Until Incorporated
Late last night I was told there is a policy shift.
Sage will now sell any of the 56 Extended Solutions that they are keeping (does not appear to apply to the Extended Solutions that they’ve open sourced to developers) at levels earlier than 4.3 – up into when those solutions are actually incorporated to 4.4.
This means if you are on version 4.1 and need a “kept” solution such as AP-1095 Paperless Office AP Checks & Direct Deposit Stubs that you can continue to buy it up until the time it’s rolled into V4.4+.
This is extremely good news for those existing customers on maintenance with a supported version of Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 prior to 4.3. It means that if their business conditions require them to adopt one of the 56 kept solutions that they can purchase that solution today rather than upgrade to 4.3 solely to qualify for the purchase of an Extended Solution.
There are a myriad of valid reasons that customers don’t upgrade immediately to the latest versions. Some customers have extensive enhancements to MAS90/200 that require testing and custom programming prior to any upgrade. Other customers may be subject to stricter compliance regulations (lending institutions, auditors, Sarbanes Oxley, governmental regulation) that don’t allow for a hasty upgrade.
Here is the link to the list of Extended Solutions to which the policy applies:
http://www.sagemas.com/products/sagemas90_mas200/extended_solutions/
Sage ERP X3 Paris Launch – Recorded Presentation 1/20/2010
February 7, 2010
Sage have posted a recording of their worldwide launch event for ERP X3 held on January 20, 2010 in Paris France. This event unveiled ERP X3 V6 which is being re-launched in all countries where Sage operates (North America launch occurs in Q2 2010).
We attended this launch and our thoughts you can visit our ERP blog (ERPLIFE) and read our Sage ERP X3 Launch Event Thoughts.
Formerly known as Adonix, Sage is positioning the ERP X3 as one of their global ERP systems (Accpac is the other).
Speaking at the event:
Paul Walker – Chief Executive The Sage Group, PLC
Christoper Leteiller, Sage ERP X3 Worldwide
Himanshu Palsule, Executive VP North America
Emmanuel Obadia, Senior VP, Sage ERP X3
Francois Sancho, Managing Director Logica
Paula Paravechio, EMEA Managing Director, Distribution & Services Industry Microsoft
Pascal Dumontet, GM Oracle France
Freddy Mini, CEO Netvibes
Sage ERP X3 Videocast Recording from 1/20/2010 Paris Launch
Free SQL Server Training for Sage Partners: Irvine CA (2/17,18) and New York (2/23, 24)
February 4, 2010
A little birdie just alerted me to a free two day Microsoft SQL training course available to Sage Business Partners free of charge.
The course is being held February 17 & 18, 2010 in Irvine California or February 23 & 24, 2010 in New York City. Registration is completely free though as of February 4, 2010 at 3pm EST there were only 16 free seats remaining in California and 20 in New York.
The deadline to register for the Irvine classes is 2/14/10 and for New York it’s 2/18/10.
From what we know this training is a requirement for certification on MAS 200 SQL (expected to be re-released in Q4 2010) and certainly handy for any consultants working with Sage MAS 200 EES which uses SQL for the SageCRM portion of the product.
How can you go wrong with two days of free hands-on technical training?
Here’s the course description:
Sage and Microsoft’s SQL Server Team are joining forces together to offer Sage most valued partners, a unique opportunity to take their SQL Server skills to the next level and grow their business.
Understanding the SQL Server administration and management is critical for successful implementations of Sage products in a SQL Server environment. In this course, the most important aspects of working with SQL Server will be covered during a two day workshop that includes practical experience via hands-on-labs. The course covers installing, configuring and managing SQL Server, explains how SQL Server indexes work, shows how to read execution plans, describes how to perform basic performance tuning and diagnostics and provides guidance on planning for high availability options such as clustering, mirroring and log-shipping.
Here’s how Sage Business Partners can sign up (login is required)
First, login to Sage Partner University here.
Next, I was only able to locate the course through a search – but you may be able to follow this link to go direct to the SQL registration page. (Update: It looks as if sometimes this direct link brings you to a search page instead of the course – simply search for the keyword SQL and product line Sage MAS90/ MAS200. The second result – course # MS90611 Sage SQL Server Training should appear for $ 0).
If the link above doesn’t work, simply search for the class using the steps below:
Open the search box (click the image below to enlarge):
Then use the resulting search box to find the course with SQL:
Sage MAS500 Product Roadmap – 2010
February 3, 2010
Sage have just released their MAS 500 roadmap which contains the next few years’ product direction as compiled in January 2010.
Included in the document are version release schedules through 2012 (expect one per year) as well as product update cycles (minor releases) which should occur 4 to 5 per cycle and include both program fixes and new enhancements. These updates are planned for release about every 3 to 4 months.
There’s also a version retirement schedule to provide updates on when versions 6.3 through 7.2 will be retired.
Sage MAS 500 Roadmap – January 2010
Sage Accpac Roadmap – 2010
February 3, 2010
Sage have just released their 2010 Product Roadmap for their Accpac line of software. This map outlines version releases through 2011, provides information on new Business Intelligence options and contains a screen shot of the new web client data entry screen.
Sage Accpac Roadmap – Jan 2010
MAS 90 & MAS 200 Roadmap – 2/1/2010
February 2, 2010
Sage have just released their public roadmap for their MAS90 and MAS200 product line. The map displays planned enhancements through 2012 – as well as some new information such as an apparent plan to bring forward a SQL compatible payroll module.
As with all technology plans these are tentative and subject to change as noted in Sage’s footnotes.
Sage MAS 90 and 200 Roadmap – PUBLIC 2-1-10
Former Microsoft VP, Robert Deshaies To Lead Sage Construction and Specialized Business
January 25, 2010
Sage North America just announced that Robert Deshaies, a former VP who helped developed the partner strategy for Microsoft and also worked on their SaaS strategies as well as managing field operations for MS Dynamics.
Robert Deshaies is the second Microsoft executive to join Sage in the last year. Tom Miller joined Sage in June 2009 as their Vice President – North American Channel Management after having spent a combined 17 years at Great Plains and Microsoft.
In February 2009 Sage made permanent the appointment of Jodi Uecker-Rust as the President of Sage Business Solutions. Jodi herself was widely known as Doug Burgum’s second in command for many years at Great Plans and subsequently Microsoft when they acquired Great plains.
Deshaies appears to replace Himanshu Palsule who is still very much at Sage (I can vouch for that personally as he’s here at President’s Circle in Arizona as is Robert Deshaies).
While there’s no title given for Himanshu’s new position, he was recently the only Sage North America executive featured on the Sage ERP X3 webcast live from Paris France. Perhaps an announcement is pending on his new role and title.
The move to hire talent from the Great Plains / Microsoft pool is certainly a positive one for Sage. Great Plains had long been respected for their strong commitment to their sales channel as well as unrelenting focus on customer support.
The full press release follows:
Sage Organizational Announcement
Introducing Robert Deshaies, EVP SBS
Dear Sage Business Partner,
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Deshaies as executive vice president, Sage Business Solutions. Robert will lead our Construction and Real Estate Business as well as our group of Specialized Solutions businesses (Sage FAS Fixed Assets, Employer Solutions, and the Value product families). He will also assume the interim day-to-day general manager’s responsibilities for our Construction and Real Estate (CRE) business until a new leader is hired, after which he will continue to provide oversight.
Robert brings more than 20 years of industry experience to Sage. Most recently, he was with Microsoft as vice president of the U.S. Partner Group, accountable for partner strategy, group management, business development, marketing, and sales. He has also led sales, marketing, and services for Microsoft’s eastern region, including all products and partner channels. Before working at Microsoft, Robert gained extensive experience and knowledge in business software with State of the Art, Solomon, and Great Plains in product management, sales, marketing, consulting services, and general management. As such he brings a very strong understanding of the industry and business to Sage.
Please join me, too, in thanking Himanshu Palsule, who has been providing executive leadership to the Specialized Solutions team, while also leading our divisional business strategy. This change will enable Himanshu to focus 100 percent on our business strategy to insure we have industry-competitive solutions today and into the future. With more than 12 years at Sage and over 20 years in our industry, we are fortunate to have Himanshu’s focused leadership in this critically important area of product and marketing strategy.
We have a great opportunity before us and I believe these announcements will accelerate our position in the industry.
Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment,
Jodi Uecker-Rust
President, Sage Business Solutions
Sage North America
Sage Offers Free One Day Consulting Skills Workshops In Locations Nationwide
January 21, 2010
Sage has just unleashed a free gift on their partner community that may be one of the most valuable sessions you ever attend.
Ed Kless, Sage’s Senior Director of Partner Development, is bringing a one day consulting skills workshop to seven locations near you between now and April 20.
Hopefully by now you’ve attended one of Ed’s classes. If not – take a peek at some video from IT Alliance where he teaches as well.
Why Should You Attend Ed’s Class?
- Because you disagree with his stance on pricing
- Because you agree with his stance on pricing
- Because you want to network with other proactive consultants and learn
- Because you hate boring canned presentations (No two of Ed’s classes are alike – but they’re all tremendously helpful)
- You enjoy classes where nearly the entire group participates
- You enjoy learning from other consultants and implementing their best practices – while sharing your own
Who Should Avoid Ed’s Classes
- Anyone planning on leaving the consulting business soon
- Anyone who thinks that what they’ve been doing the last 20 years is going to last into the next 5
- Any of my competitors in Connecticut
To register:
Login (create an account if needed) at http://www.sageu.com
Click “Academies and Boot Camps” on the left
Click “Mid Market ERP”
The list of Consulting Skills Workshops should appear (PDC103)
I’ll be attending the New York City session (Affinia Manhattan) on April 6, 2010.
See you there!
via: Bill Kizer Sage Software LinkedIn Group
Sage ERP X3 V6 Launch Streaming Live from Paris
January 20, 2010
The Sage Software ERP X3 v6 launch is happening live starting today January 20, 2010 at 9:30 EST.
Sage ERP X3, formerly Adonix, is a product Sage acquired in 2005. It’s being positioned as a global ERP system with a centralized product management team. Today’s webcast is the launch of version 6 and features explanation of Sage’s plans for the product.
Simulcast live on the web from Paris, the event features speakers from Sage discussing the new features and marketing of their latest version of Sage ERP X3.
Speaking at the event:
Paul Walker – Chief Executive The Sage Group, PLC
Christoper Leteiller, Sage ERP X3 Worldwide
Himanshu Palsule, Executive VP North America
Emmanuel Obadia, Senior VP, Sage ERP X3
Francois Sancho, Managing Director Logica
Paula Paravechio, EMEA Managing Director, Distribution & Services Industry Microsoft
Pascal Dumontet, GM Oracle France
Freddy Mini, CEO Netvibes
Link: Sage ERP X3 V6 Launch (Live Streaming Video) and My Sage ERP X3 V6 Launch Notes
Schulz Consulting MAS90 Newsletter Signup
January 3, 2010
Interested in tips, tricks and news about Sage MAS90 and MAS200 accounting software?
Sign up here for our twice monthly (first and fifteenth) MAS90 email newsletter. Each edition contains the latest MAS 90 and MAS 200 news as well as technology tips and tricks of interest to MAS90 users. There’s no advertising and you can unsubscribe from the email list yourself at any time.
The cost is free and we presently have over 2,000 members receiving the newsletter every month.
MAS 90 Newsletter Topics Include (but aren’t limited to):
- Instructions on closing the year in MAS 90 and MAS 200
- News of critical software patches
- Links to whitepapers describing new features
- Information about free web seminars
- Reviews of different add-on solutions for MAS 90 and MAS 200
- Technology tips – mobile phones, social media, web site links
Schulz Consulting MAS90 Newsletter Signup
MAS200 Supported Hardware, Networking and Operating System Platforms – 12/31/09
January 3, 2010
The supported hardware and software platforms for Sage MAS 90 have been updated as of 12/31/09. The list below shows exactly what configurations Sage support.
Note that Windows 7 is stated as not supported with versions prior to 4.3.
Tip: While we do not recommend running MAS 90 on un-supported platforms we’ve found that you may be able to run it on Windows 7 32-bit (avoid 64-bit) by using the MAS 90 CD to run workstation setup on each of your stations. If you don’t use the CD you’ll likely receive some type of error (under Windows 7) about the workstation not being able to map to the server.
FRX does not appear like it will be supported under Windows 7 64-bit.
Sue Swenson CEO of Sage To Keynote UC Irvine Distinguished Speaker Series January 21, 2010
December 26, 2009
Sue Swenson, CEO of Sage North America, will keynote a session at The Paul Merage School of Business – University of California Irvine on January 21, 2010 at 6:30 pm.
Sue Swenson is President and CEO of Sage North America, part of the Sage Group plc.
She has over 20 years’ experience in both the fixed line and wireless telecommunications industry and almost 10 years in start-up companies where she managed periods of rapid growth and industry change. She spent part of her career with Pacific Telesis (Pacific Bell) where she held a number of senior management positions in all parts of the business and was the President and Chief Operating Officer of PacTel Cellular (which became AirTouch Communications). She subsequently became President & CEO of Cellular One, the mobile telephone joint venture with Vodafone AirTouch and AT&T Wireless, followed by positions as Chief Operating Officer with Leap Wireless International and T-Mobile (Deutsche Telecom). She was most recently Chief Operating Officer of New Motion, Inc. (now Atrinsic, Inc.), one of the largest digital media entertainment content providers.
Ms Swenson previously sat on the Board of T–Mobile International and currently serves on the Board of Wells Fargo. Ms Swenson is a member of Sage’s Executive Management Committee.
The Distinguished Speaker Series brings together executives from different industries to share leadership perspectives, ethical frameworks, decision making processes and insights.
The event draws approximately 350 corporate professionals, community leaders, MBA students, faculty members and campus staff.
Tickets are $50 per event. UCI Students and Employees are free (proper identification and secret University handshake knowledge required).
Business attire is required. For more information call Shaheen Husain at 949-824-7311.
UC Irvine Distinguished Speakers 2009 – 2010
Wayne Schulz Named 2009 Sage Spirit Award Winner
December 18, 2009
When Paul Johnson (Executive Vice President – Sage Business Solutions) called me late last night my first instinct was to check the Schulz Consulting web site.
Usually when I get calls from executives at odd hours of the day (or weekend) it’s to “point out” something on the site that I’ve written earlier in the week. The conversation starts out with admiration for “that little blog you run” and the “support for those who blog”.
And oh, by the way, could you remove that item about __.
This happens about once per quarter, and truthfully except for that little mis-understanding about Sage MAS 200 SQL, Sage doesn’t call that much. It’s usually other publishers or consultants who catch their name in a Google Keyword Alert and confuse the term blog with free advertisement.
I quickly scanned for potential issues on the web site. Except for an innocent announcement about MAS90 payroll tax tables there didn’t seem to be anything that would warrant a late night call.
So I call Paul Johnson back.
I’m braced for questions about something on the site – though I’m unsure exactly what questions there could be.
Surprisingly I learned that I’d been awarded one of the two Sage Spirit Awards. This is a new award category that Sage created this year. It’s meant to honor those who don’t sell bazillions of dollars worth of Sage product but who perhaps still should be recognized at the annual Sage President Circle.
Paul was calling to tell me I was one of the winners. (I guess that stuff on TV where people show up with a big check on your doorstep and a bouquet of balloons isn’t how it all happens in real life).
Out of 140 people nominated (I did not nominate myself -honest), the Sage team narrowed the selection to two Sage Spirit Award Winners.
While admittedly stunned I’m thankful and grateful for the award.
The presentation is January 25-27 in Arizona where I’ll presumably take the stage wedged between the men and women who’ve sold millions and millions of dollars of Sage Software and I’ll gladly accept the Sage Spirit Award.
I can’t wait to give my acceptance speech.
ISM and 7 Others Named Sage Preferred Development Partners
December 16, 2009
Angela Goldsmith from Information Systems Management (ISM) just emailed to let me know that their consulting firm, ISM, has been named a Sage Preferred Development Partner. These are partners that Sage is recommending for upgrading Extended Solutions that have not been incorporated to versions 4.4+ of their MAS 90 or MAS 200 software.
A Preferred Development Partner is a firm that has gone through the application process and have 15 positive references on their Providex programming work. They must have 5 partner and 10 client references that Sage checks. If the development partner is already a Gold or Endorsed Partner they get to skip the reference check and are considered a preferred development partner.
The idea behind Preferred Development Partners was that some ISVs might want to help their own customers upgrade their solutions but might not want to be in the general business of supporting & upgrading the ES titles for the Business Partners in general.
ISM is a developer for Sage and one of the leaders in the community with respect to the eBusiness Module. Based in Oregon they work with Sage MAS90, MAS200, MAS500, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft CRM.
Newly added Sage Preferred Developers:
Exeplex – http://www.exeplex.com
ISM – http://www.goism.com
Steward Consulting – http://www.stewardconsulting.com
Accounting Systems – http://www.asifocus.com
xKZero – http://www.xkzero.com
Midwest Commerce – http://www.mcsresults.com
TAIRAQ Systems – http://www.tairaq.com
Innovative Consulting Systems – http://www.innovativeconsultingservices.net
Via: ISM – Information Systems Management- Portland Oregon
MAS90 & MAS200 2009 IRD Available – Updates Electronic Reporting
December 16, 2009
Sage have just issued their MAS90 & MAS200 2009 IRD (Interim Release Disk) which updates their software for:
1099 layout changes for Electronic Reporting (formerly Magnetic Media)
Enables printing of W2s for New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Disability Insurance Private Plan Number
Read the full MAS 90 Year End FAQ below:
Download the 2009 MAS90 IRD
MAS90 & MAS200 Tax Table Update for 2010 Available Now
December 16, 2009
The Sage MAS90 & MAS200 Tax Table Update is now available for download.
The update can be used on the following MAS 90 and MAS 200 accounting software versions: 3.71, 3.72, 3.73, 3.74, 4.00, 4.05, 4.10, 4.20, 4.30 and Sage Extended Enterprise Suite for MAS90 and MAS200 Versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3.
This initial tax table update (always check to be sure you’re using the latest version since Sage will issue new tables as the state or federal government issues updates) presents the changes for federal withholding tax tables as well as the following states:
Alaska
California
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Iowa
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Maryland
Maine
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Nevada
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Utah
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Tax tables must be downloaded from the Sage Software Site (none are sent on CD or Disk) and only those customers current on a Sage Basic Maintenance plan have access to the download area.
If you are not active on a Sage plan and need to update tables this can still be done manually since Sage does not lock down the access to the table maintenance.
Here is a detailed list of what’s been updated in the latest tax table dated 12/11/2009:
Link: MAS90 & MAS200 Payroll Tax Table Update – 2010
Sage Holiday Card Game
December 15, 2009
Sage has come out with a pretty interesting holiday card. Rather than the boring static “Happy Holidays” their card is an online game that allows you to waste a few hours catch snowflakes and stars to earn points.
No prizes – just good fun. Next year maybe we can convince them to issue a competitive game where score is kept and prizes awarded.
Sage Holiday Card 2009 (Catch The Falling Snowflake Game)
Sage Summit and Insights Conferences Combined Starting 2011
December 10, 2009
Sage North America have just announced that their annual business partner conference (Insights) will occur just before their annual customer conference (Summit) beginning with the combining of the two conferences in July 2011 at the Gaylord Convention Center in Washington DC.
As both conferences merge, the new name going forward will be Sage Summit.
Sage Summit 2011 will be held July 10 – 15, 2011 at the Gaylord National in Washington, D.C. Partner focused tracks will be held July 10 – 13, and customer tracks will be conducted July 13 – 15.
The final Sage Insights conference will be held this May in Denver, CO.
Full Press Release From Sage:
Sage Summit, our annual North America customer conference, wrapped up a month ago in Atlanta and was a hit with customers. For the first time all parts of our business participated: Sage Business Solutions, Sage Payment Solutions, and our healthcare customers.
Many customers and partners have been asking what our plan is for the next Sage Summit. I’m happy to tell you that planning for the next Summit is already well underway, and we’re making changes to add even more value to our customers. We’re also shifting the event to July, which customers tell us works better for their business cycles. For the first time, we’re also linking Insights, our business partner conference, to Summit to create even more opportunity for our entire business community to work together.
To support those changes, our final standalone Insights partner conference will occur in May 2010 in Denver. Our first combined Sage Summit will be held July 10-15, 2011, at the Gaylord National in Washington, D.C., with partner-focused tracks July 10-13, and customer tracks July 13-15.
Between now and the first combined Summit, Sage will continue to help our customers learn and network through our support of customer communities, our participation in local customer events, and our emphasis on learning through Sage University. Summit, and all of these other opportunities we’re building to support our customers, continues our commitment to delivering a great customer experience.
Thanks again for all you do to deliver a great experience for our customers. I look forward to your support in making our next Summit a tremendous success.
Sage Announces 2009 Earnings
December 2, 2009
The numbers are just arriving overnight from UK and it’s really tough to tell whether they mean a heck of a lot given this crappy economy.
The US had a 10% revenue decline (net earnings seem ok and have been kept afloat via cost cuts) with a 20% EBITA.
Most interesting is the commentary in Sage’s regulatory filing which indicates they’ll be going after the support area with renewed vigor. This is something VARS who’d been paying attention already figured out in August when Sage appeared to outsource nearly their entire maintenance and support area.
The company taking over the North America support and renewal effort, ServiceSource, appears by their web site to be largely a commission based services (support/maintenance) renewal company raising speculation from multiple partners that Sage’s renewal efforts could become increasingly aggressive.
Since most VARS make the lions share of their money from service and support, any move by a vendor to cut off this revenue stream would likely not be greeted with open arms by the VAR consulting channel.
My read on this (between the lines) is that we will see Sage re-doubling their efforts almost immediately to sign users to added telephone support agreements in addition to software maintenance agreements.
Personally I think that’s a tougher road for Sage US to travel as their marketing of support puts them directly into competition with their channel.
I LOVE the part about re-invigorating the channel….selling support against them certainly would do that!
Here’s the wording from the Sage UK site:
http://www.investors.sage.com/news/regulatory_announcements/?id=55685
North America
Total revenues in North America contracted 10%* to £576.4m (2008: £637.3m*), reflecting the difficult economic conditions. Organic revenue contracted 8%*. Organic subscription revenues declined 2%*, while organic software and software-related services revenues declined 23%*.
Phase 1 of the changes to our North American business has been successfully completed with the new management team in place and an appropriate reduction of the cost base. Operational improvements planned in Phase 2 are underway including reinvigoration of the channel, growth in premium support offers and several product launches. We are making good progress in these areas and have seen increases in customer satisfaction scores across our product lines.
Sage North America is organised into 3 divisions, Sage Business Solutions Division (“SBS”), Sage Payment Solutions Division and Sage Healthcare Division. SBS declined organically 11%*, the downturn particularly impacting our mid-market accounting products, CRM products and Sage Timberline Office which serves the construction industry. Our entry-level accounting products (Peachtree and Simply) delivered resilient performances with continued growth of Peachtree Quantum. Non-Profit Solutions performed well in the challenging market conditions and grew modestly. Sage Payment Solutions Division saw a 15% increase in the number of merchants served but lower volume per merchant leading to a fall in revenue of 4%*. Payments revenue from cross-sell to our existing customers grew, from a small base, by over 100%* in the year and we regard this as a substantial future opportunity for Sage.
Sage Healthcare Division has improved its EBITA† margin in the year to 17% (2008: 8%*). We have improved customer service levels and so reduced customer losses in our Medical Manager base. Although Healthcare revenues declined overall by 5%*, revenue from the Intergy product line, including Electronic Health Records (“EHR”) capability, grew by 13%* to £71.2m. Intergy, with its accredited, market-leading EHR solution, is well positioned to benefit from incentives within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the adoption of EHR.
The EBITA† margin of Sage North America, including restructuring charges of £10.7m incurred in the year, was 18% (2008:18%*). Excluding restructuring charges, it was 20%.
Sage Extended Solutions Absorbed Into MAS90 & MAS200
November 19, 2009
Sage North America appears to be formalizing their plans for including some of their popular catalog of Extended Solutions for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 into the core product beginning with release 4.4.
If you’re not familiar with Extended Solutions they were pre-written customizations (sold separately) that once installed work seamlessly within MAS 90 and MAS 200.
For years Extended Solutions were the “secret sauce” that Sage consultants used when they implemented new systems for customers.
During any ERP software implementation there’s usually a tiny bit of missing functionality that’s needed. For example finding a fixed cost Extended Solution that for example performed ACH Payments for Accounts Payable (not a core MAS 90 feature) was significantly cheaper and easier than hiring a programmer to modify the software to perform that task.
Sage Extended Solutions No Longer Sold
Beginning with version 4.4 of MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Solutions will not be sold separately. Instead Sage have taken the list of available solutions and intends to cull out the most popular ones for inclusion in future releases of MAS 90 and MAS 200.
Extended Solutions not selected for inclusion will have their source code made available to a number of select programmers (Master Developers) so that customers can have their enhancements upgraded.
Although some solutions with few users may not make it into Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 we understand that Sage will continue to provide support (without upgrades past version 4.3) for a period of time yet to be officially announced.
Note: As of this writing the site for Extended Solutions catalogs and pricing is down.
Exact Timetable For Inclusion Uncertain
We’ve yet to hear anything official on when these enhancements (shown below) will be included in the next release(s) of Sage MAS 90 and 200.
One source who attended a Sage meeting indicated that out of and estimated 700 titles (active & inactive) there will be approximately 56 preserved and rolled into MAS 90 and MAS 200 over the next 12-24 months in various quarterly updates.
Another approximate two dozen enhancements were listed as being un-needed due to functionality that was in the new version 4.4 release of MAS 90 and MAS 200.
An unofficial partial list (we think this list is close to what will be added in the first three rounds of updates in 2010 is almost certainly shy a few enhancements and probably subject to change – so take it with a grain of salt) of Extended Solution parts that may be rolled into the first release is:
March 2010: SO1096, PR1018, JC1046, AR1200, SO1271, AR1027, SO1035
June 2010: BR1005, BR1004
September 2010: SO1173, AP1043, AP1101, SO1354
According to consultants who’ve attended the briefings, Sage is selecting the enhancements to include based on the numbers of installed base users and the ease of embedding them in the future release.
Recommendations
While the exact timetable of when certain Extended Solutions will be included in the future releases of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 is uncertain we recommend reviewing the official Sage document below to see which of your enhancements is being incorporated in a future MAS 90 or MAS 200 list.
If your enhancement is not on the list you may be able to enlist the aid of a qualified Sage Master Developer to assist you in the upgrade process or to purchase a similar enhancement from another developer.
Sage Customer Awards Announced At Summit 2009
November 10, 2009
Sage North America Announced the following customer award winners during their annual Summit Customer Conference November 9 to 12, 2009 in Atlanta Georgia.
Best Use of Customization
The Best Use of Customization award recognizes a Sage customer who has customized their Sage solution to solve a specific business objective and achieve a sustained competitive advantage.
The 2009 winner is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), Rockville, MD. In 2006, MRIS upgraded its legacy accounting systems to Sage MAS 500 ERP and worked with Blytheco LLC to develop and implement automated processes that simplified the entire customer invoicing and payment cycle. In 2009, MRIS launched an online payment service for its customers that integrated with Sage MAS 500 ERP. Since then, over 32,000 customers have used the system to pay their MRIS bills. As MRIS continues to automate its processes, they expect Sage will continue to provide the stability and scalability to make this possible.
Community Stewardship
The Community Stewardship Award recognizes a Sage customer for their outstanding commitment to better the lives of the people and the communities they serve.
The 2009 winner is Teach For America, New York, NY. Prior to their Sage SalesLogix implementation, the organization did not have a centralized system to track prospective candidates in the field. They have now standardized their recruitment processes resulting in a stronger applicant pool through and more targeted and effective recruiting. Teach for America worked with Infinity Info Systems on their implementation.
Best End-to-End Deployment
The Best End-to-End Deployment Award recognizes a Sage customer who has achieved outstanding business results through the implementation of two or more Sage applications.
The 2009 winner is Power Curbers, Inc., Salisbury, NC. Prior to their Sage implementation of MAS 500 ERP, Sage FAS Fixed Assets and Sage SalesLogix, the company was using a difficult ERP system and was spending more time managing the system than using the information. As a result of this end-to-end implementation, the company has transitioned to a pull inventory system using just-in-time manufacturing processes and doubled their inventory turns in just 12 months. Power Curbers, Inc. worked with Practical Software Solutions on their implementation.
Best Innovation Award
The Best Innovation Award recognizes a Sage customer who has developed a unique solution to a challenge within their industry and demonstrated significant business benefits as a result.
The 2009 winner is Entertainment Lighting Services, Inc., Sun Valley, CA. Prior to their implementation of Sage MAS 500 ERP, the company was searching for a completely integrated system that could handle their unique industry requirements in accounting for rental and sales inventories as well as labor scheduling. They now have a comprehensive system that helped reduce their inventory shrinkage by 50% while the month-end close process was reduced from 4 weeks to 5 days. Entertainment Lighting Services, Inc. worked with Information Integration Group, Inc. on their implementation.
Rookie of the Year
The Rookie of the Year Award recognizes a new Sage customer who has demonstrated immediate business results and positive impact from their Sage implementation.
The 2009 winner is Coilhose Pneumatics, East Brunswick, NJ. Prior to Sage, they were looking for a new ERP system that could unify their two separate companies and they found it with Sage MAS 500 ERP. Product costing is now automated and booking inter-company transactions is a snap. Coilhose Pneumatics worked with Net@Work on their implementation.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an exceptional customer who has used a Sage solution for over 10 years, and who has survived difficult economic environments, shifting technology trends and demonstrated continuous business improvements and results over this time period.
The 2009 winner is Amix Salvage & Sales Ltd., Surrey, BC. The company has been using Sage solutions for over 17 years. Since their initial DOS implementation, they have now grown to use Sage Accpac ERP, which has helped automate or eliminate many of their old manual processes such as the manual time entry for payroll, which saved 15 hours each week. In addition, real time perpetual inventory has saved 10 hours per month by eliminating the need for retail store workers to research inventory levels. Amix Salvage & Sales Ltd. worked with Plus Computer Solutions on their implementation.
Images and information via: Sage
5 Ways To Make Your Sage Summit Conference A Home Run
November 10, 2009
We’ve all been to conferences before. Taken pages and pages of notes. Collected stacks of business cards and garbage bags full of free giveaways from vendors.
Then we come home and what happens?
After we’ve distributed the pens and pads to the kids – typically nothing happens. At least nothing until the day six months later when we run across that bag of junk from the conference and decide to throw it away.
If you’re like most conference participants you’ll return to the office to face the urgency of all the business you ignored while at the conference takes over. Suddenly all those great ideas that you shared with people that you met become distant memories.
I’ve got five suggestions on how you can make the most of your Sage Summit Conference. I’ve implemented these after attending conferences in the past and the return on the time invested has been triple what it otherwise would have been.
Five Ways To Maximize Your Sage Summit Conference Experience
#1 Start A Free Google Group – Invite Everyone You Met To Participate
You’ve just obtained a few dozen business cards. Don’t let them go to waste. Instead setup a free Google Group where you can enter in everyone’s name and then invite them to participate with exchanging ideas all year round (not just during the conference).
What do you talk about in a Google Group? The group that I am involved in (sageresellers) exchanges over 500 email messages monthly about technical topics that range from experiences with new MAS90 versions to experiences with add-on modules.
We started the group by realizing that a dozen or so Sage consultants typically gathered each and every year at conferences to exchange war stories and technical tips. You can create the same type of group with other users of Sage Software who you’ve met at conferences.
Use the power of group collaboration to bounce ideas off your peers or get second opinions about technology you’re considering. Best of all this advice is both trustworthy and free — because nobody in the group is trying to sell you anything.
Google Groups are completely free and automate the task of sending out one email to a group of people. With Google Groups the people in the group don’t have to remember to “reply all” so that each person gets an individual email. The group feature automatically delivers the emails and allows people to reply via email or they can log into the Google web site and read messages online.
This is a great way to keep in touch and share technical tips with other users throughout the year.
#2 Twitter and Social Media Are The “In” Thing – But You Still Don’t Get It
The next big thing is Twitter and Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn) – at least according to the conference speakers. Yet you feel way behind because you’ve yet to start up a Twitter account – or know what to talk about if you had one.
Use the power of Twitter Lists to view groups of people connected to Sage (consultants, end users, vendors) and observe what they’re chatting about. This isn’t an official Twitter stream and names are always being added each day. It’s a perfect way to start.
Access our Twitter list of Sage related accounts (vendors, Sage employees, consultants) – here.
It’s ok to lurk (read only) until you get the hang of this Twitter thing. Once you do become active you’ll see that Twitter is really not anything more than another way to stay in touch with friends and business acquaintances.
What are you waiting for? Create your Twitter account here. Then add http://www.twitter.com/mas90guru and some of the folks in the Sage Twitter List.
#3 Join LinkedIn
Most of the people you meet at the conference are probably active online with LinkedIN.
Think of LinkedIN as Facebook for business. Here you establish online contacts and can participate in groups of people with similar interests. Two great groups are the Sage Partners, Employees and Alumni LinkedIN group and the MAS90 and MAS 200 Group.
Although group discussions can vary in frequency and topic – the Sage groups tend to be very business focused and stay on the topic of Sage. Don’t let your experience with other LinkedIN groups that aren’t well managed deter you from joining a Sage group.
The key to getting the most from your online groups is participation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because chances are there will be half a dozen other people who wonder the same thing.
When you can, step up and provide answers or assistance to other users. Share your candid experiences (both good and bad) with users who may be in the same industry or considering the same type of software setup. LinkedIN is a great structured site to make business contacts that can provide assistance to your company and to you personally.
MAS 90 & MAS 200 Users & Consultants Group – LinkedIN
Sage Partners, Employees and Alumni
#4 – Join the Sage Communities
Did you know that Sage has various communities (discussion forums) where users meet to ask technical questions about products that they use? These communities are free and open to everyone. Once you’re a member you can ask questions and participate in discussions about the products that you use.
One of my favorite uses of communities is to find unbiased references for software that I’m considering purchasing.
The sales fliers always make software appear like it can do absolutely anything. The real story often is told when you find someone who has been using the software for a period of time and can give real world examples of both pros and cons of the program.
Although many Sage staffers frequent the communities, you’ll find most of the support is member to member. One way to extend the benefits of communities is to keep in closer contact with the more active members – typically via email.
#5 – Regularly Attend The Free Sage Online Seminars
Did you know that Sage has regularly scheduled technical sessions. Some of these are free. And many have a nominal fee. You can look at the list here.
There’s also self-study and other types of guides that you can purchase and use as your reference materials for the various Sage products that you use daily.
These sessions are easily justified as I’ve found attending a seminar can save your company countless hours of consulting time both now and in the future.
Keep The Momentum After The Conference
Don’t let the knowledge and friendships die down once you’ve left the shelter of the Sage Summit conference and returned home.
All of the suggested activities above are available for free (or extremely low cost) and are great ways to keep the Sage Summit experience going after you’ve left the conference. Peer to peer networking is one of the best ways to learn and share important information from other users of the software just like you.
Sage Summit 2009 Conference Blog Now Live
November 9, 2009
Attending Sage Summit this week in Atlanta Georgia?
The official Sage Summit conference blog is now live with periodic updates from the 2009 customer conference.
The blog contains a few guest posts that are centered around CRM. Also available is alive tweet stream that seems to capture the official Sage Summit Twitter feed – http://www.twitter.com/sage_summit.
Contributors to the Sage Summit Blog:
The Sage Summit Blog editors are from the Sage North America public relations team:
John Schoutsen – Sage North America Corporate
Aimee Ertley – Small Business Accounting Solutions
Lynne Durham – Healthcare Solutions
Cynthia Sutton – Nonprofit Solutions, Payment Solutions/Merchant Services
Monisha Khanna – Construction and Real Estate Solutions, Small Business Accounting Solutions
Stephen Moore – Mid-Market Accounting/ERP and Employer Solutions
Ryan Zuk – Industry Analyst Relations, CRM and Contact Management Solutions
You can also save some time and follow most of the interesting Sage Twitter conversations using our Sage Twitter List which contains the Twitter feeds of 85 tops Sage employees, consultants and industry analysts.
and How To Get The Most From The Sage Summit Conference
via: Towner Blackstock - CIS Consulting Group
Sage Twitter List Live – easily follow MAS90, MAS200 and other Sage product discussions
October 31, 2009
Looking to keep up with what other Sage employees, consultants, end users and vendors are saying on Twitter?
Use our new free Twitter list that provides a concise timeline showing only mostly tweets that are relevant to people involved with Sage products.
This is not sponsored by, endorsed or affiliated with Sage.
Rather twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. While the service itself costs nothing to use, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees.
One of the frustrating things about Twitter is that it can be difficult to find people to “follow”. Unless you’ve been using the service for a while you can easily become frustrated at trying to find people like:
Himanshu Palsule (twitter) –
Executive VP, Product Strategy/Marketing, Sage Business Solutions, and GM, Specialized Solutions
Bill Kizer (twitter) who worked in sales for years at Blytheco and is instrumental in starting and running the Sage LinkedIn Group.
Alok Tyagi (twitter) – VP of R&D for Sage Software North America
There are many more Sage related twitter feeds on our list. As of now the number of followed accounts is 83 and growing.
To easily follow and read the Twitter feeds of people most likely to be discussing Sage related topics, follow the link below.
Disclaimer About Twitter
Be aware- Twitter is an unfiltered stream of messages. While many of the users are affiliated with different companies – it’s a good idea to assume that their comments reflect their own personal thoughts and not necessarily those of their employer.
This is also not an official Sage feed. They do not endorse, recommend, follow, participate or provide any other approval of the messages or content.
If we’ve missed adding your name to the Sage Twitter list – leave a comment with your Twitter ID and affiliation and we will add your name to the Twitter list.
Sage Summit 2009 Registration – 50% off through October 30, 2009
October 30, 2009
Sage Summit is testing how small and medium size business software users react to Twitter offers; we are pleased to offer the following exclusive promotion to the Summit Twitter community.
$495 registration rate valid only on October 30, 2009, until midnight ET
Special registration rate is available to first-time Sage Summit 2009 registrants only (not applicable to previous registrations)
* To register visit http://registration.experient-inc.com/ShowSAG091/Default.aspx, choose your registration type and enter the special promotional code TWEET in the Start New Registration section of the page before registering.
Remember, this offer expires at midnight ET tonight, October 30, 2009.
Timberline Consultants CIS Consulting Group Expand Construction Offerings to Denver Colorado
September 26, 2009
Timberline Software services are now offered in Denver Colorado by CIS Consulting Group out of their newly established local office.
Timberline is software for the construction industry and includes modules for accounting, estimating, procurement, production management, project management, real estate management and service management.
A blog post on Friday announced that Sage North America awarded the territory to CIS Consulting Group who also offers Sage Masterbuilder, Sage MAS 500,
According to Richard Rudolph, Vice President Sales & Services, ”We are pleased to announce that CIS Consulting Group will be expanding their geographic presence to include Denver. Chuck Elyea and Jim Campbell have successfully recruited Robin Harris to head the office of CIS Consulting Group in Denver, Colorado.
We are confident the expertise CIS brings combined with Robin’s local knowledge will provide solid support to the MIS customers located there and ultimately lead to significant new customer acquisition. This will be effective October 1, 2009.”
CIS Consulting Group was formed in 1987 by Chuck Elyea with the mission to provide accounting software systems and value-added services to the construction industry. Chuck had been chief financial officer for a construction company for several years.
CIS became a Sage Timberline Office authorized partner in 1993 and subsequently joined the Sage Timberline Office president’s club in 1995 as one of the top resellers in the country. In 1997, CIS obtained the Sage Timberline Office summit club level, placing CIS in the top 5% of authorized partners nationwide. In 2001, CIS became the #1 Sage Timberline Office authorized partner in the world and has consistently been a top Sage Timberline Office authorized partner ever since. In 2005, Jim Campbell left his post as Vice President of Sales and Consulting at Timberline to become the President of CIS.
CIS has grown beyond its roots in construction accounting to offer accounting, operations, technology and HR solutions for contractors, commercial and residential builders, specialty and subcontractors, real estate developers and managers.
Paula Mikkelson joins Tango Marketing as National Account Manager
September 18, 2009
Tango Marketing, a Sage Preferred Vendor of Star-Info Newsletters, Star-Email, press releases, success stories and Web site development announced today that Paula Mikkelson has joined them as their National Account Manager.
Formerly Paula solved all of my concerns with Extended Solutions when she worked at Sage as their Senior Manager of Extended Solutions Development and Professional Services.
Paula was one of the people at Sage that I could always count on for a call back or assistance with a problem. That’s not to say we always resolved issues but Paula explained the circumstances around why I may have been experiencing an issue.
Sage’s loss is Tango’s gain. contact Paula at 800-781-1377 extension 111 or you can email her paula and then slide in the at tango-marketing.com.
MAS 90 Trivia – just for fun
September 17, 2009
Anyone for some Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 trivia?
Jeffory M. Urquhart who is an ERP Implementation Specialist at Microliance in Florida has started an interesting trivia game over on LinkedIn that asks some tough but fascinating questions about MAS 90.
You’ll need to go way back with the product because Jeff’s questions are not for the beginner.
Jeff’s list of questions appear on the MAS 90 group on LinkedIn (click here to join first). This is not an official Sage forum, rather it’s a spot that fellow users and consultants can gather to exchange information, network — and even play the occasional game of MAS 90 trivia.
Here’s the list of MAS 90 trivia questions.
- What does M.A.S stand for?
- What did SOTA stand for?
- What was 09SAM?
- What operating system platform was MAS 90 originally written for?
- When initially marketed, what was the application language that MAS 90 was written in?
- In the original versions, how were terminal IDs set?
- What year was MAS 90 introduced?
- What was the first version of MAS 90 for Windows?
What’s interesting is several long time Sage employees have added questions like the one Erika Jelovsek poses:
Ahhh, but if you really want to call yourself a historian of all things MAS 90 , you need to be able to define the acryonyms for these release names. And Craig, no jumping in right away…..let the non-Sage folks take a trip in the wayback machine to come up with these answers! ERBY, MERBY, LEFTY, IMSOPO, and, my personal favorite, TAMAN.
For the answers to these questions – and to read several more interesting tidbits of MAS 90 trivia – head over to the MAS 90 LinkedIn group. You’ll have to join the group but membership is free and you can leave anytime.
Link:
What’s new in MAS 90 3.50 through 4.2?
September 8, 2009
One question that we’ve heard time and time again as MAS 90 upgrades are released is “what’s new?”.
Often this can be a difficult list to remember – especially if the person asking is several release levels back on the software. It’s easy to remember what has been added from version 4.1 to 4.2 — but how about from 3.50 to 4.2?
If you’re curious about all the enhancements that Sage has made to MAS 90 and MAS 200 since version 3.5 then you may wish to review this handy list on their site.
A detailed list of every change is available on a release by release basis. The chronology starts at version 3.5 and extends to 4.2. There is no login required – simply click away at the link below.
What’s New in MAS 90 – Version 3.5 to 4.2
Sage MAS 90 Service Updates Now Quarterly
September 7, 2009
The last service update for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.3 was issued 6/29/09. According to several consultants who have contacted us – Sage has told them that service updates will be issued on a quarterly basis instead of monthly.
Service updates for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 are released for the most current version of the software only (currently 4.3) and contain a bundle of fixes which are self-installing and correct noted issues.
Users of older supported versions of MAS 90 (prior to the current level) will still need to load program fixes individually as the service update bundles will continue to only be released for the current levels.
Please consult with a competent Sage Business Partner prior to installing any service updates. These fixes contain program changes which could cause any enhancements (including Sage’s Extended Solutions) to stop working.
In general we recommend loading service updates for MAS 90 only if you (or your Sage Business Partner) are in the process of logging a support case with Sage or see that a program patch or service update fixes a specific issue that you are experiencing.
In all instances, we recommend you contact your Sage Business Partner for advise on when and how to load any service updates before trying to install them yourself.
Sage Service Updates – MAS 90 and MAS 200 Version 4.3
Sage MAS90 and MAS200 Clientcare Reinstatement promotions save you 40%
August 23, 2009
Sage is running a Clientcare reactivation campaign whose stated expiration is 9/30/09 and which is directed at MAS 90 and MAS 200 not on current on a maintenance (Clientcare) plan.
In summary, the details are:
MAS 90 & MAS 200 Version 4.x Clientcare Reinstatements
- Version 4.x clients not on plan can save 40% on lapsed years between end of previous contract and date of reinstatement. Future maintenance or support not included. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer.
Users can also save by re-enrolling on a multi-year agreement, buying new modules, upgrading to EES, buying Applianz.
Full details:
http://www.sagemasinfo.com/4xcc/
MAS 90 & MAS 200 Version 3.x Value Plan
- Version 3.x clients can get on the Value Plan for $1,000 MAS90 or $1,250 MAS 200.
Most clients take advantage of this plan either (a) to become eligible to buy new modules/licenses or (b) obtain the Paperless Office add-ins or (c) obtain three free Sage phone support cases.
Worth noting that Sage is giving THREE FREE SUPPORT CASES with the Value Plan.
Page 6 of Sage’s most current MAS90 & MAS200 Supported Platforms Matrix (2/11/09) lists June 2010 as the last date that version 3.71 will be supported. I’m unsure whether this is a typo or whether you would be purchasing less than a full year of coverage under the Value Plan for 3.71.
I’ve asked Sage to clarify the EOL (end of life) for version 3.71 and have yet to receive a response.
Full details:
http://www.sagemasinfo.com/371cc/
Sage MAS 500 Clientcare Reinstatements
- MAS 500 users can get back on plan for 40% off
Full details:
http://sagemasinfo.com/m500cc/
WAYNE’S NOTES:
Read the appropriate web links above for the details — I’m paraphrasing the offers and quite possibly stated something incorrectly
The three free support cases only seems to apply to 3.x clients who come back on a value plan. The value plan itself ONLY provides for 3.71 with no upgrade rights. Clients would have to negotiate their 3.71 to 4.x upgrade fee with Sage.
Internet faxing for MAS 90 and MAS 200 Paperless Office
August 6, 2009
If you’ve recently started to use the Paperless Office features of MAS 90 or MAS 200 you may have found that while you could fax documents via Microsoft Fax the capability to fax via Internet based services was omitted.
This internet faxing capability was removed when Paperless Office was included in the latest version of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200.
Now that capability is back, albeit as an add-on ($795 product + $265 maintenance = $ 1,060 total)
Sage’s Extended Solutions LM-1033 – Enhanced Faxing for Paperless Office adds internet faxing capabilities to Paperless Office by converting faxes to emails for the following providers:
Use this enhancement with paperless forms faxing from within your Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 system.
Generic faxing has also been added in case you need to configure your fax service to work with one of those that has not been listed above. Sage however does not provide any special support for configuring generic fax services so you’re on your own with any special configurations outside the 4 supported services listed above.
If You’re Not Using Paperless Office – Why Not?
Nearly 20 percent of the typical office space is set aside for storage, in addition to offsite storage. This method is both expensive and wasteful. Sage’s Paperless Office (included at no extra cost in both Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200) allows you to generate forms and registers to an electronic archive (PDF format) on your hard drive.
The software handles all system security (providing the option for only those who printed a document to subsequently access it) as well as the task of naming each document, filing it in the write spot on the hard disk and when desired allowing forms to be sent via email.
MAS 90 and MAS 200 Paperless Office Modules Include:
More Information on Paperless Office for MAS 90 (PDF)
Microsoft goes on permanent diet as result of sales slump – may relocate customer support to countries with cheaper labor
July 29, 2009
As a result of Microsoft’s latest 29% earnings decline (Microsoft Profit Falls 29% as Software Demand Wanes) which was reported July 23, 2009 the company’s Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddel has stated that frugality will be a new way of life.
Speaking to Bloomberg in an article dated July 29, 2009 the company’s finance chief further stated that “this is a new diet regime where you slim down and stay down” adding “this is not a crash diet where you stop eating for a couple of quarters”.
Microsoft is coming off their first ever revenue decrease since the company went public. Revenue fell 17% last quarter and missed the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey by more than $1 billion.
As part of the cost cutting the article stated that Microsoft may relocate some customer support to countries with cheaper labor. There was no indicate what impact, if any, these cost cutting measures would have on Microsoft research and development efforts.
MAS 90 & MAS 200 Virtualization Guide Published
July 29, 2009
Virtualization allows you to allocate hardware resources among multiple virtual environments running on the same machine. Application virtualization is the use of software to allow multiple application images (such as Sage MAS) to run on the same hardware at the same time.
Sage has just issued their officially supported Virtualization configurations. This one page document (copy below for your convenience – be sure to check for updates as they become available) outlines the various virtualization platforms that may now be used to run both MAS 90 and MAS 200.
Benefits of Server Virtualization:
•Provision additional servers without investing in new hardware
•Run multiple operating systems and applications on the same physical server
•Increase the CPU utilization of an underutilized physical server by running multiple virtual environments
•Move virtual machines from one physical server to another without re-configuration
•Capture the entire state of a virtual machine and roll back to that configuration easily
Benefits of Workstation virtualization:
•Run multiple virtual machines on a single PC
•Quickly provision, deploy and reconfigure physical machines
•Run multiple operating systems and applications on a single PC
•Eliminate risk by creating isolated testing environment
•Built-in Snapshots and easy Restore capabilities
Sage Group reports 9 month results meet management expectations
July 28, 2009
The Sage Group PLC, corporate parent of Sage North America, yesterday reported that earnings for the nine months ending June 30, 2009 will be in line with their management expectations.
Citing challenging market conditions, Sage UK points to solid growth in subscription revenues.
According to Paul Walker, Chief Executive:
There has been no significant change in market conditions during the quarter ended 30 June 2009 and we are planning for markets to remain testing. However, our proven business model and large, geographically diverse, customer base give us confidence that we are well positioned for these conditions and the eventual market recovery. We expect to report results for the year ended 30 September 2009 in-line with market expectations
Sage Group plc Interim Management Statement
Microsoft Reporting 29% Profit Slide
On July 23 Sage’s chief US competition, Microsoft, reported a 29% profit drop and their first ever sales decline since going public.
Sales declined in all of Microsoft’s main business units. Windows software revenue dropped 29 percent after the PC market contracted for three straight quarters. Some customers are holding off purchases until a new version of Windows comes out in October. Demand for Office software and advertising on Microsoft’s Web sites also waned.
“It’s a real disappointment,” said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. He has an “outperform” rating on the shares. “It’s a significant miss” in revenue.
Tango Marketing introduces Star Email Drip Marketing Program
July 27, 2009
Are you a Sage VAR representing Sage Accpac EES, Sage Abra, SageCRM, Sage MAS 90 EES, Sage MAS 500 or Sage Timberline and Sage Master Builder?
Tango Marketing introduces Star Email Drip Marketing
If you are looking for a way to keep in close touch with your customers and prospects but find it difficult to constantly think up with new topics for email marketing you may want to talk with the folks at Tango Marketing.
Sometimes it seems almost impossible to come up with fresh interesting topics for newsletters. Surely the first few articles are easy to write. By the 5th or 6th article most people begin to struggle for fresh content.
Tango Marketing offers a series of professionally designed and informational email marketing templates that help you do away with writer’s block.
The bundles of templates are pre-formatted for Switftpage Drip Marketing (email service) as well as eligible for Sage Co-op (60-70% of cost reimbursed depending upon available funds).
A wide range of topics is available to select from. Once you’ve selected your topic you can send the information via email as well as post it to your web site for future reference by your customers and prospects.
For more information give Joan Ciamaga (shown below when she visited CT on a recent trip) a call at (425) 673-5300 ext. 116. Joan is a Sage alumni who now works for Tango Marketing. You can email her at joan@tango-marketing.com.
Here’s a list of Tango Marketing topics available:
Link: Tango Marketing
If you can get me back up and running extremely quickly I want to pay nothing (fallacy of the quick support question)
July 14, 2009
Whether you’re receiving phone support from Schulz Consulting, another consultant or Sage – I believe the worst thing you can do is cancel your MAS90 or MAS 200 phone support contract and pray nothing goes wrong.
I’ll take our own support plan as an example.
Enrollment in an unlimited phone and remote support plan costs you $2,800 per year.
That’s about $250 per month.
We don’t offer pay as you go telephone/remote support (read below for the primary reason).
Shortly we believe you will also have trouble finding a competent consultant who provides support on a pay as you go plan (see below for reason).
The most common argument that we hear against paying for a support plan is the old standby:
We don’t call that much
Ok. I’ll buy that.
When you DO call – how fast do you want expect the response?
Is it helpful that the person can also log in immediately to control your desktop and make changes (with your permission)?
Is one, two or even three day response time acceptable? That’s our estimate of the average “pay as you go” response time.
That’s one, two or three days of your staff staring at blank computer screens. Your staff sitting idle not able to process any computer transactions.
Most consulting firms (Schulz included) reserve their fastest response times for those customers enrolled in a prepaid plan. The reasoning for this is simply – they reserve this time for the clients who’ve prepaid and have indicated a future need for services.
The other common argument we hear against support is:
That was a quick question – don’t bill me
I’m paraphrasing the above but when we used to offer hourly telephone support (which we don’t any longer because all of our clients are on prepaid fixed cost plans) a huge number of clients would call expecting that if their question could be answered quickly that they would not receive a bill.
How insane is that logic?
Let me rephrase the logic of the quick question from a consultant’s perspective:
“If you can get me back up and running extremely quickly I want to pay you nothing”
Just this morning I received a call from a former support customer. Their normal internal staff person who supports their MAS 90 is out sick. They have 5 people unable to process any transactions until a MAS 90 issue is corrected.
Guess why they had cancelled support?
Correct! — they hardly ever needed to call.
Now the owner’s in a situation where his entire staff has to stop working until they can get a MAS 90 error condition corrected.
We are increasingly seeing these types of support issues where a company has cancelled their support due to perceived lack of need.
Guess what they’re discovering?
It’s only a lack of need — until you need it.
At a future point – they suddenly have a need again. And they’re stuck waiting in line for a consultant who offers lower priority hourly support.
We urge you – think twice before giving up your support. If having MAS 90 or MAS 200 shut down in the middle of the day would be a hardship for your company – then you need to be on a support plan with a qualified consulting firm. It’s important to establish these relationships ahead of time because shortly as the market contracts you will see more consulting firms that do not accept “quick question” type support for which they ultimately won’t be compensated.
Sage is # 3 and Microsoft #7 Enterprise Application Vendor according to recent AMR Research Report
July 8, 2009
According to a report ranking Enterprise Application Vendors by Revenue released today by AMR Research, Sage is ranked # 3 behind SAP (#1) and Oracle (#2) in terms of revenue. Microsoft ranked at #7 with $1.308 B of revenues and Salesforce rounds out the top 10 with a little over $1 Billion in revenues.
The full listing is below:
1. SAP ($15.801B)
2. Oracle ($8.559B)
3. Sage Group ($2.408B)
4. Infor ($2.208B)
5. Dassault Systemes ($1.958B)
6. Siemens PLM ($1.405B)
7. Microsoft ($1.308B)
8. Cadence ($1.038B)
9. PTC ($1.037B)
10. salesforce.com ($1.023B)
AMR Research Report Ranks Top 50 Enterprise Application Vendors by Revenue
SAP, Oracle, Sage Group, Infor, and Dassault Systemes Are the Top 5
BOSTON, July 8 /PRNewswire/ — AMR Research, the leading research firm focused on the global supply chain and its supporting technologies, released a report today that sizes the global enterprise applications market. The report lists the top 50 global enterprise application vendors by 2008 revenue. SAP is at the top of the list with $15.8B in application revenue, with Oracle, Sage Group, Infor, and Dassault Systemes completing the top 5.
The top of the list of enterprise application vendors includes:
1. SAP ($15.801B)
2. Oracle ($8.559B)
3. Sage Group ($2.408B)
4. Infor ($2.208B)
5. Dassault Systemes ($1.958B)
6. Siemens PLM ($1.405B)
7. Microsoft ($1.308B)
8. Cadence ($1.038B)
9. PTC ($1.037B)
10. salesforce.com ($1.023B)
The complete of the top 50 enterprise applications vendors is available on AMR Research’s website.
Interestingly, Oracle’s acquisition of Sun, and Java, could wreak havoc on enterprise applications vendors in the future. AMR Research estimates over 60% of enterprise software vendors have applications that rely on Java, including many Oracle competitors, large and small. Of the 50 largest enterprise application companies, 33 offer applications that rely on Java. These companies represent over $38.5 billion, or 77% of the top 50’s 2008 revenue.
“Given the weak macro economic backdrop, the enterprise applications market had a surprisingly solid year in 2008. 2009, however, will be a whole different story,” said Dennis Gaughan, vice president at AMR Research. “Not only will vendors be impacted by the fragile economy, but 33 out of the top 50 vendors will have to reevaluate their commitment to the Java programming language.”
Methodology
To be included in AMR Research’s study, vendors must develop and sell application software products, provide implementation services, and provide software applications in at least one of the following segments: enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, sourcing and procurement (supply management), product lifecycle management, human capital management, and customer relationship management.
Please visit www.amrresearch.com for a full copy of “The Global Enterprise Market Sizing Report, 2008-2013.” If you are a member of the media and are interested in learning more about the report, please contact amrresearch@famapr.com.
About AMR Research:
AMR Research is the world’s leading independent research firm focused on the global supply chain and its supporting technologies. Founded in 1986 and privately held, AMR Research provides subscription advisory services and peer networking opportunities to supply chain, sustainability, and IT executives in the consumer products, life sciences, manufacturing, and retail sectors. To learn more the company’s research and services, visit www.amrresearch.com.
Press Contact:
Kevin Reilly
amrresearch@famapr.com
617-758-4153
Paperless Office file list for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200
June 2, 2009
Here’s a great summary that shows the names of the system files which hold “behind the scenes” information about MAS 90 and MAS 200 Paperless Office.
This information can be useful in diagnosing system level problems or in restoring data files from a backup should you experience problems with Paperless Office.
WARNING: Do not make any changes to these files unless you know what you are doing. Consult a qualified Sage Business Partner for assistance. This information is believed accurate at the time of publication. Use at your own risk. Schulz Consulting takes no responsibility for damage that you may do to your data files.
Accupos for Sage MAS 90 recorded demo
June 1, 2009
Looking for a Point of Sale solution that integrates to your Sage MAS90 or MAS200 accounting software?
Join the newest Endorsed Partner for Sage MAS 90, AccuPOS Point of Sale, and learn about the opportunity available for you to reach into the Point of Sale market without traditional challenges many partners face in the retail sector. Focused on cash and carry retailers and on restaurants, this award winning front end software uses the inventory of Sage MAS 90 allowing you to remain the expert in the product with which you are already familiar. AccuPOS has provided and supported Point of Sale for Sage financial management solution users for over ten years and we are excited to present them as our newest Endorsed Partner.
MAS 90 LinkedIn Group Now Active
May 4, 2009
There is now a LinkedIn group for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 users and consultants to network and exchange ideas.
This unofficial group (it is neither sponsored by Sage or affiliated/endorsed by them) serves as a place for users of MAS 90 and MAS 200 to gather and get connected.
LinkedIn allows you to connect to other members across the country and exchange ideas as well as post your own thoughts to the discussion board. There is also an area to post jobs related items (either looking for a job or seeking someone for a position).
If you’re new to the concept of Social Media and perhaps a little unsure of its benefits, then LinkedIn is a great way to get started. LinkedIn is largely accepted as a business version of Facebook where companies encourage employees to create new contacts and network.
There is no charge to join LinkedIn and just about any topic is open for discussion.
DISCLAIMER: Just in case you missed it in the article above, this MAS90 LinkedIn group is not affiliated, endorsed, sponsored, or monitored by Sage in any way. The group is an independent use of the LinkedIn site to facilitate ease of MAS 90 or MAS 200 user/consultant communication.
Sage offers their own (excellent) Sage MAS Community Forums which provide direct feedback on product technical issues. Their Community forums ARE monitored by Sage and if you have a technical issue that you’d like to address directly to Sage are the most appropriate forum.
Naturally we strongly recommend that any issues first be discussed with your Sage Business Partner.
Link: MAS 90 and MAS 200 Users and Consultants – LinkedIn
Link: Sage MAS Community Forums – Most Recent Messages
Fixed! – Default printer may now be assigned to standard reports and standard form codes after applying MAS 90 service update 23
April 30, 2009
Users of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 may now correctly assign their default Windows printer to standard forms and reports.
This was always an option in the accounting software – however unfortunately it didn’t work (see Sage RES 490593).
As reported in the knowledgebase article (remember this applies only to version 4.2 as the issue was fixed with an upgrade to 4.3 or application of service update 23+ for v4.2
):
Reports should print to the Windows default printer when the standard report setting or form code is selected if the Use workstation default printer for standard report setting and Use Workstation Default Printer for Standard Form Code check boxes are selected.
Link: Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Service Update 23 for version 4.2
IT Alliance Spring 2009 Conference Begins In Atlanta
April 27, 2009
The Spring 2009 conference hosted by the IT Alliance is happening through Tuesday April 28, 2009 in Atlanta.
The IT Alliance is a group of member firms, consultants and vendors who collaborate to share ideas, best practices and network. A number of technical sessions are hosted throughout the two days and cover topics ranging from Disney World Imagineering to project management and consulting pricing.
I’m on the ground and scheduled to completely bore everyone to tears host a session on Tuesday at 8:15 am on the exciting topic of blogging (Ballroom CDE ).
Last Live Conference Feed (via Qik and this may not be broadcasting constantly)
For more IT Alliance Session Summaries – read on Read more
Sage Insights 2009 Tip: You Do Have A Better Web Strategy Than THIS – Right?
April 23, 2009
Is buying expensive Google Adwords your only web strategy?
I probably should keep my mouth shut and let the competition keep wasting their money.
It’s sad to see companies so lost in a lack of any web strategy that their only apparent online plan is to finance a bunch of random Google AdWords hoping that a big lead randomly lands in their lap.
If you’ve ever tried to sell to a raw Web lead then you know they are almost always using you for a discount, third bid or free advice can be some of the least qualified (and most expensive) types of potential customers.
Of course, done right, a web lead doesn’t have to be difficult to close. Many of them can turn into a $50,000 project. The key is to know the right way to market on the web so as to attract the quality leads – and repel the discount seekers, quick question askers and tire kickers.
Let me ask you this first – because maybe I’m making some incorrect assumptions…
You do have a better strategy than buying Google AdWords – or waiting for someone like a software publisher to deliver free leads to you. Right?
There’s nothing wrong with Google Adwords. They’re a great way to supplement an online strategy.
There’s also nothing wrong with free leads from a software publisher (assuming you can get them). These supplement any marketing strategy quite well.
Notice I’ve used the word “supplement”. It means “in addition to”
What’s your strategy online?
Have you developed any of the new tactics that people are talking about?
- Friendfeed
- Social Media Sites
- Blogging
Or are you still talking with those in your office about how you “don’t get” some of these new tools?
How most of these new uncomfortable marketing tactics are huge wastes of time. You haven’t tried any of them for more than a day – but you’re pretty sure that they’re a waste of time.
Here’s another question.
How are TRADITIONAL marketing efforts such as: Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Lead Buying (Findaccountingsoftware, et al) working for you?
If you have not become involved in other methods of marketing (many of them free) and you are located in the Connecticut area – then I advise and hope that you stay home from the Insights 2009 conference. Insights is expensive and there’s no big announcements expected. The economy is crappy. Stay home and plug away at a more productive marketing activity like telemarketing because if you just put more effort (and a lot more money) into these old school tactics you’ll surely turn better results. If that doesn’t work just buy AdWords against my company name on Google.
For those NOT in Connecticut – the choice is yours.
If you’re interested in some of the new marketing methods (many totally free) that people are using to get business – be sure to attend Beyond The Hype – Social Media Marketing for B2B on Wednesday May 13 from 1:30 to 3:oo pm.
Here’s the Agenda:
The way to reach business decision makers is migrating from traditional marketing efforts to the Web. More and more consumers are researching their next purchases online using search engines and social media sites. This session will explore how you can use social media to grow traffic to your Web site, make real connections, and join the conversations already happening on social networking sites. Find out which social media sites work best for business, how to develop a strategy for success, how to measure your campaign’s effectiveness, and where this rapidly evolving medium may be taking us next.
I’m planning on attending to answer questions that may come up during the session from a Sage Business Partner point of view. Note that I’m not leading this session – but after it’s over I plan to stick around and answer any questions. Unless of course you’re from Connecticut.
Sage Webcast – MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Enterprise – Register Now
April 21, 2009
You may now register for a free demo of the Sage Extended Enterprise Suite (both live and pre-recorded are available) directly from our web site.
Extended Enteprise Suite is the latest offering from Sage. It combines Sage MAS 90 or 200 (version 4.3) with SageCRM and SageFAS. These three components are fully integrated to give accounting plus CRM plus fixed asset processing.
While the functionality of the suite is impressive – what’s even moreso is the lower annual maintenance costs. Sage offers two plans which are signficantly lower in ongoing maintenance than what the modules would cost as a standalone.
Sage Extended Enterprise Suite Components
Library Master
Business Insights
Paperless Office
General Ledger
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Bank Reconciliation
Fixed Assets
FRx Desktop – 1 User
Crystal Reports Designer – 2 user
Inventory Management
Sales Order
Purchase Order
Return Merchandise Authoization
Credit Card Processing by Sage
Bill of Materials
Customer Relationship Management
Custom Office
Visual Integrator
What does Sage EES for MAS 90 or MAS 200 cost?
New product (this is product only – scroll down for maintenance which is additional on the initial sale and is an annually recurring fee):
Sage Extended Enterprise for MAS 90 (max 20 users)
* 1 to 5 users – $ 2,250 each
* 6 to 10 users – $ 2,025 each
* 11 to 15 users – $ 1,823 each
* 16 to 20 users $ 1,640 each
Over 20 users = must use MAS 200
Sage Extended Enterprise for MAS 200
* 1 to 5 users $ 2,500 each
* 6 to 10 users $ 2,250 each
* 11 to 15 users $ 2,025 each
* 16 to 20 users $ 1,823 each
* 21 to 25 users $ 1,640 each
* 26 to 30 users $ 1,476 each
* 31 to 35 users $ 1,329 each
* 36 to 40 users $ 1,196 each
* 41 to 45 users $ 1,076 each
* 46 to 50 users $ 969 each
* 51+ users $ 872 each
Required Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 EES Software Maintenance
EES Maintenance Option #1 – Basic
* 19% of SLP – paid on initial purchase and as recurring fee
* Covers all modules and components (CRM, FAS)
* Includes 3 phone support incidents from Sage
EES Maintenance Option #2 Gold Plus
* Covers all modules and components (CRM,FAS)
* Includes unlimited phone support from Sage
* 25% per year
Maintenance is required in order to obtain any Sage Support, receive future product enhancements, purchase additional users or modules.
Are there upgrade options from regular/standard MAS 90 or MAS 200?
Generally the upgrade options are as follows:
If you have owned Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 since PRIOR to 10/1/2003 then your upgrade fee is:
$ 500 per user (min 5) for MAS 90 to MAS 90 or MAS 200 to MAS 200
$ 1,000 per user for MAS 90 to MAS 200 (min 5)
plus
$ 150 per user maintenance (paid on first year and subsequent years)
If you purchased MAS 90 or MAS 200 AFTER 10/1/03 then the fee is:
$ 500 per user (min 5) for MAS 90 to MAS 90 or MAS 200 to MAS 200
$ 1,000 per user for MAS 90 to MAS 200 (min 5)
plus
Normal maintenance (19% or 25%) as computed on full SLP
Standard Disclaimer Applies Here:
The information on this page is provided as-is. We make every attempt to keep pricing and technical information up-to-date. We however cannot be responsible for changes (either pricing or technical requirements) that are not reflected on this page. The technical informaiton from Sage (product literature, documentation, supported platforms, etc) always take precedence and supersede anything on this page. Consult with your Sage Business Partner prior to making any purchasing decisions. The Sage Extended Enterprise Suite is only capable of the features and functionality described in the manufactufer’s literature and those claims are their own and not those of Schulz Consulting.
Link: Register For A Free Sage EES MAS90 and MAS 200 Demo
Sage Insights Attendees – take your mom to the prom – only $149/night (EXPIRED)
April 18, 2009
[UPDATE 4-20-2009: This deal is dead and no longer available] Are you headed to the Sage Insights 2009 conference which is being held at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville May 11-14, 2009?
If so, and you were planning on being at the hotel early on May 10, be sure you ask for the “Take your mom to the prom” rate.
The hotel is advertising a special rate of $149 per night ($37 per night cheaper than the Insights room rate of $186). This promotion appears to be limited to May 10 – so you probably cannot get the rate for the duration of the conference.
For $149 per night (plus resort fee of $15/night) you get:
- One-night room accommodations including a FREE* upgrade to Atrium Garden view ($65 value)
- Admission to the Mom Prom for mother and son(s) from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
- Admission to the My Heart Belongs To Daddy Dance for father and daughter(s) from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
- Admission to the Family Affair Dance for the entire family from 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
- Each party includes DJ, dance contests, refreshments and lots of fun!
- One souvenir photo per room
- Continental family breakfast on Mother’s Day with a special gift for Mom
- Corsages and boutonnières will be available for purchase
If you call and are able to get the rate for more than May 10, 2009 – be sure to leave a comment!
Via: The Mom Prom and The Family Affair
MAS90 & MAS200 Promotions for Spring 2009 Full Detail
April 2, 2009
Hot off the presses are the following pricing promotions in effect through 6/30/2009. These MAS 90 and MAS 200 specials apply only against product (no discounts are taken off maintenance) and may generally not be combined with other offers.
When looking at any accounting software don’t be fooled into thinking that initial purchase price should be your main consideration. You should be thinking about whether the software will meet your need, if the consultant has adequately assessed your need, and if all the add-ons they’re recommending have been thoroughly researched.
We see an increasing number of companies buying software because of some fancy quarter end sale/promotion or price cut.
That’s fine if you know exactly what your doing. But many times neither the customer or the consultant know (and shouldn’t at least the consultant have an idea?)…
Do your research and talk to users of the software you are considering purchasing. If you’re unable to find people to speak with — that’s your cue to reconsider what you are buying.
MAS90 Spring 2009 MAS200 Promotions
Follow Sage Insights 2009 on Twitter
March 11, 2009
Sage North America has created an official Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/insights09) for their upcoming Insights 2009 reseller conference held May 11-14, 2009 in Nashville TN.
Twitter is a short messaging (maximum of 140 characters) service that allows users to casually communicate with each other – usually in the form of brief updates that tell what the user is doing.
The short message feature is ideal for conferences where it’s often difficult to find people or learn about newly added sessions other users recommend attending.
Search Twitter for Insights 2009 Conference News
If you’re not on Twitter (which is free) – you can still read the messages coming from the conference. There are two methods for doing this – and neither require that you create an account.
The best way to follow the conference is by using this #insights09 Twitter Search link.
The second way you can follow conference news is by viewing the official Sage Insights Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/insights09
Wayne Schulz on Twitter
Schulz Consulting owner Wayne Schulz is on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mas90guru
via: 90 Minds
Twitter hash tag for Insights 2009 is #insights09
March 9, 2009
If you’re attending the Sage Insights 2009 conference in Nashville TN – or just are interested in what is going on during the conference – be sure to check out Twitter.
Hall Web Services has proposed the official “hash tag” of Sage Insights 2009 be #insights09.
A hash tag is nothing more than a short keyword which is preceeded by the # symbol so as to become unique. During large conferences a number of users agree upon a common tag which enables those attending to easily search Twitter messages and see what is happening at the conference.
Those users “Twittering” during the conference are encouraged to use this tag in all of their messages for easier following by those looking to keep up on the conference.
If you’re not a user of Twitter – you still can follow the messages. Simply log into http://search.twitter.com and perform a search for #insights09.
For an explanation of what Twitter is – see this excellent video.
To join Twitter (completely free) – visit http://www.twitter.com and you can view Wayne Schulz’s Twitter stream by following @mas90guru in Twitter.
Search Twitter for all messages related to Sage’s Insights 2009
MAS90 Service Update for 4.30 Released (SU 9)
March 5, 2009
Sage Software have released their service update 9 for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200. These service updates are cumulative and contain all prior fixes. To update your Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 please first make a backup, verify that you have no third party enhancements which may require and update and then download the fix from our link below.
As a general rule of thumb we recommend that if you are NOT experiencing any issues with your Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 that you not install the update UNLESS advised to do so by a competent Sage consultant. Generally we always update to the latest service update prior to calling Sage for any technical support issues because their advise will almost always be to update to the latest release.
We recommend you always work with a competent Sage Business Partner to assist in updating your software. Please always back up your data prior to any major updates.
Link: Download Sage MAS 90 Service Update 9
Sage MAS90 4.3 Service Update 9
Sage Insights Partner Conference Registration Goes Live Today
March 5, 2009
Prepare to register for Insights 2009 today as the official list of educational sessions is slated to go live at noon today. Insights is the annual Sage partner conference which is occurring May 11-14, 2009 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN.
You can register online at Sage Insights 2009 Registration and then tell us whether you are attending at the Sage Insights Facebook Event Page.
Payroll Tax Tables for MAS 90 updated (2/27/09)
March 4, 2009
Sage Software have just posted the 2/27/09 electronic version of their MAS90 and MAS200 payroll tax tables. This updated tax table reflects the new federal withholding rates mandated by the latest economic stimulus.
The tax table update will work for versions 3.71 and higher of MAS90 and MAS200 (the same tables work with both). Rate changes for states are also included in this update.
For a complete list of the changes, see the list below. If you are active on a basic Sage maintenance plan you may log in and download the new tables from here.
Tip: The tables will not be mailed to you – they must be downloaded.
Sage 2009 Tax Table Changes 02/27/09
Give Sage feedback on every support case
February 27, 2009
Sage Support will automatically send out a survey form after every phone case. In some instances (such as if you’ve called within the last 30 days) you may not receive a survey to evaluate your satisfaction with the support you just received.
Don’t despair! Now there’s a way for you to provide feedback on any of the cases that you’ve opened at Sage. Best of all you only need the case # and a web browser to create feedback.
Simply visit the Sage Support Survey page where you’ll be prompted for your case number as well as some feedback on how the case was resolved.
Sage Abra Procedure Manuals
February 25, 2009
Sage Abra procedure manuals seem like a great idea to me. The guides document the steps your staff should be following in daily operations. They also serve as an Abra training guide for new employees in your human resources department who may start to use Abra.
End users are constantly asking for “best procedures”. There’s a natural curiosity with most of my customers to compare their current policies with those of similar companies. Using this type of material is a great way to introduce some standardization. Many auditors also request a list of frequently performed procedures as part of the year end audit and these guides can be a huge time saver in satisfying that audit requirement.
When I first started working with Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 back in 1986 at Cole, Frago, Cusick and Chestler we purchased several pre-written training guides and they served as great supplements to the Sage product manuals themselves.
These guides are only sold through your friendly Abra reseller - if you’re interested you’ll have to give them a call.
I’m in the process of asking for a few sample pages from the procedure guides. If I’m able to receive any I’ll be sure to post a copy so you can review them online.
Sage seeking MAS90 Bill of Materials feedback for tentative version 4.4 feature upgrade list
February 15, 2009
Do you use the Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 Bill of Materials module?
If so, Sage would like to invite you to participate in a discussion about the way potential new features are implemented to version 4.4 of Bill of Materials.
This input will be given during a web session. Specifically Sage is seeking people familiar with the MAS90 Bill of Materials Inquiry and Where-Used Inquiry screens.
If you’ve always wanted to be actively involved in developing the next generation of Sage accounting software – this is your opportunity.
For more information, including contact email of the responsible Sage employee, visit the Sage MAS90 Community Forums.
Welcome Jodi Uecker-Rust to Sage – why the Interim Leader title?
February 9, 2009
UPDATE 5-6-2009: As predicted in our original post shown below, Jodi Uecker-Rust was today appointed as President Sage Business Solutions. This is part of a sweeping re-organization that follows a 500 employee workforce reduction on 5-5-2009.
Well respected Great Plains (subsequently Microsoft) veteran Jodi Uecker-Rust has just been announced as the Interim Leader of the Sage North America Business Management Division. This spot was left vacant when Nina Smith departed Sage December 9, 2008.
Jodi is what could be termed a “heavy hitter” in the world of accounting software. She spent her career working first for Great Plains Software and ultimately Microsoft (who acquired Great Plains). For a period of time she was very widely considered to be the # 2 in command behind former Great Plains leader Doug Burgum. Jodi retired early from Microsoft in 2004 to devote time to some non-profit organizations that she was involved in.
Why the “Interim” leader label?
One thing I spotted right away is the label “Interim” in Jodi’s title. This seems to indicate that Jodi’s final position may not be leading the Business Management Division but could in fact be a far bigger position?
There’s no question Jodi has the experience to lead the Sage North America BMD, so the title of Interim seems to indicate that further reorganization might be in the cards.
Also the wording of press release indicates that Jodi “join(s) us in order to continue our transformation in Sage North America”.
If I were forced to make a guess I’d say that the different divisions at Sage may ultimately consolidate in some form. Perhaps Jodi’s task is to eventually lead them. She has enough experience in this area that her expertise and organizational opinion may have been wanted before any potential re-organization happens.
The structure of Sage changed to much more of a divisional setup immediately following the management shakeup in 2007 that saw CEO Ron Verni, CFO Jim Eckstaedt depart.
Another option could be an upcoming round of acquisitions with Jodi ultimately leading a new division or acquired company.
And finally, there could be absolutely nothing to the title.
In any event, welcome to Sage North America Jodi!
Sage MAS 90 and 200 v4.4 new feature slide deck
February 6, 2009
Hot off the presses are these slides that were used at the recent Friday Focus session. The topic was MAS 90 version 4.4 and the content covered all the expected new enhancements in this next release as well as approximate release dates.
For those of you not patient enough to read through all 21 pages:
- Controlled release / beta – begins summer 2009
- Final release target – late 2009
- Modules upgrade: Inventory, Purchase Order, Bill of Materials, Bar Coding
- Major new features: 20 character customer number, 30 character inventory item (special item too) numbers
Here’s the full slide deck that contains quite a few screen shots. Ignore the pithy comment or two in the margins typed by one of my reseller buddies. If you’re up to the challenge of being a beta tester – send email to marissa.sarreal and be sure to add in the @sage.com to the end.
MAS90 Version 4.4 Preview
Want to beta MAS90 4.4?
February 6, 2009
Sage is officially opening up their beta program for customers who would like to volunteer for the initial controlled release of MAS 90 version 4.4.
Target for beta/controlled release to begin: Summer 2009
Requirements to participate in the controlled release/beta:
- No enhancements
- Need for large customer and inventory item numbers
- Desire to implement new features
- Any Sage Partners looking to participate in the beta must have a customer in the program as well
Target Final Release Date: Late 2009
Interested in serving as a beta site?
Send email to marissa.sarreal and be sure to add in the @sage.com to the end.
Sage Payment Solutions integration to MAS90 Recorded Demo
February 6, 2009
Does your business accept credit cards? Are you using Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200? Did you know that Sage offers a free solution that will allow your accounting software (Accounts Receivable and Sales Order) to accept credit cards right within the module.
You can maintain customers credit card data (fully encrypted) and use their card for future purchases. All data entered via credit card is automatically validated with pre-approvals obtained directly from the Sage Payment Services processing bureau.
Interested in how this works? Here’s a quick 5 to 10 minute overview that demonstrates the entire process of accepting credit cards into MAS 90. The video is a little scripted but I think covers all the major points and serves as a good example of how this works within Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200.
Sage FAS 50 and Sage FAS 100 Fixed Asset Pricing
February 5, 2009
Here’s the pricing for Sage FAS 50 and Sage FAS 100 as of February 4, 2009. These are list prices and you should add both the product list price and the maintenance list price to determine a total price.
We recommend Sage FAS 100 single user NETWORK with Report Writer as the basic package to begin with first. If you select the single user FAS 100 be advised that this only works standalone and loading the data onto a network (even if used by only one person) is not supported.
Sage FAS 50 has an asset limit of 1,000, does not support report writing and can only be run standalone.
Former Best Software COO Dave Butler named president of Ticketmaster North America
February 3, 2009
The former COO of Best Softare, Dave Butler, has just been named President of Ticketmaster North America reporting to Sean Moriarty, CEO of Ticketmaster and President of Ticketmaster Entertainment, effective immediately.
In this role, Mr. Butler is responsible for the company’s primary ticketing business in the United States and Canada and will oversee Ticketmaster’s six North American regions. Previously, Mr. Butler was CEO of Ticketmaster Irvine, formerly Paciolan.
About Dave Butler
Dave Butler was an exceptionally popular leader of State of the Art Software which became Best Software and ultimately Sage Software. He joined State of The Art Software in April 1996. From 1993 to 1996, he was with Lawson Software, where he managed offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco producing $21 million in product sales and $10 million in services. From 1991 to 1993, Mr. Butler was the regional manager for Bachman Information Services, selling and implementing CASE software tools targeted to the IBM AD/Cycle marketplace.
Prior to his promotion to North American President, Mr. Butler previously served as CEO of Paciolan, a venue ticketing software provider acquired by Ticketmaster in 2008, and prior to that was the Chief Operating Officer of Sage Software. In 2000, he was named one of Accounting Today magazine’s “Most Influential People.” Mr. Butler is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton.
About Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment consists of Ticketmaster and Front Line Management Group. As the world’s leading live entertainment ticketing and marketing company, Ticketmaster connects the world to live entertainment. Ticketmaster operates in 20 global markets, providing ticket sales, ticket resale services, marketing and distribution through www.ticketmaster.com, one of the largest e-commerce sites on the Internet; approximately 6,700 retail outlets; and 19 worldwide call centers. Established in 1976, Ticketmaster serves more than 10,000 clients worldwide across multiple event categories, providing exclusive ticketing services for leading arenas, stadiums, professional sports franchises and leagues, college sports teams, performing arts venues, museums, and theaters. In 2007, the company sold more than 141 million tickets valued at over $8.3 billion on behalf of its clients. Ticketmaster Entertainment acquired a controlling interest in Front Line Management Group in October 2008. Founded by Irving Azoff and Howard Kaufman in 2004, Front Line is the world’s leading artist management company, with nearly 200 clients and more than 80 executive managers. Front Line represents a wide range of major artists, including the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, Neil Diamond, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Nicks, Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Chicago, Journey, and Guns N’ Roses. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is headquartered in West Hollywood, California
Find add-ons for Sage MAS 90 and 200 [How To]
February 2, 2009
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you wish Sage MAS 90 or 200 could be “tweaked” just a little bit more to fit the specific needs of your industry?
Finding a qualified developer can be a challenge. You can hire someone who claims to “know” your software and can custom write an enhancement for your company.
The problem with hiring a lone developer is you have no way to know what type of experience they possess. Luckily Sage has solved this problem by creating certification levels.
Sage Certification for Developers
Sage has a stable of development partners who have been certified as either Endorsed, Gold or Silver.
Endorsed Partner: Sage invitation only. These partners are required to meet rigorous strategic, technologic, and integration criteria. Their solutions are handpicked by Sage and marketed aggressively alongside their core solutions.
Gold: The Gold level is a select tier for established development partners who have a closer relationship with Sage. These partners agree to adhere to Sage Best Practices and have one of their solutions certified through an independent testing company.
Sliver: Entry level tier for developers who are new to a particular Sage suite of products.
Solutions are either Endorsed or Certified
Sage has a certification process for differentiating the solutions available for their product line. This certification process includes basic qualify and integration tests with the Sage product line. The different certifications are either Endorsed or Certified.
Endorsed: A Sage Endorsed solution means Sage has put the product through additional paces and QA testing. These solutions carrying the Endorsed label have been classified as strategic to the product they integrate with. These solutions may also sometimes be an integrated component of a Sage solution.
Certified: A solution marked as Certified tells you that it is reliable and developed to the highest standards. Vendors must submit their application to Sage for testing prior to achieving this status.
Sage Partner Solutions
The Sage Partner Solution Source is a web site that lists third party enhancements for a wide variety of Sage products. There are over 12 separate Sage product lines represented on the site:
- Act! by Sage
- Peachtree by Sage
- Sage Accpac ERP
- Sage BusinessVision Accounting
- Sage BusinessWorks Accounting
- Sage MAS 500 ERP
- Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 ERP
- Sage PFW
- Sage PRO ERP
- Sage SalesLogix
- SageCRM
- Simply Accounting by Sage
Link: Sage Partner Solution Source via Bill Kizer, Sage Software Consultant
Taylor Macdonald joins Promethean
January 23, 2009
Taylor Macdonald, the popular former Chief Channel and Strategy Officer for Sage Software and more recently the Worldwide Channel Boss for Deltek has joined interactive learning technology provider Promethean as Vice President of Channels.
Taylor Macdonald will be charged with leading and developing Promethean’s North American sales channel which will involve both resellers and strategic partner agreements.
One of Promethean’s offerings is an Activeclassroom solution designed to help educators by using a whiteboard which integrates with wireless technology. Their ActiveSoftware Inspire Edition creates realistic whiteboard teaching environments which combine full-color video, sound and graphics.
Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4 preview web seminar February 6, 2009 1pm EST
January 23, 2009
The latest version of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4 will be previewed in a free web seminar on February 6, 2009 at 1pm EST.
The modules which are slated for upgrade are: Inventory, Bill of Materials and Purchase Order.
Join Roberta Vigil, product manager, as she steps through a demonstration of the Sage MAS 90 and 200 new features.
Official Description:
Join us for a preview of the new features and enhancements available in the upcoming version 4.4 release of Sage MAS 90 and 200. Presented by Product Manager Roberta Vigil, this session will provide an overview of the new and improved functionality being introduced through business framework for Inventory Management, Purchase Order, and Bill of Materials planned for release later this year.
Sage Reseller of Record Form
January 12, 2009
The following form is required by Sage Software before Schulz Consulting can:
- Enter in any renewal orders for software maintenance or support maintenance
- Discuss any issues related to Extended Solutions
- Other various items where Sage will only speak to the official Reseller of Record
What is Reseller of Record?
Once you file a Reseller of Record form, Sage Software will change their records to show that Schulz Consulting is handling your account.
- This notifies Sage that it is ok to discuss certain account information with Schulz Consulting as well as allow them to place maintenance renewal orders for your software.
- You may file as many Reseller of Record forms as you like – these change is not permanent.
Schulz Consulting requires new clients to file this form because it generally greatly speeds the process should we need to access information online about your company (maintenance renewal dates, etc).
Act! coming to iPhone soon via Handheld Contact
January 2, 2009
Mike Lazarus of GLComputing has been working extra hard over the holidays and reports that Handheld Contact for iPhone is due out soon.
This add-on for Sage’s Act! contact manager allows for wireless synchronization of Act! Contacts, Calendar Activities, Notes, Histories and more.
They’ve started a mailing list which will provide notifications when the application is available. Sign up on Mike’s site at the link below.
Handheld Contact to put Act! on your iPhone via Life and Times with ACT!
Sage e-Filing help system wrong number
December 19, 2008
Use caution if you’re trying to contact the Aatrix folks with a number that you’ve located in the help file. It appears at least one of the number is out of service (wrong number). I did not exhaustively search all of the help files to see if there were issues in other areas.
The wrong number appeared once I had entered the W-2 edit screen and called up help for W-2 filing.
For the record, the correct Sage Aatrix support number (thanks Roberta) is 701-746-6814.
Here’s a quick video capture if you’re curious where I found this:
Sage Aatrix Help File from Wayne Schulz on Vimeo.
Link: Sage e-Filing Aatrix Portal
Link: Closing the Year In MAS 90 – 2008 Edition (video)
Link: Closing the Year in MAS 90 – 2008 Edition – notes
Link: Official Sage 2008 Year End Closing FAQ
Sage Act! moves from being a strategic CRM product to a value product
December 16, 2008
UPDATE May 2009: There has been a re-organization of roles within Sage which may result in the Sage Act! product line moving out of the Value Business division.
In a blog post dated December 9, 2008, David Van Toor, General Manager for Sage CRM North America announced that he handed over the supervision and management of the Act! product line to Sam Hunter, GM Value Business.
Van Toor presently has North American management responsibility for the Sage North America CRM line which until now have included: Saleslogix, SageCRM and Act!.
The responsibility for the Act! product line will now be transitioned to Sam Hunter as per this announcement which was posted on David Van Toor’s blog at the Sage Community Forum for Act!.
From his blog post:
The past 18 months have been a highlight of my career as I’ve lead the North American operations for the ACT! product line.
I’m proud of my team’s accomplishments in that time, including the creation of this vibrant on-line community, and increasing the value of being an ACT! customer through the ACT! Platinum Care subscription offering.We’ve also seen support hold times reduce, and service levels increase. The global product delivery team delivered ACT! version 11, which many of you have told me is simply “the best ACT! version ever!” ).
As some of you know, I also managed our mid-market solutions of SalesLogix and SageCRM. When we took a look at the level of attention both groups of products could benefit from, we decided I could not do justice to both.
Consequently, effective immediately, I’ll be focused on the North American operations of SalesLogix and SageCRM.
The North American leadership for ACT! will shift to Sam Hunter. Sam is a trusted colleague, and he and I share many management philosophies. I look forward to the benefits his leadership will bring to our staff, and to you, our customers.
This then will be my last post to this community site. This community has become so strategic to Sage that we’ve created a new position to focus exclusively on its development, and I know Sam’s new team will be continuing communications in this forum in an appropriate manner.
Such a transition carries mixed emotions for me. I’m sad to formerly leave a community of customers with whom I have formed strong relationships with, and whom have taught me much about delivering excellent customer experiences. I’ve enjoyed my interactions with you, and these have shaped my view of what it means to present a professional and caring business. I’m also excited to be able to focus my energies on SalesLogix and SageCRM, and drive their growth in today’s uncertain economy.
Should you wish to continue to read blogs by me, I welcome you to www.davidvantoor.com, and to the new blog I’ll be establishing on the soon to be launched SalesLogix customer community.
To all ACT! customers, a sincere thank you for your passion and loyalty.To all of you who’ve I’ve spoken with through this community, a special thank you for you willingness to engage directly in this new, Web 2.0 business world.Should your CRM needs change, I’d love the opportunity to work with you again.
Dave van Toor.
What Does Sage Act! As A Value Product Mean?
On the surface this may appear to be only an offloading of responsibilities from one busy general manager to another. However Sam Hunter is the GM who supervises the Value Business line at Sage North America.
The Value Business line is widely understood to include those products that are not strategic to Sage North America and therefore would not typically be first in line for research and development or marketing resources.
We don’t think this signals that Act! is being downplayed by Sage in any way. It almost certainly will continue to be funded and developed. Rather what is more likely is that instead of receiving further development efforts to integrate Act! to existing Sage ERP systems it will continue as a standalone CRM product sold primarily through resellers and retail.
This transition of Act! from the CRM division to the Value Business may signal a different positioning for the Act! product line and we’ll have to see if there is any official word (other than the blog posting) issued by Sage,
UPDATE: According to Sage – “ACT! is a strategic product for us. Sam Hunter is now responsible for both the Value Business Unit and the ACT! Business Unit.”
UPDATE: Several Act! consultants have pointed out that Sage’s CRM 2010 prominently features the ACT! product line aside Salelogix and SageCRM.They question whether this movement of Act! outside the traditional CRM group points to a change in the integration plans for the three Sage CRM products announced 9 months ago.
As part of this plan (documented in this March 2008 document titled Sage CRM Solutions 2010 Strategy):
A key part of the CRM 2010 technology strategy is to evolve all Sage CRM Solutions products to support integration with other applications using a common CRM integration contract approach. This approach is Web services-based and is independent of any particular implementation. Any service provider or service consumer can implement the contract. This leads to flexible, lightweight, loosely-coupled integrations.
The initial use of the contract integration is for application to application integration — this could be ACT! to Sage 50 Accounts for example. Each application can choose to publish information, as well as consume information. This same system is then used to generate feeds of information from the CRM application so that customers can view information through a standard Web browser or feed reader.
Link: Passing the torch – David Van Toor blog entry on Act! Community site
Sage reports annual earnings
December 3, 2008
Sage have just reported their annual results for the year ended September 2008. You can review the complete details on their investor page.
The parent company reported sales rose 7% overall for the year with an underlying 3% rise in net profie.
The chart at left displays Sage’s depiction of revenue growth. The Sage North America revenues (organic – meaning there are no recent acquistion revenue/loss results added or subtracted) contracted 3% when the Healthcare Division was added to the mix.
There’s more in a handy PDF summary file which I’ve included at the end of this article.
My notes from the PDF:
1% organic growth for Sage North America EXCLUDING Healthcare (which apparently means revenues contracted 4%) when Healthcare revenues are included there is a contraction of 3% (negative growth).
Business Management Division FLAT
- Peachtree FLAT
- Both MAS and Peachtree affected by market conditions
Industry & Specialized – up 3%
- Construction driven by support plan growth
- Non Profit continues to show good growth
Maintenance & Support is 52% of revenues
Launching integrated Software/Support model for Peachtree (I take this to mean support will bundle as is down with QBES)
Sage North America’s revenues breakout as follows:
Business Management – 47%
Industry Specific Solutions – 16%
Sage Healthcare – 28%
Sage Payment – 9%
http://www.investors.sage.com/files/presentation/31571/Final_presentation.pdf
via: ZDNET – Sage results show impact on SMB market
View the complete set of Sage official earnings release information on their site.
90 Minds Consulting Group launches web site
November 29, 2008
90 Minds is a group of consultants representing accounting software packages such as those from Sage, Intuit, Microsoft, SAP, Deltek and more.
This independent association of consultants, of which Schulz Consulting is one of the founding members, numbers over 25 separate companies with 100+ total consultants.
Because this group is not affiliated with any one particular software vendors, it possesses what may be the most unique capabilities of any company nationwide.
Instead of attempting to merge in members from as far away as Hawaii, the 90 Minds Consulting Group decided two years ago to informally structure around a private email list.
As this list popularity grew, the members wanted to have an outlet to advertise their services and membership in the group.
Thus the 90 Minds web site is born.
In the coming months this site will be significantly enhanced to include:
- Member locator
- Skills / product locator
- Contact a member
- Location searches
The site is strucured so that content relevant to all users of ERP Accounting Software will have a place to read bulletins and tips published by some of the most experienced consultants in the United States.
Link: 90Minds.com
Sage MAS 90, 200 and 500: Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Whitepaper
November 25, 2008
Sage just updated their library online with a free white paper that explains how their Sage MAS 90 , MAS 200 and MAS 500 products are compliant with SOX regulations.
The document is quite good and clearly spells out several myths about the act including that using one type of software makes you “SOX compliant” (false) or that any accounting software packages have been certfied SOX compliant (false again).
Here’s an excerpt:
One area that many companies find problematic is if internal systems are fragmented and incompatible. For example, a manufacturer that uses one application for manufacturing operations and another for accounting may find itself exposed to potential control issues. This is because significant manual re-entry is usually needed to pass data (such as inventory valuation) from the operational system to the accounting system. Any lapse in this area will expose an organization to the risk of material inaccuracies.
Sage MAS products offer seamless integration between the inventory system, the manufacturing operations, and the accounting system. As long as Sage MAS security features have been implemented appropriately, there is very limited scope for information to be lost between modules of the system.
Manufacturers are not the only types of organization to be at risk from disparate systems of course. Project-based organizations that use Excel for tracking project performance will be at risk of accounting incorrectly for partially completed projects. Distributors must ensure their inventory levels are recorded accurately so that the accounts can reflect the correct stock valuations. In every case, an integrated system reduces the likelihood of accounting misrepresentation.
Sage MAS 90 version 4.4 update – 64 bit support – confirms Q4 2009 release
November 18, 2008
Live from Sage Summit in Denver Colorado comes this brief Twitter update on the status of Sage MAS 90 version 4.4. Not only have all prior release features been confirmed (expanded fields) but the program will be a 64 bit native release (UPDATE: Sage has since clarified that the program will run in 64 bit environment but the Sage MAS 90 and 200 software itself will not be 64 bit) and time permitting will incorporate some unspecified webservices.
Here’s the full text of the feature announcement live from the Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.4 what’s new presentation at Sage Summit.
This new version is slated for delivery in 2009 and has been announced to included expanded field lengths for Inventory Items (30) and Customer Numbers (20). This Twitter posting appears to confirm that those anticipated features will in fact make it to the final release which another Twitter update announces as Q4 2009.
via: Twitter Feed
10 tips to get the most out of Sage Communities
November 18, 2008
Here are some general suggestions that I’ve found will help you get the most out of Sage MAS Community Forums (MAS90 MAS200 MAS500). Feel free to add on to this list.
If you’ve never participated here before – welcome! This is a GREAT way to meet other users (a very frequent request) as well as share in the knowledge (the keyword here is share).
1. Fill out your profile completely.
This allows other users to email you directly if they have information that may not be postable publicly. Often this could be workarounds that are unofficial or maybe some company specific advice that isn’t for everyone’s eyes.
Add your contact information into your standard signature. You can do this by clicking “My Profile” in the upper left corner (when you’re logged in) and then editing the Signature to include your name, company, email and phone.
It has been my experience that including this information does not invite spam, sales calls or other unwanted solicitations. What including the informaiton DOES is allow other users to contact you for private discussion… And this is exactly what the community exists for.
2. If you find the answer yourself to a question you’ve posted – come back and update your message.
Many of us use the community as a knowledgebase of sorts. Having a question that begins with “Do you know why I’m getting error xxxxx when I run on a Dell Laptop” and then is followed by “Never mind I figured it out” is frustrating for users to stumble upon.
What happens is someone else has the exact same question. It’s usually a Saturday/Sunday when offices are closed (but Sage Community is open) — they log onto the site and find the message, a note that it was solved – but NO indication of HOW it was solved.
Please try to always post the resolution to any problem.
There are FAR more people who lurk (read but never post) on this forum. Many of these people will be searching for problems that they are experiencing and will greatly benefit from a complete solution.
3. Don’t abuse the help
Almost all of the people here are running businesses (either as end users or consultants).
They volunteer their time here. Realize that this volunteer time generally doesn’t include testing out error conditions that may impact your company. If you need more extensive help – take it offline and work out an arrangement (or better yet discuss the issue with your Sage Reseller who setup the software).
Many people have phone numbers in their signatures. This is not a free phone support line. I don’t mind helping anyone whose in a bind – and neither do most other consultants or users. This doesn’t mean that you have a new free help line.
4. There’s probably no cure for you being on version 1.20 of MAS 90 or 200 and refusing to upgrade
Sage MAS 90 and 200 are at version 4.3 (as of this writing). If you’re looking for assistance on a very old version – please don’t be upset when the advice is to upgrade. There have been so many operating system advancements (and Sage advancements) that knowing why version 1.2 conflicts with Vista is probably not supportable in the community.
5. Give more than you get – and ask for nothing in return
If you run across a problem that you think the community can benefit from. Post it.
If you have an observation or suggestion post it.
The best Community members are those who regularly post items even when their own system is not in crisis mode.
6. Don’t confuse “Community” with employee
Just because Sage employees and consultants and end users frequent this area – that doesn’t mean they are here 24 x 7 looking for messages.
The Community forums are a tool – - they are not meant to be another full time employee for anyone.They are not a replacement for your support plan.
Don’t expect that this community will replace your support resource internally – because it won’t.
Use the community as a tool.
7. Search before you post
Before you post a problem – search to see if someone else has experienced the issue. My experience is that as Community grows a huge number of issues have been previously asked and answered.
If you post a question and don’t get an answer – you either have not posted it clearly or the problem is one that nobody has seen before.
8. Use the Kudos and Solutions Buttons
The Community Software allows you to send Kudos (thanks) and acknowledge working solutions via buttons on the right side of the screen. The more you use them , the better it will be for the next person. This lets other users know who is helpful in the forum and flags questions as resolved.
9. Tag your posts – be clear in your posts
Always include as much information as possisble in your posts. That will usually get you the most relevant suggestions to solve your problem.
At a minimum include the version number, service update number, circumstances surrounding the issue (new install, upgrade), things you’ve done that didn’t fix it, other odd issues (new applications installed, system crashes, virusses you’re trying to clean).
The Community allows you to enter in tags that can help others searching the messages. Use these tags wherever possible – they’ll help others when they get the same error and try searching.
An example of tagging would be:
If I posted a message “Error 48 line 12345 program POWZBA while updating Return of Goods in version 4.2 SP 20″
I might tag that:
“line 12345″, “powzba”,”sp 20″,”4.20″,”mas90″,”return of goods”, “error 48″
10. Avoid the temptation to rant
It’s easy to fall into the trap of posting all sorts of tyrades against Microsoft, Sage, Intuit, your reseller.
In general you’re better off waiting a day before posting something that does nothing but complain. Instead post the problem and your suggested workaround. People take to that type of message far better than something that offers no solution.
These communities are a great resource. Hope these tips help.
Link: Sage MAS Community Forums
Sage drops software from name – revamps logo and web site
November 17, 2008
At their Summit annual customer conference today, Sage Software shed a little weight by removing Software from the last part of their name and revamping their web site to more closely match the design and layout of corporate parent Sage Group PLC.
This revamping had been rumored for a while with the main question being how radical the new look of the logo would be. While the main Sage site has been redirecting to http://www.sagenorthamerica.com – the remaining Sage sites appear untouched and still carry the former Sage Software logo.
New features added to the site include a pronounced focus on vertical markets with areas such as Customer Management, Financial Management, Healthcare, Inventory Management, Nonprofit, Operational Management, Payment Solutions, People Management and Supplier & Partner Management all receiving separate listings on the site.
In order to sort through the variety of packages available, the site prominently displays a “my solutions” login and recommndation area. Here end users looking for software can store lists of Sage products and make comparisons between differing Sage brands.
Link: Sagenorthamerica.com
Sage Software Twitter Addresses
November 17, 2008
Twitter is a short messaging service that has one objective. It allows you to tell other Twitter users what’s on your mind.
These updates come in the form of 140 character messages that you send either via the web or your phone (SMS text messages can be used to update the service as well as Twitter programs on Smartphones).
Sage Software this week is hosting their Summit Customer Conference in Denver. There are well over 2,000 people attending this conference and with that number of people you can be sure there will be questions and feedback about technical sessions and the conference area as well.
To help address those questions and allow for real time feedback, Sage established their own Twitter account (Update: As Mike Morper of Sage pointed out in the comments – the Twitter feed is specific for those users of the MAS product line). They’ll use this to “listen” to questions and suggestions from those who are at the conference. Use of Twitter by Sage is spearheaded by Mike Morper Senior Director Product Management – MAS.
Here’s all the relevant Twitter addresses that I have of Sage folks. Some of them are more active than others. I encourage you to check out Twitter (it’s free) and participate in the ongoing discussions.
Like anything new, Twitter takes a bit of time to “get the hang of”. So plan on giving it a week or so. Read some of the messages that people send and the when you’re ready participate by posting your own “Tweets”.
Sage Softare Related Twitter Accounts
NOTE: I’m giving broad overviews of what the following folks do at Sage Software. I am positive that I don’t have exact titles correct – however I’m pretty sure I’ve described their overall duties accurately. I’ll update any titles that I find to be incorrect or inaccurate.
Have an addition (or correction) — leave a comment to this article and I’ll be sure to update this list pronto.
Sage Summit Twitter Feed (Official):
http://www.twitter/tellmasteam
Wayne Schulz (Schulz Consulting) – not a Sage employee
http://www.twitter.com/mas90guru
Erika Jelovosek (MAS 90 / 200 Product Manager):
Erika’s been with Sage forever (or at least since I’ve worked with the product starting back in 1986). Probably knows the most complete history of MAS90 and one of the Sage Channel’s “go to” people for questions and suggestions.
http://twitter.com/ebjelovs
Mike Morper – Sr Director Product Management – MAS:
Mike’s managing the MAS product line at Sage. He provided the “Road Ahead” session at this years’ Insights reseller conference and has spearheaded most of the Twitter and Sage Community activity. Read his official Sage Blog here.
http://www.twitter.com/morps
David VanToor:
David oversees the CRM area of Sage Software and is active on Twitter and in a lot of the reseller channel activities.
http://twitter.com/dave_vt
Ed Kless:
Ed delivers lots of new ideas and advice to the Sage Channel. He’s the partner development guy who teaches many of the Bootcamps that teach innovative new business development practices. He’s very heavy on great new ideas and one of Sage’s “secret weapons” that keeps their channel strong.
http://twitter.com/edkless
Alan Bryant:
Alan is the former owner of Macabe Associates who came to Sage Software when the Macabe programming enhancements were acquired by Sage (the company – Macabe Associates – remains an independent consulting form specializing in Sage MAS 90 and 200). Alan oversees the third party development efforts of Sage Software.
http://twitter.com/alanbryant
Do you have additions or corrections to the above? Leave them in the comments below!
Sage MAS Community Forums (Tip): Browse all new messages with one click
November 17, 2008
Have you visited the Sage Software MAS Community forums? This free message board allows for open exchange of questions, suggestions, ideas and tips between fellow users of the MAS products (MAS90/200/500) and other user. Sage Software also has an active presence on the board with long time product manager Erika Jelosovek personally responding to messages.
After visiting the message area I had asked Sage if there was any way to view all of the newest messages on one page. Without this type of access searching for new messages was a tedious combination of clicking back and forth through the various board topics.
Happily I learned that you can view all new messags just by following one link which provides a summarized list of the messages with new activity. By using this you can easily view the newest messages (and those receiving new replies).
To view the latest active messages on the Sage MAS Community Board, follow this link:
http://community.sagemas.com/sagemas/newthreads
IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) – The tip of the iceberg?
November 16, 2008
Have you heard about the International Financial Reporting Standards? These International reporting standards have been relevant to the United States since FASB issued the Norwalk Agreement in 2002 which stated their commitment to rules for universal financial reporting that is accepted across countries.
There are nearly 100 countries requiring or allowing publicly held companies to prepare financial statements using IFRS principles.
In 2005 the European Union required over 12,000 companies listed on an EU-regulated stock exchange to adopt IFRS when they prepare consolidated financial statements. Canada is planning to require IFRS starting in 2011.
Where GAAP and IFRS Differ
The Financial Accounting Standards Board and International Accounting Standards Board are working to close the gap (pun intended) between IFRS rules and GAAP/IASB rules. Currently the following differences exist:
- IFRS does not permit Last In First Out (LIF) as an inventory costing method
- IFRS uses single-step method for impairment write-downs rather than two-step used by GAAP
- IFRS has a different probability threshhold and measurement objective for contingencies
- IFRS does not permit curing debt covenant violations after year-end
- IFRS guidance regarding revenue recognition is less extensive than GAAP and contains less industry-specific guidance.
When Will This Affect US Companies?
The earliest expected adoption dates for large US public companies to convert financials to IFRS is 2013 which is the year which all major capital markets are expected to operate from one set of accounting standards.
Given the worldwide meltdown of credit markets it’s reasonable to expect that many new rules and regulations will be introduced over the nexte several years. The IFRS may further be updated to address the perceived weaknesses in the existing reporting guidelines.
Mike Morper of Sage Software has a post that addresses how Sage MAS 90 and 200 will be updated to conform to any new reporting guidelines. He provides assurance that the product team at Sage Software is working on making sure the software conforms to any new reporting rules.
via: Mike Morper – IFRS Roadmap coming this week
Sage Software Twitter improves your Sage Summit Customer Conference experience
November 15, 2008
Sage Software just established a Twitter account to collect feedback from those attending their Sage Summit Customer Conference being held November 17-20 in Denver.
Update November 9, 2009: Please see our Sage Twitter List here which contains the most up-to-date list of all Sage Twitter feeds.
By creating a free account on Twitter you can send messages directly to Sage with comments on sessions you’ve attended, inquiries about events that are happening during the conference – or just about anything else.
It appears that Mike Morper will be quarterbacking this even based on the forum posting he originated announcing the Twitter account.
The use of Twitter during Sage Software conference isn’t brand new. We think it’s a great idea and liked it so much that we were the first to use it at the Sage Insights Conference in Washington DC (read the entire twitter stream here) where we posted over 270 updates on sessions and newsworthy items such as the real time announcement of Sage Extended Enterprise for MAS90.
According to a posting in the Sage Software Customer Forum,
It’s important to us that you get as much out of the week at Summit as possible. To that end, we have setup a Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/tellMASteam) so you can provide us real-time thoughts and comments. If you’re confused about something (mixed messages, incomplete info… you name it) or just wanna say you’re having a great time and learning tons, send a post to this Twitter feed and if appropriate, me or one of my Sage MAS colleagues will respond and do our best to steer you (or us!) straight.
As the size of conferences expand, the ability to directly ask questions to the conference host (and other attendees) is a huge benefit.
Never Used Twitter Before?
So you say that you’ve never used Twitter before and aren’t sure what it is? (Check out my Twitter stream here for an example of the types of things people talk about)
Twitter is a way for you to broadcast short (140 character) messages or inquiries. Think of it as an Instant Messenger only instead of talking directly to one person your message goes out to everyone with a Twitter account.
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
In order to use Twitter you will need one of these things: an internet connection or a mobile phone.
Following someone (such as Sage Software) simply means receiving their Twitter updates. How you receive the updates (on your phone, IM, or just on the web) is up to you. You can set your following preferences based on device, and then set notification preferences for each person you follow. Your followers are those who have elected to receive your twitters.
These messages can be read on:
- The web - at http://www.twitter.com
- BlackBerry – I recommend Twitterberry
- iPhone – I use and love Twittelator Pro
- Other mobile web browsers – m.twitter.com
- Text messaging (read how here)
Because Twitter is a relatively new concept to most corporations – they tend to pay very close attention to the tool in an effort to evaluate its effectiveness.
If you are attending the Summit Conference – create an account and connect with Sage Software with your questions. This is one of the best ways to get personal attention to your very public feedback.
Links:
Follow Wayne Schulz on Twitter
Sage Software Summit Conference Page
Sleeter Group Accounting Software Consulting Conference 2008 Gets Underway
November 11, 2008
Day one of the Sleeter Group’s Accounting Software Consulting Conference 2008 gets underway today. I’m speaking on Thursday with the Sage Software follks about MAS90 and how it’s a next step up for anyone formerly using QuickBooks who may need a little more horsepower in their software.
The picture above is from the Monday Night Football Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers football game. The hotel the speakers are staying in is a short 20 minute walk to the stadium -which allowed us to avoid the happy masses of football fans exiting the stadium after the 29 – 24 Cardinals win (I had to look the final score up because I left the game early to get some rest after having been up since 2am traveling to Arizona).
I’ll update the site with relevant keynote information and I will be talking to many of the QuickBooks consultants and vendors who make add ons for QuickBooks products .
If you’re at the conference – here’s my session titled Sage MAS 90 and 200: Easier To Use And More Affordable Than Ever.
Link: Sleeter Consulting Conference Schedule (Nov 11 to 14, 2008)
Sage MAS Community continues to grow members
October 31, 2008
Even though the Sage MAS Community has yet to formally launch, there are already an impressive number of members signed up to the service.
Most of these are Sage Software employees – which is perhaps the most impressive portion of the current user count.
Based on a quick early morning count (as of 10-31-2008) the forum shows 112 members broken down as:
- Total Members: 112
- Administrators: 8
- Members with Sage “badges”: 69
- Non-Sage identified members: 42
The image below is a partial publicly available list of forum members. Notice the heavy presence of the green Sage badge which formally identifies the user a Sage Software employee.
These employees likely had to sign up on their own and the extent of those who have done so seems to show a big push by Sage to make this new discussion forum a success.
Messages left late last night in the new forum seem to indicate that the previous SageTalk forum will be slowly wound down with members encouraged to migrate to this new forum. There does not appear to be any plans to migrate the old message database from SageTalk to the new forums.
Sign up for the new Sage MAS Community by visiting the site here. At present (and hopefully for the future) reading messages posted to the site is not password protected – though you will have to create an account to leave a message.
Sage Software has indicated that they intend to leave the access this way which is a change from their previous forum (SageTalk) that required members to log in first to the Sage Software technical support area and then again into SageTalk.
Sage Tip: Get alerts when new messages are posted to Sage MAS 90 message board
October 29, 2008
One of the most convenient ways to read content on the Internet is via the use of RSS feeds. With an RSS feed you can quickly skim the titles of different articles that have been published online. Most sites – including the new Sage Software Message Boards – support the use of RSS feeds.
For those of you who may be more casual users of the Internet or who don’t want to log onto an RSS reader to check messages – here’s an interesting solution that I’ve been using for the past three months.
The service is called Pingie. It’s presently free and in beta with a limitation of 5 different feeds that may be added to each individual account.
What Pingie does is watch your RSS feeds and send out an alert each time the feed is updated.
This is useful for times when you would like to know that a new message has been posted into a specific forum without having to constantly log into the site and view the list of new messages on your computer.
Here’s an example of how to setup the Core Financial Message Board in Pingie so that every time someone posts a new message (or reply) you will get a notification.
Note: These notifications can be sent to either your email address or to a cell phone via SMS.
Link: Pingie
How to read the new Sage MAS90 Discussion Forums via RSS
October 28, 2008
One of the best new features of the Sage MAS90 Discussion forum is the ability to read all of the messages in an abbreviated format known as RSS.
Click on the image to the left to see an example of my RSS feeds (as shown in Google Reader) that I use to keep up with technology. Notice that only the headlines of each article are shown.
RSS stands for Really Simply Syndication. In it’s most basic form what it means is that instead of reading the lengthy articles (message posts) you can use a special type of software to read the headlines. When you find a headline that is of interest you can click to read the entire article. (Read more about RSS at Wikipedia)
Fortunately you don’t even need to load any special software (although there are dedicated software RSS feed readers). Google has a free reader that is very popular both because it is simple to use and can be accessed via any web browser.
To setup your Google Reader account:
- Log into the Google site via http://www.google.com/reader.
- If you don’t already have a Google account, you’ll be prompted to create one.
- Once you’ve created a Google account, click on any of the links below (I’d recommend adding them all) to have the RSS feeds from the new Sage Software MAS 90 Discussion Forum automatically added to your Google Reader.
A list of the Sage MAS 90 RSS feeds are as follows:
(After you’ve setup Google Reader – clicking any of the links below will add them to your feeds so they can be read at any time)
Distribution, Manufacturing & Internet Modules
Customer Relationship Management
Unique Business Challenges and General Discussion
Personalization, Customization & Productivity Tools
Technical and Installation Discussions
Time Tracking & Job Costing Modules
Sage Software soft launches new message board community
October 28, 2008
Sage Software has soft launched a new messaging forum which appears designed to replace or substantially duplicate their existing SageTalk forums.
This area, powered by the Lithium online community software, has separate areas for each of the SAGEMAS products – Sage MAS 90 and 200, Sage MAS 500 and Extended Enterprise Suite.
One of the huge improvements to the discussion area is the ability to read the forum messages without logging in or registering for a user ID (previously the SageTalk messaging system required a login in order to view messages).
The new message board also includes RSS feeds so that you can preview messages in your favorite RSS reader (I strongly recommend Google Reader).
A list of the Sage MAS 90 RSS feeds is as follows:
Distribution, Manufacturing & Internet Modules
Customer Relationship Management
Unique Business Challenges and General Discussion
Personalization, Customization & Productivity Tools
Technical and Installation Discussions
Time Tracking & Job Costing Modules
At present there is at least one private community that is also hosted, the Sage MAS 90 and 200 Developer Community. Access to this area appears to be by special request only.
Sage corporate blogs will also be housed within this community. Interestingly it appears that most (if not all) of the communication will take place behind a password protected entrance – meaning the general public won’t be able to read the information without a login and password and what goes on in the forums and blogs will likely not be indexed by Internet search engines such as Google. Update: It appears that you can indeed access this site to read messages and blogs without logging in.
For this initial soft launch there was no requirement to enter a Sage Software customer or reseller ID (as was the case with SageTalk). There’s also no confirmation on what may happen to the SageTalk discussion forum which largely duplicates the mission of the new Sage MAS community.
The mission of this community is to enable all Sage MAS ERP customers to share, learn, and support each other on a broad spectrum of issues and interests. While Sage’s intent is for customers to network, form connections and share useful information, our North American Support team does monitor the site and may periodically respond to unanswered technical posts. Should you require an immediate response to technical issues, we have a variety of support options.
The MAS 90 and MAS 200 community are:
Sage MAS 90 and 200 Discussion Forum
- Core Financial Modules
- Distribution, Manufacturing and Internet Modules
- Customer Relationship Management
- Unique Business Challenges and General Discussion
- Personalization, Customization and Productivity Tools
- Technical and Installation Discussions
- Time Tracking and Job Cost Modules
Extended Enterprise Suite Discussion Forum
- General Discussion
Sage MAS 90 and 200 Blogs
- Alok Tyagi (VP of R&D)
- Mike Morper (Sr Director of Product Management – Sage MAS product lines)
News and Fast Tips
- News
- Fast Tips
For now registration for the community is free and access is instant. It is not known whether in the future this forum will require entry of your Sage Software customer or reseller number to further authenticate you and issue a user login.
Link: Visit Sage MAS Community
Sage Software Maintenance and Support Plan Video Online
October 22, 2008
Looking for a MAS90 phone support plan? Here’s an overview video from Sage Sage Software that tries to sell you on the benefit of their phone and basic maintenance plans.
This raises an interesting question about vendor help desk support and the support offered by a local experienced consultant.
Should your company use a local source of support? Or should you contract with a software vendor’s help desk to answer all of your accounting software technical questions?
Here are my summarized thoughts (feel free to take issue with any or all of them in the comments):
Use vendor support If:
- You don’t want to interact with local consultants.
- You have very routine support requests that are more often resolved by looking in a knowledgebase and reading the results off the screen.
- You are ok dealing with a help desk employee who may not have ever installed a live MAS 90 or MAS 200 system (vendors don’t like to admit this but a high percentage of their help desk employees may not have ever worked in the field setting up the software).
- You don’t mind handling emergencies on your own with phone guidance.
- You don’t mind tracking and following up with reported issues and installing your own software patches.
- You are comfortable installing MAS 90 or MAS 200 on your own (may be needed in some support situations).
Consider A Local Consultant If:
- You don’t want to pay twice (once for phone and again if on-site service is needed).
- You prefer not to debug issues yourself.
- You want to deal with a consultant who has installed MAS90 in a live environment.
- You actively seek out second opinions and recommendations versus a reactive help desk.
- You want in-depth recommendations versus help desk support.
- You want references for different issues you are dealing with.
- You want to tap into a local consultant’s network of fellow consultants (for example we have 20+ consultants who do nothing but MAS90 and have joined in a formal alliance to support our clients)
These items that I’ve listed above are general in nature. Not every item applies in every situation. Use the list as a starting point in making your own decision.
I am biased in preparing this list as we offer phone support at the same price point as Sage Software. Therefore I recommend that you take all of the items here with a large grain of salt and make your own decisions about where to obtain phone support for Sage MAS 90 and 200.
Link: Sage Software Support Video
QuickBooks vs MAS 90 comparison guide now available
October 20, 2008
Outgrowing QuickBooks?
Thinking about switching to Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200?
Unsure about what the differences between the products are and whether you’ll get enough of a benefit from making the move from Intuit’s Quickbooks software to MAS 90? Then take a look at this new 86 page QuickBooks vs MAS90 document that goes into depth about the differences between these two products.
Here’ a quick breakdown of the included chapters:
- Chapter 1 – Introduction
- Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
- Retail Limitations vs. Value Added Reseller Consulting
- Integration
- Customization
- Enhanced User Interface
- Flexibility to Add Modules as You Grow
- Core Accounting
- Distribution
- Manufacturing
- Resource and Project Management
- Business Intelligence and Customization
- Customer Relationship Management
- Business Management Applications
- Add Users as You Need Them
- Feature Comparisons
- Available Modules
- System Options
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- General Ledger
- Inventory
- Sales Order
- Purchase Order
- Payroll
- Customizer
- Bar Code
- Job Cost
- Visual Integrator
- Workflow Differences
- Real-Time and Batch Processing
- Cash Basis vs. Accrual Accounting
- Audit Trail
- Adding Customers and Vendors
- Working in More Than One Company
- Memorized Transactions vs. “Copy From”
- Data Entry
- Navigation
- Viewing and Editing Open Sales Orders and Quotes
- Inventory Costing
- Functionality That’s the Right Fit
- Alerts vs. Business Alerts
- QuickBooks Welcome Window vs. Sage MAS90 Special Edition for QuickBooks Users
- Business Insights Dashboard
- Conversion Specialist Program
- Training Requirements
- Before You Begin the Conversion Process
- What Is Data Migrator?
- What Data Can Data Migrator Convert?
- Which Versions of QuickBooks Data Will Data Migrator Convert?
- What Does the Migration Process Entail?
- Printing QuickBooks Reports Before Migration
- Data Migrator Checklists
- QuickBooks Data Migration Checklist
- Sage MAS90 Special Edition for QuickBooks Users Pre-Data Conversion
Checklist - Sage MAS90 Special Edition for QuickBooks Users Post-Data Conversion
Checklist - Data Integrity
- Time Expectations
- Downtime
- Implementation
- Training
- Tutorials
- Anytime Learning and Instructor-Led Training
- Authorized Training Centers (ATCs)
- Certified Trainers (CTs)
- Business Partner Training
- Support
- Certified Support Specialists
- Certified Support Centers
- Sage Software Support Plans
- Conclusion
Chapter 2 – Price Value
Chapter 3 — Feature and Workflow Comparison
Chapter 4 — Conversion Expectations
Chapter 5 — How to Get the Most Out of Your Software
From the guide:
What are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)?
GAAP is a widely accepted set of rules, conventions, standards, and
procedures for reporting financial information that are established by
the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Sage MAS90
Special Edition for QuickBooks Users adheres closely to these
important industry guidelines.For example:
In Sage MAS90 Special Edition for QuickBooks Users, a user
cannot change or delete posted transactions without an audit trail.
With an audit trail of changes to posted transactions, you will
maintain a clean general ledger that will make your accountant
and the IRS much happier!QuickBooks allows you to use either cash-basis or accrual-basis
accounting methods. Cash-basis accounting does not follow
GAAP. Sage MAS90 Special Edition for QuickBooks Users uses
accrual-basis accounting, which closely follows GAAP.
Although this guide has been designed by Sage Software (developers of Sage MAS 90 and 200) and can understandably be considered a little biased toward their product – it still contains lots of helpful information.
Whenever I review a vendor provided guide such as this I will use it as a starting point. If you can get even one question from it to ask about a prospective new accounting system then it is worth it.
Even though this guide is designed by Sage Software, there is an unusual amount of fact checking that happens before it is published.
For example, there are plenty of charts like this which compare and contrast the available features in QuickBooks and MAS 90.
The guide is available now through your friendly local Sage Business Partner. If you don’t have a friendly (or a local) partner to ask – then hit up the link below for your very own free copy.
Depending upon the version of Sage MAS 90 or 200 that you are considering, you should be asking as well about any promotions that are available for owners of QuickBooks (or other competing products) who are upgrading. Sometimes the promotions are only valid on certain versions of MAS 90 – but you won’t get the discount unless you ask!
Link: QuickBooks Conversion Guide
(PDF)
Sage Summit 2008 promotional offers
October 10, 2008
Have you made plans to attend the Sage Software 2008 customer conference November 17 to 20 in Denver Colorado? Sage Summit is the place to learn all about the various Sage products as well as talk to your fellow users.
One of the keynote speakers will be Olmpic Gold Medal athlete Bruce Jenner who will talk about his story and share his secrets to what helped him win Olympic Gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Day one of Summit opens on Monday November 17 with Peer-2-Peer roundtables. Here you can sit with other users from across the country (and world) who use the exact same product as you do. These roundtables last for one hour each – and there are three of them scheduled on Monday.
Tuesday features breakout educational sessions starting at 8 a.m. (Don’t worry , the Denver air will help you sleep and get up early.) The opening ceremonies with Bruce Jenner will happen at 1:30 with one lucky 
participant from the audience getting to throw a flaming javelin toward stage and Bruce will catch it between his legs while blindfolded. Even if you’re not a Bruce Jenner fan, it will be a lot of fun to be in the audience to stare at him and tell your kids that you saw someone famous.
From Tuesday through Thursday you’ll have more opportunities to network with other Sage users and learn about complimentary Sage products at the trade show. Each lunch and dinner will be an opportunity to make a new friend and learn how others are using the Sage products.
As part of the benefit of attending Sage Summit 2008, you will be eligible for all sorts of product discounts. Sage Software just released their promotional guide which I have included below.
The
prior years’ conferences have been well received. I’ve had clients attend who enjoyed the sessions and learned many new things. Several consultants that I know have also attended and have nothing but positive experiences to share. Unfortunately I will not be attending this year as I’ve been asked to present with Sage at the Sleeter Group conference being held the week before.
Link: 08 Sage Software Summit Promo Book (50+ page PDF)
Link: Sage Summit 2008 official site
What’s new in Sage MAS 90 4.3? (PDF)
October 8, 2008
Are you wondering exactly what’s new in the latest accounting software release from Sage Software. Download this 4 page PDF and you can see what Sage Software is highlighting in their latest Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3 release.
This latest release provides an invaluable new feature in the ability to send all reports, forms, and registers directly to a PDF file.
While sending reports to PDF files is nothing new, the process that Sage uses to secure, name and manage the PDF information is the piece of the puzzle that most companies will welcome. When you elect to send your journals and registers to a PDF file via Sage’s paperless office you ensure that nobody in the office can mistakenly forget to print a journal to PDF. This is because Sage MAS 90 automatically remembers for you. Then once the PDF is printed it takes care of automatically naming and filing the document.
Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.3 Delivers Customer Value In These Areas As Well:
- Go green with paperless office
- Turn your data into actionable knowledge
- Immediately access up-to-date information the way you want to see it
- Streamline your tax reporting process
- Provide employees safe and secure direct deposit choices
- Simplified report selection
- Set income statement formats to chose actual, budget and budget variance information
- Globally change customer salesperson information in A/R
- Protect against accidental discounts
Link: What’s New In Version 4.2
Sage Software Readies Extended Enterprise 1.1
October 7, 2008
Sage Software will soon be releasing version 1.1 of their Extended Enterprise Suite (Sage MAS 90 + SageCRM + Sage FAS 100) , which incorporates the new Fixed Asset 2008.2 functionality with Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3, and SageCRM version 6.1.
As a result, Sage Software will begin to phase out the stand alone SageCRM integration for the Sage MAS 90 and 200 product. Their current offering of stand alone SageCRM version 6.0 integrated with Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3 will continue to be available for sale to existing users through December 31, 2008. The integration will continue to be supported until the retirement of SageCRM version 6.0 and Sage MAS 90 version 4.3.
If you are interested in SageCRM v6.1 for an existing or new Sage MAS 90 or 200 installation, you should consider Extended Enterprise Suite.
Greytrix will also continue to develop and support an independent Sage MAS 90 and 200 integration to SageCRM v6.1. For more information on the Greytrix solutions, you can visit their web site here.
For a free brochure explaining more about the Sage MAS 90 Extended Enterprise Suite – follow the link below.
Sage Extended Enterprise for MAS 90 White Paper
One Utility Every MAS90 User Must Have: Customer / Vendor History Re-Calculation
October 7, 2008
Beginning with version 4.1 of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 the customer master file holds detailed monthly sales totals. In prior versions this data was only retained for one period using a PTD designation. This new level of detail is helpful to companies who are asking “what sales volume did my customer have last year during the month of February”.
This new feature works exceptionally well except that when MAS90 converts data it will lump most of the totals together in prior years to the last fiscal period. Instead of separating out the historical detail it creates lump sums for conversions. Moving forward the details are tracked apprpriately.
Thankfully Randy Marion at Martin and Associates came up with what must be the worlds most helpful utility. His software does one thing. It recalculates prior history for both customers and vendors and places those totals into the correct monthly column on the respective master file.
As with any recalc process, it is advisable to create a backup prior to execution of this utility. Additionally, it is advisable, but not mandatory, to rebuild the keys of the following list of files for EACH company prior to execution. An exception to this rebuild recommendation is if this data is freshly or recently converted from any version with legacy (.SOA) file structure.
The utility is simple to install and use. Move on program file into the SOA folder, execute it by logging into MAS 90, running Syzcon and run
“arapfxv2”. It’s that easy. I’ve done this dozens of times with clients. Never an error message. The utility runs smoothly each and every time.
This utility is must have that can be used by resellers during an upgrade to correctly display various sales and purchase history for data acquired prior to version 4.10 or 4.2 in Sage MAS 90 or 200 ERP. This tool recalculates data in Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable to correctly reflect Sales and Purchase istory. This is accomplished by scanning all the appropriate history files and accumulating the various totals in the proper fiscal periods and years.
Price: $ 795 with no maintenance
Summary: Nice to see software that is bulletproof, runs fast, works as designed and saves a company hours of manual labor.
Link: Customer Sales – Vendor Purchase History — Product Manual
What I Like:
- It just works – no error messages or un-needed complexity
- Fast
- Accurate
- Saves hours of manually computing totals
- Can be run on multiple companies
- No ongoing maintenance
What Could Be Improved:
- I’ve already asked Randy to build one that recalculates 1099 payment totals
Need More Information? Use Our Contact Form Below:
[contact-form 1 "Contact form 1"]
Crystal XI for FAS 2008.2 will work alongside Crystal X for MAS90 & MAS200 according to Sage Software FAQ
October 6, 2008
Q: Does the new Crystal XI shipping with 2008.2 negatively impact MAS or other Sage applications running an earlier version of Crystal?
A: No, when a customer installs any FAS product, components of the latest version of Crystal are installed on their machine in order to run the Standard reports provided with FAS and to provide new customization and Report Writer features. Crystal has made changes in their most recent versions that should greatly reduce and, hopefully, eliminate conflicts experienced with having multiple Crystal versions installed. Customers should be advised to install the product with the older Crystal version first followed by the product with the newer Crystal version. We have tested all FAS 2008.2 products with other Sage ERP systems and not experienced any conflicts.
Q: Does the FAS 2008.2 release apply to MAS Fixed Assets or MAS Extended Enterprise Suite (EES) customers?
A: No, the FAS 2008.2 update available on SupportPlus Online will not work for MAS Fixed Assets or EES customers. MAS is planning to make a 2008.2 version available to these customers but this will be after the FAS 2008.2 release. We do not yet have an exact date. Please note that the 2008.2 release announcement email was inadvertently sent to MAS Fixed Assets customers (approximately 160). If you receive any calls from these customers about FAS 2008.2, please let them know that MAS will be providing this update in the coming weeks.
Q: Should MAS customers using FAS Asset Accounting install the 2008.2 update?
A: That depends on which version of MAS they are using. Due to changes made in FAS with this release the depreciation posting and asset addition (AP/PO) links will no longer work without an update from MAS. This update is only available to current versions of the MAS products. A message on the FAS Update page directs MAS customers to a page that explains this (http://support.sagesoftwareonline.com/fasrelease).
- MAS versions 4.2 and 4.3 support FAS 2008.2 – The latest service release from MAS will correct this issue with the links and should also be installed after moving to 2008.2. Either the MAS or the FAS Customer Support teams can assist customers in getting and installing the service pack.
- MAS versions 4.10, 4.05, 4.00, and 3.71 – At this time we do not know if an update will be made available for these older versions of MAS. Customers should wait for future MAS service packs and should not install FAS 2008.2 if the links are integral to their operations. These customers can use the FAS Universal Link for posting depreciation, which we will make available for free; however, the asset addition (AP/PO) link will not be available.
Update: According to Sage, users on Abra Human Resources software should expect that they will stay on Crystal version 9 for at least the remainder of 2009.
Wayne Schulz to speak at Sleeter Group 2008 Accounting Software Consulting Conference
October 5, 2008
Wayne Schulz has been invited by Sage Software to participated in presenting the only MAS 90 and MAS 200 session at the upcoming Accounting Software Consulting Conference in Glendale Arizona. Hosted by The Sleeter Group, this conference features sessions of specific interest to QuickBooks consultants.
The session, titled Sage MAS 90 and 200 – Easier To Use and More Affordable than Ever is offered at 1:55 pm on Thursday November 13, 2008. Wayne will review the key areas of MAS 90 and MAS 200 that make it a logical next step program for companies that are outgrowing QuickBooks or QuickBooks Enterprise Suite. Wayne was selected by Sage Software to accompany them to Glendale Arizona for this conference because of his understanding of the specific features that are attractive to consultants who are interested in begining to consult on a new accounting system for their growing client base.
Wayne’s consulting career begain in 1986 at Cole, Frago, Cusick, Chestler & Company in Wethersfield CT. From there he went to Kostin, Ruffkess & Company. At each of these CPA firms he supervised the technology consulting department. In 1996 he left the CPA world behind and formed Schulz Consulting which specializes in Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200. Today Schulz Consulting supports well over 100 clients in locations as far away as Alaska, California, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Hawaii.
Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 is more affordable than ever for companies are outgrowing QuickBooks and needing a powerful wholesale distribution system. Learn about the newest small business editions that place Sage MAS 90 or 200 accounting system within the budget of almost every company. Listen to real world examples of why clients rave about MAS 90 and 200. Ask questions and learn how you can use tools included in the software to make customizations to screens, add and change reports and even add new functionality – all without expensive programming. This will be a fast paced session focusing on the practical issues surrounding both the features of the software and also best practices in choosing enhancements, integrating with third party solutions (including the things to avoid), obtaining support, finding the companies that are a “best fit” for Sage MAS 90 or 200 – and tips and tricks for converting from other accounting systems. 
The Sleeter Group’s conference is November 10 – 13, 2008 in Glendale Arizona. This is the 5th annual conference which is held annually in the fall and attracts CPAs, consultants and users looking for more information on QuickBooks and related accounting software. For more informatio you can visit their web site at http://www.sleeter.com/index.html
Sage ERP X3 comes to America
October 1, 2008
Sage ERP X3 is an international ERP solution for mid-market to large enterprises. Originally known as Adonix X3 and rebranded Sage ERP X3 last year, this product is sold throughout North America by a small group of channel partners and a direct sales force.
Adonix was acquired by Sage Group in 2005. Until today, the North American operations were managed as part of Sage Europe, because the original Adonix was headquartered in France. The North American management team is based in Pittsburgh, PA.
Moving forward, this team will become part of the overall BMD portfolio. Sales and marketing will be integrated with existing teams. Other employees will continue to report into Alex Attal, the North American leader for Sage ERP X3.
Sage ERP X3 ideally complements the existing Sage ERP portfolio in North America. Scaling up to more than 1,000 concurrent users, it provides mid-market up to large enterprise manufacturers and distributors with mid- to high-end ERP software aimed at meeting the most elaborate business processes. It will allow Sage to address many customers whose needs can not currently be met by Sage MAS 500 or Sage Accpac ERP, as well as those upper-end customers requiring multinational support.
For more details on Sage ERP X3 – visit Sage ERP X3 or review the list of Frequently Asked Questions – Sage ERP X3 FAQ (pdf)
MAS90’s Hidden Weapon: Extended Solutions
September 29, 2008
Many users of accounting software secretly (and often not so secretly) wish that their programs could be customized so that they more tightly fit the needs of their business. Unfortunately custom programming often proves to be both expensive and time consuming.
Not anymore.
With Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 there is a large catalog of customizations that have already been written and can be purchased for a fixed fee.
Examples of Extended Solutions include Multi-Company processing for General Ledger and Accounts Payable. With this enhancement you can have one master company processing accounts payable invoices and checks for dozens of subsidiaries. The entire due-to and due-from process is managed by the enhancement (See AP-1027 – Multiple Company Accounts Payable which provides just this functionality for only $1,795 + $265 Maintenance).
What’s so powerful about these Extended Solutions is that not only do they save you the initial development time (and money) – but as the Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 programs are upgraded you receive the enhancements at your current level for no extra charge.
Selecting and searching for an Extended Solution for Sage MAS90 and MAS200 is easy. Simply log into the Extended Solution Site and search for your desired functionality. Once located, you’ll see a screen with the cost, description and a link to the full product manual.
Tip: Not everyone knows this, but all of the Extended Solutions may be requested as a free trial. They will ship you the solution so that it only operates on the dummy data company code and with certain other restrictions. This gives you a chance to “try before you buy” – something not available with most other custom programming.
If you have more questions about whether an Extended Solution might be right for your business, ask yourself these questions:
- Will I save time by having the feature (and if so how much)
- Are there alternate procedures that I could perform that would eliminate the need for this enhancement
- How many enhancements am I looking to purchase (Rule of thumb: Under 6 is probably ideal with most companies using only one or two).
- Am I willing to wait an extra month or two after the main MAS 90 or MAS 200 program has been updated for my ehancements to be ready (This is the typical wait time).
- Will I be using third party vertical solutions like Job Ops or ACS Service Managemenet which may conflict with Extended Solutions?
In general we strongly recommend the use of Extended Solutions to our clients. When a pre-written customization is required it is our favored solution based on the sheer numbers of enhancements available as well as the positive feedback we receive from our clients.
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Setting up Sage Payment Services with MAS90 or MAS200
September 16, 2008
Are you an existing user of Sage MAS 90 or 200 (Versions 4.2+) looking to setup Sage Payment Services on your system?
If so, here are my notes based on a recent setup for a client who was not using any credit card processing prior to adding Sage Payments.
Note: If you are a current PC Charge user – you may be eligible for a free upgrade to the Sage Payment server which is fully compatible only with Sage Payment Services ( Update: works only with the Sage Payment Services).
Condensed Installation Notes:
1. Re-enter new unlock keys to MAS 90 or MAS 200
(This has to be done so you can enable Sage Payment Service)
2. Client receives email verification of their new credit card account – this is where Merchant ID and Mkey are located – no separate paperwork is sent to the client except Visa/MC stickers
3. Turn on Sage credit card processing in MAS90 or MAS200 – Tab #3 – Server Maintenance under Company Maintenance
- Also enable credit card processing for cash receipts (if desired) in Accounts Receivable Options
4. Download the PocketSoap program and install to workstation – www.pocketsoap.com/pocketsoap/#dl
5. Setup the payment types in AR – Setup – Payment Type Maintenance
- Unlike PC Charge – the merchant # doesn’t self populate – key the Sage TERMINAL ID NUMBER in manually (from client welcome email) – IMPORTANT: To set up with Sage Payments USE THE TERMINAL ID # for all credit cards — and NOT the merchant ID as the field is labelled.
- Need the 12 digit Merchant Key (MKEY) number from the client’s welcome email
- Once you save this and then re-open payment type the “valid processor” in lower right should be checked
I did not have to re-load any software to the server (only load pocket soap [download here for free] to each workstation processing credit cards).
The above is only a summary of the instructions which is meant for those with some familiarity with MAS90 and MAS200 credit card processing. Please note that versions 4.2 and higher support the use of Sage Payment Server embedded within the software (no separate download) – so different steps may be needed for older MAS90 or MAS200 versions.
A more complete list of instructions is in the support area of Sagesoftwareonline as a pdf or download from here.
Summary
I strongly recommend this solution for ease of setup. It was a little nerve wracking – but I did it all remotely in under an hour — including testing and walking through the terminal program.
Brett Zimmerman has a great set of suggestions as well (copied below):
(Courtesy Brett Zimmerman at The Fitzgerald Group) :
* If you would like to enable auto-settling, go to the Help menu in VT (Virtual Terminal) > Tech Support, and send a message requesting that auto-settling be enabled for whatever time you’d like. Apparently this request will first go thru Underwriting for approval since auto-settling won’t be allowed for certain businesses.
* By default, for every credit card charge processed, an e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address on file. To disable this function, go to the Configuration menu in VT > E-mail Notices > General Settings.
* Although you can set VT to automatically e-mail a .csv file (raw data) for each settled batch, it’d be great if it could e-mail a nicely formatted report of the settled batches – similar to what you can view inside VT.
* Supposedly with 4.3, the PocketSOAP software won’t have to be installed on the MAS 90 workstations. (Update: You still must manually download PocketSoap)
* MyVirtualReports: It appears this is for Account Management of your SPS account.
Additional tips for Credit Card integration to MAS90 or MAS200 Bank Reconciliation:
If you apply credit cards via cash receipts you’ll notice that each individual credit card transaction goes to the bank reconciliation.
Normally the bank will clear your credit card transactions in groups.
To properly reflect this on the bank reconciliation you can setup a separate bank code (use a clearing account GL that is on the balance sheet) to hold the individual credit card charges.
When the card charges clear the bank – go into cash receipts and receive the total amount cleared into your live account and take the amounts out of the clearing account.
If you have any other questions – please call the office or use the email contact form below and we’ll be happy to explain this in more detail. We can also provide you with contact information for Sage Payment Services so you can speak with them directly.
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Insights 2009 Announced: May 11 to 14 2009 – Nashville TN
May 15, 2008
Sage Software today formally announced the date and place for next years Insights reseller conference.
Their conference once again returns to the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville TN. This sprawling facility is situated directly next to the Grand Old Opry.
Link: Sage Software Insights
Sage Extended Enterprise For Sage MAS 90 and 200 Pricing Announced
May 14, 2008
The Extended Enterprise Solution for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 (formerly known as Project Diamond) was detailed for the first time this morning in an 8 am session at the Sage Software Insights 2008 conference in Washington DC.
This new package bundles many of the core MAS 90 and MAS 200 modules (listed below). What’s really news is that it also includes integration to SageCRM and Sage FAS (Fixed Assets). The package is offered at a fixed per user cost which is a break from Sage Software’s prior pricing strategy based on a per module cost.
The deadline for partners to be certified for this product is June 2009. Sage Software is offering free certification for partners who enroll prior to June 30, 2008 (you do not have to take the class — only enroll for it).
Phase one of this rollout is aimed for new customers. Sage indicates there will be some migration opportunities in the September 2008 timeframe. Pricing details for existing customers will NOT be available until September.