Sage Accounting & Payroll Support Services

May we introduce our in house Sage Consultant, Laurie Haley.

Laurie has been with S V Bye since 1999, building up a wealth of experience in dealing with our clients’ Sage Accounting and Payroll needs. In recognition of his expertise with Sage products, Laurie is also now a member of the Sage Users Group, being a group of specialists invited by Sage UK to provide them with end user feedback and to assist with the development of new versions of their accounting and payroll software programs.

As a Sage Accountant Partner we provide a wide range of support services relating to the Sage Instant Accounts, Sage 50 Accounts, Sage Instant Payroll and Sage 50 Payroll programs. We recommend Sage products for their flexibility to adapt to the needs of the vast majority of our clients.

These are just some of the Sage Consultancy Services we provide -

Which Version Do You Need?

If we discount Sage Mid Market Solution products, which are essentially aimed at high volume businesses with larger multi user systems, there remains a fairly wide range of Sage Accounts and Payroll Program Variants to choose from.

With prices ranging from just over £100 to over £1000 for a single user, stand alone version of the accounts program, or between £85 and £250 for the payroll program, then choosing the most appropriate software option is an important financial decision.

In addition to the cost, you will want to be sure that the program you opt for will do everything you need, but equally you don’t want to pay for extra features you may never use.

That’s where our expertise in helping our clients to choose the most appropriate software package becomes invaluable. As we are not a Sage retailer we are not driven by sales – our only objective is to find you the best product for your needs.

Obtaining The Software
Once we have helped you decide on the exact version you need, you can leave the rest to us. We will deal with the ordering and delivery of your program, including setting up any Sage Support contract, and invoice you in due course. Sage Support entitles you to full daytime telephone support, and email support from Sage’s own renowned team of experts, together with access to a huge library of knowledgebase articles available via the Sage website.

Installation and Initial Set Up
If your business or organization has a networked computer system, it’s likely that you will have your own IT specialist, who will be able to deal with the installation of the program.

Indeed, if you are quite confident in your own computer ability, the installation of the program is often a simple 15 minute task and, with 45 days initial free Sage Support, you will also have access to the Sage Support Team to guide you through this routine.

If however, you are new to Sage Accounts or Sage Payroll, the next steps may not be quite so simple. There are Help pages within the programs dealing with set up procedures, but our experience is that clients value our advice in deciding exactly how to set up the various Modules to ensure efficient and effective use of all the features, allow flexibility for future growth and ensure that the final configuration will meet the needs of your business.

Sage Training
Sage UK provide a range of training options for all their software products. There can however be some drawbacks to ‘Classroom’ based training :

• The inconvenience of having to travel long distances to the venue
• Group courses may cover aspects of the program which are not relevant to your business
• You have to proceed at the pace of other people in the group, which may be quicker or slower than you would wish

Whilst there are other options offered by Sage such as correspondence or computer based training, these don’t always suit everyone.

As an alternative we provide our own Sage Training with the following benefits –

• The training can take place at your office or home, so no travelling required.
• You have the flexibility to choose the date and time [Evenings excluded]
• The duration and frequency of the training is entirely down to you
• We work with your computer and your actual paperwork, so at the same time as you are training, you are making progress with your workload
• We can train up to three people at the same time at no extra cost

As far as cost is concerned, we charge on an hourly rate, so you only pay for the amount of training you actually need. Our rates compare favourably with Sage UK Class Based training.

Reports Design
Sage programs come with a range of reports which cover most of a company’s basic needs.  You may find however that, for example, the standard Invoice or Statement layouts don’t match your stationery, or the in built range of reports does not meet your specific needs.

If that is the case, there is a Reports Design facility within most Sage programs, but it can take time or additional training to acquire the confidence to be able to redesign  reports and layouts.

At S V Bye we have experience in this field and we offer our clients the benefit of our expertise in designing custom reports and layouts, either as part of our overall client service or as a one off arrangement.

Day to Day Sage Support 
As a general rule, if you have a ‘How do I …’ question about Sage input procedures then Sage Support staff provide an excellent service in providing that kind of guidance.

There are occasions though when the question may be more accounting related, or, as is the case with many of our clients, they feel more comfortable speaking to someone they know personally.

Amongst our staff at S V Bye we have a broad base of practical and technical experience in Sage Accounts and Sage Payroll input procedures, and the accounting knowledge to be able to provide the answers to your everyday Sage queries.

As an S V Bye client, this valuable resource comes as part of the service we offer.

Require more information?

If you would like more information or would like to ask us a question then call us on 01287 612000.
To ask us a question online click here.