Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/44903
THE SAGE PERSPECTIVE Sage Nonprofi t and Hosted Solutions for Sage Accountants Network Members T T e Sage Accountants Network has a wide range of products, which gives it more breadth than almost any other competing program. While some competing programs have strong solutions for a small business, and others cater to large, global organiza- tions, the Sage Accountants Network allows accounting professionals to access discounted soſt ware for small, midsized and large businesses, along with support plans, and product training for their internal use. Sage Accountants Network options are available for accountants who would like to work with Sage Peachtree, Sage Simply Accounting, Sage Business- Works, Sage ERP MAS 90, Sage ERP Accpac, Sage Timberline Offi ce, Sage Master Builder, Sage ACT!, Sage Timeslips, and Sage FAS Fixed Assets. Sage recently added a new Sage Accountants Network (SAN) off ering for accountants to learn about and become more familiar with Sage Nonprofi t Solutions, allowing them to gain more confi dence in recom- mending it to their nonprofi t clients. For the fi rst time, Sage will be hosting all of the Sage Nonprofi t Solutions for SAN members on the company's virtual server platform, with remote access from anywhere at any time. T is off ering allows accounting professionals to work with their own version of these other organizations. It enables organizations to reach and engage their constituency via the web with web forms that are easy to manage and deploy. • Sage Fundraising 50: Provides nonprofits of all sizes with an integrated fundraising, development and donor management solution that includes contact relationship management, volunteer manage- ment, event management and payment processing. A single concurrent user license for the THE SAGE ACCOUNTANTS NETWORK ALLOWS ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS TO ACCESS DISCOUNTED SOFTWARE FOR SMALL, MIDSIZED AND LARGE BUSINESSES, ALONG WITH SUPPORT PLANS, AND PRODUCT TRAINING FOR THEIR INTERNAL USE. popular applications without having to operate and administer their own server to host the data and applications. T e new package includes the fol- Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP, Technology Editor Brian Tankersley is a Knoxville, Tennessee CPA and consultant whose practice is focused on technology consulting and training for accountants. Brian is a nationally recognized speaker with K2 Enterprises (k2e. com), and blogs on accounting technology at CPATechBlog.com. Comments, suggestions, and errata are always welcome, and should be e-mailed to brian.tankersley@ CPAPracticeAdvisor.com. lowing resources and benefi ts: • Sage Fund Accounting: An award-winning fi nancial management solution preferred by nonprofi ts and government agencies for planning and managing budgets, maximizing grants, and producing accurate reports. T e following modules are included: general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliation, budgeting, payroll, data import and export, grant administration, human resources management, GASB reporting, and encumbrances. • Sage Fundraising Online: A fl exible and powerful fundraising and event management tool for nonprofi ts and 22 22 November 2011 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com APra Donate Now website integrations off ered by Sage Payment Solutions is also included. • Sage Grant Management: Helps nonprofi t and government organiza- tions maximize funding potential and provide transparency at the organization, program and grant levels. Includes one regular account, one administrative account and one executive view account. • Human Resources Management, which includes integrated benefi t accrual and calculations, scheduling, employee data, and payroll prepara- tion. • Members also receive access to the Sage Fund Accounting online knowledgebase, automatic program updates, and credits for 12 customer support incidents. T e program is priced at $599 per year. T e Sage Grant Management tool is available for nonprofi t organizations in versions for both hosted and on- premises deployments, and has been endorsed by the Grant Professionals Association (GPA), a leading nonprofi t membership organization focused on the advancement of grantsmanship as a profession and the support of its practitioners. T e organization off ers training, professional certifi cation, and networking to its more than 2,000 members. GPA was founded in 1998, and can be found online at www.grant professionals.org or as @GPANational on Twit er. T e hosted off erings in the SAN package for Sage Nonprofi t Solutions are the fi rst mid-market hosted solu- tions included as part of a Sage Accountants Network package. Although details have not been fi nalized, Sage North America CEO Pascal Houillon announced earlier this year that Sage will be off ering hosted versions of many of its other popular accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and human resource management solutions. When implemented, these hosted off erings will allow organizations and their leaders to access their licensed Sage products from anywhere at any time without having to maintain the hardware and soſt ware infrastructure. The hosted offerings also make it possible for organizations to scale up to add additional users for volunteers and temporary workers during major seasonal fundraising campaigns. Since the hosting provider maintains all data and applications in a secure, audited public data center, these temporary workers can work in temporary or remote locations, and do not have to be located in the same offi ces as the organization's full-time staff .