New Sage Simply Accounting 2012 Helps Improve Business Efficiency and Payroll Processes for Canadian Small Businesses

RICHMOND, BC--(Marketwire - Oct 11, 2011) - Sage North America announced today the release of Sage Simply Accounting 2012, an essential accounting tool for small to midsized businesses seeking to streamline their operations, improve their work flow and carry out more efficient accounting activities, from keeping track of their inventory to getting paid faster.

Sage Simply Accounting 2012 builds on its state-of-the-art features developed from years of customer and partner feedback and includes new and improved features that help small businesses speed up especially focused on payroll processes, increasing efficiency and making it easier than ever to remain compliant.

"Results of our recent Sage Global Business Index survey indicate that many Canadian businesses list sales and marketing and employee recruitment among their top investment plans," said Nancy Harris, vice president and general manager of Sage Simply Accounting. "The new payroll features in Sage Simply Accounting 2012 will help those businesses eliminate and streamline some of the burdensome payroll processes allowing owners more time to concentrate on what they really want to do -- grow their business."

Sage Simply Accounting 2012 helps make life -- and business -- easier and more efficient for small businesses. New features include:

Improved payroll capabilities -- Sage Simply Accounting 2012 makes payroll activities a breeze:

• Redesigned windows allow for faster and more flexible payroll
• Switch between paying one employee to multiple employees on-the-fly
• A new Quebec benefit income type tracks Quebec employee benefits more accurately
• Payroll advances with withholding amounts are automatically calculated and withheld ensuring compliancy with CRA regulations
• Efficient management of WCB rates and federal and provincial tax credits for all employees

Improved reporting capabilities - Users only see the details they need. For reporting flexibility, inactive customers and vendors can be filtered out while accounts with zero balances can be omitted from financial reports.

Tracking and paying remittances using any payment method - With more payment options for tracking and paying remittances, users can now record remittance payments made with cash, cheque, credit card or direct deposit.

Smart and comprehensive reports - New reports in Sage Simply Accounting Intelligence allows users to create detailed reports. A comprehensive project income statement report helps small business owners see the overall state of their business and achieve their business goals.

Adaptability that matters - Sage Simply Accounting 2012 Enterprise edition is now available for up to 40 users.

Moreover, Sage Simply Accounting 2012 continues to be the only truly bilingual accounting software that supports multicurrency invoicing on the market.

"I have relied on Sage Simply Accounting for 16 years to manage my clients' and my own accounting needs," said Dianne Mueller, owner of Soma Small Business Solutions and Sage Simply Accounting certified consultant. "The use of partner and customer feedback in the development of new versions of the software is so apparent. Improvements to payroll have been on my wish list and Sage Simply Accounting 2012 solves my needs. The ability to automatically calculate and withhold the statutory deductions from advances given to employees will ensure that companies are now compliant with CRA regulations, while the new Payroll Cheque Run Window is very clear and user-friendly. The fact that improvements are based on what users ask for and need is what has encouraged my loyalty to the product."

Delivering information to customers' fingertips at retail
Sage Simply Accounting 2012 has a wide range of solutions to meet different businesses' needs. From First Step to Premium editions, Sage ensures that the same simple and reliable accounting system can grow with companies and meet their changing requirements. Sage Simply Accounting 2012 comes with a QR code on the box that can be instantly scanned with any smartphone to provide additional information on which edition would best fit their needs.

"Sage Simply Accounting's QR code is specifically designed to help buyers in the last stage of the purchasing process," said Harris. "By linking them to a mobile website with comprehensive information on the edition they are interested in, the QR code gives potential buyers the information they need right at their fingertips to make an informed purchase decision."

Pricing and Availability
Sage Simply Accounting 2012 is available at Canadian retailers nationwide. Sage Simply Accounting First Step is available for $79.99. Sage Simply Accounting Pro has a suggested retail price (SRP) of $199.99 or at $449.99 with payroll. Sage Simply Accounting Premium (two-user) is priced at $399.99; with payroll included at $649.99. Sage Simply Accounting Enterprise is available for direct purchase from Sage, with a five-user license available for $2,699.99, and a 10-user license for $4,199.99.

As Canada's trusted brand among accountants and small businesses for more than 25 years, Sage Simply Accounting is the #1 choice of Canadian small businesses and accountants,ⁱ used by more than 500,000 Canadian businesses. Sage Simply Accounting is supported by a highly trained team of customer service specialists in our Richmond, B.C., centre, and by 10,000 consultant partners located in communities across Canada who help thousands of companies daily to manage their business more effectively with Sage Simply Accounting. For more information about Sage Simply Accounting, please call 800-665-8805, or visit www.simplyaccounting.com. Follow Sage Simply Accounting on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SageSimplyAccounting, and Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SimplyBySage.

About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and related products and services, principally for small to medium-sized businesses. Sage North America employs 3,900 people and supports more than 3 million small and midsized business customers. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989. Sage has more than 6 million customers and 13,600 employees worldwide. We operate in over 24 countries covering the UK, Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, India and China. For more information, please visit the website at www.sagenorthamerica.com. Follow Sage North America on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SageNorthAmerica, and Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/sagenamerica.

© 2011 Sage Software Canada, Ltd. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

ⁱ Based on independent surveys of 275 Canadian small businesses conducted February 2011 and 401 accountants who work with small business clients conducted June 2011.