Sage Celebrates Small Business and Encourages Efficiency Pledge

RICHMOND, BC--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2014) - Sage North America, leading provider of business management software and services to small and midsized businesses in Canada for more than 30 years, announced today the release of the accounting software product preferred by Canadian accounting professionals for Canadian small businesses:¹ Sage 50 Accounting 2015--Canadian Edition. This new release of Sage 50 includes several new features designed so small businesses can manage their business and accounting more efficiently. This inspired Sage to encourage small businesses across the country to make the small business pledge to be more efficient.

Sage celebrates small businesses all year round, but in support of Small Business Month and Week 2014, it has created an outlet for small businesses to make an efficiency pledge. Small businesses can visit http://go.na.sage.com/SmBizPledgeCA to make the pledge to show that they believe their business has the potential to be more efficient and automatically get the chance to win up to $16,000 in business-related product and service prizes that will aid them in being more efficient and productive.

"People are always saying how they need more time in the day, and Canadian small businesses are no different; they are continually looking to be more effective in an effort to grow their business," said Nancy Harris, Sage North America, senior vice president and general manager, Canada. "By managing core business functions such as compliance with taxes, payroll, inventory and invoicing -- especially with software -- small businesses can better maintain an efficient and profitable business and battle the 'productivity gap' that we're experiencing in the Canadian labour market.²"

Many back-office tasks can take an inordinate amount of time for the average small business because it lacks the tools and efficient business processes. Sage 50 Accounting 2015 delivers new features that address many issues slowing down the productivity of small businesses by not only empowering them with the ability to gain better efficiency and control, but also providing them the ability to get more insight into their business to make better decision through the use of detailed reports.

Improved sales process and administration
Businesses can now keep track of outstanding payables by generating statements for customers with outstanding or overdue balances. They can also create an incentive for customers to pay on time by charging a daily interest rate on overdue invoices. Order forms, invoices and packing slips are now structured with more fields to record more information for customers. Sage 50 Accounting 2015 also boasts a better workflow of modifying templates and more efficient receipts and payments processing.

Quickly and easily comply with government regulations
Integration with Manulife's Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans (VRSP) will help Quebec employers comply with mandatory government regulations quickly and easily. The VRSP Act, which came into effect on July 1, 2014, requires Quebec businesses with five or more employees to offer a workplace savings plan over the next few years. The integrated payroll solution offers a streamlined payroll workflow through Sage 50 and simple, easy plan setup and administration with Manulife's VRSP, saving you time and effort.

Powerful and customizable reporting with Sage 50 Intelligence Reporting
Through Sage 50 Intelligence Reporting, small businesses using Sage 50 Pro Accounting and higher are equipped with customizable Microsoft® Excel®-based business accounting reports. These reports are automatically updated with real-time data, so small businesses can better access the information they need to make swift, confident decisions.

Pricing and availability
To help Canadian small businesses gain better control of their operations and gain better insight into the overall financial health of their business, the Sage 50 Accounting 2015 product line is now available direct from Sage and at Canadian retailers nationwide. The suggest retail price for Sage 50 starts at $99.99. Sage 50 Quantum Accounting is available for 5-40 users and starts from $3,214. Call 1-888-261-9610 for more details.

For additional detailed information, please visit: http://www.Sage50Accounting.ca

About Sage
We provide small and medium sized organisations with a range of easy-to-use, secure and efficient business management software and services -- from accounting and payroll, to enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and payments. Our customers receive continuous advice and support through our global network of local experts to help them solve their business problems, giving them the confidence to achieve their business ambitions. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and entered the FTSE 100 in 1999. Sage has millions of customers and more than 12,700 employees in 24 countries covering the UK & Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia and Brazil. For further information please visit www.sage.com.

©2014 Sage Software Canada, Inc. 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.

¹ Based on independent surveys of 279 Canadian small businesses (conducted 2/13) and 407 Canadian accountants who work with small business clients (conducted 9/14).

² http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140108/dq140108a-eng.htm