Sage Seeks Toronto Small Businesses to 'Make Their Case' and Vie for a Prize Worth More Than $10,000

TORONTO--(Marketwire - Apr 18, 2011) - Sage announced today that its Sage Simply Accounting business, in partnership with LinkedIn, Staples and Evan Carmichael, will award more than $10,000 worth of products and services to the Toronto small business that proves it deserves it most. Entries and nominations for 'Make Your Case for $10K Contest' are now being accepted online and three finalists will be invited to pitch their business plan to a panel of judges from Sage Simply Accounting, LinkedIn, Staples and Evan Carmichael, leading Canadian entrepreneurship advisor, on May 11, 2011 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.

"Small business is integral to Canada's economy and employs 64 per cent of private sector employees.(i) Sage Simply Accounting customers are small business and entrepreneurs and as 2011 is also the Year of the Entrepreneur, now is the perfect time to both celebrate their success and to provide Greater Toronto Area small businesses a unique opportunity to give themselves a boost," said Connie Certusi, senior vice president and general manager of Sage Simply Accounting. "Whether a small business or entrepreneur is looking to improve an already well-functioning operation or receive much needed help to get back on track, this prize will benefit the winning business tremendously by providing world-renowned, award-winning products and services."

Companies can be nominated by visiting: http://www.simply10k.com, and submitting a short description of the nature of business, as well as why they believe that business deserves to win the $10,000 prize. Three finalists will be chosen from the online entries and will be given the opportunity to vie for the grand prize by 'making their case' to the panel of judges.

The winner will receive more than $10,000 worth of products and services, including:

• Sage Simply Accounting Premium 2011 plus Business Care Gold, valued at $1,129.98
• Sage Simply Accounting HR Manager(ii), valued at $149.99
• Access to Sage Simply Accounting Essentials online training(iii), valued at $329.99
• Services of a Certified Consultant from the Sage Accountants Network, valued at $3,000
• A $2,000 business gift card from Staples®
• $2,000 in technology consulting and advisory services from Staples® easytech 4business - Technology Solutions
• A one-year Premium Subscription to LinkedIn to enhance your business network, valued at $250
• Business consulting services from renowned entrepreneur Evan Carmichael, valued at $2,000

Entries and nominations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 2, 2011 and the three finalists will be posted on the 'Make Your Case' website: http://www.simply10k.com, on May 6, 2011.

Following the judging of the 'Make Your Case,' Sage Simply Accounting will be hosting a thought leadership panel that will be moderated by the Business Development Bank of Canada's (BDC) senior advisor, strategy implementation, Shaun Rath. Panellists will reveal their insider success secrets and discuss other topical issues, industry trends and best practices for small business growth. The panel will feature prominent small business experts and veteran entrepreneurs -- Sage Simply Accounting director of product management, Hugo Croft-Levesque; Evan Carmichael, business advisor, LinkedIn's director of global marketing solutions, Gary Fearnall; and Business Innovation Technologies' Dan Mason, small business owner. The panel will be held at 1 p.m. EDT in the Windsor Room at the Sheraton Centre.

Celebrating 25 years, Sage Simply Accounting software is the #1 choice of Canadian small businesses and accountants,(iv) used by more than 500,000 Canadian businesses. Developed in Sage's global research and development centre in Richmond, B.C., the fully bilingual Sage Simply Accounting is known for its easy to learn, easy to use approach to accounting, while providing the most comprehensive features that small businesses require -- from start-up through to maturity. Sage Simply Accounting is supported by a highly trained team of customer service specialists in our Richmond, B.C., centre, and by more than 11,000 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 services. Sage North America employs 4,000 people and supports 3.2 million small and midsized business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,400 people and supports 6.3 million customers worldwide. 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, 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.

(i) Industry Canada, Key Small Business Statistics - July 2010
(ii) Includes one-user license for one company.
(iii) 12-month access at no cost to Anytime Learning Courses from Sage University. Internet access not included. Training must start within 6 months after product registration.
(iv) Based on independent surveys of 236 Canadian small businesses conducted November 2009 and 362 accountants who work with small business clients, conducted June 2010.