Welcome to the April 2008 edition of the Sage Accountants in Practice News

The Sage Accounting Suite Newswire is specifically designed for our SageCover members and is just one of the many benefits provided to you as part of your SageCover membership. It contains vital PSD information and we hope you will find the articles provided useful and informative.

In This Issue

• Sage Training Courses
• The Sage Recommender Programme
• Closure of the Cork Office
• Telephone Numbers servicing the Accountants and Professionals sector
• Sage Accountants Production
• Sage Commercial and Dongle Pricing
• Sage Coretime
• Contact Details for Tax Support
• TAS Books
• Sage 50 Client Manager / Sage 50
• Sage Payroll Products
• Versiona of Accountant Products
• New Releases
• Contact Us

1. Sage Training Courses

Become an expert Sage/TAS user by attending one of our specially designed training courses for users of all levels of experience.
The table below highlights the training courses that have been scheduled over the coming weeks.
           

Call our support team on 1890 923 208 to find out more about the above training courses. Onsite training sessions can also be arranged on request

3. Closure of the Cork Office

Sage Ireland has announced that the office in Cork will close this year. This closure is the result of a review of Sage’s business structure in Ireland with an emphasis on reducing fixed costs, centralisation of skills, sharing of best practice and improving service to customers.  All Sage Ireland functions and services will now operate from the Dublin office. 

All contact details for sales and support for the immediate future remain as follows:

• Sales & Support: 1890 923 208
• Email: professionals@sage.ie

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4. Telephone numbers servicing the Accountants and Professionals sector

For your convenience, as of April 1st 2007, there has been one number servicing the Accountants and Professionals sectors.  This can be used to contact any member of our sales or support teams. The options below will allow you to have quick and easy access to the relevant product support team, without the need to be transferred.  Please ensure that you have your Sage Account Number to hand.

5. Sage Accounts Production

Bank Reconciliation Toolbar is deactivated or greyed out in Accounts Production 6.1.6.2

If the Bank Reconciliation Toolbar is deactivated or greyed out in Accounts Production 6.1.6.2, please follow the steps below to activate it:

• Click on the Tools menu option

• Select Passwords & Securities

• Select Access Groups

• Select the Group

• Click on Edit

• Click on the Miscellaneous tab

• Untick Bank Reconciliation

• Click OK

• Repeat the above procedure and Tick the Bank Reconciliation

• Close out of Accounts Production and Re-open it.

Coming Soon - Updated Company Master
An updated Irish Company Master will be released around Spring of 2008.

Version 6.1.6.2.  Update for Sage Accounts Production
The database text switch issue has been resolved in this service pack and we would recommend all our users of Sage Accounts Production V6.0. to update to V6.1. The service pack also includes Vista compatibility with Accounts Production.

Please click on the link below, which will take you to the Sage website, where you will locate the most up to date service pack patch for Version 6.0 build 3 release 12/1201 of Sage Accounts Production. The service pack will update Sage Accounts Production to Version 6.1 Release 6 Build 2. 

http://sage.ie/supportnew/accProd_DownloadsV6.asp

Printing or Previewing Customer or Supplier Statements in Accounts Production 6.1.6.2
If Accounts Production version 6.1 closes or exits when previewing or printing a customer or supplier statement, please follow the steps below to rectify the problem:

• Open Accounts Production
• Click on Tools
• Click on Support Desk
• Click on Reset Report Defaults
• You should now be able to preview or print the statements
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6. Sage Coretime & Dongle Pricing

Checks to be carried out after performing the Year End Routine in Accounts Production & Commercial

We strongly recommend that customers check their datasets after performing a year end routine, to ensure consistency and accuracy of the dataset in the New Year. Below are the main checks that we recommend customers to check prior to entering transactions in the New Year.

• Go to the option Tools; select the option ‘Data Integrity Options’ and ‘Data checks’.  Preview this report.  Ensure all items are still passed.
• Check on the simple trial balance, that the debit and credit values equal each other in the current and preceding year.
• Check that the Aged Debtors Report and Debtors Control Report both agree to the balance in the nominal ledger control account, normally account 711.
• Check that the Aged Creditors Report and Creditors Control Report both agree to the balance in the nominal ledger control account, normally account 812.
• Check that the balance in the bank reconciliation agrees to the nominal ledger account normally 771.

Before running the Year End Routine or rolling over your accounts, please thoroughly read the article that can be access through the link below:

http://sage.ie/supportnew/documents/psd/accounts/year%20end%20routine%20in%20version%204.2%20and%205.0.doc

If you experience any errors please contact our support line at 1890 923 208.

Changes in pricing for Dongles
We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that since January 2008, due to the increasing cost of dongles, a charge of €80 will be placed on the purchase and replacement of each single user dongle.
Network dongles will no longer be distributed, instead standalone dongles will be sold on a “per user” basis.


Version 6.0 Update for Sage Commercial
Please click on the link below which will take you to the Sage website, where you can locate the most up to date service pack patch for Version 6 build 3 release 13 of Commercial.  The service pack will update Commercial to Version 6 build 3 release 1301. 

http://sage.ie/supportnew/Commercial_downloadsv6.asp

If you encounter any difficulties, please call our lo-call customer helpline on 1890 923 208 or email us at professionals@sage.ie

 

 

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7. Sage Coretime

Currencies
Additional currencies can be added to the system through the currencies icon.

• To Add click on Add and fill in the boxes
• To Edit, select the currency first
• Then make the required changes
• Click the Submit button to save the changes

 

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8. Sage Personal Tax Pro and Sage Corporation Tax Pro

Sage Ireland has appointed Irish Taxation Software Services Limited (ITSS) as exclusive reseller to develop, distribute, sell and support Sage’s Personal Tax and Corporation Tax products.

ITSS, based in Cork City, retains the tax team that worked on the tax products over the years in Sage. They will continue to provide our mutual customers with the level of service that you have come to expect from Sage on these products.

John, Mark, Finbarr and Orla can be contacted directly at:

John.Twomey@itssltd.com
Finbarr.OConnor@itssltd.com
Mark.Hodnett@itssltd.com
Orla.OShea@itssltd.com

While they are still contactable on 1890 923 208, please note their direct contact details below:

Address: Suite 3, Unit 1c, River House, Blackpool Retail Park, Blackpool, Cork
Phone: +353 (0) 21 4391931
Email: info@itssltd.com




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9. TAS Books

Edit or Delete an Entry in TAS

• NB:  Please remember that transactions cannot be edited or deleted if they are bank reconciled in menu 4.3.3.
• Un-reconcile the transaction first in menu 4.3.4.
• Also, if payments have been allocated against a customer/supplier invoice, they will need to be unallocated first in menus 2.5.2/3.5.2.
• Then, customer transactions can be edited/deleted in menu 2.1.2 and supplier transactions in menu 3.1.2.
• Journal entries can be edited/deleted in menu 1.2.1 and cashbook transactions in menu 4.1.2.

If you need any assistance with this procedure, please call technical support on:
1890 946 881

 

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10. Sage 50 Client Manager / Sage 50

Report Designer - Aligning text and variables

Within Sage Report Designer it can sometimes be difficult to line up columns and rows of information precisely. This can have an impact on the presentation and professional appearance of your documents. There is a feature in Sage Report Designer, which can align multiple items horizontally or vertically. To do this, simply follow the steps below:

Sage 50 Accounts 2007 and above

• From the Sage Report Designer window select all of the items you want to align. To select multiple items, press and hold the SHIFT key, then click each item in turn.
• Once the items are selected, open the Format menu, choose Alignment and then choose how you want to align the items.

Sage Accounts v12.xx and below

• From the Sage Report Designer window select all of the items you want to align.
• To select multiple items, press and hold the SHIFT key then click each item in turn.
• Once the items are selected, open the Format menu and choose Alignment.
• In the Alignment window, from the option in the drop-down lists choose how you want to align the items.

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11. Sage Payroll Products

Latest Quickpay Version

The latest Quickpay version available on the Sage website is V8.0.

A Service Pack Update is also available that can be run onto the v8.0 full installation, which updates the install to v8.1.

All Quickpay users should have the Feature Pack 1 licensed on the 2008 payroll.

Please ensure that you check that the Budget details have been updated.

Latest Micropay Professional Version

The latest Micropay Professional version available is V7.1.

V7.1 will allow users to use the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reporting feature free of charge.

All payroll downloads are available at http://sage.ie/pye.

12.Versions of Accountant Products

Please ensure that both you and your clients are on the most up to date version of the Sage products(s) in use, as outlined below:

Product Name	Latest Version
For your Practice
Sage Accounts Production	6.1.6.2
Sage Coretime Online	2.1
Tempus Pro Desktop	3.5.5.82
Sage 50 Link	1.3.3.2
Sage Practice Manager	1.5
Sage 50 Client Manager	14.0.18.158
Sage Micropay	7.1
For your Clients
Sage Commercial	6.0.3.1301
Sage Quickpay	8.1
Sage Instant Accounts	14.0.18.221
TAS Books 1, 2, 3	7.12

 

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13. New Releases 

Sage Coretime version 2.1

Sage Coretime version 2.1 is now available.

Major Features:

• New 'Report Settings / My Favourites' reporting features.
• Ability to 'Split Time / Expenses' in the 'Billing' screen. This enables greater flexibility in the invoicing process.
• New 'Activity / Expense Restrictions' lists that can be applied to projects / phases. This allows for customers to easily set-up activity / expense lists for individual projects / phases, and in turn allows them greater control in tracking time / expenses on projects.
• New 'Expenses at Cost' functionality. This allows for an expense to have a charge rate (for invoicing to customers) and a cost rate (for internal cost control).
• New comprehensive 'Password Policy' for system administrators. This allows for greater security in the set-up and administration of the system.
• Use of new AJAX technologies to implement some of the new functionality. This has allowed us to implement new functionality and extra responsiveness while maintaining the speed of the application.

 

Sage Instant Accounts v14

Sage Instant Accounts v14 is currently under development and due for release in Spring 2008. A number of notable features have been introduced to help Sage Instant Accounts customers get the most from their software including:

• Practice Data - The practice company can be used to test processes and procedures in Sage Instant Accounts without working for 'real' on live company data. The practice data can be maintained and added to, or wiped clean to start afresh.
• Video Demonstrations - Step by step videos have been created to guide you through the key concepts and procedures appropriate to Sage Instant Accounts.
• Improved Error Corrections - The error correction process has been simplified, has been added to the main program navigation bar and is supported by video demonstrations.
• Improved VAT management - The electronic submission of VAT Returns is supported in Sage Instant Accounts v14, and the VAT module has been redesigned, bringing together all of the regular VAT processes within one module.

More information about Sage Instant Accounts v14 will be included in the next newswire.

Quickpay 3

A new, free of charge version of Quickpay is now available to download. Quickpay 3 has all the features of Quickpay standard. It is a great way to offer a demonstration, for use as an educational tool for students studying accounting & payroll and as a mechanism for small businesses to start using Sage software.

To  download your free copy of Quickpay 3, simply go to http://sage.ie/solutions/payroll/qp/free_download.asp and complete the form before clicking on Submit.

Contact Us

Contacting Technical Support:
Should you require further assistance with any other technical queries, please contact Sage Technical Support as follows:

• Lo-Call : 1890 923 208
• Fax: 01 642 0895
• E-mail: professionals@sage.ie
• Web: sage.ie/support

We strive to provide an efficient and cost effective support service, now offering you a new lo-call phone number 

1890-923-208

We listen, because we care.

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© Sage Ireland limited 2007

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