A new client of mine wants Sage 50 Accounts. Can anyone recommend the best/cheapest (!) place to buy it. Or is anyone on here a Sage re-seller and do me a good price?
Does it have to be the latest version of Sage? Year old versions can soometimes be picked up for half the price of the latest version.
Keep an eye on the prices on Amazon as they can fluctuate wildly.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Is there any particular reason why he is in the market for Sage? I think for a small business there are many more appropriate products to meet their needs than Sage 50. Have a look at our panel of small business accounting software products on our site. I think the likes of clearbooks and kashflow offer more compelling propositions and are more cost effective for a small business.
some clients are quite specific about the software that they want on their systems.
Sue's been around a bit (that's not meant as it sounds Sue!) and knows the software that she would like clients to adopt but of course, its the clients who pay's the money so it's them who call the tune.
Given a choice I think that all of us here would put SAGE at the bottom of any purchase list as whilst the software isn't that bad their prices are ridiculous, their restrictions over companies that you can have on a single licence is godamn awful and the "Award winning support" is a joke... Who gives out these awards. Not the people who spend two hours on the phone waiting for someone to condescend to actually answer it.
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I believe there is a 25% discount on offer if you are changing account packages as mentioned above.
As a member of Sage Accountant club I can get 20% off.
It is Sage quarter end so if you catch them today direct sales will definitely be open to big discounts - their bonuses depend on it! Don't bother ringing tomorrow - try Google and companies called DMC and SJ Software both offer discounts at around 33%.
And another thing Mr Shaun, leave me out the 'all of us on here' comment!!!
Not often I disagree with you but I personally think Sage 50 is an excellent product and well supported. I've never had a problem with them and find the software does exactly what I need it to do. I also use VT and Kashflow and don't rate the latter at all.
Yes its expensive but so are Ferraris and people still buy and are perfectly happy with them. And yes I know a Ford Focus will still get you to the shops but I know which one would give me the better experience!
My opinion of Sage is pretty similar to mine of Ferrari. They want too much money for too little product.
If Sage would take off the number of clients restriction they might be able to jusrify costing more as, as I said, their product itself isn't bad.
Peoples experience of the Sage support seems to vary greatly. However, there are plenty of books and websites around for sage issues so for the most part we don't really need their support and it's an optional extra anyway.
The problem I have with the product is really down to that restriction on the number of clients you can have on a single licence.
Think of the product like a car. Would you pay more for the car because you carry more passengers? You are still only using the car for the same length of time regardless as to what you are doing with it or who you have in it.
And back to Ferrari's. I think that they're only really as good as the mechanics car that has to follow you around! (lol) Give me German cars everytime One of mine has got 390k on the clock and another has 195k on the clock. Both on the same engines, gear boxes and clutches(!) as when they were new. Try that with a Ferrari.
For Ferrari in your post I'll read Aston Martin or BMW M3 then I can agree with you in relation to a ford focus.
P.S. edited to add the emoticon because I keep using the normal rather than advanced editor.
-- Edited by Shamus on Thursday 30th of June 2011 02:02:40 PM
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Funnily enough i wouldn't have a Ferrari - too bling.....that will teach me for making a point in haste
I actually think Sage is more like the current breed of quality German saloon cars that have been around for years, but get better and more polished each year and will still be here long after I care. But you can't deny they cost more than the equivalent cars from Korea / China etc etc though again the competition is catching up fast which in turn keeps the Brand leaders trying to keep ahead of the game.
Horses for courses and each to their own, and I'm not sure whether I'm debating cars or bookkeeping software anymore
For the record I paid £1170+VAT for Sage 50 2011 and Sage payroll 2011 with 25 company licence on both and the top level of support which guarantees an answer within 6 rings. No 2 hour queue for me - and I did try it at Payroll year end!
On the Sage 50 side I do not have to renew after 12 months and can lapse club membership but can continue to use the software, unlike all cloud based applications that carry fees infiniteum. I figure renewing once every 3 to 4 years depending on how my business grows giving me a much more realistic real terms annual cost. Pretty much the same as I am treating my computer hardware and works out at a similar price and depreciation.
Another analogy for you if I was a joiner I would buy the best quality tools and a new van then aim to depreciate and replace every four years. Computer hardware and Accounts software are the main tools of our trade and should be treated with the defference they deserve. While networking these last couple of weeks it is amazing the value the Sage brand brings to small businesses and helps me promote myself as reputable - you can't buy that, oh actually I did
My second client put me in 'profit' and if my business continues to grow at its current slowly but surely rate then I will probably just renew the whole lot anyway to get V.2012 and peace of mind.
By the way I picked up in another thread that you are launching your bookkeeping business in August, can I just take this moment to wish you luck and hope you live nowhere near me as I wouldn't like you as a competitor!!!
All the best
Ken
p.s. can the OP let us know how you got on price wise....cheers
Fear not, I'm in Staffordshire so nowhere near being a competitor.
Don't know if you've read any of Rob's old posts (userid Robh) but just to make you feel a bit better about what your forking out to Sage each year he's forking out best part of £6k for IRIS! If that were me I don't think that IRIS would be able to prise the cheque from my fingers.
The bookkeeping side of my business is actually a relaunch. I originally set up that side of the business in 2008 but that was of course on the back of twenty years in finance and running my own consultancy (after going freelance from one of the big management consultancies of the late 80's).
Anyway, I did six months working with one of the banks in Scotland last year and as you know, banks want all of your time, not just some of it so had to give my small band of clients away, I could have sold them on but to me a chartered owing me is worth more than the return on a few clients!... Ooh, feeling all like the Godfather now!
I actually enjoy the bookkeeping side of things more than the banking as I feel that I make a real difference to my clients whereas with the banking roles at times it just feels like banging your head against a brick wall.
I'm back rather than front office. Don't know which bank you were with but I've had clients of three of the top four UK retail banks so likelihood is that at times in the past you may have had my products thrust upon you... Sorry about that... Unless it's over the counter foreign currency which is a product that I was really proud of.
I've actually got SAGE V10 and V14. (the latter being much more user freindly) and at the moment I know that it's time for an upgrade but I'm going through the conundrum of deciding whether to upgrade to the latest version or add quickbooks to my knowledge base. It's much cheaper, doesn't have the restriction on clients, but will it prove cost effective? (£345 (+VAT) per year to join their accountants club with copies of Premier (to use), Pro (to sell on) and Payroll. Plus a years support thrown in)
I've also got VT Transaction+ and do an incredible amount of my bookkeeping work in Excel as all too often I get frustrated that other peoples packages don't do quite what I want them to... Or maybe it's my lack of patience in finding how to make them do what I want them to!
On the cloud question personally I'm no technophobe but for me software and data has to be sitting on my machines, not on someone elses server so I'm not going to be signing up for any cloud offerings anytime soon. I can see the arguements for it but it's just not what I'm looking for.
With hardware I tend to add a couple of new PC's every three years but still expect them to last for around seven years. Its when it comes to software that I get a bit mean (unless its for Excel which is software that I absolutely love even after Microsoft had a good go at destroying the user interface back in 2007).
Right too much waffling. Lets see who else has posted in the last half an hour.
Talk later,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Thanks everybody - it's me who's been around a bit!! (tut tut Mr Shaun!)
Yes -my client wants Sage as they use it in one of his other businesses.
Been out at a clients all afternoon so will have a look later. I rang Sage myself and they quoted me £600 ish but when I looked on t'internet you could buy it for £350ish - don't know what the difference is?!
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
If your client is already a Sage user, can they not get an addition company licence? Might be a cheaper option.
Knowing Sage it probably cost more to do it that way.
It would be a bit like the guy that goes into a tailors for a new hand made suit but has very little money. He tells the tailor to leave off the collar, lapels, buttons and lining. The tailor replies " You do realise that with these extras, it will cost you more"
if I was a joiner I would buy the best quality tools and a new van then aim to depreciate and replace every four years. Computer hardware and Accounts software are the main tools of our trade and should be treated with the defference they deserve. 
While networking these last couple of weeks it is amazing the value the Sage brand brings to small businesses and helps me promote myself as reputable - you can't buy that, oh actually I did 
