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Hi I would be grateful for anyones advice on this.
I have just had my Sage Accountants club renewal and it is nearly double last years cost at £1.2K. I can not justify this cost any more. Wondering how other members in practice manage. I need the mulit company licenses for Payroll and Accounts. Is anyone else annoyed at Sage increase?
I am open to suggestions of other software to use. However, I do not prepare the final accounts or tax returns and practice accountants I speak to prefer Sage. What are everyone elses experiences of this. I have been trading for 7 years and now thinking it is time to review my use of sage as the cost is getting too high and I feel that SAGE is taking advantage.
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Hi Leekie. I don't have any advice but Sage annoyed me when I was a student, they tried to charge me £329.00 for an activation code and serial number to start some software, they went as far as threatening balifs if I didn't pay. It went on for months but they gave in in the end.
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- Companion Fellow PM.Dip
- Practice Licence
- 1137 posts
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Hi Leekie
I am about 800 inc vat this year after increase. I think you should talk to your account manager that they have allocated to you and speak to them about the situation as they will not be wanting you to leave. I know I do every year and make it clear I will leave if they keep adding the costs . I don't know if helps but I am also on a D/D with them so I do not pay it in 30 days.
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Hi Sarah
Thanks for your advice.
I have just phoned Sage and they have said that the best they could do for me is £895+VAT for 5 bureau accounts and Payroll software!
They are saying that they have got rid of the bookkeepers club altogether. They have also said that lots of bookkeepers have renewed and they are not complaining about the £600 increase in price. ... But they would say that!
Catherine
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Hi Sarah
Thanks for your advice.
I have just phoned Sage and they have said that the best they could do for me is £895+VAT for 5 bureau accounts and Payroll software!
They are saying that they have got rid of the bookkeepers club altogether. They have also said that lots of bookkeepers have renewed and they are not complaining about the £600 increase in price. ... But they would say that!
Catherine
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Leekie said:
I have just phoned Sage and they have said that the best they could do for me is £895+VAT for 5 bureau accounts and Payroll software!
At the bare minumum, switch your payroll software to Moneysoft's Payroll manager. It's £100 + Vat pa for unlimited companies (up to 50 employees each).
We use Sage Client manager, which gives us 25 companies. We don't subscribe to Accountants Club or Bookkeepers Club, and don't upgrade every year (accounting hasn't changed much over the years so the functionality shouldn't need to change). We have budgetted for a software upgrade every 3 years. This is enough to cover our inhouse customers. Our other customers have their own software.
Cheers,
Liz
Edited at 08 Feb 2011 05:01 PM GMT
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Have a look at the thread 'payroll software' in the software section Leekie, there are a few useful suggestions there. I shall certainly be using one of those when I buy my payroll software shortly.
I totally agree with you about Sage's prices and despite what they tell you, a lot of users are switching. Its only a matter of time before other software becomes recognised as reliable as Sage and their grip will slip. I agree it is good software but times they are a-changing. 
Best wishes with your decision.
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- Companion Fellow PM.Dip
- Practice Licence
- 1137 posts
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Hi Catherine
I am not a big fan of how sage is behaving at the moment , so stand your ground . There software is good especially when you use all the business modules. I am closely watching all the suggestions on accounting web and reading discussion groups re various software and whilst other softwares are good ,none of them are providing me with every module I would use for my practice.
I would not agree to anything , and make sure you speak to your allocated accounts manager and not a sales person. I would also mention if you ring them again they and they are aware of complaints about the price increase Accounting Web have covered it on the Sage Discusssion Group and Any Answers and they have had numerous complaints. plenty of discussion groups on the have mention it
I will stick up for them on one thing though, when you ring up to use their cover they are excellent. At at that price . I ask them everything and make sure I get my covers worth. I have stood my ground with BT on the internet charges got them down. I left them for 02 for £2 a month for my internet. To be honest you do not really need cover for accounts software it is more the payroll, once you have the licence for your client manager it is yours.
I do as I do lot of project training and different things come up. Yes bookkeeping has not changed but I not a fan on working on softwares that are to much out of date, there have been a lot of improvements from the 2009 version to the 2011 version, the same as there has been in excel.
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Hi Leekie
We discussed this exact subject in one of our regional meetings, as many of us were struggling with the price of Sage packages. One recommendation was for VT Transaction+ which is a very user friendly bookkeeping and accounts package and more than sufficient for the size of businesses I deal with. You can try it for free but it only costs £199+VAT each year for both bookkeeping and accounts production (unlimited businesses). I switched and have never looked back. The ICB/IRIS package also looked good with more functionality but costs a little more. 12Pay was recommended for payroll, although I didn't like the feel of it. I have managed to use the HMRC CD-Rom as all my payroll clients have fewer than 9 employees, and this is free!
You should shop around because you do not have to pay the big-business prices of Sage!
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Thanks for all your replies. I am looking into the options at the moment and will let you know what I decided.
I will try and speak to my accounts manager this week and see what they say. I amnervous of leaving Sage but not against it.
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Hi Tried to call and speak to my accounts manager and was told I do not have one any more.
I complained and argued my issues with reference the price increase and they will not do anything. They say it was a commercial decision to withdraw the Bookkeepers club as they were losing money. Boo Hoo poor old Sage! They basically said it was tough and there was nothing they could do.
I am now looking into the best Payroll software as I would like a bureau one that allows the notifications in to the program from HMRC and lets you submit P46's and year end returns online direct to HMRC.
I am also looking for the best alternative to Sage for bureau accounts as well.
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Happy user of VT+ and 12pay here. I switched from Sage because their attitude stinks, imho.
One question though - do you "have" to upgrade to the latest version?
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