Compared to previous years, the launch of Sage 50 2009 was positively downbeat. The details were posted on Sage’s UK website and those who were entitled to immediate upgrades were sent the CDs to install last week.

Perhaps because of the problems encountered two years ago with its new reporting module, Sage opted for a more organic approach. And with the economy looking bleak, the company has tailored the new version to match the market’s mood, with improvements focused on keeping your head down and getting on with collecting the cash.

New cash management features

Several of the program’s new ingredients tie into credit management and cash flow control. On the interface front, you now have the option to view a Dashboard of your credit position to see reports and graphics showing your debt situation and what funds are due in, disputed or owed.

The new Cash flow module, reached via an icon within the Customers Chase Debt, window or from the Bank Accounts and Suppliers Manage Payments modules can also display a summary of outstanding and recurring payments and recurring, effectively giving you an instant cashflow forecast, with the ability to change the date range as you wish. You can also pick specific accounts that you want to include in your forecast view and send the results to a colleague via email, or output the report to Excel for further analysis.

The most obvious addition to Sage 50′s left hand task pane is a new Diary module, which looks very much like a stripped down version of the Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Like Outlook, the Sage 50 Diary lets you create tasks with automatic reminders that can be compiled into a To Do list. The tasks can be linked to specific customer or supplier contact details and in a neat touch, any promised payments will be entered into the Diary and will update the relevant cashflow forecasts when you refresh them.

The Sage 50 Diary is said to integrate with Microsoft Outlook for both tasks and contact details. There is a new Office import/export wizard option, but I was not able to test the facility with the online demo system.

Welcome improvements to error correction and bank reconciliation

Sage has improved two areas that may have been a source of user frustration. The new version makes it easier to fix basic mistakes and includes an improved better bank reconciliation system.

The Correction is reached via the File-Maintenance menu, which includes an Error Checking routine and the option to correct errors. The routine is claimed by Sage to be a single mouse-click operation, but an attempt to remove a pair of scissors from a multi-product sales invoice proved beyond my abilities – so I still had to delete the full invoice and issue a new one minus the unwanted scissors.

When you open the Bank Reconciliation routine an enter a statement date, all the unmatched transactions up to that date are displayed in the upper half of the screen. The previous balance appears in the lower window and as you reconcile each statement entry, it moves to the bottom window. Up and down arrows allow you to move the transactions around to match the bank statement order and you can group several transactions into one item (or ungroup them later).

By changing the period dates, you can also go back and do a retrospective bank rec. The application also has an e-Reconcile option that can download electronic bank statements and carry out automatic reconciliations.

Advanced budget management

When it came to improving Sage 50′s budgeting facilities, the developer appears to have borrowed a trick from AccountingWEB.co.uk member Richard Willis who suggested using a separate chart of accounts to run a shadow budget for your main company. The idea was so good, Sage has built it into the new version. Sage 50 will now let you create a budget chart of accounts, with the ability to edit the structure so you only budget against those accounts that you want to track. You can choose to view budgets by department, or by nominal code activity to track your performance. The budget structure can be automatically replicated for the successive financial year.

Enhancements to existing features

Digging into the depths of the program (and the supporting documentation) uncovered bits and pieces added to previously introduced elements. These inlcude:

• Improvements to the VAT module
• Extensions to Excel Integrated Reporting and a new import/export wizard
• More discount and offer management options within the Invoicing module
• Enhanced batch payment facilities, including an option to link into the Sage Payment Solutions system, so you can take credit card payments immediately over the phone or via the internet and have them posted through to the accounting ledgers. This will cost you extra for the Payment Solutions subscription.
• A new reserve stock feature within the order module that will also automatically record that the stock has been issued
• Batch reports facilities to help you run off regular reporting packages. A couple of new credit control and aged debtor reports have been added to the standard report library
• Multicurrency capabilites includes foreign currency price lists.

Integrated help and practice data system

The Diary and new budgeting features look very useful, and improvements to error correction and bank reconciliation are most welcome. But on first view, it’s hard to get overly excited by what Sage calls “our best accountancy software to date”.

What’s the verdict?

While the new Help features are a welcome addition, Sage 50 can still be difficult to navigate around. The new Cash flow module, for example, is tucked away on an overflow icon menu on the Customers screen.

And with each new release, Sage 50 is taking on more and more of the innovations found within multi-company, mid-range products such as Access Dimensions and IRIS Exchequer. Many of the improvements documented here could have come straight off David Carter’s lab test checklist for mid-range accounting software. As the application becomes more powerful and fully featured, it also becomes more intimidating for smaller company users.

For its share of the desktop accounting market and the features it packs, Sage 50 is a software behemoth and each annual release is a big event. But is anyone else beginning to get the feeling that the real thrills – and opportunities for growth – are taking place elsewhere in the market, with accounting applications that will make life easier, and not more complex, for small businesses and start-ups?

Tags: Sage line 50- Credit crunch