A Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning company, who provide a design to installation service had used Sage 50 Professional for a number of years.  However, Sage 50 Professional was not used to its fullest potential.  Consequently as the business grew, the owners were spending increased amounts of time on routine accounting and administrative tasks.  We worked with the business owners to make greater use of Sage 50 Professional’s features, by first installing Sage 50 on all the PC’s on the network, which accessed the Sage data files stored on the business server.  We created profiles for employee types, so each employee only accessed the areas they needed to access and also that the workload could be shared.  Secondly we implemented Sales Order Processing so invoices could be raised either in full or in part (as a progress invoice) and set up recurring invoices for periodic maintenance work.  Invoice layouts were created in the Company’s chosen style using the inbuilt Report Writer, so invoices could be either printed and posted, or generated as PDF’s and automatically sent out using Outlook from within Sage 50.  Naturally we provided extensive training and support whilst the changes were adopted.  This resulted in significant time savings for the invoicing and distribution process and tightened up overall control of the invoicing of all the job types the business was involved with.

A Professional Services Company receive handwritten paper-based data from a particular client type and wanted to evaluate ways in which time spent processing the data could be reduced.  Accware recommended building a web based forms application that could be integrated with Xero using Web services, which would both reduce the manual effort of processing and also eliminate the paper and postage costs associated with the process.  We set up a small project team using the client’s key employees to define requirements, design the application and create a workable data model.  The development work was outsourced and managed by Accware and a web-based application was successfully delivered.  Their clients can now enter data into a familiar form through the web, which can be validated by internal staff before being submitted to Xero.  This will result in a significant time and cost saving, by reducing administration and processing costs as well as paper and postage costsas clients are signed up to this service**.

**Project ongoing

A Clothing Retailer and Importer in central Manchester was struggling to keep on top of the paperwork and accounting.  They used Sage Instant Accounts to record the transactions of two separate businesses and used a number of Excel spreadsheets to record Stock movements and reconcile daily takings.  Unfortunately, as sales volumes grew, the  paperwork increased and the manual effort needed to process the information became very time consuming.   Needless to say, when Accware were called in to help, there was a significant backlog of work.  We spent time with the MD understanding the business and his objectives and subsequently recommended they upgrade to Sage 50 Professional linked to an industry specific Stock Management application supplied by one of our Partners.  Accware managed the process of upgrading Sage Instant to a multi-company, networked version of Sage 50 Professional, training the staff  in the process.  Our partner handled the installation and integration of the Stock Management application, so the whole Stock process (procure to pay) could be managed within one integrated solution.

A Security Systems and Alarms installation and maintenance Company felt there was a better way to run their business.  They were using Sage Instant Accounts and an old database to track and re-invoice maintenance contracts.  As the industry had become more regulated, the Company was finding it increasingly difficult to effectively comply with the regulations and to track where they were up to with their customer base.  As an initial phase, Accware introduced and facilitated meetings with two Sage Partners who provided industry specific ’Sage Additions’ that covered the regulatory requirements of the industry.  Accware advised and supported the client throughout the selection process and assisted with pricing negotiations to get the best possible deal.  The system is presently being installed.

A Professional Services Company was faced with the decision to upgrade an ageing accounting system together with the underlying SQL Server database, which had served them well for many years.  Whilst the system delivered what was required, the overall cost of upgrading was unjustifiable.  Accware worked with the customer to install and setup a multi-site, multi-user version of Sage 50.  Relevant data was migrated and staff trained in the new system, and as the majority of their clients paid by DD, we also facilitated the installation of a BACSTELip Sage Addition to ensure continuity of operations.