From Monday 21st June 2010 The Sage Construction Software range will not include the diary or fax modules, both modules are being withdrawn from sale, any existing customers will however continue to be supported but development will cease.  Neither module has had significant development for a number of years and the uptake on them has been very low for some time.

As members of Sage’s Business Partner Action Comity for the construction software range, we are aware that there has been talk about integrating Microsoft applications with the construction software, particularly Microsoft outlook, so we hope this will encourage the Sage development team to push it up the priority list, as it would add useful functionality, especially for those who use Outlook as a simple CRM system along side Sage Construct already.

In addition, the reasons the Fax module is not used very often is probably due to the reduction in business faxes which are sent these days, Construct will already PDF documents and add them to an email, this in most cases is much more practical for most companies.  There is a 3rd party module available called Spindle, this will provide automatic faxing direct from Construct if required.

So, all in all, we see this as a positive move by Sage, so they can focus on development of the core products, hopefully to include MS Excel integration sometime soon.

From 01/04/10 Sage will be applying their lifecycle policy to Sage Payroll v12 and 2007.  So from March 31st 2012 support will be withdrawn for both versions.  Even if you do not have support with sage for either product at the moment, it could still affect you as you would not be able to buy Sage Cover for them in the future.

The software is under constant development, so as the years roll on, older products are discontinued.  This enables Sage to focus support on the latest products, whilst enabling the development team to take advantage of new technologies.

Your software will not stop working, it’s just the support which will be withdrawn, this will happen in a phased approach.  Please also consider that once support is withdrawn for a particular version of Payroll, there would be no guarantee that a simple upgrade could be run if you did decide to upgrade much later, as testing will not be done once a product is effectively obsolete, so you could find that you have to manually transfer any data.

There are some special offers available for those who wish to keep using these versions for the time being:

Until 31/05/2010 you can get 10% off the price of an upgrade or sage cover extra (this is valid for 15 months and entitles you to upgrades free of charge) Plus a free £50 voucher for any authorised Sage training course.

A very common question is why don’t certain transactions appear in the unreconciled transaction list.  If you know the transaction number , first sort the unreconciled transaction list into transaction number order.

If the transaction still isn’t listed, open Financials, select the transactions and check the following columns:

• Type – Is it definitely a bank transaction? It may not be an actual bank transaction you are looking for.
• Accounts / Nominal – Has the transaction been posted to the correct bank account?
• Date – Only transactions posted on or before the bank reconciliation end date are listed.
• Bank – To appear in the unreconciled transactions list this column must contain an N.

Transactions could also be grouped with other transactions, this is most common with bank payments or receipts.  Usually transactions can be grouped if they are entered at the same time and have the same date and reference.

The Sage Day Works module for Construct, with both Sage 50 and 200, will be withdrawn from sale on 21st June 2010.

Anyone already using these modules will continue to be supported either by their Business Partner or directly by Sage, as they have been previously, they will also be entitled to upgrade to any future developments.  So license and support for any existing customers will continue as it has done to date, we do not have a date that the support will be discontinued, and at this stage do not expect it to be in the foreseeable future.

This decision has been made due to relatively low usage of the module compared to the core product and Estimating, so the focus for development can be on these core products.  The Day Works module is for companies who need to bill construction work on a cost plus basis, so although it’s not been announced, it’s quite possible that this functionality could be integrated to the core module in the future if customer demand is high enough.

We will keep you updated as and when we hear any more.

In Sage 50 HR 2010 you can print employees names and addresses onto labels.  The software includes layouts for the following formats:
Laser A4 Employee Address Labels – 3 across by 7 down
Dot Matrix Employee Address Labels – 3 across by 8 down
These layouts can be amended to fit specific label stationary.

1. Employee Module / Tasks Pane / Employee Reports
(to print labels for certain employees, select the required employees before selecting “Employee Reports”)

2. Select the required label layout, for example, Employee Address Labels (laser A4) / Print (if required, enter criteria) / OK

3. From the Print Employee Address Labels window, choose the correct printer / enter the required number of copies / OK
(if you are starting part way through a page of labels, click Label Settings, you can select where on the sheet to start from here)

During the testing of Sage 50 P11D 2010 on Windows 7, several major issues have been identified, these will take significant time to develop and test before release.  Therefore a decision has been made to release the 2010 version of P11D for Vista, XP and 2000 only.  The alternative would have been to delay the release, this was decided against.

It is assumed at this stage that next years release will be fully compatible with Windows 7, but please do check this when the time comes, either with Sage directly or with Ledger Services.

Once again Ledger Services have purchased bulk training from Sage, this has enabled us to achieve much higher discount than usual, we are therefore passing these savings on to our customers.  You can book any of the Official Sage Courses which are held throughout the country from us for just £120 for a single days training or £230 for a 2 day course.  (the usual retail price is £265 per day, so that’s less than half price on a 2 day course!)

There are training centres in Reading, Bristol, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Croydon and Newcastle.  Courses range from the standard training courses you would expect from Sage, such as Sage 50 Accounts and Payroll, but also general Bookkeeping and Excel.  For more information or availability on specific courses, please either call us or browse the training section on our main website.

The next annual realease of Sage 200 was originally scheduled for launch in the spring of this year.  However, the recent launch of Sage 200 BI has impacted the development schedule of the 2010 release.  Therefore version 2010 of Sage 200 is now delayed until June.

This decision has been taken to ensure the release of a stable and reliable platform, so testing can continue with the added new BI module. If you have any questions about Sag 200 or any other Sage software, please get in touch.

We’re pleased to announce the release of Sage 50 Construction 2010 and Sage 200 Construction 2010 today.

 Sage Construction welcomes the new improved Client Billing module. Client Billing is effectively sales invoices for the construction industry, it’s always been present in Sage Construction however it has been re-written to improve usability. The replacement Client Billing module simplifies the production of sales documents, adds flexibility, improves integration and adds some new features.

 And there’s more

 These latest releases of Sage 50 and 200 Construction have more to offer than just Client Billing. Both versions offer several other enhancements such as:

• VAT on applications
• Cumulative billing with nominal, VAT and stock codes
• Cumulative and non cumulative billing to multiple client accounts on one contract
• Multiple numbering sequences for sales documents
• New stop functions
• Improved integration
• New improved user interface
• Simplified navigation
• Simplified data entry

For further information please call us on 0845 25766905