Award-Winning Customers at the Center of Sage Summit Conference

Thousands of Sage customers will be connecting once again at the annual Sage Summit conference being held in Atlanta, GA Nov. 9-12, 2009.

The conference brings Sage customers together to network with peers and product experts, take advantage of hundreds of breakout sessions and hands-on labs, as well as attend receptions, roundtable discussions and other events. Registration is available at www.sagesummit.com. The annual Sage customer awards will be a highlight of the conference.

Open to Sage North America customers, the conference will feature a broad selection of Sage products and services that help make it easier for businesses to manage their operations. Sage serves 5.8 million customers worldwide with products that manage accounting, CRM, human resources, enterprise resource planning, and the industry-specific needs of construction, distribution, manufacturing, real estate, and nonprofit organizations. This year, for the first time, Sage Summit expands to offer sessions aimed at Sage Healthcare customers.

“At Sage Summit you learn extremely valuable material you really can’t get anywhere else,” said Sage customer Sheryl Jackson from Washington Restaurant Association.

Conference highlights this year include:

• More than 500 breakout sessions and hands-on labs loaded with best practices and takeaways that center on both product and industry essentials
• Evening receptions that present a great opportunity for networking and establishing working relationships with other businesses
• Sage Customer Awards luncheon presentation including the annual Lifetime Achievement award
• Opening general sessions hosted by Sage Business Solutions president Jodi Uecker-Rust and Sage Healthcare Division COO Lindy Benton
• Trade show floor filled with exhibitors showcasing the latest advances in business automation and providing hands-on experience
• Sage Summit Presents: Night at the Aquarium, an exciting dinner reception and evening of networking and fun at the world-famous Georgia Aquarium
  

Registration & Pricing Information
Sage Summit will take place November 9-12, 2009 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Interested customers can register at www.sagesummit.com, where they can also receive the latest conference updates. Early 'Super Saver' registration and 2008 Summit Alumni discounts are available now through August 7th. 'Early Bird' pricing is also available now continuing through September 18th, at $850 per person. Standard fees to register for the full 4-day conference will be $995. All prices are in USD.


About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs more than 4,100 people and supports nearly 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers.
The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 14,500 people and supports 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com.

Sage Extends Customer Usability for MAS 500 ERP

Sage Extends Customer Usability for Sage MAS 500 ERP with Fully Integrated HR/Payroll Capabilities

Sage Continues Leadership in ERP Applications Providing End-to-End Business Management for SMB Market

St. Petersburg , FL - Aug 03, 2009 - Sage North America announced today the integration of the latest versions of Sage MAS 500 ERP (enterprise resource planning) and Sage Abra SQL HRMS (human resource management system). Sage MAS 500 with Sage Abra SQL supports the company’s ERP strategy of providing a full range of integrated, end-to-end business solutions to address the needs of the entire small and mid-sized business (SMB) market. The integration of Sage MAS 500 with Sage Abra extends functionality to the HR back office, while improving efficiency for customers by automating HR and payroll tasks and eliminating duplicate data entry processes. Sage, with 5.8 million customers around the world, is recognized by industry analysts as a global leader in providing business management applications for SMBs.

Integration between Sage Abra SQL HRMS and Sage MAS 500 general ledger (GL) makes it unnecessary for payroll and accounting professionals to manually prepare and enter payroll journal entries, since the preparation and transfer of information between the two products are automated. Users of both Sage Abra SQL and Sage MAS 500 can also benefit from the ability to quickly and easily assemble, review, and prepare employee and payroll data, as well as create reports, for Sage MAS 500.

“Sage MAS 500 users now have access to an integrated SQL-Server based HR, payroll, and ERP system, designed to help them achieve greater accuracy, control, and audit capabilities,” said Jennifer Dungan, director of product management for Sage Abra.

Sage Abra HRMS delivers tightly integrated functionality across HR, payroll, benefits, time-off, and training management, with rich reporting and analysis, and a Web workforce portal with employee self-service, company communications, benefits enrollment, and applicant tracking. Sage Abra HRMS customers can stay on top of state and federal regulations and requirements with the Sage Compliance Center.

Sage MAS 500 is a highly-scalable Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application for mid-market to small-enterprise businesses. Designed from the ground up using Microsoft SQL Server and Visual Studio technology, Sage MAS 500 automates and streamlines business management processes, giving users maximum performance, value, and flexibility within a Microsoft computing environment. Recognized for combining ease-of-use with powerful capabilities, Sage MAS 500 is ideal for manufacturing, distribution and other companies with complex accounting and business processing needs.

Sage MAS 500 customers can purchase a Sage Abra bundle that includes Abra HR, Abra Payroll, Abra Attendance, and the integration.

For more information about Sage Abra SQL HRMS, please visit www.cmshris.com, e-mail bkelly@cmshris.com, or call 800-517-9099. For more information about Sage MAS 500 ERP, please visit www.sagemas.com or call 800-390-3643.

Brian on the new tax credit categories

Based on our statistic’s from 1998 – 2008 15% of new hires qualified to receive tax credits under our WOTC services, now with the high risk youths expanding to the new targeted SNAP groups and age expanding from up to 25 years of age, to up to 40 years of age, and the new Unemployed Veteran and Disconnected Youths (see below) we are seeing our trend increasing to 25% of new hire qualifying under the WOTC program. This is a big number considering the average value of each qualified employee is $2,400.00.

 

On February 17, 2009, the President signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Recovery Act introduced two new target groups: 1) Unemployed Veterans and 2) Disconnected Youth, who begin work for an employer during 2009 or 2010.

Unemployed Veteran - a veteran who has been discharged or released from active duty in the Armed Forces at any time during the 5-year period ending on the hiring date;                             and received of unemployment compensation under the State or Federal law for at least 4 weeks during the 1-year period ending on the hiring date.

Disconnected Youth - an individual who is age 16 but not yet age 25; not regularly attending any secondary, technical, or post –secondary school; not regularly employed for 6 months;       and not readily employable due to lacking basic skills.

 

CMS WOTC Services - For Sage BP's

CMS now offers Sage BP’s the opportunity to help their clients save money, the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007 extends the WOTC Program through August 31, 2011.

The WOTC has two purposes:

·         To promote the hiring of individuals who qualify as a member of a target group, and

·         To provide a federal tax credit to employers who hire these individuals.

Now, an employer may qualify for a tax credit of up to $9,000 if the employee is a member of a designated target group and meets that group's specific requirements. Contact CMS to learn how to participate.

Brian Kelly
CMS - "Employee Management Solutions"
bkelly@cmshris.com
Ph# 860-678-4401
www.cmshris.com