Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Webinar

Patient Protection and Care Act What Employers Need to Know Webinar hosted by CMS and Brian Kelly, featuring Lorraine Bodden, Shawn Parsons and Mark Holloway, J.D.


In addition, the Sage Customer Portal has more information on the PPACA as it relates to your Sage HRMS 2012 and Sage Abra Suite software. Logon to review:

• Videos 
• Sage Abra Suite SAP Crystal Report "YTD Amounts for Employee Deductions and Employer Match - Crystal Report" 
• Documents on how to setup PPACA and make adjustments 

If you have any questions about Sage and the PPACA please don't hesitate to call CMS at 800-517-9099. 

Sage HRMS December Webinars

Introduction to Sage HRMS (For Prospective Customers) 
Learn how Sage HRMS can make HR more strategic and solve your HR and payroll challenges with integrated solutions including HR, payroll, benefits, training, recruiting, compliance, and talent management.
December 5, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
December 18, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here to register 

 iRecruit for Sage HRMS
iRecruit for Sage HRMS is a hosted, web-based recruiting software designed to provide any size of business a cost effective, affordable and simple way to handle their recruiting process online. Not only will this applicant tracking software work in conjunction with your company website, iRecruit provides you with your own career center that will allow your applicants to select the position they are interested in, and apply online through your website! Weekly demos, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm Eastern Time, or call us at 1-800-517-9099 or visit www.irecruitforsagehrms.com to schedule a demo at your convenience.


Automate the Performance Appraisal Process and Go Paperless With Sage HRMS 
Automate your performance appraisal process while going paperless with Sage HRMS HR Actions® by Delphia Consulting. Managers and employees can collaborate to complete web-based performance review forms that are routed for approval based on your business rules. Attend this live webcast and learn how with section-based scoring, rich formatting, intelligent fields, and one-click updates to Sage HRMS, self-service has never been easier!
December 4, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here to register 

Sage HRMS Talent Management--Why Integrated Talent Management Matters Integrated 
Talent Management bridges the gap between employee development and performance to enable substantial improvement in organizational capability. Attend this webcast and learn how Sage HRMS Talent Management by Cornerstone OnDemand can help you attract and retain the right talent.
December 5, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here to register 

Sage HRMS HR Actions - Create, Route, Approve, and Save Paperless Web-Based Forms 
This introduction to Sage HRMS HR Actions® by Delphia Consulting demonstrates how employees, managers, and administrators can easily submit web-based forms for any HR transaction, including status change forms and performance appraisals. Join us to see how validated forms are routed for approval based upon your business rules and how approved forms update Sage HRMS with the click of a mouse. Web self-service has never been easier!
December 11, 2012, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
December 19, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here to register 

Paperless Payroll With the Sage Payroll PayCard 
Offer your employees a cost-effective and secure way to receive their paycheck electronically with the Sage Payroll PayCard by Motivano. Find out how easy it is to enroll and start offering your employees a new payroll benefit immediately! (This service is currently not available in Canada.)
December 13, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here to register 

The Benefits of Compliance to HR Organizations:
Identifying and Adopting Best Practices Compliance--the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR best practice compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.
December 13, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here to register  

Click here to register for any of the above listed webinars or call CMS at 1-800-517-9099.

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

HR News Roundup: This week find out what the census knows about state employment, how poor benefit choices leads to major waste, OFCCP's clarifications on internet hiring rules and more.... this week's top human resources news stories from around the web.

Can You Tell Engagement By Looking at Posture?
There’s a lot you can tell about a person just by looking at them; whether they’re feeling open or closed to interaction, if they’re happy or sad and whether or not they’re sick at the moment. According to some experts, you can also tell how productive somebody is feeling, and certain body language can increase that employee engagement.

Senator Blumenthal Promotes Hiring of Veterans
The CT News Junkie reports that U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal visited with veterans this week at Bristol’s Arna Machine to help promote hiring and tax credits. - CMS is hosting a WOTC Webinar on August 29th for both for profit and non-profits. Click here for more.

Biggest Companies of the 2012 Inc. 5000
Which of America's fastest-growing companies sells the most stuff? Would you guess Facebook, Levi Strauss, or Publix, or none of the above? Find out.

How to Train Your High-Potential Employees
Your high-potential employees aren't going to take over the world on their own. Here's how you can help them help you.

OFCCP Clarifies Rules to Make Clear It’s All Up to You
If your employer does business with the federal government, you already know — or should know — the rules about Internet hiring.... Now comes clarifications of these rules from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that won’t make life any easier, but which do, at least, make it clearer what records to keep and who is responsible for keeping them.

Here’s an FMLA danger zone you might have overlooked
A recent court ruling offers a reminder of an oft-overlooked area where FMLA regs get companies in trouble: performance reviews.

Census Bureau Reveals State of State Employment
State and local governments employed approximately 16.4 million full-time workers in March 2011, according to recent estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This number is down 1.4 percent from the same time in 2010. The report found that 8.9 million of these workers were employed in education, 964,381 worked in hospitals, 923,951 worked in police protection, and 717,940 were occupied in corrections positions.

Poor Benefits Choices Lead to Significant Annual Waste
New research out of Aflac has revealed that 56 percent of employees waste up to an annual $750 on poor insurance benefits election. Nearly 25 percent of respondents said they either chose the wrong level of coverage or chose options they didn't need while just 16 percent of employees said they were confident in their selections. The Aflac study, entitled the 2012 Open Enrollment Survey of the Aflac Workforces Report, polled 2,500 consumers in July 2012.

California On Brink of New “Can’t Ask” Social Media Password Law
California is about to become the third state to prohibit employers from asking employees or job seekers for access to their social media postings. Without dissent, the California Senate this week approved AB1844, the privacy measure. It now requires an Assembly vote and Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature before it takes effect. The Assembly vote is likely this week and is almost perfunctory, since it has already once passed there without dissent.

5 steps to accommodate major 401(k) compliance deadline looming August 30
Many companies sponsoring 401(k) plans may not be aware that they’re facing a critical regulatory deadline on August 30. That’s the federal deadline for disclosing to employees the amounts of fees that they’re paying for their plans. The overwhelming majority of these investors don’t have the vaguest idea how much they’re paying in fees. If you’re an employer at a small or mid-sized company, there’s a good chance that you don’t either.


5 Minute Coffee Break....
Got a few minutes? Had enough of cute cats taking over the internet?  Introducing Dog Shaming: http://dog-shaming.com/

Looking for more? Check out last week's Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web, or follow @cmsbrian on Twitter for regular  updates.

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

What we've read this week, what HBO's 'Hard Knocks' can teach managers, the outrageous death benefits Google employees receive and how to be more productive at work....


The Benefits of Paperless HR: Sustainable, Cost-Effective, and Within Your Reach
Sage HRMS via Slideshare

U.S. Trails World in Paid Time Off as 40% Don’t Get Money
About 40 percent of U.S. workers, or more than 55 million Americans, don’t get paid when they take vacation or sick days, the government reported.

Why Every Manager Should Watch HBO’s 'Hard Knocks'
At the beginning of this year’s training camp, the Miami Dolphins’ tall and angular new head football coach, Joe Philbin—who looks more like a dentist than a tough-talking gridiron guru—reminds one of the team’s high-profile acquisitions that he’d be wise to toe the line. The player is the wide-out Chad Johnson, a man known until recently as Chad Ochocinco, who earlier had unleashed some foul language during a press conference.

Extreme Benefits: Google Edition
Google's incredibly generous death benefits have generated huge admiration. But what are they really for?

Make Meetings Productive: 3 Better Ways
Everyone hates meetings. When people get the chance to work from home, they undoubtedly say they're more productive because they don't have to go to meetings. In the thousands of meetings I've sat through, I can tell that within half an hour, most people tune out, and their capacity for creative thinking is mostly turned off.

WOTC Webinar: What’s new with the Work Opportunity Tax Credit?
CMS would like to invite you to join our resident Human Resources and Tax Credit Expert,  Brian Kelly, to find out what's new with the Work Opportunity Tax Credits. Brian will review the following, and answer any questions you may have about this extremely valuable tax credit.

Drive Success and Motivation Through Management
Considering the cost of replacing an individual should deter most HR professionals from jumping to fire even a problem employee given the state of the current economic and job markets. Identifying the reasons why workers don’t succeed and driving strategic HR management solutions can help maintain staff.

Why don’t firms do a better job of talking to employees about benefits?
Everybody’s always saying how important it is to communicate regularly with employees, especially in the benefits area. So how come so few companies do it effectively?

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

Introducing our newest blog feature:  Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web. We read so many different articles online in our favorite HR blogs and news sites about human resources, compliance, payroll, recruiting and business, that we thought it would be a good idea to share them with you every Friday. We'll also be sharing a weekly Recruiting news roundup on our iRecruit Blog. This week, learn what you didn't see at SHRM 2012 and what to do when an employee throws a temper tantrum.

Give Yourself Time to Make Benefits Enrollment Easy

Here’s What You Didn’t See During SHRM 2012

You Can Implement Performance Management

Rynes: Manage Change Effectively

When an employee throws a temper tantrum

Introduction to Sage HRMS

Introduction to Sage HRMS

Learn how Sage HRMS can make HR more strategic and solve your HR and payroll challenges with integrated solutions including HR, payroll, benefits, training, recruiting, compliance, and talent management.

Sage HRMS offers a flexible design and modular features to meet the needs of small and midsized companies. Attend this webcast to learn how Sage HRMS can help you more efficiently manage your workforce:

- Simplify benefits administration
- Ensure compliance
- Accurately manage attendance plans
- Streamline the recruiting process
- Allow employees to access personal information and enroll in benefits

Dates Available:

• July 11, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
• July 25, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
• August 8, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Click here to register for this webinar or call 1-800-517-9099.

Return on Employee Investment

Why are some companies thriving while others struggle to stay in business? What is the distinctive difference between a good company and a truly great company? The answers to these questions can only be found when looking at what defines the company: its people. The people that make up a company are that organization's unique and biggest asset. For most businesses, the workforce is also its largest expense, or better put, its largest investment.

Companies are accustomed to paying competitive wages and good benefits to attract talented managers and professionals. Yet often relatively little attention is paid to creating the best circumstances for each individual in the organization to perform at his or her best potential.

The effectiveness of HR technology and programs is regularly assessed in an isolated manner. A Human Resource Management System (HRMS) is often judged by how much more efficient the HR worker becomes and how the software helps the HR department accomplishes daily tasks. The Return on Investment (ROI) is measured as a result of the total costs saved or efficiency gained, divided by the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

But this approach is old fashioned and doesn't do justice to the real value modern human resource management brings to finding and retaining talented employees. From recruiting to on-boarding, from motivating and developing talent to supporting people managers and creating an engaged workforce, the effectiveness of employee management has a direct impact on business results and competitiveness.

At Sage Abra HRMS, we believe that employees are the most important component in the quest to improve business results. It makes sense to treat employee related expenses, as an investment in the workforce. Like any other investment, this critical company investment must yield a healthy return. We call that the Return on Employee Investment™ or ROEI™.


About CMS

CMS - Sage Abra HRMS is a Sage Select certified Business Partner, providing Sage HRMS software solutions to the North East. CMS has been providing Sage HRMS (Human Resource Management Systems), Recruiting, iRecruit, Payroll, Benefits Enrollment, Training, Time and Attendance, Employee Self Service, and Work Opportunity Tax Credits solutions since 1997. Call CMS Today For a Free Assessment of Your HR & Payroll Software Needs at 1-800-517-9099.

New Sage HRMS 2012 Improves SMB Efficiency With Employee Self-Service Mobility

Latest Version of Award-Winning Human Resource Management System Maximizes Return on Employee Investment and Features Anytime, Anywhere Access

IRVINE, CA, Feb 14, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Sage North America recently announced the release of Sage HRMS 2012 (formerly Sage Abra SQL HRMS), the latest version of its award-winning human resource management system (HRMS) for small and midsized companies. Sage HRMS empowers executives and human resources (HR) managers with the tools and critical analytical workforce information they need to drive business objectives and maximize their Return on Employee Investment (ROEI(TM)). The new solution features employee self-service mobility, allowing users to access employee information anytime, anywhere.

Read more »

Webinar: Pluses and Minuses of Background Screenings

"Trust But Verify": The Pluses and Minuses of Background Screenings
This live webcast will help HR professionals learn how to walk the balance beam between the courts and the EEOC in regard to background checks, all the while protecting their business, employees, customers, and the public at large.

This webcast has been approved for 1.00 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute (www.hrci.org).

June 28, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
June 29, 2011, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time
June 30, 2011, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time

Sage Webcast; Paperless Payroll With the Sage Payroll PayCard

Offer your employees a cost-effective and secure way to receive their paycheck electronically with the Sage Payroll PayCard. Find out how easy it is to enroll and start offering your employees a new payroll benefit immediately!

Many employers are quickly realizing the benefits of offering their employees electronic payroll paycards, including convenience, cost-savings, security, and a higher retention rate. The Sage Payroll PayCard works the same as a direct deposit transaction so there is no software to install and no hardware to purchase. Find out how easy it is to enroll in the Sage Payroll PayCard by attending this
webcast.

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: Cost-Effective Compliance

Cost-Effective Compliance: What It Consists Of and How to Achieve It

The amount of time and money required for an HR organization to adopt a system of "best practice" HR compliance rules can be considerable. And yet most -- if not all -- HR organizations will readily admit that the concept of compliance and operating by a set of "best business practices" within their HR departments can yield significant benefits.

Attend this live webcast and learn . . .

• Why an HR organization should strive to become compliant (and the resulting benefits).
• Why historical efforts at compliance are so costly and resource intensive.
• How HR organizations can achieve compliance in a cost-effective manner.
  

Dates Available:
April 12, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
May 10, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: Sage Abra HR Actions

Automate the Performance Appraisal Process and Go Paperless With Sage Abra

HR Actions for Sage Abra is a new solution that simplifies the employee data change and performance appraisal processes. Interactive web-based forms replace paper forms, are easy to use, and result in submitted actions that are complete, accurate, and secure. Automate the routing, approval, and notification process of employee actions.

Attend this webcast to learn how HR Actions can help you more efficiently:

Accelerate HR and Payroll transactional processing throughout the employment lifecycle

• Eliminate paper forms, including performance appraisal forms.
• Updated forms are immediately available to the organization.
• Electronic routing and approval of forms speeds the service delivery process.
  

Eliminate data entry from paper forms into Sage Abra HRMS

• Once approved, one-click updates to Sage Abra eliminate data entry from paper forms.
  

Provide manager with timely and accurate information

• Provide managers with online access to direct and skip-level reports personnel files, including completed forms and attachments.
  

Reduce HR's dependence on IT Support

• HR can define and build dynamic web-based forms and routing rules without any programming skills.
  

Enforce company policy while minimizing errors

• Forms are easy to complete, with fields that only display valid choices.
• Specify what fields must be completed for a form to move through the approval process.
• Forms are routed for approval based on business rules you define in a point-and-click environment.
  

Monitor and control forms throughout the entire routing process

• A real-time dashboard lets you see the status of every form being routed throughout the organization.
• Control the flow of a form -- stop it, skip an approver, or push it through the approval process.
  

Dates Available:
April 19, 2011, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time
April 27, 2011, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time
June 14, 2011, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time
June 22, 2011, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: The Data-Driven HR Organization: How to Achieve It and How to Benefit from It

Every HR organization deals with surprises and "exceptions" on a daily basis. But most HR organizations waste valuable time either searching out this information or reacting to it after the fact. Making your HR organization "data-driven" enables your critical HR information to be delivered to you -- automatically -- when and where you need it.

In this live webcast, learn . . .

• The eight HR "data-driven" conditions you can use to automatically monitor yourHR data for critical, time-sensitive information.
• How your HR data can "tap you on the shoulder" to help you more effectively and efficiently manage your HR activities.
• The impact on HR between organizations that are data-driven and those that are not.
  

Sage KnowledgeSync Alerts & Workflow gives a voice to your HR data, enabling you to make more intelligent and timely HR decisions.

Dates Available:
April 19, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
May 17, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: Introduction to Sage Abra HRMS

Sage Abra HRMS offers a flexible design and modular features to meet the needs of small and midsized companies. Attend this webcast to learn how Sage Abra can help you more efficiently manage your workforce:

• Simplify benefits administration
• Ensure compliance
• Accurately manage attendance plans
• Streamline the recruiting process
• Allow employees to access personal information and enroll in benefits
  

Dates Available:
April 20, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
May 4, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
May 18, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: Wage and Hour - Staying on the Right Side of the DOL

The U.S. Labor Department is closely scrutinizing the pay practices of U.S. employers, including the white collar exemption, status of consultants, and flat rate payments to name a few. U.S. companies must self-evaluate and make corrections to their compensation programs to ensure compliance and avoid costly fines. This live webcast will provide important information on actions HR should be taking to "Find and Fix" violations before a DOL investigator arrives at
the door.

Participants will learn:

• What actions the HR department should be engaged in, now, to avoid fines and litigation
• How the latest court cases are affecting wage and hour
• How the narrowed interpretation of the administrative exemption by the DOL can affect your business
  

Who Should Attend:
Human Resources professionals such as Compensation Managers, HR Generalists, HR Managers, and Payroll Specialists interested in expanding their knowledge about DOL compensation compliance.

HR Recertification Credits:
This webcast has been approved for 1.00 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute (www.hrci.org).
Certificates of completion will be provided upon request only to individually registered attendees. Attendance for the full webcast hour is required to receive recertification credits (partial credits cannot be provided). Groups of people participating in the webcast together must be registered and attend the webcast individually to receive certificates. Certificates will be sent via email to registered attendees in PDF form within 30 days of validated attendance. If you have additional questions, please email us at es_training@sage.com.

Dates Available:
April 26, 2011 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
April 27, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
April 28, 2011, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: Transform Your Workplace: Paperless Employee Change Forms With Sage Abra

HR Actions for Sage Abra is a new solution that transforms how you deliver HR and Payroll services by letting you create, route, and approve forms that span the entire employee lifecycle, including pay change requests, transfers, and performance appraisal! Interactive web-based forms replace paper forms, are easy to use, and result in submitted forms that are complete, accurate, and secure.

Attend this webcast to learn how HR Actions can help you more efficiently:

• Accelerate HR and Payroll transactional processing throughout the employment lifecycle
• Eliminate paper forms, including performance appraisal forms.
• Updated forms are immediately available to the organization.
• Electronic routing and approval of forms speeds the service delivery process.
  

Eliminate data entry from paper forms into Sage Abra HRMS

• Once approved, one-click updates to Sage Abra eliminate data entry from paper forms.

Provide manager with timely and accurate information

• Provide managers with online access to direct and skip-level reports personnel files, including completed forms and attachments.

Reduce HR's dependence on IT Support

• HR can define and build dynamic web-based forms and routing rules without any programming skills.

Enforce company policy while minimizing errors

• Forms are easy to complete, with fields that only display valid choices.
• Specify what fields must be completed for a form to move through the approval process.
• Forms are routed for approval based on business rules you define in a point-and-click environment.
  

Monitor and control forms throughout the entire routing process

• A real-time dashboard lets you see the status of every form being routed throughout the organization.
• Control the flow of a form - stop it, skip an approver, or push it through theapproval process.
  

Dates Available:
May 11, 2011, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time
May 17, 2011, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage Webcast: NLRB - Should You Be Concerned?

This live webcast will introduce you the changes taking place within the National Labor Relations Board. Small to mid-size employers are more likely than ever to be affected by the board's actions and the growing labor movement in the U.S.

Participants will learn:

• What legal actions the NLRB is currently taking that may affect your company
• How the NLRB is actively affecting employees' access to unions through newly proposed regulations
• What actions companies should be engaging in now before a union targets your workforce
  

Who Should Attend:

• Human Resources professionals, Managers, Supervisors and CEO's.

HR Recertification Credits:
This webcast has been approved for 1.00 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute (www.hrci.org).

Certificates of completion will be provided upon request only to individually registered attendees. Attendance for the full webcast hour is required to receive recertification credits (partial credits cannot be provided). Groups of people participating in the webcast together must be registered and attend the webcast individually to receive certificates. Certificates will be sent via email to registered attendees in PDF form within 30 days of validated attendance. If you have additional questions, please email us at es_training@sage.com.

Dates Available:
May 24, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
May 25, 2011, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time
May 26, 2011, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time

Please click here to register, email lstrong@cmshris.com or call us at 1-800-517-9099.

CMS Sage Abra Newsletter

In the November issue of the CMS Sage Abra newsletter:

Sage Abra SQL HRMS Version 10.1
Release Includes 16 Customer-Requested Enhancements
Sage has released a new version of Sage Abra SQL HRMS, Version 10.1. This release is packed with new features. Payroll enhancements and support for Canadian Payroll are a big focus, along with added control, flexibility, and security for workforce data.

HR Actions Automated Workflow
No doubt a big portion of your time is spent processing employee forms, from hiring to performance appraisals to termination. A new Sage Endorsed Solution, HR Actions for Sage Abra HRMS powered by Delphia Consulting, can help you streamline the completion and approval of forms using the Web. The Web-based service allows you create web forms easily using any fields from Sage Abra HR.

Click here for the Star-Info Abra Newsletter

New Sage Abra HRMS Maximizes Return on Employee Investment

Provides executives and HR managers with secure web access to employee analytics via iPad, iPhone, Blackberry or other intelligent device

Irvine, CA Oct. 26, 2010 - Sage North America released today Sage Abra SQL HRMS version 10.1, the latest version of Sage’s award-winning human resource management system (HRMS) for small and midsized companies. A market-leading HRMS, Sage Abra centralizes employee data, simplifies core human resource (HR) and payroll administration and enables better workforce-related decisions, resulting in the improvement of overall company efficiency. Version 10.1 offers the same user interface and powerful dynamic information sharing capabilities that positioned the previous version at top of its class, but also incorporates new features and enhancements that provide additional control, flexibility and security for workforce data, while maintaining a low total cost of ownership.

Improvements made in Abra Payroll include usability, reporting, and security. A number of functions have been moved to more intuitive locations to save companies time across their most common payroll processing tasks. The new version also increases group level security for sensitive payroll information. A new Common Deduction Limits Report has been added to Payroll Setup Reports. Companies can also test their payroll with new sample data, available for both U.S. and Canadian payroll databases.

"Accurate workforce information is extremely valuable for managing costs and successfully running a business," said Johnny Laurent, vice president and general manager of Employer Solutions for Sage. "In today’s economy, it is imperative for organizations to do more for less - especially when, on average, a company spends up to 2.5 times an employee's salary per year in benefits, training and other intangibles. The new Sage Abra provides easy and secure web access to the data businesses need to make smart decisions about employee development and productivity, allowing a company to maximize its return on employee investment (ROEI)."

Employees drive the business success of the company. Information about employees, such as their skills, development and performance metrics, and the associated costs are critical to understanding the state of the business. Having accurate and timely workforce information is crucial to managing employees, controlling costs and driving operational efficiency.

The conflict between the need for workforce information and the security of that information has historically meant that HR is the gatekeeper of the data flowing to others. Typically, requests for employee information are very specific, so the task of evaluating them, deciding what is appropriate and gathering the data into a report can be cumbersome and time consuming. Furthermore, the manager or executive will only receive information if he/she asks for it.

Sage Abra SQL HRMS version 10.1 answers this challenge with comprehensive access to Employee Analytics, assisting HR in delivering an unprecedented level of service to their organization. Workforce information is always up-to-date, readily available and directly accessible to managers and executives via a web URL, eliminating the need for requests and laborious reports. Data can be viewed on iGoogle or Excel, or on an iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, or other intelligent device. Version 10.1 is also supported by more web browsers than its predecessor and has the ability to turn any view into a Crystal Report, which allows HR to share data with management and executives in a way that is convenient, meaningful, and useful for their managing and decision making needs.

Pricing and Availability
Sage Abra v10.1 is available now from authorized Sage business partners. For pricing and other information about Sage Abra HRMS, please visit www.cmshris.com, email bkelly@cmshris.com, or call 800-517-9099.

About Sage Abra
Sage Abra is human resource management system (HRMS) software that delivers tightly integrated HR, payroll, benefits, and attendance functionality, plus rich reporting and analysis tools. Sage Abra also includes a Web workforce portal with employee self-service that enables company-wide communications, benefits enrollment, and more. The product line features support for multiple databases, with Abra SQL supporting Microsoft SQL Server, and Abra Suite supporting Visual FoxPro.

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 4,000 people and supports 3.1 million small and midsized business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,100 people and supports 6.2 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the website at www.sagenorthamerica.com.

Take a Sage Abra HRMS Virtual Tour

See a Sage Abra HRMS solutions overview right from the comfort and convenience of your own PC with a Virtual Tour! Get an overview of the following solutions: Abra HRMS Workforce, Abra HRMS Select, Abra HR, Abra Payroll, Abra TimeSheet and more. All in under 15 minutes!




Click here to take the virtual tour of Sage Abra HRMS

Click here to request a personalized one-on-one demo or call Brian Kelly at 1-800-517-9099.