Sage 50 Account Training

As scary as it sounds, this software can range anywhere from £100 to several thousand. Which package is right for your business?

During my time working for the accounting practices, I discovered that several of our clients had been mis-sold on Sage software. Companies are spending far more money than they should have, and not just for software.

The problem also lay in the lack of training, support and guidance. Sage is a wonderful company, and not many people know that if you buy a low-level starter pack, can you actually pay the difference to upgrade? So the common line from some of the Sage “experts” is “Well, you should get the biggest package to grow your business.” Total nonsense, but first example of money given away.

Software not installed correctly – some customers don’t even know they’ve been sold a network version while using it on 1 PC – another huge waste of money.

However, the biggest single financial implication is poor training. Sage is an in-depth accounting package, and with the constant onslaught of new versions and features, it’s very hard to always stay up to date. The Sage 50 Account Manual certainly used to be several hundred pages long. There are manuals, CD roms, online training outlines, classroom training, or even 1-on-1 deals.

So how do you choose the training solution that’s right for you? You could read the manual, though without reading it multiple times, and without someone explaining some of the more complicated areas to you, it would be a waste of time. You can view the CD roms, follow the training programs online, some of them are from Sage, some are from third party vendors.

In reality, for 95% of Sage newbies, the best solution is classroom training. Classroom training will always be the preferred option: someone to guide you, answer your questions, and keep you focused on something that isn’t really the most exciting subject: “Accounting and Bookkeeping,” exciting!

Sage has a number of training courses hosted at various locations, which can, in multiple days (5-10), take you through all the intricacies of the software. Imagine if someone did that to every car you bought: a 30-minute lesson on how rear seatbelt pretensioners work, or how to change the pollen filter in case you don’t want to pay a shop to show you around. The list could go on and on, and you really only need to know if there is any real difference to what you already know and go away.

Sage is doing exactly what it should be, showing the wonders of Sage 50 accounts, showing how you can record a customer’s DUNS number (which, in case you were wondering, is a 9-digit number used for electronic purchases of Zanzibar, UK governments). portal), how you can record every detail of conversations, notepads for jotting down useful information, and all the customizable fields you can imagine or want. In reality, however, 98% of bookkeepers will never record a DUNS number or wonder what part of their accounting system they can use to record the birthdays of clients’ daughters’ kittens.

So if you don’t want to spend 10 days learning all the ins and outs, who can you turn to for training? Maybe you could spend just 5 days with Sage? maybe 2 days? Sage Courses, for only Sage 50 Accounts Introduction, Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 – a total of 7 days and cost approx £1,800 excluding accommodation, travel costs and subsistence.

So you don’t want to spend £1800 and waste 7 days of your time? What is the alternative? Sage’s on-site training is currently running at £600 – £1000+ per day.

The country is full of people claiming to be “Sage Experts”, so what exactly is a Sage Expert? To get certified with Sage, you need to complete an exam, which can be run by Sage and have a manual next to you, as well as the online help file, so each answer can be provided by someone who has never used the software before. – certainly not what I would consider an expert.

Maybe someone in the “Club of Wise Accountants”? The prerequisite is to pay an annual subscription, you are not an expert yet.

In short, you should consider all options when adopting a computerized accounting package.

1. Am I being sold the right package for my business or vendor commission?
2. Does the person selling me this know my business and the software?
3. If I don’t have training, can I afford to do the wrong thing and end up on the wrong end of the tax collector, or face a big bill from my accountant?
4. Can I afford the time and financial cost of training with Sage and paying for the information, 75% of which I will probably never use?
5. If I’m going to be trained by someone other than Sage, do they really know enough to train me?

Hopefully this guide and article can prevent you from being one of the hundreds, if not thousands of businesses that have been fooled by these salespeople, experts, and even in some cases, their own accountants.