Sage & Accounting Software connections...

[Printing&Postage]

Right. Hi everyone by the way!

I haven't been on here for a long time, but wanted to canvas a bit of opinion some accounting software
relating to an app we've been working on to connect with Sage. (just to make it easy to print/mail
invoices directly form Sage through us rather than you printing and envelope stuffing in your office
then posting it yourself)

Basically as part of the project is finding out which businesses are most likely to use/benefit from what
we've created and to fathom out the best routes to reach them, I figured, why not ask some of the
key audience directly!

If anyone can help with the following it would be much appreciated.

> Do you use any sage software in you business? (e.g. For Accounting or CRM)
> If you use sage accounts packages, which version(s) are you using? (e.g. Line50, Line100 etc.)
> If not, what accounting software (if any) do you use? (if you've used Sage, is there any key feature this has over sage?)
> Do you have/use any 3rd party tools/addons that interact with your accounting software? & what advantages do they give you?
> Where did you find out about you accounting software/ where have you been to research new tools for accounting?

These are just to give us some idea on how people are using sage and the like, and the range of who's
likely to be interested in what we have/how best to connect with them.

Thanks, in anticipation.
Will

 

[johndon68]

I'm guessing it'll work a little like this: http://www.draycir.com/spindle/index.php , the current market leader for this sort of thing?

John

 

[Printing&Postage]

Hi John,

To whoever clicks the button, yes the idea is for it will work in a similar manner to Spindle, with a big "but":

The documents are sent securely to us where we physically print them and mail them on your behalf using
our postal license.

So while there are similarities, rather than electronic-only output, the idea is that we enable a low cost
physical output saving the time of printing, envelope stuffing and posting in offices.

What do you think of the concept?

Will

 

[johndon68]

I think its a sound idea but I did have meetings a couple of years ago with another company (set up by the guy who owned Protx prior to selling out to Sage) who are doing a similar thing http://www.sslpost.com/

John

 

[Printing&Postage]

Hi John,

I think SSL post are still electronic only whereas we print and mail a physical letter at the end of it.
(often key for invoicing/payment chasing)

Will

 

[Printing&Postage]

For the full idea of what we do, see the Docmail website, but what I'm really looking for is opinions on how much use people are making of Sage/Accounting plugins and where they go to find out about them...

Cheers.
Will

 

[johndon68]

I assume you are you a member of the Sage Developers Programme?

John

 

[Chris94]

We think SAGE is designed for accountants and of course we use our own ABC software to do the bookkeeping. Incidentally, ABC has been around for longer than SAGE.

Maybe it is only because SAGE is so difficult for a newcomer to understand that there might be a market for your service.

 

[Printing&Postage]

Hi John,

we used some Sage specialists for the development who I believe are members.

Will

 

[johndon68]

Maybe it is only because SAGE is so difficult for a newcomer to understand that there might be a market for your service.

The software in question provides a mechanism to send invoices etc, it won't make any difference at all to the way that Sage works or how easy it is to understand...

John

 

[johndon68]

Hi John,

we used some Sage specialists for the development who I believe are members.

Will

The obvious place to advertise the software would be the Sage Additions Catalogue www.sage.co.uk/additions but as you are not members of the Developers Programme, you won't be able to do this...

John

 

[Printing&Postage]

We think SAGE is designed for accountants and of course we use our own ABC software to do the bookkeeping. Incidentally, ABC has been around for longer than SAGE.

Maybe it is only because SAGE is so difficult for a newcomer to understand that there might be a market for your service.

Hi Chris,

Our intention is to add value to the accounting package by plugging the ability to remotely print and mail documents generated by the accounting software, removing the need for businesses to hold stock, print and stuff envelopes in house.

What sort of usership/integration options does ABC offer? (it's always good to explore what else is out there so it would be interesting to find out - Sage have a huge share of the market, so were a good place to start!)

Cheers.
Will

 

[Printing&Postage]

Hi John,

As we have an ongoing relationship with the developers, the Sage developers program will be open to us through them, so thanks we'll definitely be looking into additions.

We've also looked into the Sage User Forum, who have some good opportunities, though unfortunately no Line50 users as members.

We're initially releasing "Docmail Connect" for Sage Line50 as the users perhaps have most to gain - they often have lower mail volumes, so less access to other low cost mail services with minimum volume or minimum spend, so Docmail (which doesn't haves these restrictions) should be of most benefit there.

We do intend to release Connect for other Sage versions going forward as larger users have plenty to gain too. or other accounting software, we're still looking at options.

Will

 

[talkinpeace]

I would really like to send out sales invoices by email BUT the emal is linked to a secure server system that cannot see sage which has to stay outside the wall

AND - getting the header images into the report format was more than my sanity was worth so I photocopy headed paper and overprint.

the organisation I do it for would LOVE to save 250 x 2nd class post at the end of March if you can make it work
BUT we have NO up front money
I'd even be happy to PDF the lot looking cool and email them from home.

 

[johndon68]

Hi John,

As we have an ongoing relationship with the developers, the Sage developers program will be open to us through them, so thanks we'll definitely be looking into additions.

You'd need to check with Sage but, as far as I know, the Additions catalog is only available to Developers to advertise their own branded products. If the product is branded as your product then I don't know if you'd meet Sage's criteria. The best person to check with would be Darren Liddell who is the Developers Programme Manager at Sage.

John

 

[Printing&Postage]

I would really like to send out sales invoices by email BUT the emal is linked to a secure server system that cannot see sage which has to stay outside the wall

AND - getting the header images into the report format was more than my sanity was worth so I photocopy headed paper and overprint.

the organisation I do it for would LOVE to save 250 x 2nd class post at the end of March if you can make it work
BUT we have NO up front money
I'd even be happy to PDF the lot looking cool and email them from home.

Docmail allows custom PDF letterheads which may help. As a rule Docmail works on payment up front (either pre pay credit or payment at time of order), though the price could make it viable if your cash flow picks up a little.

Will
P.s.
If you do end up using email, I assume you're encrypting/password protecting the invoices...

 

[Chris94]

The software in question provides a mechanism to send invoices etc, it won't make any difference at all to the way that Sage works or how easy it is to understand...

John

No, what I mean is -- why would people not simply have a copy of SAGE and do the invoicing themselves?

 

[Chris94]

Hi Chris,

What sort of usership/integration options does ABC offer?
Cheers.
Will

ABC can import/export .CSV files, output reports as PDF or HTML, and email invoices and statements to customers. It has a label printer and report designer, and wordprocessor with mail-merge. We've done dedicated links to a few other software packages (eg. garage MOT invoices) and I've offered to do similar things in future for other customers if required. Data is stored in .MDB files (standard ACCESS type) so any MS Office product can read it.

 

[talkinpeace]

Everything we post will end up on Eric Pickles' public databases so I have no interest in paying for security
and our cashflow has been reduced by 8% for the coming year by the government.
Welcome to the public sector

 

[Printing&Postage]

Everything we post will end up on Eric Pickles' public databases so I have no interest in paying for security
and our cashflow has been reduced by 8% for the coming year by the government.
Welcome to the public sector

Hi,

On the email encryption thing, you can just use a free zip program (e.g. 7zip) to password protect the invoices, there's no need to pay anyone for that, though if it's being made public domain anyway, I take your point.
Rather than sending electronic copies about, Docmail prints/mails physical letters at our print site, which is much cheaper/less time consigning than doing physical mail yourself. Physical mail does see better response rates, but it's always a tradeoff if cash is tight.

Will

p.s.
Any chance of a private message with what area of the public sector are you in?
We do a lot of work print for councils, NHS and electoral work, so I'm a bit curious about areas being affected by "spending reviews" etc.

 

[Printing&Postage]

No, what I mean is -- why would people not simply have a copy of SAGE and do the invoicing themselves?

Hi again Chris,

The process after the invoice is created is where Docmail comes in.

Rather than printing and envelope stuffing hundreds of invoices before sending them out in the post, you select them from a list and click a button. We then print, enclose and mail the letters, all for less than the price of a stamp.

Docmail's already a successful service via the website and API, but the idea here is to open up an easy route from accounting packages directly into Docmail.

Cheers.
Will

 

[Printing&Postage]

Thanks for all your contributions.

In case you're interested, our tool that we were researching information for is now available for download.

I should really have explained the full purpose of our Sage tool to begin with as the concept is apparently
quite new in this context (half this thread is explaining it retrospectively!) with but I had tried to avoid it
turning into a sales pitch!

Anyway, the tool's name is Docmail Connect.
(Docmail being our mailing service, and connect as it connects Sage to Docmail)

Docmail Connect is an windows application for use with Sage Line50 to enable sage documents to be
sent to us. We then print and mail them on your behalf (standard Docmail pricing applies).

Sage Line50 users can download and install the app to enable Sage invoices to be send in the mail at
the click of a button rather than the stuffing of an envelope.

If anyone has a suggestion of other channels for promotion, or other features you'd like to see
- we're listening!

Cheers.
Will

 

[Chris94]

Your prices are very low. Are you sure you are not losing money by charging only 25p to print an A4 sheet, put it into a C5 envelope, and post it -- including postage?

We'd be tempted to send you all of our mail

 

[Printing&Postage]

Feel free to do that!

Those are our prices including print/mail/processing/materials etc. etc.

We send a lot of mail, & have our own postal license granting us the ability to provide low cost mail.
Add to that the efficiencies of combining of print and mail under one roof means and you get Docmail's
pricing!

Cheers.
Will


p.s.
It's worth nothing that we've held the prices largely flat for a couple of years with the Royal Mail price
increasing, but there will have to be some increase in our prices this year, though we do intend to keep
the price as affordable as possible. Info will be released once it's finalised.

 

[Printing&Postage]

Just a quick forward of the pricing update as promised (copied from our blog).

The same pricing is available to Docmail Connect users, though the current version of
Connect is "letters only" (as this is mostly applicable for Accounts) so doesn't feature
the postcard/greeting card options that are available on the website.

Docmail 2011 Pricing Update

Commencing on the 4th of April 2011, our new pricing (*) will be as follows:

Black only printed one side into a C5 envelope = 28p
Full Colour printed one side into a C5 envelope = 38p
A6 Full Colour Postcard = 31p
A5 Full Colour Postcard = 33p
A5 Full Colour Greeting Card = 67.3p

(*) Prices shown exclude VAT, but include the entire cost of creation printing and mailing of the finished item(s) to their end addresses.

Charges for additional pages and other prices will remain at their current levels, and as always, there's no contract required, no registration or subscription fees and no minimum order size or minimum volumes required!

Just register up for free and start getting professionally and mailed letters, cards and postcards at the rates above.
(there's a free £1 credit on new accounts so you can try the service for free)

Note: the current Docmail pricing is always available at https://www.cfhdocmail.com/live/pricelist.aspx