Softline Accpac, Synergy Accounting (a division of Synergy Group) to take Southern Africa Trust into future with Accpac ERP 200 5.5

Issued by Watt Communications & G Watt Design for Synergy Group
Johannesburg, 08 Jun 2009

Independent, non-profit organisation Southern Africa Trust has selected Accpac ERP 200 5.5, from Softline Accpac, to enable it to meet its growing organisational needs. The software will be implemented with the expertise of Accpac business partner Synergy Accounting (a division of Synergy Group).

Neville Gabriel, Executive Director of Southern Africa Trust, explains that the organisation is a regional agency that supports deeper and wider regional policy engagement to overcome poverty in southern Africa. In so doing, the organisation's overall aim is for the poor to have a better say in shaping such policies. This is achieved directly and indirectly through strategies such as capacity building, policy dialogue, evidence-based advocacy, the creation of enabling environments, and the provision of grants to civil society organisations, which represent the interests of the poor and are focused on regional poverty reduction policy work.

“Mindful of the trust's rapid growth, we recognised the need for a system that would enable us to generate timely and reliable management reports and better control and management of our procurement system. We also needed a versatile accounting package that could integrate our grant management and payroll systems without disrupting the workflow. Given the size of our organisation, Accpac ERP 200 5.5 became the right choice. It is a well-crafted system that has been customised to meet our needs. We are, therefore, confident that the software will keep up with our sustained growth and financial accounting needs,” says Gabriel.

Ashley Regenass, MD of Synergy Accounting (a division of Synergy Group), says Accpac ERP 200 5.5 offers user-defined account group capabilities and support for up to four GL segments, which means it can accommodate up to 20 concurrent users, and there is no restriction on the number of companies that can be managed.

Southern Africa Trust has also purchased Project and Job Costing, an Accpac module, which is focused on project costing requirements. As the organisation executes projects on a continuous basis, with this functionality it will now be able to specifically account at a project level. Accpac ERP 5.5 also comes with free business intelligence (BI), an entry-level solution powered by Alchemex.

“It was obvious that Accpac ERP 200 5.5 was the ideal fit for this customer. The system offers powerful analysis and reporting tools, a complete accounting feature set, and operations management capabilities, as well as an easy upgrade path to accommodate growth,” says Regenass.

Keith Fenner, Sales Director of Softline Accpac, says Southern Africa Trust will get instant integration, flexible deployment options, and unmatched investment protection out of Accpac ERP 200 5.5. “All Accpac ERP editions are built on the same world-class, object oriented, multi-tiered architecture, making them highly-customisable and scalable. Accpac ERP 200 is designed from the ground up to meet the demanding needs of diverse business environments.”

Softline Accpac

Softline Accpac is a provider of business management solutions, including financial, distribution, service management, retail, warehouse management, manufacturing and CRM to the mid-range market. Accpac solutions are delivered to 130 countries exclusively through a global network of solution providers, including over 150 throughout Africa. Softline Accpac's product line includes: Accpac ERP, Accpac CRM, Accpac RMS, Service Manager and Accpac Insight. Softline Accpac also distributes Sage ERP X3, a full-service enterprise management software system for mid-to-large businesses. With a choice of languages, currencies, enterprises, locations and legislations, Sage ERP X3 offers an efficient, multi-company solution.

Softline

Softline is a leading provider of accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions to small, medium and large sized companies. Founded in 1988 by Ivan Epstein, Alan Osrin and Steven Cohen, Softline was established during the formative years of the software industry and listed on the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa in February 1997. Softline expanded to establish a strong position within its area of focus in South Africa and Australia. Focused on the development of accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions, Softline has a 20-year track record as a market leader. The group has a broad range of products offering users a variety of software solutions to run their businesses efficiently. Softline's leading brands include Softline Accpac, Softline Enterprise, Softline Pastel (Accounting and Payroll) and Softline VIP. The combination of the group's product offerings provides Softline customers with comprehensive, well-branded accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions. In November 2003, Softline was acquired by the Sage Group, a FTSE 100 company. The software group includes market-leading businesses throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia, supplying business software to the small, medium and large sized business community. Softline has a solid track record of profitability and cash generation. The group delivers quality accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions that improve the efficiencies of businesses around the world.

The Sage Group

The Sage Group is a leading global supplier of business management software solutions and related products and services, principally for small to medium-sized enterprises. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989. Sage has 5.8 million customers and more than 14 500 employees worldwide. We operate in over 26 countries covering the UK, Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, India and China. For further information, please visit http://www.sage.com.

Synergy Group

From its humble beginnings in 1993, Synergy Group has grown from strength to strength and has become one of Africa's leading Accpac business partners. This growth can be attributed to dedicated service, quality customer care and a strong “we deliver” ethos.

Within the Synergy Group there are five individual operating divisions: Synergy Accounting, Synergy Networking, Synergy Development, Synergy Business Intelligence and Synergy Staff Development. Each division provides a specific service that is, ultimately, beneficial and adds value to your business.

Our fundamental philosophy is to tailor information system solutions to increase the “competitive edge” that our clients have over the rest of their industry. Although this can be achieved by increasing the productivity and, ultimately, the profitability of our clients - this is not always enough! For this reason we have thoroughly investigated all the newest technologies and products available to assist our clients by offering services not available from our competitors.

We are committed to assisting our clients in the development of their accounting systems into business tools that assist with the competitive edge. To achieve this we develop an understanding of our clients' critical information needs and workflows, identify the areas that would benefit from any business-process improvements and utilise a number of powerful and flexible development tools to fine-tune the recommended accounting system, not only to address our clients' management information needs, but also to directly assist them in increasing their competitive position and profitability.

Coupling our status as a Microsoft Gold Certified Business Partner with our in-house development resources allows us to offer our clients customised solutions as well as assistance with the integration and operation of their accounting system with Microsoft products and Microsoft network platforms such as Windows XP, Windows 2000/ 2003 and Terminal Server.

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