Sage has reminded people of the solutions and advice, now updated, that it put in place during the first lockdown. With more than five million businesses looking to survive this next lockdown, they need to understand how to remain compliant, ensure that their employees and customers are safe and to manage their cash. Sage has now updated its Coronavirus Hub with new tools as well as updating the existing ones.
Those tools include the Job Retention Scheme Module. Sage will update this to ensure that it applies the latest government guidelines around the furlough scheme. The module assists business leaders to calculate their payroll commitment and ensure their workforce is paid.
Paul Struthers, EVP & Managing Director of Sage UK & Ireland, said: “We know the nation’s small and medium-sized businesses have unflinching ambitions, no matter what the environmental conditions. A second lockdown gives our customers more to worry about, but Sage is by their side, helping them take control. From our technology to expert advice – we’re here to help.”
How can the Coronavirus Hub help?
The hub contains a wealth of resource for small and medium business. It includes articles that offer practical advice on the challenges that they face, both during and after the lockdown. For example, there is an article focused on restaurant businesses offering five tips that will help them survive and potentially thrive during the lockdown. Another offers five tips to support employees that are working from home, ensuring that both employees and businesses benefit.
For customers, there is a portal to web pages that provide information on using the applications during lockdown. These included dedicated pages for:
- Sage Business Cloud Accounting
- Sage Business Cloud Payroll
- Sage 50cloud Accounts
- Sage 50cloud Payroll
- Sage 200 Cloud
- Sage 200
- Sage 50 Manufacturing
- Sage CRM
- Sage X3
- Sage Intacct
- Line 500/Sage ERP 500
- Sage 300
- Sage People
There is also a portal for Accountants & Bookkeepers, offering them advice on how to support both employees and customers. What is omitted is a portal for CakeHR users, while some of the advice within Sage People might apply, this is an odd omission. The CakeHR knowledge base also returned no documents around Coronavirus.
There is also a range of webinars not just for businesses but also for accountants bookkeepers, some of these webinars require registration. There also some more in-depth portals that provide information about
- VAT rate
- The second lockdown
- Self Employment Scheme
Finally, there is a tool that enables a business owner to help identify which government funding schemes they may be eligible for. The assessment is a very useful tool that identifies schemes that both individuals and businesses can benefit from.
New and existing offers and discounts
Sage is also offering a range of discount for prospects looking to deploy a cloud solution for their business. These include:
- Sage Accounting: 50% off for four months
- Sage Payroll: 50% off for four months
- Sade Data & Analytics a 50-day free trial
- AutoEntry Free for three months
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Whether or not your company uses Sage products, this is a useful portal for information that may help your business. It is simple to use, and most of the content does not require registration. It also provides a single location where companies can identify the deals currently on offer by Sage to identify whether they wish to move to cloud solutions. Both QuickBooks and Xero offer business recovery hubs from COVID neither is a comprehensive as Sage. Similar information and offers are available from both its competitors, but they do not seem to have centralised the information in a single location.
While the government is already doing quite a lot to help small businesses, Sage believes that it could do more. Struthers noted: “Businesses across the UK have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and adaptation but will need intensive support to continue to succeed. We, therefore, urge the Government to continue to provide targeted and local support, placing digital investment at the heart of its strategy. As businesses rely on technology to operate, we must use this moment to bolster their chances for future job creation and cracking the UK productivity puzzle. SMEs created 73% of all jobs following the financial crisis in 2010 – and their survival is integral to our country’s economic recovery.”
Struthers may feel that a scheme similar to that in Germany called Digital-Jetzt (Digital Now) that helps companies with the upfront cost of digital transformation would help.
