Sage gets something almost right at last

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After years of taking a pounding on AccMan I am DELIGHTED to report I’ve found something Sage is doing that is in the right ball park. Still with me? Following all the FreeAgent love I’ve been spraying around today, Manoj Ranaweera asked on Twitter:

Has anyone tried http://bit.ly/4bGSLF from #Sage? Sounds like a competitor to #FreeAgent @dahowlett

The short URL he is referring to is for SageSpark Billing Boss, an online billing application coming out of Sage’s Canadian operation. Don’t let that fool you. It has multi-currency, multiple languages and covers different geographies. And it is free. Sage doing something for free? Whatever next?

Billing apps are notoriously difficult to get right and even more difficult to retrofit into accounting applications. Therefore, if this is Sage’s first foray into the on-demand accounting space then it’s a credible performance and paves the way for something much bigger.

The first thing to note is that unlike the ill fated Sage Live service Billing Boss HAS got https security baked in from the get go and it doesn’t show usernames and passwords in the browser address bar. See above. It’s a bit hard to see but I can assure you there is nothing in the bar to identify the user and as you hit the ‘go’ button, it sends a scrambled token out to the server. In the FAQ, on the question: Is My Data Safef it says:

It sure is. Billing Boss uses industry-standard 128K SSL encryption at login and payment to ensure the safe transmission and delivery of your data. Billing Boss houses your data in a secure, state-of-the-art off-site data centre that ensures that your privacy and billing transactions are safe.

That should shut a few people up and please some of the accountants in the crowd. OK – back to the app itself.

I can bill in any currency I choose, to any country with or without taxes and set payment dates per invoice. I’d prefer to set the payment dates in settings and then adjust as necessary on a bill by bill basis. It’s a small thing but it means I can raise invoices much more quickly. The interface is reminiscent of the usual Sage fare – ie, there isn’t the attention to design detail that we see elsewhere in services like Blinksale for instance but on a quick pass it does a decent job of getting the bills posted and emailed to your customers.

I ran a test invoice creation routine. I liked that I can upload a logo and choose from a small but reasonably useful collection of presentation styles. I particularly like that I can download a PDF and that I can send emails in PDF format. That’s definitely one up on Blinksale which requires extra money from me to get that capability. PDF invoices are so much more professional looking and here Sage does not disappoint.

Once I’d finished creating the test invoice I have a range of options as per the following screenshot:

I’m not sure why I’d want to ‘Mark as Sent’ if I’ve not already done so but hey ho!. Once I’d sent the invoice then I saw the following screen:

Note how the top two options from the first screen have been dropped and replaced by Re-Send – a vital option for those companies who like to play fast and loose with ‘lost’ invoices. As an aside, Sage craftily includes the ability to use some of its paid for receipts handling services at the time you sign up and includes a PayPal link. That’s a pretty nifty idea, keeping the value add where it belongs and where it matters most.

Reporting is less than stellar but adequate. You can list  and print invoices according to type (outstanding, draft etc) and by customer plus there are date filters. I say less than stellar because the online presentation is not as good as I’ve seen elsewhere. A bit of re-design here will win a lot of hearts and minds.My sense is they’ve followed the old Sage playbook to a greater extent than was necessary.

You can download a CSV file for processing in an accounting system. I didn’t see a link to Sage products but I’ve no doubt that will come. You can invite a book-keeper or other trusted person to sign in and look at what you are doing. Note – you can only give them view access. Anyone else to whom you provide access cannot make changes. That is as it should be. As regular readers know, access control is a topic I consider to be an integral part of whatever security arrangements exist for a SaaS application. While this is a good first step, it doesn’t go quite far enough. I would for instance like to know how you revoke the read only permission. Again, it’s not clear.

What else is there to like? Navigation is pretty straightforward with most functions being obvious. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out what I need to do in order to get going. They have their own community with recent posts to the forums front and centre. That’s a massive change for Sage which usually hides all this stuff behind the paywall. It’s a good lesson for other on-demand/SaaS players as it demonstrates a clear commitment to transparency. Others use services like GetSatisfaction (which I personally believe to be a proxy for the next gen customer service interface) but this goes a step further. Unfortunately, the forum is already attracting its share of people pimping services so perhaps they need to do more on the moderation front. They have links to a Twitter account where for once I was pleased to get a DM from them asking them to let me know if I have questions. They’ll be pinged with this blog post!! They have business blog posts but some are being used as splogs. Again, they need to sort out what they want the site to be or lose traffic. What are some of the no-no’s?

The sign up procedure is pretty good but as you enter your password the first time (prior to verification) a message comes up saying that the password doesn’t match the confirmation. Of course it doesn’t if it’s not been entered! Much better to say nothing or something like ‘Don’t forget to retype your password.’ (see boxed area above) I do like that they ask for a captcha to ensure you are a human being. Update: 2nd October Sage has fixed this issue.

The other problem is the terms of service. These are non-specific to the service but relate to using the SageSpark site as a whole. These MUST be changed because according to the TOS, Sage has the right to use your information royalty free. I’m sure they don’t mean it but anyone reading the TOS would have a pink fit at the prospect that Sage could spray your data around the Internet. On the BIlling Boss front page it says: “We never use or share your data” but that’s not enough when you have to signify agreement to TOS that suggest otherwise. Update: 2nd October Sage has fixed this issue. It’s worth clicking the BillingBoss ToS link (PDF) to see how they’ve updated.

Overall I’m of the view that Sage has done a good job for those that want a simple billing app that has a few paid for services tied in. It is free, covers many bases, secure, could be used by many businesses and, with CSV imported to at least some of the online providers of accounting systems. I’m going to give it more of a work out when I next send out invoices and see if I prefer it to my usual provider. Caveats and design issues aside, if Sage carries on in this vein then it will have done much to repair the damage of the past and carved out its place in the SaaS world. That has to be good for everyone.

My one wish is that Sage Newcastle had told me about this. Heck, readers will know I love to give the elephant in the room a good bashing from time to time but in similar vein if they do something right then they get the kudos they deserve. I’m going to find out sooner or later so why not give a heads up? Or…maybe they don’t know about it?

PS – I should have added. They have a mobile version which works on my iPodTouch. Apparently it also works on Google Android phones as well. Now that is seriously spiffing.

Tagged as: Blinksale, PayPal, sagesoftware, Twitter