IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - October 20, 2010) - Sage North America announced today the release of Sage Simply Accounting 2011 for the United States, a fully bilingual, easy-to-use, completely customizable business solution built for simplicity, speed and increased productivity. With more than 500,000 customers across North America and 25 years of development, Sage Simply Accounting has become a trusted brand among accountants and small businesses. Sage Simply Accounting's English/Spanish bilingual capabilities are a key feature in the 2011 edition, addressing the needs of small- to medium-sized businesses and accountants operating in or serving the U.S. Hispanic community.
"The number of Hispanic-owned small and mid-sized businesses in the U.S. is growing at a rate two to three times faster than the national average,(i)" said Jamie Sutherland, vice president and general manager for Sage Simply Accounting.
Hispanic-owned businesses grew a staggering 43.7 percent from 2002 to 2007 in the U.S., compared to an 18 percent increase in all U.S. businesses.(ii) What's more, according to Hispanic Business(iii), the boom will continue at a solid annual rate of 7.6 percent through to at least 2012. Within this business segment, Latina-owned companies are one of the fastest growing, currently generating approximately $45+ billion in annual sales.(iv)
"This exponential growth has driven increasing demand for bilingual business solutions that have been lacking in the market," said Sutherland. "In a recent survey we conducted among Hispanic small business owners, 42 percent responded that they believe it is important that accounting software can switch between English and Spanish.(v) Sage Simply Accounting 2011 does exactly that; its English/Spanish capabilities fill that gap and allow small businesses to also generate documents in the preferred language of their customers, vendors or employees."
The only accounting software on the U.S. market that is completely bilingual in Spanish and English, Sage Simply Accounting 2011 allows users to toggle between the two languages in real time. The need for time-consuming translations is eliminated with just a click of the mouse. Now small business owners can work in the language they, or their employees, feel more confident using. Sage Simply Accounting 2011 also allows businesses to manage transactions and invoices in their customers' preferred language, greatly improving their own customers' experience and setting them apart from their competition.
"Sage Simply Accounting 2011 is an essential tool for Hispanic- and non-Hispanic-owned businesses not only because of its tremendous language flexibility, but also because it allows them to easily maintain excellent control of their finances," said Jeanne Harris, Sage Simply Accounting certified consultant. "This easy-to-use software automates financial management and reporting, and simplifies critical tasks so owners can instead focus on business growth."
Other Sage Simply Accounting 2011 features that Hispanic small businesses and accountants can also benefit from include:
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accounting and financial reporting compliance - generates and allows customized documents and reports in either English or Spanish to meet the needs of their bank or accountant, done seamlessly while remaining compliant with financial reporting requirements
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multiple currency support - small businesses also operating in other countries can utilize Sage Simply Accounting 2011's multiple currencies feature(vi), which enables users to create invoices or receipts in another currency and eliminates the need to perform manual currency conversions.
To properly service this bilingual community, Sage Simply Accounting 2011 also offers free online training in Spanish and English, and service options which include North America-based bilingual phone support. These services make it easy for any business owner, employee, accountant or bookkeeper to get real and timely answers to questions and troubleshoot any potential issues, regardless of their preferred language. This not only helps reduce language barriers, but it also ensures that employees get the appropriate information they need.
About Sage Simply Accounting
Celebrating 25 years, Sage Simply Accounting is the #1 choice of Canadian small businesses and accountants, used by more than 500,000 businesses(vii). Developed in Sage's global research and development center in Richmond, B.C., the fully bilingual Sage Simply Accounting -- English/French -- is known for its easy to learn, easy to use approach to accounting, while providing the most comprehensive features that small businesses require -- from start-up through to maturity. In October 2010, Sage Simply Accounting launched the only fully bilingual English/Spanish small business accounting solution in the United States. Sage Simply Accounting is supported by a highly trained team of customer service specialists in its Richmond, B.C., center, and by over 10,000 consultant partners located in communities across Canada and the U.S., who help thousands of companies daily to manage their business more effectively with Sage Simply Accounting.
For more information about Sage Simply Accounting, please call 1-866-797-8395, or visit http://us.simplyaccounting.com or http://es.simplyaccounting.com.
About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs more than 4,000 people and supports 3.1 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,100 people and supports 6.2 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com.
© 2010 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, Sage Software, Sage logos and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
(i) U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Survey of Business Owners and 2002 Survey of Business Owners
(ii) U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Survey of Business Owners and 2002 Survey of Business Owners
(iii) "Hispanic-Owned Businesses: Growth Projections to 2012," http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c78306
(iv) U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
http://www.ushcc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=564
(v) Based on a survey of 138 Hispanic small business owners conducted in the U.S. in Sept.-Oct. 2010
(vi) The multiple currency features is provided as part of the Pro, Premium and Enterprise versions
(vii) Based on independent surveys of 312 Canadian businesses with 1-99 employees and 482 accountants who work with small business clients, conducted in Canada in Sept 2009.
Contact Information:
Press Contact:
Yvonne Yuen
604-233-4127
yvonne.yuen@sage.com
Shana Starr
949-502-7750, ext. 209
shanas@lf-pr.com