Sage ACCPAC Differentiators

You will find that many systems cover the basics fairly well but there are differences between them that can be crucial. Our analysis was conducted a few years ago for a seminar presented at the Financial Technology Show. We will endavour to provide an update to our analysis in the near future.

Target Market

Small to medium-sized companies with up to $250 Million in revenues.

Mature product

ACCPAC has a long and successful track record, especially in Canada. With ACCPAC there is very little risk of needing to convert to a new system because the system is no longer supported.

Browser-based

ACCPAC is one of the first products to only require a browser for the entire application. Although the browser is a bit slow for office use, it is ideal for remote access. ACCPAC has flexibility to enable some users to access via a browser while others access through the LAN.

Reseller channel

ACCPAC has an extensive choice of resellers and implementers to choose from globally, and especially in Canada.

Third Party Products

There is an extensive list of third party products that have been tightly integrated and complement ACCPAC. ACCPAC provides API's (Application Programming Interface) so that developers can update ACCPAC data and use ACCPAC validation rules to ensure data integrity.

Scalable

You can start with Pervasive SQL as the database engine and grow into Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle or DB2.

Investment protection

The product line comes in four "editions" that enable companies to move up to greater functionality as their needs and budgets allow. No database migration or relearning of software is needed since all editions are formed on the same code base.

Excel

ACCPAC uses Excel for financial report writing, and Excel is the tool of choice for accountants.

Crystal Reports

ACCPAC uses Crystal Reports for generic reporting. Crystal is the leading report writer, and can be used to change existing reports and make new ones.

Wide functionality

ACCPAC includes financials, distribution, Canadian and US payroll, Customer Relationship Management, and Warehouse Management, Point of Sale, Human Resources, EDI and eCommerce.

Linux

ACCPAC runs on Windows or Linux.

Multiple Platform

ACCPAC runs on different databases and operating systems.

International product

ACCPAC can be used in multinational offices and supported by local VARs globally with multilingual and multicurrency functionality to meet the needs of companies operating in the global marketplace.

Business Intelligence

ACCPAC has recently released CFO (Comprehensive Financial Optimizer) and Insight and is about to release Sales Optimizer. CFO allows you to perform a business health test based on financial information to see what has been done well (and not so well) over the year financially and what needs to be improved. The system will show how a few small changes can make a huge difference to the bottom line or cash flow. Insight is an extension of Excel allowing you to generate reports from multiple data sources, and includes consolidation reporting, drill down, and publishing reports to the internet. Sales Optimizer is an OLAP (On Line Analytical Processing) tool that will allow you to slice and dice sales information across multiple dimensions.

Customer Relationship Management

On May 12, 2003, ACCPAC released ACCPAC CRM 5.5, the latest version of its customer relationship management (CRM) application for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs). ACCPAC CRM 5.5 includes a new user interface, many enhancements to its Sales Force, Marketing and Customer Care functions, as well as introduces expanded e-mail support for most e-mail systems including Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook and Eudora. Version 5.6 released in November 2003, which includes 2 way synchronization with Outlook and the ability to easily toggle between Outlook and ACCPAC CRM.