Sage Changes Branding - What This Means To Your Business

Throughout Sage’s history, their commitment to customers has been at the center of everything they do.   As a Sage Authorized reseller, CPA Technology’s objective is to reflect their commitment onto our customers in order to help them reach their business goals.

Sage will be extending that commitment further in the upcoming new year with enhanced products, new services, and productivity-enhancing features.  One of the most visible elements affecting our customers will be the introduction of new names for Sage products that will make clear which products are most appropriate to complement the Sage solutions you are using today, and which may be available to support your business as it grows.

As part of Sage’s brand strategy, a new product numbering system will be put into place (think of some of the luxury car brands).  If you see any of these names floating around, you will know which they apply to:

Sage Timberline Office is becoming Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
Sage Master Builder is becoming Sage 100 Contractor.
Sage Timberline Enterprise is becoming Sage 300 Trade Specialty.
Sage MAS 90 is becoming Sage 100 Standard ERP.
Sage MAS 200 is becoming Sage 100 Advanced ERP.

Please be assured that during this transition, there will be no interruption to your current services or subscriptions and your present applications will continue to work as they have been.

For more information, visit http://www.sagenorthamerica.com/Company/Brand for FAQ’s and more.

Options for Digital Takeoff: Which solution is right for you?

Working with blueprints and schematics can be an extremely time-consuming and costly part of doing business nowadays.  Having to rely upon your ruler and calculator to takeoff linear feet, square feet and individual counts compromises accuracy due to human error.  What’s the solution?  A visual electronic takeoff software interface, making doing your takeoffs faster and easier.  CAD files can automatically be transferred into the software, paper drawings can be scanned, plan room files can be used or digital photographs can be taken where Digital Takeoff’s intelligence will be sure that things are scaled correctly.  Digitizers are still prevalent but more folks are moving to digital takeoff because it is less expensive and want to get rid of the “bulk”, saving desk space.

Two popular digital takeoff packages are on the market which integrates wonderfully with your Sage Estimating application.  PlanSwift requires minimal setup before you can begin using.  The integration embeds the Estimating Items and Assemblies directly into the PlanSwift user interface.  OnScreen Takeoff’s integration requires “upfront” database configuration before using, however, resulting in reusable mappings and a more automated approach or generating estimates.  So which package is right for your business?

There are two qualifying questions to ask:
Does your organization have internal resources dedicated to regular database maintenance and ongoing refinement?  If yes, the initial database mapping work required with OnScreen Takeoff will result in a powerful automation tool for your estimating department.  If you answered no, the quicker and lower upfront investment in implementation would be PlanSwift.

How price sensitive are you when shopping for such a package? For smaller companies on a tight budget with limited resources, PlanSwift should be considered.  For larger companies that can invest more into the software and implementation, OnScreen Takeoff may be the appropriate choice.

To aid in choosing which the right package is for your business, listed below are some of the features in each:

OnScreen Takeoff

• Improve takeoff productivity
• Improve communication (change orders, plan addendums, etc.) between owners, architects, project manager and estimators
• Manage bids (takeoff projects) electronically and check status and other project details
• View, measure and annotate electronic plans
• Calculate simple or complex lengths, areas and volumes
• Keep track of takeoff. It it’s colored, it’s counted.
• Store up to three values of each condition (example, LF, SF and CY)
• Backout dimensions
• Auto count
• Takeoff summary tab showing detailed audit of takeoff
• Worksheet tab allows manual entry of Labor, Material and Subcontract amounts
• Ability to view multiple pages at once
• Overlay feature saves time with exhaustive plan review using color coding for deleted and added items
• Hot links can be strategically placed within secondary views such as elevation to provide supplemental information
• Measure and draw takeoff directly on your display via interactive pen (w/ On Center’s Digital Takeoff Table 2)
• Project Express.  Now estimators can easily share very large bids for free (up to 100 mb) via the internet. 

PlanSwift

• Get rid of paper plans all together
• Works with all major CAD and image file types
• Scan in or download plans
• Level feature (plans scanned in crooked)
• Easily navigate through plans
• Just point-and-click to calculate areas, linears and counts
• Calculates curved walls and arcs and cut-outs
• Undo
• Automatically calculates roof pitches
• Identify takeoffs easily by labels and colors
• Track changes with comparative plan overlays
• Share plans (email) or individual pages with others
• Hyperlink to URL or other plan pages
• Export to Excel/2010 compatibility
• 14-day free trial

Time is Money!

We all know the phrase “Time is money,” but have you ever stopped to figure out how much it costs when a job runs late?  Say a $1 million project is scheduled to last 40 days. That’s $25,000 per day. If the project runs 10% over (that’s just four extra days!), it will cost an additional $100,000 (four days times $25,000 per day). On most jobs, that would represent the job’s entire profit! In addition, there’s also the opportunity cost—what is lost from not working on other projects because of working on this one.

Increasing efficiency and accuracy and eliminating redundancy is part of what's required to deliver quality work on time and within budget. The backbone to a successful construction/contracting company is a strong, robust software package that can handle all of the business operations: accounting, estimating, project management and service.

Saving time means saving money. Save time and resources by adding more licenses or more tools (modules) which allow for more workstations be put to use and an increase in productivity. Now between September 30, 2011, current Sage CRE customers can take advantage of a deal where the more they buy, the more they save. Not only on their wallets but in time in managing projects.

Purchase (2) add-on/add-uses --> Receive a 10% discount
Purchase (3) add-on/add-uses --> Receive a 15% discount
Purchase (4) or more add-on/add-uses --> Receive a 20% discount

Sage is also extending a special offer to NEW Sage CRE customers with 0% financing now through September 23, 2011. 

The Next Generation of Award-Winning Estimating Software

The accuracy of your estimates can make the difference between profit and no profit. Sage Timberline Office Estimating is a completely integrated, single-source estimating solution that automates and streamlines the entire estimating process so you can create tighter and more accurate estimates. Better still, it easily adapts to your changing needs so you can always improve overall operational efficiencies as your business demands evolve. When it comes to the flexibility and power you need to increase speed and accuracy of your bids, only Sage Timberline Office Estimating provides mid-sized contractors, real estate developers, and specialty contractors with the confidence they need to stand behind their numbers.

The long-anticipated SQL Server-based Sage Timberline Estimating (11.1) is now available. Of course, the current version of Sage Timberline Office's Estimating software will continue to be supported.  The new Sage Timberline Estimating solution will have an updated and modern user interface as well as some new features not in the current Estimating software.  Along with it comes a fresh user interface focused around tasks and workflows for increased productivity and a Pervasive to SQL Server Migration tool. 

For current Timberline Office Estimating customers on a current support plan, you can choose to continue on your current Estimating software and receive updates as you do today, or you can opt to migrate to the new Sage Timberline Estimating software (SQL Express) for free.  If you decide to migrate but are not on a current support plan, by signing up for a support plan today, you’ll be eligible for the free migration to the new Sage Timberline Estimating solution.


If you would like more information on this release, give CPA Technology a call at (610) 862-1998.

Hop Into Spring Savings!

Be sure not to miss out on Sage's newest Spring promotion.  New and current customers* can receive 0% financing (dependent upon credit approval) for any Sage Timberline Office, Sage Estimating, Sage Master Builder or Sage Timberline Enterprise purchase. Current customers can choose from the 0% financing offer or take 15% off any order over $3,000.  Hurry though...offer lasts now until June 24, 2011!

Call CPA Technology for more details (610) 862-1998

(* Does not apply to third-party or off-schedule applications. Customers must be on an active service plan at the time of purchase.)

March is here...bring out the "green!"

If you've thought about enhancing your Sage Timberline Office or Master Builder system, now is the time to do it. You're in luck...through the month of March, Sage is running a promotion where current customers can save up to 25% on additional modules or user licenses. Spending a little bit of the "green" can go a long way when it comes to building productivity.

->  10% off one additional module or user license
->  15% off two additional modules or user licenses
->  20% off three additional modules or user licenses
->  25% off four or more additional modules or user licenses

* Folks taking advantage of this deal must be on an active service plan.