This week I’m at the Sage North America annual customer and partner conference. This educational event brings together over 4,000 customer and partners for five days of technical briefings and educational settings.

Sage 100 ERP v2013

The next version of Sage 100 ERP  was previously referred to as version 5.0 and will instead be known to as version 2013.

Expect the release schedule (tentative and subject to change)  as follows:

• Beta 10/15/12 to 11/2/12
• Early adopter – November through December
• New sales targeted for early November
• Auto deliver in early December – download only

 Some key new features in Sage 100 ERP 2013:

Tasks launched from CRM don’t use a ERP license – expect there may be a “millisecond” where a license is confirmed and released. Most SageCRM  integrated to Sage 100 ERP users will no longer have to purchase additional Sage 100 ERP licenses for salespeople (Note: SageCRM licenses are still required).

Accounts Payable invoice number expanded from 10 to 20

Accounts Receivable customers and Accounts Payable vendors may now be made inactive. A new security role has been added to indicate whether a user should be able to override and use these inactive records to specific tasks such as cash receipts.

Paperless Office now allows for use of smtp email accounts such as Gmail which require SSL login.

Accounts Payable now includes a cleared date in the data file layout (Note: ONLY AP Checks) – this is viewed on multiple AP checks

Credit Card processing (integrated) will be replaced by Sage Exchange. This will require all existing credit card data to be uploaded to the Sage vault and removed from Sage Accounts Receivable. No credit card data will be stored within Sage 100 ERP.  The only credit card processor supported by Sage 100  ERP 2013 is Sage Payments.

New Sage Exchange integration supports credit card swipers (use of which may qualify you for lower processing rates)

Sage 100 ERP Premium (Formerly Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL) will use the Sage HMRS Payroll

Pricing –

 

50 employees  = 1,750

75  employees = 2,500

100 employees = 3,150

150 employees = 4.700

200 employees = 5,550

 

These are a small listing of the enhancement expected to be in Sage 100 ERP 2013. Remember that features can change prior to the official release date.

 

Sage have just released their initial pre-release guide to the new features expected for Sage 100 ERP 2013 – Standard, Advanced and Premium editions.

This version, also referred to as version 5.0, is due via electronic download (extra fee for disks) in a beta format starting approximately October 2012. The general availability and early adopter customers can expect delivery about November 2012 with general availability planned for December 2012.

As with all information about pre-release software – features (and timing of release) are subject to change without prior notice.
The Sage 100 ERP 2013 release (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 5.0) will focus on providing compelling value to existing customers, generate interest in the marketplace with new connected services and add-on solutions, and continuing to offer more deployment and pricing options. Substantial value will be provided to existing customers by addressing their top enhancement requests, Auto Updates for easy application of Sage 100 ERP Product Updates, enhanced Credit Card Processing using Sage Exchange, and more.

The main features and functionality enhancements in Sage 100 ERP 2013 will be in Accounts Payable, Bank Reconciliation, Inventory Management, Paperless Office, Sage CRM, and enhanced Credit Card Processing though Sage Exchange. Accounts Payable Invoice Numbers will be expanded, customers and vendors will be able to be designated as Inactive, Paperless Office will be able to utilize public email servers, and enhancements will be made to the Inventory Maintenance screen. Multiple ERP companies will be able to be aligned to a single CRM database, and Quick Order Entry screens will enable Sage 100 ERP quotes and orders to be processed in the familiar Sage CRM environment These customer-requested features and functionality were obtained through various feedback and evaluation methods, including the Sage customer enhancement request website and user surveys.

Both new and existing customers will find immediate benefit to their business operations from the enhancements in Sage 100 ERP 2013. We strongly encourage customers running older versions of Sage 100 ERP to schedule their 2013 upgrades shortly following the release, so they can begin utilizing the enhancements and the business benefits outlined in this document.

KEY FEATURES

Accounts Payable

• Expanded invoice number to 20 characters
• Inactive vendors flag – with “reason codes”
• Cleared check information will show in vendor maintenance

Accounts Receivable

• Inactive customers flag – with “reason codes” (Restricts account from all activity except cash receipts)

Inventory Management

• Main tab to include quantity and pricing information

Bank Reconciliation

• ACH details for vendors show unique electronic check # and amount

Paperless Office

• Support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
• Support for mail services such as GMAIL, Yahoo, AT&T and Hotmail
• Allow for use of SMTP authentication
• Encrypted communication between client and server

Sage CRM

• Upgrade safe Sage CRM customizations
• Multi-company Sage CRM – multiple companies can map to a single Sage CRM system
• Sage CRM quick order entry from within CRM

Credit Card Processing

• PC Charge will retire as of December 31, 2012
• Use of fully integrated credit card processing will require Sage Payment Solutions merchant account
• Sage Exchange integration to store sensitive payment information in Sage Exchange Vault
• Sage Mobile Payments to accept payment via smartphone which then synchronizes back to your accounting
• Sage Mobile Invoice Query, Pay and Post – Use your smartphone to identify existing open customer invoices and pay via credit card swipe

 

Read the full pre-release guide to Sage 100 ERP 2013