SAGE VIP PAYROLL AND HR

COMPANY PROFILE

2013

A new home for Sage South Africa

Africa is the developing continent of the world. Every year, more and more business ventures are started, more and more foreign investment enters and more people become employed.

In the early stages of business, right through to maturity, when a business operates on a large scale, one of the most fundamental things to get right is payroll and HR.

This can be a daunting task. Ensuring all employees get their payment efficiently while operating within the relevant tax laws requires an in-depth understanding of accounting and payroll systems.

One of the companies making it easier for small, medium and large companies to handle their payroll activities is Sage VIP Payroll and HR. Selling industry

leading payroll software and offering tutorial services to clients, the company has become a partner for businesses across the whole continent.

The company has been operating in South Africa for 28 years and after growth, acquisitions, name changes and new offices, they have recently released two new products targeted at different ends of the market that could prove invaluable for businesses looking to fully automate their payroll systems.

“Sage UK PLC acquired Softline VIP in 2003. Softline VIP is a South African company, formerly a listed company until the acquisition,” explains Anton Van Heerden, MD of Sage VIP. “It consists of two accounting software businesses and two payroll and HR businesses.

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A new home for Sage South Africa

Softline recently changed their name to Sage South Africa to bring the company in-line with the global brand. We speak to the payroll and HR specialists to find out more about the rebrand and the new products that will ensure continued success for the company.

“Sage VIP (formerly Softline VIP) started in 1985, so we’ve been around for quite some time.

“I got involved after my father founded a business which we then sold on to Softline in 1998. I run both Sage Pastel Payroll and Sage VIP in South Africa,” says Mr Van Heerden.

Over the years, the company has grown and expanded. Now dominating the industry in South Africa, the company is looking to increase its already substantial presence in the African market.

“We focus on payroll and HR and we pretty much cover the whole market from SMEs to the higher end of the market. We fit into all industries.

“We sell throughout the whole of Africa. In South Africa, we are now the dominant force; we have

55-60% of the market. Around 5.5 million people in South Africa are paid through our systems every month.

“We also operate through most African countries, about 25 countries but our core activity is payroll and HR to all market segments.

REBRANDINGOne of the major events in the company’s history was witnessed in February when a large rebranding project saw Softline renamed Sage South Africa. Soft-line acts as the holding company for prominent South African software products such as Pastel Accounting and Payroll, VIP Payroll, Sage 300 ERP (Accpac) and Sage ERP X3.

“In South Africa, we are now the dominant force; we have 55-60% of the market. Around 5.5 million people in South Africa are paid through our systems every month”

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Ivan Epstein, CEO of Sage AAMEA (Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia) said the rebrands purpose was alignment with Softline’s parent company, The Sage Group PLC in the continued pursuit of a global brand. “Softline has been part of The Sage Group PLC for many years and over this time we have continued to grow in prominence. To move forward we believe that it is now time to leverage the global power of The Sage Group and align ourselves fully with the brand.”

The move to Sage will bring about name changes across all of the divisions including Sage VIP (formerly Softline VIP), Sage ERP Africa (formerly Softline ACCPAC), Sage Pastel (formerly Softline Pastel) and Sage Netcash (formerly Softline Netcash) as well as the newest edition to the portfolio, Sage Alchemex (formerly Alchemex).

VIP PEOPLESage VIP Payroll and HR has been busy recently with two new products introduced at different ends of the market, one for large-scale businesses and one for first time payroll software users with smaller needs.

“We did a product launch very recently for a system called People,” says Mr Van Heerden. “The offering is a best of breed payroll system. We are very excited about this because we believe we can offer a very sophisticated HR payroll offering to large corporates and we can supply 80% of the functionality that typically a customised ERP system could offer but at a fraction of the cost.

“We have found that it can be very, very expensive for multinationals that have a presence in Africa to run payroll and often they have to get a consultant to come and configure their systems for each country.”

VIP People removes this problem as it has a standard set up which is configured for all African countries. To make life even easier for clients, Sage has around 250 consultants who can be dispatched to any African nation to assist with software implementation and the infrastructure and outreach offered by the company is unrivalled by competitors.

LIQUID ONLINE PAYROLLThe second product that the company has been pushing recently is an online payroll system, designed for ease of access and does not require complicated software installation or update as everything is done online.

“The second product we are very excited about is a new system called VIP Liquid,” says Mr Van Heerden. “It has been around for about 18 months but it is still in its infancy, especially in the African market where connectivity is sometimes a problem.

“If you have an internet connection, this web-based payroll becomes a very attractive option.

“It is simply a hosted web based offering where companies can subscribe and pay us a monthly fee based on the number of employees they pay so a slightly different commercial model but essentially offering the same service, they have access to the software and access to a call centre if there are any problems.”

The system is 100% safe, leaving no data at risk and it is cost effective for smaller businesses with no initial outlay required, just a monthly charge based on numbers of employees paid through the system.

The next step for the company, as it continues its push on the continent, is mobile systems – the logical step considering the number of people who use their phones for regular internet access.

“An important thing for Africa is the mobile market. People don’t always have access to good computers but most people have cell phones. Expanding the functionality of our online systems to cater for mobile payslips and the like is important.

“We are planning a lot of mobile initiatives, specifically for the African market,” says Mr Van Heerden.

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SAGE VIP PAYROLL AND HR

Anton Van Heerden

FUTURE GROWTHLooking to the future, apart from plans for mobile initiatives, the company has made it clear that its targets surround growth in Africa. Even through the tough economic climate Sage has managed to find growth.

“We’ve been fortunate as we’ve had new growth sources that have enabled us to grow our turnover by almost 20%,” says Mr Van Heerden.

“This growth has come mainly from the African market. We’re investing a lot in expanding in Africa.

“Also, our online presence has helped us to grow but overall the general market conditions have been slow.”

Growth has also come from the services that pair with Sage products. For example, online training facilities.

“A new development is with e-learning. This has been popular with small businesses where a manager cannot afford to be out the office for the whole day so we offer e-learning products where people can do a training course on their own, over the internet.

“We have training facilities that customers can attend at major centres around SA and we have consultants who can assist a customer on site with implementation of the software,” says Mr Van Heerden.

A NEW HOMEAs a product of the growth at Sage, the company recently moved into new premises in Menlyn Maine, east of Pretoria.

The new Sage VIP building is situated on Aramist Road and is the second building to be developed within the precinct.

“Our new building is extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly,” says Mr Van Heerden. “The Sage VIP building was designed to be simplistic in nature and to limit maintenance costs by integrating sustainable design principles into all aspects of the structure. Our building has a four star rating according to the Green Star SA – Office v1 rating, which recognises the best practice principles that the building project demanded.”

The building is a state-of-the-art example of modern architecture with a vegetable garden on the roof, motion activated lighting and air-con, a water efficiency program, environmentally friendly building and decorating materials, a recycling emphasis and a system to ensure minimal light pollution.

The new building is a reflection of the innovative approach to business that Sage takes every day. Mr Van Heerden puts the on-going success of the company down to the fantastic skills and ability of the workforce, saying: “Our philosophy goes; in order for us to be a world class service provider to our customers, we need to offer the same service to our employees and we believe that happier employees give a better service to customers so the effect runs right through the business.

He concludes by saying: “Although software is our core product, we see ourselves as a services business. All our services are the things that make the software successful.”.

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“An important thing for Africa is the mobile market. People don’t always have access to good computers but most people have cell phones”

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