Overview:

Megavolt Design Inc. is a successful Web site development and graphic design firm headquartered in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. The firm’s creative staff includes graphic designers, copywriters, programmers, and project managers. Among the clients that benefit from Megavolt Design’s sophisticated multimedia solutions are trade associations, tourism boards, transit companies, and regional chambers of commerce. Megavolt Design began using Simply Accounting by Sage at its inception over a decade ago, and it is the solution that this successful firm trusts its operations with today.

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System:
Simply Accounting by Sage Enterprise

A Solution to Grow With

“Simply Accounting is one of the best known small business accounting products, so it was an easy choice for me back in 1997,” recalls Steve Trinque, owner of Megavolt Design. “And it is still the best solution for our growing business.”

Trinque knows this from experience. Several years ago, his business partners urged him to switch to a different accounting software package they were more familiar with. “We tried it for two years, but it didn’t have the flexibility that Simply Accounting does,” he explains. “We could not give our invoices the custom look we want and it was very difficult to generate and send out quotes. I was very happy to switch back to Simply Accounting.”

Over the years, Simply Accounting has kept pace with Megavolt Design’s growth. As the firm grew and its needs expanded, the software was upgraded to more powerful versions. Megavolt Designs is currently using Simply Accounting by Sage Enterprise.

“I upgraded to take advantage of new functionality and to support additional users,” explains Trinque. “Enterprise will support up to 20 users, so I have plenty of room for growth without the worry of changing software.”

Security and Support
As the firm grows and adds new employees, protecting business data becomes a larger concern. Trinque appreciates the robust role-based security present in Simply Accounting Enterprise. Role-based security allows the firm to assign employees permission to access the areas of the accounting system, tasks, and reports based on their assigned role. Employees only have access to the data they need to do their jobs.

As a SimplyCARE subscriber, Megavolt Design is entitled to receive all product upgrades and updates as they are released, and has access to unlimited phone, email, and online chat support from knowledgeable representatives. “The support is great. When we need help we can get it quickly,” notes Trinque.

Power Up Sales
Megavolt Design’s project managers generate proposals in Simply Accounting Enterprise and can send the proposals by e-mail to customers from the software.

When proposals are accepted, staff can convert them to sales orders automatically. Megavolt Design is able to customize its proposals and invoices to be consistent with the branding on the firm’s marketing collateral.

Flexible billing options support the way Megavolt Design does business. “Some of our contracts are for a set number of hours,” Trinque says. “And though we create a progress bills and invoice for the hours spent, the software will track the hour balance for us through project completion.”

A favorite feature is the Recurring Invoice function. “We bill monthly for our Web hosting and this feature automatically generates the invoices for us. It saves us time and helps ensure we don’t miss a billing,” Trinque says.

Simply Accounting Enterprise simplifies customer communications for Megavolt Design. “We export our customer list to produce mailing labels and mail merge into Microsoft® Word® for customer letters,” says Trinque.

Simply Accounting Enterprise, like Trinque and much of Quebec, is bilingual. It offers tremendous convenience for Megavolt Design’s customers who can receive their invoices in their preferred language.

Data For Better Business Decisions
Trinque appreciates the variety of management reports and graphs provided with the software. “I review our financial reports regularly,” he says. “They give me the information I need to analyze information such as sales trends and cash flow.”

The aged receivable report is a tool Trinque uses to monitor past due invoices and make the necessary collection calls. “The report includes all the contact information, so I work directly from it and make my calls,” he says.

Trinque has discovered another benefit of using one of the most popular small business accounting systems in Canada, “Our accounting firm is very familiar with the system, so it takes them less time each month to run the reports and perform their review, which saves us money.”

No Accounting Expertise Required
The software’s ease of use spares Trinque the cost of hiring full-time accounting personnel. “It’s very simple to enter accounts payable, accounts receivable, and to generate cash receipts,” he says. “The software even prints a deposit slip for me to take to the bank.”

He concludes, “I am a creative designer and a business owner—not an accountant. Simply Accounting Enterprise gives me the confidence and tools to manage my company and my employees effectively.”

About Simply Accounting
Simply Accounting is the #1 choice of Canadian small businesses and accountants¹, used by more than 500,000 Canadian businesses. Developed in Sage’s global research and development centre in Richmond, B.C., the fully bilingual Simply Accounting 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. Simply Accounting is supported by a highly trained team of customer service specialists in our Richmond, B.C. centre, and by 10,000 consultant partners located in communities across Canada who help thousands of companies daily to manage their business more effectively with Simply Accounting.

For more than 20 years, Simply Accounting has lived up to its name by providing simple to use award winning features for Canadian small office/home office users, coupled with world class customer support and training to help them better manage their day-to-day operations.

Simply Accounting is developed by Sage Software Canada, Ltd., which is a part of Sage, the North American subsidiary of The Sage Group, plc. Sage began not as one company, but as the efforts of many entrepreneurs who built their successful products and businesses with a sincere focus on their customers. Today, our company represents the culmination of that combined entrepreneurial spirit, drive, and vision.

¹Based on independent surveys of 312 Canadian businesses with 1-99 employees and 401 accountants who work with small business clients, conducted in Canada in June 2009.