Last year, Sage announced that it would “end of life” its Abra Suite solution, ending support as of December 28, 2020. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use your software anymore. It does mean that by fall of this year, your Abra solution will no longer receive development, tax, or compliance updates, which means no support for year-end reports.
The good news is, there’s still time to find just the right replacement solution, and finding that replacement might be easier than you think with Sage HR.
The Easier Side of HR Accounting
Human resources include more than personnel management. It also provides payroll processing. That’s where Sage HR software has an advantage, even over a fully-supported instance of Sage Abra. With Sage HR software, features within the software make it much easier to handle various aspects of payroll, including calculating payroll, facilitating direct deposit, and more.
The Five Best Reasons to Move to Sage HR Software
Sage Abra users will need to find new software solutions before the end of the year. Although there are many good reasons to make the switch to Sage HR software, the following selection represents the features that human resources personnel seem to like the most about Sage HR software, saving time and extra steps throughout the payroll process.
- Direct deposit: Both Sage Abra and Sage HR software enable human resources personnel to manage direct deposit from the system. However, Sage HR adds the ability to enter direct deposit information as a flat amount, a percentage of net, or a percent of gross. While Abra limited direct deposit to a flat amount only and also requires them to be entered with “deposit” active to process, Sage HR can be made active for a date range.
- Timecard management: Managing time cards and timesheets can be a headache for managers and HR. Both Sage Abra and Sage HR make managing them easier, but there’s a difference between how they are stored. In Sage Abra, once payroll was processed, timesheets were cleared out of the system. Sage HR allows you to keep time cards or set up a time card and store it in the system. This will enable you to track things like sign-on bonuses and manage such rewards even if an employee terminates employment before the date on the time card. Sage HR makes it easier to manage complex situations like this for your employees.
- On-demand checks: If you need to cut an expense check or any on-demand check for an employee, with Sage HR, you can run payroll for just that one check. With your prior Sage Abra instance, you were required to run the entire batch for direct deposit, then manually remove excess. Sage HR is a great replacement option for companies with frequent on-demand checks such as issuing checks for employees who submit expense or travel reimbursement requests.
- Starting payroll: Sage HR lets you get in and get the job done. Simply run the Open Payroll process and view a report of changes made. No more kicking everyone out of the system and performing a backup before Abra will let you run Optimize and Reform, and then start payroll.
- Back-ups: Abra always recommended running backups before payroll and certain other functions were performed. While it’s always a good idea to make a backup, Abra used to force you to back up what you have before proceeding. Sage HR can be programmed for automatic SQL backups, but there’s no reminder to backup nor any requirement to make a backup before completing a task.
Move to Sage HR Today
There’s no denying that it’s time for change if you’re still using Sage Abra. Now is the best time to get started transitioning to a new system such as Sage HR before you absolutely have to.
Start experiencing the benefits now by first implementing the right software partner. Accounting Systems, Inc has been helping businesses solve their most complex software challenges since 1986. We’ll help you find exactly what works for your company and your teams and help you design the perfect customized software and services plan to meet your current needs and achieve your future growth goals.
Let ASI walk you through your Sage Abra transition. Call us today for an in-depth assessment of what’s next for your HR accounting needs.