Sage MIP Fund Accounting Helps Youth Organizations Manage Multiple Program Budgets, Show 'Real-Time' Program Costs

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - August 13, 2007) - Sage Software announced today that youth organizations across North America continue to choose its award-winning Sage MIP Fund Accounting software for nonprofit financial management. Youth organizations, such as Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson, Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts, and Team-Up for Youth, count on Sage MIP Fund Accounting to track and report on multiple funds across multiple budget periods; plan and manage budgets; maximize grants; and quickly produce accurate customized reports.

"Sage MIP Fund Accounting allows everyone in our organization -- from our CEO and board of directors, to our program managers -- to get information at their individual level of required detail," said Susan Charlebois, accountant for Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts in Middleboro, Mass., a Sage Software customer since 2001. "The training curve for new users is minimal, and the system bends to what we need, not the other way around. The ability to e-mail information directly from Sage MIP Fund Accounting is outstanding."

In all, hundreds of youth organizations across North America benefit from Sage MIP Fund Accounting on a daily basis, as they strive to demonstrate accountability and transparency to their constituents. The solution continues to be easy-to-use, while powerful reporting tools, table-driven charts of accounts, and a dynamic Drill-down Analyzer make it easy for auditors to verify the accuracy of these nonprofits' financial statements.

"As with any nonprofit, being able to demonstrate accountability and transparency is critical," said Brenda Hudson, comptroller for Team-Up for Youth in Oakland, Calif., a Sage Software customer since 2007. "Sage MIP Fund Accounting's user-friendly qualities and great audit trails enable us to provide funders and potential donors with detailed reports and financial statements. More specifically, using the software's Allocation Management module, we are able to give 'real-time' program costs, including direct and overhead expenses."

Likewise, all youth organizations are focused on effective budget management. "Being able to utilize our funds as efficiently as possible helps us achieve our mission," added Hudson. "With other software, we were limited to entering one budget for the entire year. Sage MIP Fund Accounting lets us enter multiple budgets for all our different programs. Another great Sage MIP Fund Accounting feature is the ability to manage our temporarily restricted grants to ensure budget compliance."

The majority of youth organizations do not rely greatly on federal grant funding, but most do receive foundation grants. Effective grant tracking and reporting on outcome measurements can improve an organization's competitive position when seeking new grants.

"I've been working with nonprofits since 1990, so I was thrilled when I started using Sage MIP Fund Accounting to track grants and use the information to invoice them monthly," said Diane Martin, finance director for Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson in Tucson, Ariz., a Sage Software customer since 1995. "I assign a new number to each grant year, and then capture the history. Because the software is so detail-oriented, I track costs by funds, grants, programs, and location, and then run reports for internal departments, the board of directors, and the auditors. I can provide as much detail as needed, or group the income and expenses into categories, for those who don't want all the details."

Although much of the staff at Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts works outside the office, Sage MIP Fund Accounting helps them have the same access to information as the organization's in-house staff. "Any budget-driven organization can benefit from the software if they want to see real-time, on-demand data against their budget, either in a report, online, or in spreadsheet or PDF format," added Charlebois. "I can modify financial reports from last year to create a new set of reports, yet the original report remains intact."

For 25 years, Sage Software has been helping nonprofit organizations further their missions and better serve constituents through the use of technology. Sage MIP Fund Accounting and the range of Sage Fundraising product choices enable nonprofit organizations, regardless of size and budget, to select a solution that best fits their needs. Sage MIP Fund Accounting earned a coveted 2005 Campbell Award from Campbell Rinker for its exceptional ratings in the Nonprofit Accounting Software Survey, a nationwide survey of accounting software users.

For more information about Sage MIP Fund Accounting or other Sage Software Nonprofit Solutions, visit www.sagenonprofit.com or call 800-647-3863.

About Sage Software

Sage Software supports the needs, challenges and dreams of nearly 2.8 million small and mid-sized business customers in North America through easy-to-use, scalable and customizable software and services. Our products support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage Software is a subsidiary of The Sage Group plc, a leading international supplier of accounting and business management software solutions and related products and services for small and mid-sized businesses. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and the Group now has 5.4 million customers and employs over 13,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagesoftware.com/moreinfo or call (866) 308-2378.

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Contact Information: Press Contacts: Cynthia Sutton Sage Software (703) 793-2700 x 3032 cynthia.sutton@sage.com