Wednesday 7th August, 2013

London based payments provider, GoCardless have announced the launch of their free Sage 50 add-on. The new launch enables Sage users to enhance their cash flow and reduce accounting admin. The add-on provides a simple way to set-up and manage Direct Debit payments from directly within the Sage 50 accounting package.

Cash flow remains a major concern for UK SMEs with over 70 percent experiencing late payments in the last 12 months. Whilst 43 percent claim it reduces their profits, many are harder hit: 26,000 businesses were dissolved in June 2013 with cash flow the most commonly cited reason.

Emma Mills, Director of Bluesky Business Services, who has been trialing the Sage add-on, says: "Since we started using GoCardless with Sage just one month ago, 70% of our customers have signed up to Direct Debits. Four fifths of our customers used to pay late, but now they're all on time. GoCardless simply gives us the peace of mind that we're in control of our business.”

 “Late payment is the single largest cause of cash flow problems for SMEs. Invoice financing and loans are a decent plaster over the wound, but they’re not the answer. UK businesses need fundamentally better payment solutions,” says Tom Blomfield, Co-founder of GoCardless. “With the Sage 50 add-on, we are bringing all the benefits of automated Direct Debit right into a business’s existing accounting platform. It takes away the distractions of managing payments and reconciliation – so teams can focus on their business.”

 The GoCardless Sage 50 app is available from www.gocardless.com/sage or from select Sage Business partners. It is free to download, and GoCardless charges a simple, low transaction fee and no set-up or monthly fees.