Dundee Group Blog

Sage Webcast On Tuesday For Compliance

Sage is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 10th at 2PM EST on how to have an HR system that meets all compliance requirements. This webinar is of intrest to both current Abra users and people who want to learn more about compliance. If you are already using Sage Abra, join us to learn best practices for compliance. Cost-Effective Compliance: What It Consists Of and How to Achieve It

 

Compliance -- the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR "best practice" compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.

May 10, 2011 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time Click here to sign up

Upcoming Sage Webcast on HR Metrics

Sage is running a webcast next week on the topic of HR Metrics. The hour long live webcast will focus on providing HR professionals with the tools to effectively communicate with C-level executives.  You’ll learn how to speak the language of business through metrics for staffing, compensation, and benefits to effectively evaluate and improve performance within the HR function. For those of you who already use Sage Abra HRMS, this is a great chance for a refresher on the powerful functionality of the HR tools that you use every day.

Here's what Sage has to say about HR metrics:

A company is only as good as its human resources management but sometimes businesses and managers may not see it that way. Thanks to HR metrics however, human resources professionals can show their direct impact on a business and its profitability.

Having metrics in place is like finally using a scale when on a diet. Sure, it looks like you’ve lost weight and all of your efforts seem to be having an effect on your waist line, but there’s no way to be sure of the exact impact without a clear way to measure it. Hop on a scale and your weight loss goes from “I look great” to “I lost 10 pounds!”

Metrics for HR allow businesses to see tangible evidence of where staffing, compensation and benefit policies are working and where there is room for improvement. Areas that are often measured include turnover, open positions, employee engagement, cost per hire, cost per healthcare plan and customer feedback scores.

Human resource planning is essential to a business’s success, and metrics allow companies to have a more accurate way to measure HR success. Before, HR departments were mostly measured on how long it took to fill a vacant position, but today, we have so many more ways to weigh success.

There are three possible times you can participate in this webcast: March 29^th, at 2:00pm (EST); March 30th, at 1:00pm (EST); and March 31st, at 2:00pm (EST).

Follow this link to sign up for Measuring Up: Using Metrics to Meet and Exceed Expectations. 

 

Sage Abra Tax Updates Forthcoming

Sage Abra Q4 2010 Quarterly Tax Updates expected to be delivered the week of December 27th

This Alert applies to Abra Suite and Abra SQL HRMS with Payroll

The Federal Government released 2011 tax rates as of Friday Dec 17th. In response to this release, Sage Abra Q4 2010 Quarterly Tax Updates are delayed and are expected to be delivered the week of Dec 27th. This delay is necessary to incorporate the federal tax rate updates in Q4 which will minimize customer confusion and avoid the need to apply a hot fix after the Q4 update has been delivered.

The Q4 2010 Quarterly Product Update for Abra Suite 7.7x, 7.8x and 9.0x, as well as, Abra SQL HRMS Payroll 8.5, 10.0 and 10.1 will contain the Social Security employee tax rate changes per the legislation passed and signed by President Obama on December 17, 2010. The full extent of this change is described as follows:

Under The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which was signed by President Obama on December 17, 2010, the employee's share of Social Security tax in 2011 will be reduced from 6.2% to 4.2%. Therefore, the maximum an employee would pay in Social Security tax (if the employee is paid at least the wage base of $106,800) is $4,485.60. Employers would continue to pay the full rate of 6.2% for a maximum of $6621.60 on at wage base of $106,800 for 2011.

In addition we are delaying the release to address the following:

• Employee Tax Rate for Railroad Tier 1 Reduced, Effective January 1, 2011
• Employee Tax Rate for Social Security Reduced, Effective January 1, 2011
• Federal Withholding Tax Changes, Effective January 1, 2011

All other tax items addressed in Q4 are documented in the Release Notes. Upon availability, both Sage Abra Suite Payroll customers and Sage Abra SQL HRMS Payroll customers will receive an alert notifying of availability to download the tax update from Support Plus Online.

Sage Abra SQL V.10.1

On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, Sage North America released version 10.1 of Sage Abra SQL HRMS. Exciting new features include more advanced group security and smart phone integration, as well as more improvements to save your HR team valuable time.

Read the official press release.

Boston Area Training for Sage Abra HR and Payroll

We are planning four full days of training for Sage Abra HR and Payroll in Boston this October. Registration is limited, so act quickly.

Managing your Employees with Sage Abra HR

Boston, MA October 19-20th. Course Fee: $1,035.
 Sage Abra has a brand new look and feel! This hands-on two day workshop is designed for the beginning to intermediate users of Abra HR. Learn to use the brand new look and feel to help manage your employees with ease. From utilizing the new User Interface to intuitively access your employee information, run reports, or update your employee information, Sage Abra Suite HR is your partner in the ever changing world of HR. [Eligible for 16.0 CPE (NASBA) credits]

08:30 AM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Registration End Date: October 14, 2010
Seats Left: 3
 
Abra Suite Payroll Basic

Boston, MA October 21-22nd. Course Fee: $1,035.     
 This hands-on workshop is designed for the beginning to intermediate Abra Payroll users. Students will quickly learn how to run payroll, set up audit trails, add and edit code tables, set up system security and much more. [Eligible for 16.0 CPE (NASBA) credits and 13.0 RCH (APA credits]
 
08:30 AM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Registration End Date: October 15, 2010
Seats Left: 4
 

Sage Abra Suite V9 Delivers Mobile Workforce Collaboration and New Levels of Paperless Automation

We're very excited about the release of Sage Abra Suite V9. For customers that are still in older versions of Abra this is the time to upgrade. All customers should contact us to discuss their upgrade plans prior to doing the upgrade.

Sage Abra Suite v9 features dynamic information sharing capabilities and new HR Actions that help companies save time, money and paper while turning workforce data into a competitive advantage. 

"With dynamic information sharing capabilities, Sage Abra v9 enables business leaders to access, analyze and act upon workforce data from virtually any mobile system," said Johnny Laurent, vice president and general manager for Sage Abra. "Streamlining core HR processes frees up management and HR resources to address more strategic business objectives. Plus version 9 automates a host of paper-based HR processes, squarely addressing the needs of today's business customers to maximize resources, increase process efficiencies and cut material costs

Dynamic information sharing capabilities give executives, managers and staff secure access to real-time workforce data from remote laptops, notebooks, and later this summer iPads and other mobile devices. Data access is appropriately filtered for individual roles within the organization with customizable "views" addressing specific executive, director or supervisor needs. Unique URLs then link the views to a variety of applications such as spreadsheet models, web pages and management dashboards. Dynamic information sharing capabilities turn workforce data into a true, competitive advantage by enabling users to leverage up-to-the-moment information while significantly streamlining processes.

Sage Abra v9 provides sample templates, such as merit pay budgeting and contact lists, for Excel, SharePoint and other applications, which help HR and non-HR users create the specific information sharing documents they need. Once created, accessed documents are automatically updated through Sage Abra Employee Self Service, freeing up valuable time for HR and executives to address strategic business objectives

HR Actions within Sage Abra v9 replaces paper-based HR processes, such as status changes, new hires, and performance management, with online, Web-based workflow. HR Actions improves HR service delivery while cutting costs and provides extended benefits and security by:

• Enforcing business rules by routing and approving personnel change requests
• Providing secure electronic approval signatures from any PC with a web browser
• Providing detailed audit trails of any edits made during the routing and approval process
• Providing real-time status of each transaction from request/submission through approval and administration
• Supporting file attachments to web forms, for example a scanned copy of I-9 and W-4 attached to a new hire form

Posted by: Tim Ross
 

San Francisco Area Crystal Reports Training for Sage Abra

We are also planning two days of Crystal Reports training in the San Francisco area in August.

San Francisco, CA August 4th. Course Fee: $690.
Abra Suite Basic Crystal Reports for HR
This one-day workshop is designed for beginning Crystal Reports users. This class will quickly give you the tools you need to create reports using the Report Wizard and give you a better understanding of the HR databases and dictionaries.

San Francisco, CA August 5th. Course Fee: $690.
Abra Suite Intermediate Crystal Reports for HR
This one-day workshop is designed for intermediate Crystal Reports users. This class will teach you how to create custom reports from both the Reports Wizard and a blank report. You will also learn how to link fields from different databases within Abra HR.

Use this link to register and for more information: http://bit.ly/a0LtKp

Posted by: Tim Ross

Upgrade Your Service Level With Sage Abra Version 9.0

Another upcoming Sage webinar to consider is being offered on July 6th at 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern

Upgrade Your Service Level With Sage Abra Version 9.0

The newest release of Sage Abra is not just about upgrading your software--it is designed specifically to upgrade the level of service you, as a strategic partner, can provide to your organization. With Sage Abra v9.0 you can leverage data about your workforce as you never have before, sharing it with the right people at the right time to fundamentally change the way you make and support business decisions about the workforce.

In this webcast, you will see how to send us your ideas, track those ideas, and take a deep dive into some of the enhancements of Sage Abra Suite version 9.0.

We will take a look at:
- The powerful new User Interface
- Employee Self-Service (ESS)
- View Builder (dynamic information sharing)
- Enhanced ESS security
- Inactivating Job Codes
- Employee Find
- Benefit Reports
- And much more…

Register here:  http://bit.ly/6I80p3

Posted by: Tim Ross

Be Part of the Solution - Learn to Eliminate Hidden HR Costs

Sage is offering the following webinar on July 14th at 11AM Pacific/2PM Eastern. I've attended this presentation in the past. If you are serious about finding ways to eliminate costs this is a great place to start.

Be Part of the Solution - Learn to Eliminate Hidden HR Costs

In today's economy, HR can be perceived as either a cost center or as contributing to driving down operating expenses. Attend this webcast to learn how to identify common hidden costs buried in your HR processes. Learn how to quantify the costs, calculate the savings and determine the return on investment for process improvement and automation. Sound complicated? It's not. At the end of the webcast, you will receive a self-assessment tool that does the math for you

Register here:  http://bit.ly/6I80p3

Posted by: Tim Ross

Sage Abra Payroll 4th Quarter 2009 Service Release

In addition to the usual Abra Quarterly update, there is a Service Release for some tax items that came in from the states after the Quarterly update was built.

There are versions of the service release for Abra 7.76 and Abra 7.82.

Updates include:

• changes on the W2 for Military differntial pay, non-qualified deferred compensation plans
• HSA reporting on the W2
• items for the following states; KY, MA, MO, NJ, OH, OK, PA, RI, VI

See the notes for the Service Release for the full details.

Posted by: Tim Ross