Softline Pastel, South Africa's leading developer of business and accounting software, today launched a portal for its range of online applications. The site, known as Sage Pastel Online, provides the entrepreneur on-the-go one central location to access the company's bouquet of cloud-based business tools, making running a small business a little easier.
Pastel Accounting first launched its online accounting program, Pastel My Business Online, in May 2009, and since then has brought several online innovations to the local SME market.
"Times have changed," says Steven Cohen, managing director of Pastel Accounting. "We have entered an age where technology is pervasive, allowing us more mobility than ever - and business has to be part of the revolution to remain competitive."
The hub can be found at www.sagepastelonline.com and offers online accounting, payroll, personal finance and marketing services as well as BEE certification for SMEs - allowing business owners the freedom to run their businesses at any time from anywhere.
Pastel My Business Online is an accounting program, designed specifically for the small business owner. All accounting jargon has been changed to simple English, so even the layman can manage the business's books. It's a multi-user system with dashboards, graphs and drill-downs to source transactions that provide a bird's eye view of the business. The system allows users to manage customers, suppliers and inventory items and keeps track of sales and purchases. Bank feeds also automatically update bank statements in the program's bank or credit card accounts, saving users from manually importing or capturing them. In addition, transactions can be mapped to automatically assign the correct accounts.
My Business Online also comes with a comprehensive list of reports so that month-end management packs are quick and easy to create.
Pastel My Payroll Online is a simple payroll solution that allows SME owners to pay their employees anywhere, anytime. It's a SARS-compliant system aligned to even the most complex legislation, including PAYE and UIF. Users can also process leave online, with leave types already defined according to the BCEA requirements. Like My Business, My Payroll contains no confusing jargon.
Research shows that 70% of SMEs don't have a Web site, and if they do, their marketing capabilities and integration with smartphones and social media is limited. Pastel My Webspace is an online marketing engine for smaller businesses, with an HTML5 Web site builder designed for optimal marketing and e-commerce capabilities. In addition, the progam will manage users' search engine optimisation, and mobile and social media integration. Pastel My Webspace effectively integrates everything for the user and provides an all-in-one e-marketing service with analytics, social media insights, and creating and mailing a fully dynamic newsletter with marketing feedback.
"Moving your business applications online is a must for anyone who wants to ensure that they remain at the cutting edge of service delivery," said Cohen at the launch event that celebrated the mobile business of the future.
As part of Pastel's drive for business mobility, it has also formed a partnership with Samsung's Enterprise Mobility division. This partnership will see the My Business Online Android app available through the Samsung App Store on selected Samsung devices - enabling Samsung consumers to gain access to and use the online functionality through their mobile devices - via an application.
Says Paulo Ferreira, Head of Enterprise Mobility for Samsung South Africa: "This partnership is certainly another way we are ensuring that all our enterprise customers have the very best Android-based applications to run their businesses with - over a leading technology device. "We believe that such applications are the gateway to a mobile business and look forward to seeing this roll out."
Further to this, Pastel is a reseller of Samsung's GALAXY S III, GALAXY Notes and Tablet devices; all preloaded with a year's free access to Pastel My Business Online. The devices will be available for purchase via the Pastel Webstore.
For more information:
Steven Cohen, managing director, Pastel Accounting on (011) 304 3101 or steven.cohen@pastel.com
Paulo Ferreira, head of enterprise mobility at Samsung Electronics, paulo.fe@samsung.com
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Pastel Accounting
Pastel Accounting is South Africa's leading developer of accounting, payroll and business management software for the small, medium and large enterprise market. Since inception, Pastel has developed an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the industry, establishing itself as a market leader and the preferred choice of South African business. The numbers speak for themselves; daily, 200 000 businesses use Pastel Accounting to run their businesses and nine out of 10 accountants recommend Pastel Accounting. www.pastel.co.za.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies, with 2011 consolidated sales of $143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206 000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organisations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognised for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world's most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
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