Sage Responds to Small Business Appetite for Cloud and AI; Announces First Cloud Accounting Platform with Chat Bot Integration

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - Jan 25, 2017) - Around half of small businesses say they are ready to run their companies using Bots and Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to new global research from Sage, the market leader in cloud accounting software. The research comes as Sage announces a fresh launch of cloud accounting solutions to take business builders and entrepreneurs closer to the future where accounting is invisible.

In the U.S., product releases include Sage One with Pegg, the first cloud accounting platform with chat bot integration, as well as Sage People, a flexible cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) solution for mid-sized businesses and enterprises.

As the world's first accounting chat bot, Pegg highlights Sage's investment in AI technology, with more to come.

"In 2016, less than half of accounting software users were in the cloud -- a number we expect to increase this year," said Nancy Harris, Executive Vice President, Sage North America. "Today's announcement highlights our commitment to innovation and supporting the future needs of business builders. As we continue to anticipate what's next in this industry, we look forward to expanding our smart solutions to business owners in North America based on our growing expertise in AI."

Today Sage, the market and technology leader in cloud accounting, announced:

• Five global cloud solutions: Five new accounting cloud solutions across seven global markets for business of all sizes
• More than 20,000 chat bot Pegg users: Tens of thousands of 'new to Sage' customers have adopted accounting chat bot Pegg within six months since its launch
• More than 100 new and fully integrated ISV's on the Sage Marketplace: building on Sage's heritage of strong partnerships, including new global relationships with Salesforce, Microsoft, Apple and Slack
• Invisible accounting by 2020: Sage's vision is to lead the business builders of tomorrow towards an "invisible accounting" environment so they can focus on building their business

Invisible Accounting by 2020
The new cloud solutions highlight Sage's vision to automate back-office functions and empower business builders around the world to achieve invisible accounting by 2020. These include:

• Sage One - Easy to use cloud accounting solution for start-up businesses that manages everything from sales and purchasing to cash flow and taxes. The latest release is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland; newly available in France and Germany.
• Sage One with Pegg, the world's first accounting chat bot is now integrated with Sage One, which acts as a smart assistant, and enables users to track expenses and manage finances through popular messaging apps. Available in the US only with further global roll out planned for 2017.
• Sage Live - A powerful, customizable, and cost-effective cloud accounting solution. Built on the Salesforce Lightning user interface, customers can manage multiple locations and currencies all in the palm of their hand, whilst taking advantage of the add-on solutions available on the Sage market place and the Salesforce App exchange. France, Germany and Spain join the global roll out.
• Sage 50c - Sage's trusted accounting solution now gives its customers greater flexibility and power with the integration with MS Office 365. This new version is designed to give Sage 50 customers complete control over their accounts from anywhere using Sage and Microsoft applications. Now available in the UK with rollout in the U.S. and Canada this spring.
• Sage People - Sage People is a flexible cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) solution for mid-sized businesses and enterprises. The solution is newly available in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, with further roll outs to come.

A Cloud-Enabled AI Revolution