"This is the base product for sole traders and very small businesses, Goode said during Sage's recent Capital Markets Day. He continued the product "will always connect with accountants and will automatically connect with bank feeds."

It is priced at 6 pounds, including VAT, about $9.44 per month with a 1-pound-per-month introductory rate. It automatically imports online transactions from SagePay and integrates with SageOne Payroll.

Goode said the company is separating itself from competitors by providing free, round-the-clock support, which is live in the United States and then going live in the United Kingdom. Support is being provided through Customer Business Centers, which are being established worldwide, with the first one in this country.

Goode said Sage built a global accounting engine that enables it to quickly role out versions in new countries with minimal changes. This is exactly the approach Intuit has taken with QuickBooks.

Bob Scott

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Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards.  Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He  has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that.  A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind