Plug pulled

When a large company buys up a smaller competitor, the news is announced with a fanfare that promises greater investment, more resources and better products for customers. There can, however, be a downside, as Liverpool-based contractor Malcolm Baucher found out.

Baucher is the managing director of his own £500,000-a-year-turnover contracting firm. At the beginning of this year, he was informed that the accounting software he had used for the last 10 years was to disappear. His software support company, Accounting Systems, told him that it would no longer continue to support his software, Multisoft Premier, after September 2003. This was because accounting software giant Sage had taken over Multisoft and, after initially continuing to supply and support Multisoft products, had decided to discontinue them.

Specialised needs
Through Accounting Systems Sage offered big discounts to sign up to its other systems. But although it supplies good generalised software, Sage doesn't provide the specific modules needed to operate a contracting business, says Baucher. "I need specialist modules to operate my accounts system to deal with CIS payments and job costing, and Sage doesn't offer these modules," he says. "This is a very financially orientated business, we subcontract nearly all our work. Our accounting system is vital to our success."

Baucher says he never would have chosen a Sage system independently, for this reason. "When we started looking for a computerised system about 10 years ago, we chose Multisoft because it was construction-specific and it was recommended to us by the Building Employer's Confederation," he says.

"An off-the-shelf product is no good to us," he continues. "It took us a long time to settle on this product, which I thought would do me for another 10 years at least. For us to find a new accounting system now would be a colossal disadvantage. We are a small company with only two directors, and we weren't planning for another upgrade for some time to come. It would take at least six months out of our time to find a new system, which it looks like we will have to do. I'm not interested in other Sage systems, whatever the discount, as they don't provide the modules I require."

Suzi Golding, PR manager at Sage, says that although the company's software is not specifically developed for construction, it is adaptable. "Construction is a specialist market, but it is possible to bolt bits of software onto, for example, our Line 100 system," she says.

"What Multisoft customers need to do is to sit down and have a chat with their support companies about how the systems can be adapted. In the long run, it will be better for their businesses to change software now, as they will have a more adaptable and up-to-date system. If someone wants to look elsewhere for their software requirements, it is regrettable, but that's their prerogative."

But for Baucher, that is scant consolation. He stresses that until Sage bought up Multisoft, he was very satisfied with the product and the support he received. "Accounting Systems has always supported us very well in the past, and the Multisoft system is a terrific product. It's a crime that support for it is ending," he says.

Sage's decision to discontinue Multisoft products was also bad news for Andy Carr, director of Liverpool Building Materials, a £2m-turnover builders merchant in Liverpool. "We went through a big upgrade only three years ago to the Multisoft Prestige system, which was not a nice experience," says Carr. "I was told at the time that the system was state-of-the-art and would last me until 2010. We ran our previous system for 20 years, so we don't look to upgrade very often. We have only recently come to terms with everything the new system can do, and we still only use a fraction of its functionality."

He adds: "Sage is offering big discounts to sign up to its Line 200 package, which, although it is a much better system, is suitable for far bigger companies. The changeover would cost us an extra £14,000 a year for the eight user licences we require, even with the discount, and we don't need all the functionality it provides. We are considering changing over to Sage, but at the moment we are just having a look around. If we have to look for another system, it will be something of a task."

Change inevitable
Golding says the Multisoft products were not capable enough to make development worthwhile. "It would be too costly and too time-consuming to develop the Multisoft systems beyond what they are now. Looking to the future, we need systems that can adapt to technological changes and can take advantage of developments such as the internet. We didn't feel the Multisoft systems would be able to do that."

"We are committed to developing software that is quicker and easier to use," she adds. "It was inevitable that some people will find themselves with systems that don't have the lifespan that they thought. It was the same when the change from DOS to Windows happened."

But for small companies such as Baucher's and Carr's, that inevitability is difficult to swallow. "Changing our accounts system would be a huge commitment," says Baucher. "It would completely disrupt the running of the company." Carr adds: "We don't have a full-time accountant, and other staff have limited time to commit to changing systems. You can't put a price on the cost of it."