Using Sage IA with Thunderbird

Tangled

Hi,

Have no idea if I'm in the right forum here or not but...

Does anyone know if there's a way to use transaction email in Sage with anything other than Microsoft Outlook? We use Mozilla Thunderbird for email and there's no way I can justify the best part of €400 to buy Outlook just for this feature. I know the official answer from Sage is 'no' but just wondering if anyone knew of any way of doing this?

Thanks!

DoMyBooks

Tangled wrote: »

Hi,

Have no idea if I'm in the right forum here or not but...

Does anyone know if there's a way to use transaction email in Sage with anything other than Microsoft Outlook? We use Mozilla Thunderbird for email and there's no way I can justify the best part of €400 to buy Outlook just for this feature. I know the official answer from Sage is 'no' but just wondering if anyone knew of any way of doing this?

Thanks!

AFAIK Sage IA uses MAPI to integrate with the email clients. Thunderbird is MAPI compliant http://kb.mozillazine.org/MAPI_Support

Should help you.

Slightly off topic but if Sage support are breaking your heart there are plenty of online accounting options with a much simpler email integration.

https://www.bullethq.com/
http://www.xero.com/
http://sortmybooks.com/

Tangled

Thanks for the link - it looks mighty complicated so will get someone more tech savvy than myself to have a look at it!

Am otherwise happy with Sage, it would just make life a bit easier if I could use transacation email!

KevinMcDonald

Hi,

Just to clarify, are you referring to sending an invoice via email or using the Transaction Email feature in Tools -> Transaction email?

To give you Sages perspective on why we do not support Thunderbird integration and recommend Microsoft Outlook.

There are two types of MAPI compliancy, Simple and Extended. Microsoft Outlook uses Extended whereas Outlook Express and Thunderbird use Simple. For further information, you can visit the Mozilla website, http://kb.mozillazine.org/MAPI_Support In Sage 50 Accounts 2007 and above and Sage Instant Accounts v14 and above, the MAPI email settings are only guaranteed to work with Extended MAPI. Sage Accounts does sometimes work with Mozilla Thunderbird when the email settings are set to MAPI but we can't guarantee this. If it doesn't work, there are no settings you can change to resolve this. Even if it does work, i have seen it only work intermittently and is not reliable. Instant Accounts is not tested or designed to be used with Thunderbird which is why we would have advised that it is not possible for us to set it up for you.

Also in relation to the €400 price for Outlook. This is the cost if you buy Outlook as part of the Microsoft Office Suite. If you don't need excel, powerpoint, word, access etc. I would suggest you purchase Outlook as a stand alone which is allot cheaper. Please note it must be Microsoft Outlook and not Outlook Express. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/Outlook-2010/productID.216559800

Many Thanks & Best Regards,
Kevin McDonald
Sage Accounts Specialist & Data Repair Analyst | Sage Ireland
www.sage.ie
T: 1890 88 20 60 | F: 01-6420895 | E: sage50.support@sage.ie
3096 Lake Drive, Citywest Business Park, Citywest, Dublin 24

Tangled

Appreciate the reply Kevin, I did specify that it's transaction email I'm referring to, which is where Microsoft Outlook is needed.

KevinMcDonald

No problem. The reason why I asked is that Transaction Email is not a widely used feature as the client you send the information to requires Sage too.

Many Thanks & Best Regards,
Kevin McDonald
Sage Accounts Specialist & Data Repair Analyst | Sage Ireland
www.sage.ie
T: 1890 88 20 60 | F: 01-6420895 | E: sage50.support@sage.ie
3096 Lake Drive, Citywest Business Park, Citywest, Dublin 24

Tangled

Now I'm more confused

My understanding is that using transaction email was the way to send out, lets say, end of month statements to all your customers. Is there a way to do this (without manually going through and sending each as a separate email)? Can I set up some sort of mailing list that will send out a blast of invoices or statements?

KevinMcDonald

Transaction Email is an additional module within Sage 50 Accounts and Sage Instant Accounts. It is used to send and receive invoices and orders to and from any customer or supplier who also has Sage Accounts. Transaction Email is free with Sage Accounts. It is located in tools -> transaction email.

What you are looking to do is email invoices and statements which is possible but Sage will only integrate with outlook. If you have outlook you will be able to send multiple invoices or statements to customers automatically or save them to your inbox and they can be forwarded from there. It depends on what setting you select when configuring your invoice or statement layout.

Many Thanks & Best Regards,
Kevin McDonald
Sage Accounts Specialist & Data Repair Analyst | Sage Ireland
www.sage.ie
T: 1890 88 20 60 | F: 01-6420895 | E: sage50.support@sage.ie
3096 Lake Drive, Citywest Business Park, Citywest, Dublin 24

Tangled

Thanks for your replies Kevin, much appreciated.

On balance, when I think of what I'd save on stamps over the course of a year it's probably worth looking into outlook alright!

KevinMcDonald

No problem. If your going for Outlook 2010 make sure you go for the 32-bit version and not the 64-bit. Sage is not compatible with the 64-bit version.

KevinMcDonald

bullethq - Its actually very straight forward to set up. I clarified and went into that level of detail because Tangled raised the query

Tangled - All you need is outlook. Its €189 to buy standalone. http://www.microsoftstore.ie/shop/en-IE/Microsoft/Outlook-2010

If you need assistance setting up your email invoice or statement layout feel free to PM me.

Kevin

Tangled

Kevin - thanks for your help, you cleared up everything for me. I will take you up on that offer if I need help setting up.

Bullethq - It's all cleared up with me, and as I said earlier I have no issues with Sage as an accounting package. With all due respect, I'm not going to change the accountant and financial consultant I've been using for the best part of ten years on the basis of someone online telling me anyone "rocks".