X3 Consulting expands the team
Jana joins the X3 Consulting team as our new Sage X3 Team Lead as part the our business growth plans for 2021 and beyond.
Jana began her journey with Sage X3 in 2008 and has a wealth of experience in implementation of the software. Jana worked initially in 9 countries in Africa, undertaking the transformation of businesses with Sage X3 implementation from 2008 until 2015 when she decided to head to the UK to further her career.
Jana is the upmost professional and has great dedication and passion for work. We hope Jana, settles into the X3 Consulting and look forward to welcoming her into our family!

Why a ‘Try’ just wasn’t enough
When Joshua Park was young, he dreamed of being a Rugby player. This is something he had played and enjoyed since being a young boy. After finishing his high school career, he was invited to join the Blue Bulls academy. One of the top rugby academies in South Africa. This was Joshua’s dream to play for the club he had supported since his childhood and now he’d been invited to play for them.
He joined the Blue Bulls amateur Squad and shortly after Joshua was selected to represent the Pumas in the Currie Cup. This would be his first ever performance on TV, supported by his friends and family, watching on live TV was a dream come true for Joshua.
Three years later and a lot more Currie Cup games for various teams and Joshua was heading to Scotland to join a rugby club in the Scottish borders called Peebles. Joshua spent the next 3 years playing rugby in and around Europe for various sides at the Top-level. This is exactly what Joshua had wanted to do since his childhood and he was living his dream of being a professional rugby player.
Then on an early morning train heading to London, Joshua knew something was missing, he was doing exactly what he dreamed of doing, yet he felt empty. This had been his dream since he was 14 years old, to play international Rugby, but the success, money and fame meant nothing if he couldn’t share his life with the one person he’d left behind in South Africa nearly 5 years ago.
Realisation hit and so Joshua left Portugal shortly after, played his last professional and decided to change his career. It was a whim of a decision and he had absolutely no idea at that stage what he was going to do. After a few years in the UK, Joshua moved back to South Africa and got engaged to his wife Margot. It is then Joshua choose to head down the path of financial systems. He joined a Consulting company, and trained in distribution, technical consulting and Sage CRM. Joshua spent the next few years expanding his skills and moved back to the UK to continue his career in financial systems, working with Netsuite, which lead him into his latest role working at X3 Consulting as a Sage X3 and Intacct business consultant.
Joshua explains “Never give up on your dream, and if your dream changes, then why not try something new.”
Accountants are calling the 2021/22 tax year, which begins on 6 April 2021, one of the busiest ever from a tax point of view.
And that’s on top of all the usual changes we might expect to occur, such as increases in tax rates.
In this article, we look at the major changes likely to affect the bottom line of your business.
Here’s what it covers:
Wage and salary changes for 2021/22
Miscellaneous taxes in 2021
Corporation tax and capital allowance changes for 2021/22
VAT rates for 2021/22
Coronavirus tax measures for 2021/22
Brexit tax changes for 2021/22
IR35 changes
Wage and salary changes for 2021/22
As usual, there are increases in minimum wage amounts, and personal tax and National Insurance allowances for 2021/22. Plus there are changes to the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage.

Minimum and living wage amounts
There are increases in the minimum wages you must pay to employees as of April 2021.
They were announced back in November 2020, following recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission in the previous month.
New to the 2021/22 tax year is that the National Living Wage is extended to 23 and 24-year-olds for the first time, having previously been limited to those aged 25 and older.
The minimum and living wage details are as follows:
- National Living Wage (for people aged 23 and over): £8.91
- National Minimum Wage for people aged 21 to 22: £8.36
- National Minimum Wage for people aged 18 to 20: £6.56
- National Minimum Wage for people under 18: £4.62
- Apprentice rate for those aged under 19, or those over this age but in the first year of their apprenticeship: £4.30
Income tax personal allowance
The personal allowance and higher-rate thresholds increase marginally with the consumer prices index (CPI) as of April 2021, up to £12,570 and £50,270 respectively for the 2021/22 tax year.
And has been much discussed in the media, they’re subsequently frozen until April 2026.
The income tax bands for the 2021/22 tax year are as follows:
- Personal allowance: Up to £12,570 (0% tax rate)
- Basic rate: £12,571 to £50,270 (20% tax rate)
- Higher rate: £50,271 to £150,000 (40% tax rate)
- Additional rate: More than £150,000 (45% tax rate)
National Insurance contributions
National Insurance contributions (NICs) rise in a similar way for 2021/22, with the Class 1 NICs (Primary Threshold/Lower Profits Limit) rising to £9,568.
However, with the exception of the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL)/Upper Profits Limit (UPL), as discussed below, this and other NICs are not pegged until 2026.
They may rise “at future fiscal events”, to quote the government’s budget announcement.
The Upper Earnings Limit (UEL)/Upper Profits Limit (UPL) rises to £50,270 to match the aforementioned higher-rate threshold for income tax. And, like that increase, it’s also pegged until April 2026.
Miscellaneous taxes in 2021
Although not directly related to business, it’s worth noting that the following personal tax allowances/thresholds not only do not increase in 2021/22, but are also frozen until April 2026:
- Inheritance tax thresholds
- Pensions lifetime allowance
- Capital gains tax annual exempt amounts.
Corporation tax and capital allowance changes for 2021/22
There’s good and bad news here, spread out across the coming years.
Corporation tax
Let’s start with the good news. There’s no increase in corporation tax for the 2021/2022 tax year, and there will almost certainly not be one in the 2022/23 tax year.
But that all changes in in April 2023, when corporation tax rises to 25% on profits over what will then be referred to as an Upper Profits Threshold of £250,000.
This is the first rise in corporation tax since 1974.
It won’t be quite so bad if your business is smaller, because there’s also now a lower threshold for corporation tax, with its own rate. Known as the Small Profits Rate, this will apply to profits under £50,000 and the rate will remain at 19% as of April 2023.
But for those with profits between £50,000 and £250,000, there will be a new tiered corporation tax rate for April 2023 onwards – however, the government has not yet revealed details of this.
Capital allowances
More good news is found in a new super-deduction capital allowance that can be used between 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2023.
This is set at 130%, and it means companies investing in qualifying new plant and machinery assets can claim back the cost as a first-year capital allowance, plus 30% on top of that. As the media has pointed out, this is like the government paying you to buy assets.
The goal is to encourage firms to invest and therefore grow.
There’s also a further capital allowance measure that can be used by investing companies, who benefit from a 50% first-year allowance for qualifying special rate (including long life) assets.
VAT rates for 2021/22
The VAT rates don’t change as of April 2021, with the exception of coronavirus relief measures discussed below aimed at hospitality sectors.
Nor does the VAT threshold change from £85,000 it’s currently set at. In fact, the government announced in the 2021 Budget that the threshold is now locked until 1 April 2024.
Coronavirus tax measures for 2021/22
We take a look at government offerings for business around coronavirus in an in-depth blog, but here’s a summary of the specific VAT changes happening in the new tax year.
The first is the reduced VAT rate of 5% for businesses in the hospitality sector.
This was launched in July 2020 and was due to end on 31 March 2021, but is once again extended – this time until 30 September 2021. Subsequent to that date, a new 12.5% rate will be applied until 31 March 2022. The 20% rate will resume from 1 April 2022.
You should take a look at our earlier blog for important notes about businesses that qualify for using this reduced rate, if you aren’t already using it.
Flat rate VAT users in the hospitality sector also get some of this attention – the flat rate scheme reductions are as follows:
- Catering services: 4.5% until 30 September 2021, and 8.5% following this until 31 March 2022.
- Hotel and accommodation: 0% until 30 September 2021, and 5.5% following this until 31 March 2022.
- Pubs: 1% until 30 September 2021, and 4% following this until 31 March 2022.
Finally, although not new in the 2021 Budget, it’s worth adding here that the government has opened the portal for the New Payment Scheme for VAT deferral amounts.
See our blog about the Winter Economy Plan for details of the New Payment Scheme.
Brexit tax changes for 2021/22
As we discuss in our free Business after Brexit guide, 1 January 2021 brought changes in the way VAT is handled for imports in the form of postponed VAT accounting.
However, none of this changes across the 2021/22 financial year. Brexit legislation doesn’t directly change any other kind of business tax.
IR35 changes
As of April 2021, there are changes for the new tax year in how medium and large businesses have to handle the tax affairs of contractors who work for them. This is officially called Intermediaries Legislation, or the off-payroll working rule.
But it’s better known by the informal title of IR35. This refers to an update message from HMRC that originally announced the rules back in 1999.
For more details you should consult our in-depth blog, but in summary IR35 is designed to identify ‘disguised employees’, also referred to as ‘deemed employees’.
These are contractors who work at a company in the same way that full-time employees do.
However, the work is defined by a contractual agreement and the contractor invoices for hours worked through a third-party intermediary.
Most often this intermediary is a personal services company (PSC).
The big change is that, as of 6 April 2021, medium and large businesses must determine if the IR35 apply to contractors they hire.
If so, they are required to pay a Deemed Employment Payment – essentially, ensuring the contractor pays the same amount of tax compared to a regular employee.
Final thoughts regarding the new tax year
The forthcoming financial year is interesting from a business tax perspective, with the government limiting hard-hitting measures yet making it clear that there’s a bill to pay for ongoing coronavirus relief measures and disruption.
This bill will be paid in the financial years after 2021/22, and prudent businesses will use the wait until then to get their affairs in order so they’re in the best possible position to be ready for when that time comes.
Download your free guides from Sage here : https://www.sage.com/en-gb/blog/new-tax-year/
X3 Consulting have again chosen to support Macmillan Cancer and raise money for the incredible work they do with cancer sufferers by taking part in the UK Mighty Hike program; a series of one day marathon distance hiking events around some of the most beautiful parts of the UK.
In 2021 we’re going to be doing the Lake District Mighty Hike taking in the breathtaking scenery of Ullswater as head from Dalemain House around the southern tip of the lake, and up to Lowther Castle.
If you would like to donate to our JustGiving page please click the link here.

Sage has published a Total Economic Impact (TEI) report on Sage X3 created by Forrester. The seventeen-page report uses the standard TEI methodology developed by Forrester to analyse the benefits, costs and risks associated with using Sage X3 in a global mid-sized composite company based primarily in the US and EMEA. The findings are based on nine in-depth interviews with companies that have used Sage X3 for more than three years.
The financial benefits
The report looks at the quantified financial benefits across a range of departments. In total, the composite organisation realised a risk-adjusted present value benefit of $2,366,986. This was broken down further by function with the top three benefits by value as:
- Sales Management – sales discount savings $559,542
- Purchasing – materials and productivity savings – $528,456
- Inventory Management – reduced inventory levels $367,059
The report then breaks down each of these savings analysing how they were achieved and justifying the figures used. The Sales Management discount was calculated from the benefits that Sage X3 delivers through a centralised discounting approval process. With a centralised control of discount approval, organisations can ensure that guidelines are followed, and local discounting does not breach guidelines. This is perhaps the hardest number for Forrester to justify. Discounting can adversely impact baseline sales (Kopalle, Mela and Marsh).
Forrester is basing the figure on annual revenues of $125 million with discount avoidance levels of 0.2%. There is no reflection on if the more uniform discounting impacts revenue. It is also not clear from the report whether this saving is based on any statistical model or just an assumption. Did Forrester simplify the composite revenue number to show no growth over three years? A similar TEI report (registration required) about NetSuite indicated significant growth for the composite organisation across three years.
The savings for purchasing are better evidenced, though Forrester still uses some assumptions. Global pricing that Sage X3 can help manage and a reduction in FTEs annually make up this figure. Inventory Management benefits are probably the best quantified. The organisation saw a 12% reduction in average inventory levels (for some inventory) and a reduction in headcount. The report is comprehensive, yet when analysed, deeper does not seem to fully evidence all of the findings.
Other benefits
While the main focus is the financial benefits, it is the qualitative benefits that may hold greater interest. These benefits include:
- Workflow Automation enables the creation of alerts and notification that enable employees to work by exception. It makes jobs more efficient, as employees do not need to spend so much time reviewing and can spend more time taking actions and thereby make a difference
- Streamlining document management with documents ingested into Sage X3 means employees across an organisation can see the same version of a document quickly. This reduces paper costs and decreases error rates. There is no financial saving analysis of either of these in the report.
- Highlighted but not investigated are the benefits of Sage X3 working on mobile devices and the benefits of a centralised solution through M&A activity. There are several other benefits mentioned but not expanded upon in the report.
For example, benefits from implementing the manufacturing module include: “accessing manufacturing transactions and inventory in real-time with more accurate inventories and production schedules”. Other benefits also accrue from this simple statement: time saved from not having to do the monthly stock take, efficiency savings from using an online system rather than paper-based, both in terms of time and accuracy. One of the problems of taking a generic organisation is that some companies will adopt bar code scanners and mobile technology to drive greater savings. While some of this technology is mentioned, its use is not analysed.
Costs and Risks
The report also analyses the costs associated with deploying and maintaining Sage X3. As an aggregated example, it is interesting in that it shows the potential costs of deploying and maintaining an ERP solution. While the total NPV amount is $756,397, this will vary considerably. The sample organisations interviewed ranged across different industries and employee numbers from 50 to 900. Forrester calculates that an ROI is delivered within the first six months with a total ROI over three years of 213%. It caveats this by noting that most organisations would expect to receive payback within six to 12 months.
Paul Struthers, Executive Vice President for Medium Segment, Sage, commented: “For industries that typically operate on low margins, technology investment must come with a rapid and significant ROI. As businesses navigate the new normal, they will increasingly seek ways to make their operations more agile, optimised, and efficient – Sage X3 is an ideal foundation for just this.
Disappointingly Forrester only highlights the risks associated with its financial analysis. There is no separate category that looks at any risks associated with the project and whether these were mitigated.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
The TEI methodology does provide a uniform way of analysing the benefits of ERP solutions. Without further details of how Forrester reached all of its numbers, it is hard to challenge or validate many of the figures used. However, the high-level findings from the report appear valid. Costing savings due to a reduction in FTEs is more straightforward to validate than some of the savings used.
The report also highlights some of the competitive advantages that Sage X3 offers. Notably the ability to deploy on-premise or in the cloud. One customer, a technology manager, noted: “The biggest advantage with Sage X3 was additional flexibility and on-premises installation, whereas other vendors were pushing for cloud services. On-premises was our preference, and Sage X3 was instrumental in its support.”
This also means that savings as a result of a cloud deployment are not analysed. The world is likely going to adopt cloud more fully in the coming months, partly as a result of the pandemic and lockdown. In virtually ignoring it, Sage has left itself open to criticism from other vendors. The diverse nature of the companies involved in creating this report is also a weakness. While it demonstrates the flexibility of the Sage X3 solution, it also makes the findings less relevant.
Prospect of Sage will find some findings interesting. It includes understanding the possible savings that they could achieve and the likely costs of any solution. Most importantly, what functions areas they need to consider as part of any project and what changes they can make. This latter point applies regardless of whether any ERP solution is implemented. Tighter control of discounting is an issue for many companies apparently. If there are savings to realise there, perhaps sales and finance need to first validate whether they have an issue.
The right partner is key for successfully implementing and supporting your Sage X3 solution. Whether you’re looking for a new ERP solution or migrating from another platform we’re here to help. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you contact a member of our team on info@x3consulting.com or you can complete the contact form on the contact us page and we’ll come back to you shortly.
SOURCE: Enterprise Times: https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2020/07/23/sage-x3-can-deliver-a-213-roi-within-three-years/
With ever-growing pressure to digitise processes and provide the best experience for customers, organisations are struggling to deliver. Many digital initiatives are failing due to siloed ERP solutions, legacy operational systems, and processes.
Digital initiatives fail without the right operational systems and processes, and many enterprise resource planning (ERP) initiatives have failed to deliver on their promises due to lack innovation in the software. Today, we see the beginning of a new era of operational systems that are so different that calling them ERP no longer makes sense. We call them the digital operations platform (DOP) to reflect their Agile, AI-based, and experience-driven nature and the critical role they play in digital business. Application development and delivery (AD&D) pros must adopt the DOP to achieve digital business success.
This article will highlight the importance of finding an innovative partner to implement an ERP system capable of leading your business into the future:
- The reason most current ERP approaches are failing to deliver the speed, flexibility, and intelligence necessary for the digital era
- The need for a bold digital approach leveraging a low-code platform to achieve scalability and real organisational success
- The critical role of an agile, AI-based, and experience-driven digital operations platform
To succeed with a DOP, AD&D businesses must:
- Stop spending money to enhance a dying and outdated system. Think about your ERP system like your car. Would you spend thousands to put in a new engine if the metal was starting to rust? And what if the warranty was expiring? Incremental ERP investments may also mean that you’re still driving an old car while your competition is winning the race in a new one.
- Build the business case on economics, not emotions. ERP decision makers often let emotional and political factors get in the way of thinking clearly about real costs. Many businesses worry about asking for new budget and resources for a major ERP overhaul — especially if they’ve only recently completed their last one. Keep basic economics in mind: The sunk costs are spent and cannot be changed regardless of any future decision. Build your business case on factors that matter for digital business: namely, speed and experience. Make sure that you measure business ROI, not technology ROI.
The ERP market has undergone significant consolidation but little real disruption in the enterprise segment in the past 20 years. Now, with new pressures on business results and experience, we expect to see the digitalisation coming, and coming very soon.
If you’d like to discuss upgrading from your legacy system from one of the leading providers of ERP software, Sage X3, get in touch and speak to a member of our team 0845 094 3885.
Sage released version 12 for Sage X3 back in 2019. This article will highlight the key improvements brought from version 11 to version 12.
With the new responsive design the navigation is easier, so you can easily locate essential menu items such as:
- Real-time custom dashboards for certain business functions;
- Agile workflows that enable you to accelerate business management;
- Data and process requests;
- Frequently used tabs with quick access via bookmarks;
- Main modules and functions with simple site map lookup.
New Cloud Service Possibilities
The cloud service on Sage X3 allows you to choose from Private Cloud and Public Cloud applications with customisation tailored to your needs.
Sage’s new solution is enhanced by APIs that are designed to streamline integrations with industry solutions. Developers and customers can now connect third party applications with the solution, for further automatisation in processes and connections.
Financial
Sage X3 Version 12 gives users access to additional reporting features, increasing your business’s financial insight with data from across your whole organisation that is available immediately. These features include reports on suppliers, customers, GL account journals, and balances.
Electronic Signatures and Journal Traceability
The un-falsifiable signatures help improve the security of your sales and posting transactions. Journal traceability has been improved and meets the latest audit requirements.
Additional Reports
New reports on suppliers, customers, account journals and balances so you can perform your financial analysis with readily available data.
Distribution
License Plate Management
Easily track containers and logistics units (pallets, drums, boxes, etc.) in all the distribution process and get detailed information about the life cycle of each product. Users can additionally manage logistics and track key information for a group of items with a single lot or license plate number, driving efficiency across the supply chain.
Distribution Flexibility
Version 12 has improvements to EDI sales, costing, invoicing and purchasing functionality. Sales and Procurement benefit from items such as:
- Default supplier per product site
- Non-invoice deliveries
- Auto update to project dimensions on sales/purchase documents
- Scheduled invoice generation
- Registered Export System (REX) identification exports outside EU
- Stock receipt valuation and costing enhancements
- EDI: XML generation
Manufacturing
Easily identify dependencies between work orders and raw material availability to improve planning and capacity to promise.
Non-Conformance Functionality
Implement continuous improvement programs by identifying issues, adjusting and then following up on previously identified issues. “Nonconformity” can be identified as an error in a service, product or process. Sage X3 now facilitates rapid creation of nonconformity and defines, monitors, and verifies corrective actions required.
Waiting Time Scheduling
Schedule the standby time or uptime over a 24-hour period to record events such as machine cooling or other downtime.
Production Management
Mass replacement and deletion within Versioning reducing overhead of maintaining Bills of Material versions. Coupled with improvements to the versioning process of being able to add/update and remove critical changes to revisions.
New Production Scheduler (product release imminent) designed to provide closer integration and functionality to support a broader industry use.
Weigh scale improvements to deliver greater pharmaceutical compliance.
Project Management
Get a clear view of your projects and easily review project trends and performance with snapshots functionality. Other features included:
Automation Tools – Simplify and accelerate stock allocations and budgets in project management with integrated automation;
Labour Time Tracking – Record the time required and get an overview of the capability of the feature by color coding.
Sage X3 Version 12 not only equips you with all the latest features and functionality discussed above, but ensures that you are on a version of the software that is actively supported and developed by Sage. Those who are using Version 9 or below (V6, V7, PU8 or PU9), should speak to their support partner about upgrading.
At X3 Consulting, we have successfully helped many of our customers upgrade from legacy versions of Sage X3 to current versions. Our tried and tested approach using our own scoping software Trax3ion ensures a seamless move from your current solution, to the modern version. Get in touch with the team today to find out more nick.tucker@x3consulting.com.
The major disruption caused by coronavirus has prompted many companies to think about business continuity. What happens when staff can’t get to work or if a key member of the leadership team becomes ill?
How will you cope if a major client or supplier announces they’re shutting down for the next few weeks? Having a strategy ready to handle these challenges is essential.
More generally, though, in these times of economic and political uncertainty, and sector disruptors, it’s a good idea to have a business continuity plan ready to go, for all kinds of circumstances.
This could cover a fire at your offices, a flood, a power cut, supply chain issues, or a major IT outage.
Very often, though, this essential part of a company’s business strategy is missing as leaders focus on more immediate and productive issues.
According to a survey published by Mercer, a global consultancy firm, more than half of companies (51%) around the world have no plans in place to combat a global emergency.
The good news, though, is that a business continuity plan, also known as an organisational resilience strategy, isn’t as difficult to devise and implement as many people might think.
The knowledge that the business has regularly updated contingencies in place can be good for staff morale as well as reassuring clients and investors.
How to create a business continuity plan
So, how do you write and implement a plan for this kind of situation? Start by assessing your risk.
A well written business continuity plan includes contributions from every part of the company, including the people on the shop floor.
Operational staff – those working at the coal face of the business – often have the most important inputs, based on their practical experience.
Allocate roles
You’ll need to allocate roles for both the researching and writing of the report and the implement of the procedures.
Getting input from throughout the company will ensure your staff are not only familiar with your plan but they also buy into it.
Identify risks
As well as issues such as fire, flood, electrical failure, building closures, staff sickness and IT problems such as cyber-attacks, identify the risks that are relevant to your particular sector. Talking to other companies in the same industry and contacting your industry body will help with your research here.
Then think about the impact of a threat and balance it with the likeliness of it actually happening.
A plane crashing into your building during working hours, for instance, would be catastrophic but it’s very unlikely. At the other end of the scale, a much-used printer suddenly grinding to a halt could easily happen but it’s hardly a disaster.
Focus on the risks that are quite likely to happen and that would also have a serious impact.
Calculating the cost to per hour, per day and per week to your business of each department being out of action will help you to prioritise procedures to support them.
Focus on policies and resources
Your business continuity plan will have two elements. The first part consists of the arrangements, measures and policies that you’ll put into practice should your business be hit with a crisis.
The second constituent is the resources. This involves the personnel, the spread of information internally and externally, as well as the facilities, equipment, legal support and funding for effective business continuation.
As well as threats, consider your key business areas and prioritise them. Identify tolerable downtimes too. In other words, how many hours or days, for instance, could the business manage without IT support or a major warehouse that is suddenly no longer operational?
Split your services
It’s a good idea to divide your services into three categories.
Essential or vital services should be up and running again within 48 hours of the crisis hitting. Category two – important services – might have a target of two to five days.
Meanwhile, in the third category, non-essential services could be allowed eight to 10 days before they’re working again.
Look at your organisational structure and identify the interdependencies in the company – if one department is out of action, how will this impact on others?
Clarify roles
Assemble your team, both for writing your plan and for its implementation. Business continuity is everyone’s responsibility but you’ll need specific people to adopt specific roles.
It’s also important to be clear on lines of authority and reporting. Will a member of your emergency team, for instance, have authority over the head of a department when the plan swings into action?
You need to clarify this point before you’re forced to implement your business continuity plan.
Usually a member of the senior management team will lead and coordinate both writing and preparation but also implementation. A programme coordinator can help by managing budgets and people.
It’s also a good idea to have someone responsible for managing information about the crisis and how the plan to mitigate the situation is being implemented.
They’ll probably work closely with your HR people for internal communications and your PR agency or marketing people to talk to customers, suppliers, shareholders, regulators and others.
Depending on the size of your company, it might be useful to assemble a small committee drawn from representatives from the various departments.
Clear goals and actions to take
The finished plan should clearly state the overall goals in any particular crisis situation, be that keeping financial losses to about 80%, fulfilling two thirds of customer orders on time, moving employees to a remote working setup, or getting the business fully operational again in two weeks.
Looking at your balance sheet, your profit and loss, and other financial indicators will help to guide you here.
However, when the IT system first fails or when staff are told to leave the office urgently and go home because of a virus, their immediate concerns will not be the long-term strategy but what they have to do in the next hour or so.
It’s important, therefore, to differentiate between the ultimate goals and strategy on the one hand immediate action to be taken on the other.
A simple, clear list of actions to take for each department should come first in any manuals and communication.
Testing and revising your plan
The temptation once a business continuity plan has been written is to put it into file and tick it off the to-do list. However, it needs to be circulated for comment from all parts of the business and then constantly updated.
As the company and the wider trading environment change, so the plan must change too.
It should also be regularly put into practice. Every six months or so it’s a good idea to run a simulation.
This can just take a matter of hours and it allows staff to become familiar with and the company’s plan as well as providing an opportunity for them to give feedback on it.
The Business Continuity Institute and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development both have more information on how to create a plan to manage coronavirus and other threats.
Conclusion
It’s often said that crisis and opportunity are two sides of the same coin.
The rapidly growing threat that coronavirus presents to all businesses provides an opportunity to create or update your plan in order to protect your business and your staff – whatever fate might throw at you.
Embracing Change at Speed
Sage X3 provides faster, more intuitive, and better tailored solutions than conventional ERP for organisations looking to retain their competitive advantage by increasing their agility and embracing change.
New Enhancements, Capabilities and Services to Grow Your Business
Whether managing complex processes, address compliance requirements, trading domestically or globally, Sage delivers a range of comprehensive set of capabilities allowing you to manage your business, processes and people. In addition, Version 12 offers some key capabilities such as:
- New cloud offerings and services providing unrivalled levels of choice for all businesses regardless of complexity of size
- Responsive user experience to allow users to work on a variety of different devices regardless of the type or size of the device
- Tax declaration framework to continue supporting our customers across 80+ countries around the world
Sage empowers your business with industry-specific business management solutions designed to meet the unique needs of your industry.

Manufacturing Operations
Easily identify dependencies between work orders and raw material availability to improve planning and capacity to promise.
Project Management (PJM) enhancements focused on financial control, budget management and snapshot management. This allows for improved cost management and better control of project profitability.
Distribution Operations
Manage logistics and track key information for a group of items with a single number driving efficiency across the supply chain.
Support continuous improvement programs by identifying issues, adjusting and then following up on previously identified problems allowing businesses to reduce costs and improve customer experience.
Cloud Service Offerings
Delivery of world class cloud capabilities offering customers unrivalled choice.
Service offerings include Single-tenant solution-as-a-service (SaaS), Single- tenant platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and multi-tenant SaaS running on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Customer First Experiences
New responsive design framework will allow users to work on a variety of different devices regardless of the type or size of the device. It provides a page layout that adapts automatically to the size of the screen.
Connected Ecosystem
Introduction of new GraphQL API framework and Data Integration API to enable the connected ecosystem with flexibility and ease.
Global Compliance & Finance
Enhancements in multiple geographies supporting updated and new compliance requirements.
Updates to key day-to-day operations including bank statement reconciliation, automated journal creation and enhanced traceability.
Non-Conformance Management
The new Non-Conformance capabilities allow organizations to implement continuous improvement programs by identifying issues, adjusting and then following up on previously identified issues.
Tax Declaration Framework
Enhancements in multiple geographies supporting updated and new compliance requirements across Australia, France, Germany, North America, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.
License Plate Management
Manage logistics and track key information for a group of items with a single number driving efficiency across the supply chain.
If you are ready to take the next step in upgrading your software and want to find out more about Sage X3, get in touch and we would be happy to discuss your requirements and offer an on-line demonstration off the product. Contact our team on 0845 0943885.