The products we support have certainly changed hands a lot over time as has the technologies that they are based on. As we look forward to the future of accounting system we thought it would be a great time to take a stroll down memory lane and remember where our products have come from.
EasyBusiness Systems, the precursor to Accpac Plus, was developed for the CP/M operating system by Don Thompson, Ted Comfoltey, Keith Wales, and Norm Francis of Basic Software Group.
The software was distributed by Information Unlimited Software and was eventually ported to MS-DOS and the IBM-PC in 1983.
Computer Associates at the time specialised in programs for mainframes. The purchase of Information Unlimited Systems saw CA move into the micro-computing space, acquiring EasyWriter, EasySpeller, EasyPlanner, and EasyBusiness Systems.
Run as a separate business unit of Computer Associates that would eventually become known as Accpac International.
EasyBusiness Systems rebranded to Accpac Plus with the release of Version 5. By this stage there was a huge ecosystem of add on products including a report writer called Quik Reports that would eventually become known as Crystal Reports.
The name ACCPAC is an acronym for "A Complete and Comprehensive Program for Accounting Control"
The first windows version of ACCPAC ran on Windows 3.1 and was based on IBM OS/2 Desktop library that allowed for folders within an application. A conversion process existed to allow for ACCPAC Plus users to move to the new windows based system.
The original licencing system was hardware based, many early adopters will have memories of the dongle chain sticking out of the back of their PC!
Founded in 1999 in San Jose, CA, Intacct was literally one of the first accounting applications designed from the ground-up for the cloud – before everyone was even talking about the cloud.
Version 4.0 saw the development of a 32-Bit version of ACCPAC and was based on the Microsoft MFC Framework. Both the 16 and 32 Bit versions of ACCPAC could exist side by side during the transition period to 32-Bit, with the 16-Bit application completely removed in version 4.2.
ACCPAC International had been actively marketing eWare CRM as eCRM for 18 months in an OEM arrangement with eWare. After the acquisition it was relabeled ACCPAC CRM and included with 1 user for every installation of ACCPAC.
Best Software, a subsidiary of UK based software giant Sage purchases ACCPAC International from Computer Associates in 2004. Sage was already known for its business software aimed at SMBs.
Rob Verni, CEO of Best Software, at the time said "We are very excited by Accpac's hosted CRM solution because we had to either build it or buy it".
Computer Associates at the time had been focusing solely on management software and had been shedding its business applications since 2002.
A hugely popular accounting system that was known for its quick entry and expandability from third party vendors had finally had its day. The last version of Windows that ACCPAC Plus could run on was Windows XP which was officially unsupported by Microsoft in 2014.
Accsys Consulting supported ACCPAC Plus for 23 years, with our last client changing software in 2015!
After 25 years the name Accpac was finally retired as Sage renamed many of their core accounting and ERP lines. The numbering scheme was devised as a way of identifying the capabilities or sophistication of a product.
Intacct at the time of acquisition was in line with Sage CEO Steve Hare's vision to turn Sage into a SaaS company. Originally only available in the US, Sage quickly started developing functionality to allow it to be expanded into Canada, the UK, Australia, and South Africa.
Officially launched at the Sage CFO Panel event in August 2019, Australia became the first country outside of the US to have access to Sage Intacct.
Thanks for coming along for the journey, we are all looking forward to the next 30 years!
Accsys Consulting moves to a new location in Deakin
