RANA Breathes Easier with Sage Accpac

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RANA Respiratory Care Group provides medical oxygen and respiratory equipment to the hospital, home care, and mining industries. The company is also a leading provider of home respiratory and sleep diagnostic and treatment services. The company operates in four locations in Manitoba and Alberta and maintains two sleep clinics specializing in the treatment of snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Warren Massey, Vice President of technology, realized that RANA was quickly outgrowing its legacy accounting system. "We've experienced rapid growth over the past five years. Prior to this growth, we were using DOS based systems that we had in place for many years, including a crazy old accounting system that was very unstable. It was a constant struggle to keep it up and running."

"As we started to grow, we were opening new locations and adding employees," Massey explains. "It became obvious to us that we needed a new accounting system - one that could grow with us."

Evaluating Accounting Solutions

Massey researched RANA's options for new accounting systems. "We shopped around, researching different systems on the Internet. Only a few packages that met our needs were also in our price range."

During his Internet research, Massey discovered 21st Century Systems, a Winnipeg-based solution provider for Sage Accpac. He recognized immediately that 21st Century Systems would be a good partner for his objectives. "21st Century Systems was one of the vendors of choice for Sage Accpac and they were very local for us, so RANA could benefit from close support and training."

After evaluating both Sage Accpac ERP and Microsoft Dynamics GP, Massey chose Sage Accpac ERP. The system is cost-effective and offers flexible functionality and scalability for midsized companies. "We chose Sage Accpac ERP because it was more affordable and because the local support available with 21st Century Systems was superior."

The Difference Scalability Makes

Because Sage Accpac is a scalable, module-based solution, Massey was able to purchase the tools RANA needed affordably, while enjoying the flexibility to expand the systems functionality at any time. Initially, the company deployed financials - General Ledger, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. Now, they're getting ready to add Inventory Control and Purchase Orders.

"The main benefit of Sage Accpac is that regardless of how much our operations have grown and changed in the past five years, we have not had to do anything different," Massey explains. "Sage Accpac has grown right along with us. All we've had to do is add users, and work with 21st Century Systems to add custom reports or integrate new systems."

Quality Financial Reporting

With Sage Accpac in place, Massey has noticed fundamental improvements in the company's financial reporting. During the high growth period the company has been experiencing, reliable information is critical to the assessment of strategic objectives and success.

"The quality and accuracy of our financial operations has steadily improved over the years, Massey notes. "Our current reporting is leaps and bounds beyond what we could do before Sage Accpac."

21st Century Systems has helped RANA to integrate other custom databases with their Sage Accpac system. That helps Massey and his colleagues save even more time because they don't have to enter information twice. It also extends the reporting power of Sage Accpac, incorporating data that would not have been available otherwise.

Improving Inventory Control

RANA is currently working with 21st Century Systems to plan for the deployment of Sage Accpac ERP Inventory Control. The system will provide complete, integrated, multi-location inventory management that can be accessed over the Internet. RANA-Medical will benefit from real-time reporting with detailed information about quantities, prices, item locations, and sales histories.

"We have controlled our inventory by hand in the past, using manual counting. As we've grown and added more locations, this has become unmanageable," says Massey. "We're looking forward to automating inventory control so we can access real-time inventory levels, across all locations."

A Partner Who Understands the Business

Massey believes that working with 21st Century Systems was a fundamental part of RANA's success with Sage Accpac ERP. He appreciated the amount of time 21st Century Systems spent learning and understanding his business needs.

"They didn't approach our business with a preconceived notion of what solution would be right for us," Massey says. "In fact, they brought their team in after-hours to see how our business really works."

In addition to implementation services, 21st Century Systems provided training for the accounting staff, IT personnel, and the CFO. They also deliver on-going support for Massey and his team. "The people at 21st Century Systems respond right away when I need help with Sage Accpac. But it's more than that. The level of service we get from 21st Century Systems is far in excess of what we've received in the past from other consultants."