The Evolution of Sun Accounts
1980: Sun Accounts is developed in the UK by Systems Union.
1990: High uptake by FTSE100 companies with offices around the world ensures Sun Accounts software is established as an internationally favoured solution and recognised as “perhaps the best financial system in the world”. Sun Accounts becomes the choice of companies seeking a fast implementation with a good total cost of ownership.
1990s: Sun Accounts, with its emphasis on complex financial requirements, finds a great fit in sectors where the core business is catered for by a dedicated solution. For example in Hospitality, where a property management solution looks after the operational side of the business, or a Financial Services company where operations are managed within the appropriate system, whether it be an insurance, banking or trading system. For the same reason, Sun Accounts also finds a natural home across several key sectors including Not-For-Profit, Oil & Gas, Professional Services and Property Development and Management companies such as housing associations.
1992: A major turning point in the history of Sun is the launch of Version 4, introducing support for relational database management systems (RDBMS).
1995: Version 4.2 incorporates the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface (GUI).
1999: Sun Accounts reaches Version 4.2.6, which is adopted by the vast majority of customers.
2000: Sun Accounts Version 5.1 is released, bringing with it a modern user interface and the introduction of many long-wished-for features.
2004: Systems Union brings out Version 5.2.1, which begins to outsell the long-favoured Version 4 for new customers.
2006: Infor announces it is acquiring Systems Union Group, providing a strong commitment to existing users. Both Version 4 and the latest release are guaranteed to be supported indefinitely, providing companies on support were still paying maintenance. Infor also announces its vision for Sun Accounts Version 6, to incorporate a web interface.
2007-2009: Versions 5.3 and 5.4.1 continue the development of Sun Accounts software, adding functionality, refreshing the user interface and ensuring the underlying architecture is kept updated in line with Microsoft releases.
2011: Version 6 (6.1.1) is released in 2011, featuring the long-awaited web user interface whilst retaining support for the traditional desktop client.
2014: Version 6.2.1 enhances the much-loved analysis structure, allowing 35 pieces of analysis to be tagged on each transaction’s analysis dimension. For example on a cost centre, users can now attribute a manager, location, budget, relevant dates or another category, enabling further reporting granularity.
2019: Version 6.4 of Sun Accounts is released, bringing with it support for automatic intercompany postings and a web-first development strategy. This enables true cloud deployment with full access available over the web, including support for reporting through Q&A11.3.
2022: SunSystems Cloud is released and comes with exciting new benefits. It’s a multi-tenant cloud platform, enabling Infor to offer SunSystems on a larger scale. With it, users can now enjoy the full benefits of a true SaaS platform that is secure and cost-effective. SunSystems Cloud comes with automatic updates and a new subscription pricing model which makes it possible for users to get all the modules at one price.
As of today: Sun Accounts is used by over 9,000 organisations globally across 190 countries. Infor remains strongly committed to the development of the product with over 100 developers involved in working on the future of Sun Accounts.
To find out more about Sun Accounts and how we can help assist your organisation to make better business decisions, get in touch with FinanSys today.