Barclays and Sage partner to cut admin burden for SMEs

Barclays and Sage have announced a strategic partnership to help small and mid-sized businesses reduce administrative workload and improve financial oversight.

The collaboration brings together Barclays’ business banking services with Sage’s accounting and payroll technology, aiming to simplify day-to-day financial management.

Research from Sage shows small business owners lose an average of 24 working days each year to financial administration, highlighting the scale of the challenge.

The partnership is designed to address this by providing integrated digital tools that reduce time spent on routine tasks and improve visibility over business finances.

It will also support businesses as Making Tax Digital for Income Tax expands, helping them keep pace with changing regulatory requirements.

Abdul Qureshi, head of business banking at Barclays, said: “Small business owners consistently tell us that they are spending too much time on administration and not enough time growing their businesses. By partnering with Sage, we are bringing trusted banking and accounting tools closer together to simplify day-to-day financial management and unlock capacity.

As Making Tax Digital expands, this partnership will help our customers stay on top of their obligations whilst focussing on what matters most – running and growing their business.”

Gordon Stuart, SVP of fintech and embedded services at Sage, said: “Small businesses want technology that makes running their business simpler, not more complicated. Working with Barclays, we are taking steps to bringing banking and accounting closer together to reduce that burden and give owners a clearer picture of their finances. This will help small businesses get hold of the tools they actually need.”