Sage is used to manage own accounts and payroll throughout the year.
This is copied onto a CD and passed onto an accountant at the end of the financial year, along with your actual accounts.
Our accountant does not deal with our day to day accounts, nor would I want him too. How can you be on top of things if you don't know where you are at any given time?
Having Sage also helps keep our accountants bill at a reasonable rate as it simplifies / speeds up the transfer of data from us to him.
As a company Sage are a bit pushy, but the product does exactly as required, so worth the cost.