Best Software's Fixed Asset Solution Cuts Tax Prep Time by 30 Percent for Mills Corporation.

Business Editors

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2001

FAS Asset Accounting for SQL Server Enhances In-House Auditing,

Depreciation Capabilities While Maintaining Accuracy

Best Software's FAS Asset Accounting(TM) for SQL Server has helped The Mills Corporation, owner and operator of 12 retail and entertainment destinations nationwide, cut its year-end property tax and depreciation preparation time by nearly 30 percent.

With a 60 percent market share, Best's FAS(TM) solutions are the leading fixed asset and depreciation applications for mid-sized companies.

Mills, an Arlington, Va.-based, self-managed real estate investment trust, is a six-year FAS veteran. The company recently upgraded to FAS Asset Accounting for SQL Server, part of the award-winning FAS Suite(TM) for SQL Server family, which automatically creates depreciation schedules and offers 20 different methods of depreciation. It offers reliable integration with existing financial systems, extensive, flexible report generation with distributed custom reporting and is also scalable to accommodate the changing needs of growing organizations like Mills.

FAS Asset Accounting for SQL Server significantly reduced the time necessary for the company to manage the tax and accounting procedures for its 12 properties and more than 100 subsidiary companies - without any loss in accuracy, according to Jonathan Levi, vice president of information technology and telecommunications for Mills.

"The real estate industry is tax-driven," said Levi. "The financial and tax reporting capabilities of FAS make this technology an invaluable tool to my team on a daily basis. We can actually spread tax and depreciation work throughout the year instead of having to devote several weeks at year-end to calculate everything. With this time-savings, I can spend my time and attention on ways to help increase our bottom-line."

Mills has used FAS Asset Accounting for SQL Server to develop an inventory process for tracking and housing serial number data for its hardware, software and other assets at the time of purchase. With that information collected, Levi's team can now run detailed reports that are used to feed data directly into the general ledger and help determine the company's accounting and profitability decisions.

"If there is any certainty in today's marketplace, it's the ability of FAS to save financial managers time, money and energy at companies like Mills," said Chris Donie, director of FAS product marketing for Best Software. "With monthly, quarterly and year-end tax and accounting reports, most companies find it easier to outsource this entire operation. FAS enables them to maintain control of that information and save money."

About FAS

Today, managing fixed assets requires accurately tracking the comings and goings of thousands of assets spread around the office or around the world. When fixed assets are recognized as the valuable, working resources they are, they maximize cash flow and can help ward off inflated expenses and negative impacts on P&L statements. More than 30,000 financial managers have chosen Best Software's FAS solutions to handle the complex fixed asset management needs of their growing organizations.

About The Mills Corporation

The Mills Corporation is a self-managed real estate investment trust based in Arlington, Va., that owns, develops, leases, manages and markets a portfolio of 12 market-dominant retail and entertainment destinations (11 Mills and 1 Block), totaling approximately 17 million square feet in 10 states. Currently, the company has five projects under construction and/or in development in the United States, Canada and Spain. For further information, access the company's Web site at www.millscorp.com.

About Best Software

Best Software, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Sage Group plc, is a leading provider of solutions which help organizations transform the way they manage their human capital and fixed assets. With more than 50,000 customers throughout North America, it develops scalable, cost-effective solutions which complement core financial management systems and support the full spectrum of Microsoft platforms, including Windows(R) 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, BackOffice(R) and SQL Server. For further information, call 800/368-2499, send an email to [e-mail], or access our Web site at www.bestsoftware.com.

Best, Best Software and the Best logo are registered trademarks, and FAS, FAS Asset Accounting and FAS Suite are trademarks of Best Software. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.