I also was confused when my VAR told me I needed PrintBoss with Sage300.  I thought . . .surely Sage has functionality to allow me to print and email built in?  But my VAR was right.  Sage is very limited and I use PB for almost everything.  As to why Sage is so limited, I can't say.

thank you.  i dont know if i understand all the ways we use PrintBoss so its hard to know if Sage 300 would be sufficient enough in this case.  From the IT side of things, less is more.  But i get the power it gives your processes.

I just re-read your original questions and see that none of us really answered them.  Logical explanation for this being separate: well Sage is poor on reports and forms in general, they use Crystal Reports even for the built-in stuff.  PrintBoss the only option: not sure, but a separate component is really needed, and PB is the most popular.  Documentation: it's on Wellspring, not Sage.

MICR font is not bundled with Sage 300, and even if it were, the selected font set probably would not work with all of the various printers used with Sage 300.  Theoretically, you could purchase a MICR font set and use that in the Crystal form file, but given the low price of PrintBoss, it is well worth it - less expensive time-wise - to use PB even if it is only for printing checks to blank stock.

Thanks. Everyone offered some great info to help me form a picture of why PrintBoss exists.  In short, it appears as you said that Sage (AccPac) didn't want to invest in reporting, which does make sense to a degree.  The Crystal Reports bundling makes more sense, but i thought it odd that PrintBoss wasn't at least an official Sage add-on.  Given how Sage is gobbling everyone up, Wellspring seems like a sensible acquisition.  

Didn't know that about the MICR font.  That is also surprising to me.  Seems like check printing is just a must-have for any accounting package.  But that's just my two cents.

I would be surpised if Wellspring hasn't had offers from several companies. I'm glad Wellspring has remained independant.

I would be surpised if Wellspring hasn't had offers from several companies. I'm glad Wellspring has remained independant.

Ditto!