Software company Sage has launched a foundation offering two free accountancy products to any charity, as well as grants worth around £5m a year, and five volunteering days from each of its 14,000 employees.

The Newcastle-based FTSE 100 company will launch the new foundation in October. It will operate on what it calls a “2+2+2” basis – donating 2 per cent of employee time, 2 per cent of free cash flow, and two “smart technology” products per charity or social enterprise. The company operates in 24 countries, so not all these resources will be distributed in the UK.

The foundation will not itself be a charity, but will distribute money through a charity bank account – where money is donated into an account which attracts charitable tax relief, and then distributed at the donor’s direction.

Products available include Sage One accounting software, the Sage Life collaboration tool, and Sage X3 business management software.

The model is based on that of the Salesforce Foundation, set up by another software company.

Ivan Epstein, chairman of the foundation, said: “The Sage Foundation will provide support to non-profit organisations and communities around the world by sharing the resources of Sage. We will help these organisations to create social impact by giving our time, money, expertise and technology.

“By partnering with the non-profit sector we will free organisations from operational complexity and enable them to run efficient, socially-driven organisations.”