Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

7xPDF covers for Mike:Layout 1 15/1/07 14:53 Page 7
Sage 50
Accounts
User Guide
Line50.book Page 2 Tuesday, July 22, 2008 10:21 AM
Copyright
Sage (UK) Limited, 2008. All rights reserved
If this documentation includes advice or information relating to any matter other than
using Sage software, such advice or information is provided for information purposes
only. While Sage takes responsible steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness
of such information, it can only be general in nature. You should therefore take
appropriate steps to ensure it is correct and relevant to your circumstances. You
should also consider taking professional advice when appropriate, for example to
ensure that the results obtained from using the software comply with statutory
requirements.
No part of this documentation may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated,

microfilmed, or otherwise duplicated on any medium without prior written consent of
Sage (UK) Limited, publisher of this work.
Use of the software described in this documentation is subject to Sage (UK) Limited's
Licence Agreement enclosed with, or displayed by, that software.
Sage, the Sage logo, and other Sage logos and brands are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Sage (UK) Limited, or its holding company, The Sage
Group PLC. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.
Sage (UK) Limited

North Park
Newcastle upon Tyne NE13 9AA
Issue date: 30/06/2008
Pbn No: 13639
Read This First

This document is the Sage 50 Accounts User Guide. It is intended to be read by all users of the
Sage 50 Accounts software, and is designed to guide users through all the tasks associated
with installing, setting up, and running the system.
The guide is divided into a number of chapters, which fall into logical groups.
The first two chapters are concerned with installation and helping you get started using the
software. They are intended mainly for new users.
Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts
This chapter describes how to install the software onto your PC, how to register it, and the
support and training options available to you.
Getting Started with Sage 50 Accounts
This chapter describes how to access the software for the first time and how to use the
demonstration data to get used to the way in which the system works. It also provides a
guided tour of the Sage 50 Accounts desktop.
This chapter also gives you an overview of the tasks involved in setting up Sage 50
Accounts ready for use, and a description of the administrative and maintenance tasks
which need to be carried out from time-to-time to help keep it running smoothly.
The next three chapters describe how to set up Sage 50 Accounts. New users will need to carry
out the tasks described in these chapters in order to provide the software with the information
it needs to satisfy the accounting needs of your organisation. Existing users will carry out these
tasks from time-to-time, to help keep their information up-to-date.
Setting up Sage 50 Accounts
This chapter describes how you define various system settings, preferences and defaults.
Setting up your Chart of Accounts
This chapter describes how to set up and maintain a chart of accounts.
Setting up Records
This chapter describes the tasks involved in maintaining records, including nominal
accounts, bank accounts, customers and suppliers, products, and projects.
Chapters 6 to 12 cover the full range of accounting tasks. You will only need to carry out those
tasks which are appropriate to your organisation. The content of each of these chapters is
designed to match the way in which the functionality of the software is divided into modules.
Company Tasks
Company tasks include: prepayments and accruals, managing fixed assets, preparing
Intrastat declarations and VAT returns, entering scale charges, carrying out month end and
year end processing, entering journals, and clearing down and compressing old data.
Banking Tasks
Banking tasks include: recording receipts, payments, transfers, reconciling accounts,
creating and processing recurring transactions, and managing petty cash.
Customer Tasks
These include: setting pricing and discounts, handling quotations and proformas, sales
order processing, handling invoices, dealing with recurring transactions, receiving
customer payments, and managing credit notes.
Supplier Tasks
These include: supplier pricing, processing purchase orders, entering invoices, payments,
and credit notes.
Product Tasks (Stock)
These include: stock taking, recording adjustments in and out, handling shortfalls and
stock returns, managing bills of materials, and allocating and issuing stock.
Project Tasks
Project tasks include: setting up a project, applying costs, working with purchase orders,
enquiries, analysis and reporting, billing the customer, and completing the project.
Reporting
Sage 50 Accounts provides a wide range of financial and management reports.
The final group of chapters describes particular tasks, which can be performed using Sage 50
Accounts but which may not be required by all companies. These include:
Support Tools
Support tools are options and utilities designed to save you time, so that you spend less
time entering data and more time running your business.
Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts
This chapter contains information on how to handle foreign currency accounts and
transactions in Sage 50 Accounts, and includes the use of the Foreign Trader feature and
the Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard.
Recording Opening Balances
If you are a new user of Sage 50 Accounts, you will need to enter a series of opening
balances. This chapter takes you through the process of entering your opening balances,
from gathering a list of your opening figures to entering the opening balances on your
nominal, bank, customer, supplier and product records.
Other Sage 50 Accounts documentation

In addition to this User Guide, the following user documentation is also provided, both on your
CD and in the software from the Help Menu:
Introduction to Accounts
Use this guide to explore and understand the fundamentals of double-entry bookkeeping,
and learn about key accounting concepts.
Sage 50 Accounts Opening Balances
With this guide you can explore the process of entering your opening balances.
Sage 50 Accounts Credit Control
The Credit Control features within the software are fully described, providing you with all
the tools to manage customer and supplier debt and optimise your cash flow.
Sage 50 Accounts for Charities
This guide explains how to tailor Sage 50 Accounts for a non-profit making organisation.
It focuses particularly on fund analysis and SORP reporting.
Getting Started with Excel Integrated Reporting for Sage 50 Accounts
This guide aims to introduce the basic concepts of integrating Microsoft Excel with your
Sage 50 Accounts data.
Transaction Email
This guide explains how to set up, register, and use Transaction Email, which allows you to
send and receive paperless invoices and orders.
Sage 50 Accounts Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)
The Sage 50 Accounts CIS module is designed for anyone, who carries out construction
work in the UK as a contractor, and is registered to the Construction Industry Scheme
(CIS). The guide describes the features of the CIS module, and how it is integrated with
Sage 50 Accounts.
The information provided in these guides is intended to complement the material provided by
this document, the main Sage 50 Accounts guide.
These documents are supplied in electronic format, as .PDF files, and are available as options
from the menu displayed when you start installation of Sage 50 Accounts and, after installation,
from the Sage 50 Accounts Help menu option.
We hope you will find the documentation comprehensive. If you want to send us your
comments, please email the Sage SBD Documentation Team at
SageR&DTechnicalAuthors@sage.com.
Instructions in This Guide

Sage 50 Accounts is a fully Windows compatible product, which means that all the usual
windows elements are used. This User Guide also uses the same terminology and instruction
conventions that are used in your Windows User Guide. So, if you are familiar with Windows,
you will already know how to navigate around your Sage 50 Accounts software. If you are not,
the basic elements of Windows are described in this chapter.
This guide takes you through many different procedures, step-by-step, such as recording a
payment or running a report. To make it easy for you to follow, these instructions are written
using the following conventions. For example, a step by step procedure always starts in the
same format and continues as a series of numbered steps, as shown below.
Examples
1. Select Customers > Invoice List.
Note: This instruction should be read as "select the 'abc' module from the navigation
bar on the left hand side of the window and then select the 'xyz' Task or Link option".
2. Select a record you want to delete from the Records list.
3. Click Delete.
Note: If during a procedure you are asked to type specific text into a box, this text is
always shown in boldface, as shown in step 3 below.
4. In the Command Line text box type d:\setup.exe and then press ENTER.
If you are required to press a specific key on the keyboard, this key is shown in CAPITAL
LETTERS. You will notice that the key you needed to press in step 3 above, the ENTER key,
is written in capital letters.
Italic text is generally used to refer you to other sections of the guide, for example:
5. To print your VAT Return, click Print. For more information, see Managing your VAT on
page 249.
Contents
Read This First.................................................................................................iii
Instructions in This Guide................................................................................ vi
Chapter 1: Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts ......................................... 1
Introduction to Sage 50 Accounts....................................................................2
Installation........................................................................................................3
The ActiveSetup Wizard...................................................................................4
Registering Sage 50 Accounts.......................................................................18
About SageCover ..........................................................................................18
SageCover Online Support ............................................................................19
sage.co.uk & sage.ie......................................................................................19
Sage Training .................................................................................................19
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Sage 50 Accounts .......................... 21
Accessing Sage 50 Accounts ........................................................................22
The Practice Data Mode ................................................................................23
Using Sage 50 Accounts Demonstration Data ...............................................26
The Sage 50 Accounts Desktop ....................................................................27
Sage 50 Accounts Window Types..................................................................32
Using the Search to Find Records..................................................................52
Finding Transactions ......................................................................................57
Using ActiveSearch........................................................................................59
Function Keys ................................................................................................60
An Overview to Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts ...............................................64
Administrative / Maintenance Tasks ...............................................................65
Chapter 3: Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts ......................................... 85
Setting the Financial Year ...............................................................................86
The Configuration Editor ................................................................................87
Entering Your Company Preferences............................................................109
Entering Your Bank Defaults.........................................................................133
Entering Customer Defaults .........................................................................134
Ageing Transactions in Sage 50 Accounts ...................................................137
Entering Supplier Defaults ............................................................................142
Entering Product Defaults ............................................................................144
Entering Invoice and Order Defaults .............................................................147
Setting Up Users .........................................................................................161
Sage 50 Accounts User Guide
Chapter 4: Setting Up your Chart of Accounts ............................... 163

Setting Up your Chart of Accounts...............................................................164
Adding a Chart of Accounts.........................................................................167
Editing your Chart of Accounts ....................................................................169
Checking your Chart of Accounts ................................................................170
Deleting a Chart of Accounts .......................................................................172
Copying a Chart of Accounts .......................................................................172
Chapter 5: Setting Up Records ........................................................ 173
Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained............................................................174
The Nominal Account Structure ...................................................................179
Control Accounts .........................................................................................180
Entering Nominal Records ...........................................................................182
Editing Nominal Records..............................................................................186
Deleting Nominal Records............................................................................187
Viewing Nominal Account Activity ................................................................187
Entering Bank Account Records ..................................................................190
Editing a Bank Record .................................................................................193
Deleting a Bank Record ...............................................................................193
Planning your Customer and Supplier Codes...............................................194
Entering Customer and Supplier Records ....................................................195
Deleting Customer Records .........................................................................200
Deleting Supplier Records............................................................................200
Setting Up Your Product List........................................................................201
Creating a Product Record ..........................................................................201
Editing a Product Record .............................................................................206
Deleting a Product Record ...........................................................................206
Setting Up Project Records
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................207
Setting Up Your Fixed Asset Records
Chapter 6: Company Tasks ............................................................. 219
Prepayments
Accruals
Budgeting in Sage 50 Accounts...................................................................226
Working With Fixed Assets ..........................................................................235
Preparing Intrastat Declarations ...................................................................239
Contents
Managing your VAT......................................................................................249

Carrying Out Your Month End ......................................................................285
Running the Year End ..................................................................................300
Recording a Journal Entry............................................................................308
Clearing the Audit Trail .................................................................................318
Clearing Stock Transactions.........................................................................323
Compressing Your Data ...............................................................................323
Chapter 7: Banking Tasks ................................................................ 325
Recording a Bank Receipt ...........................................................................326
Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card Payment ........................................331
Recording a Transfer....................................................................................343
Reconciling Your Bank Account ...................................................................345
Creating and Processing Recurring Transactions .........................................353
Viewing Bank Transaction Activity ................................................................364
Managing Your Petty Cash...........................................................................366
Chapter 8: Customer Tasks ............................................................. 367
Pricing and Discounts ..................................................................................368
Customer Pricing .........................................................................................369
Proformas
Quotations
Sales Order Processing
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................404
Entering an Invoice ......................................................................................437
Posting an Invoice........................................................................................470
Dealing with Recurring Transactions ............................................................471
Receiving Customer Payments ....................................................................477
Entering a Credit Note .................................................................................479
Deductions
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only) ..........................................480
Deleting Invoices and Credit Notes ..............................................................483
Viewing a Customers Transaction Activity....................................................485
Customer Refunds.......................................................................................487
Sage Payment Solutions Pay by Card Facility ..............................................488
Chapter 9: Supplier Tasks ................................................................ 495
Supplier Price Lists
Processing Purchase Orders

Entering an Invoice from a Supplier ..............................................................533
Supplier Payment Control ............................................................................536
Supplier Reports ..........................................................................................543
Recording a Suppliers Credit Note ..............................................................543
Viewing Supplier Transaction Activity............................................................543
Supplier Refunds .........................................................................................545
Chapter 10: Product Tasks (Stock) .................................................. 547
A Note on Product Valuation in Sage 50 Accounts.......................................548
Recording a Stock Take ...............................................................................549
Adjusting Stock Levels by Recording an Adjustment In or Out .....................551
Stock Shortfall
Viewing Product Activity...............................................................................554
Bill of Materials
Recording Stock Returns
Allocating Stock
Issuing Allocated Stock
Chapter 11: Project Tasks
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only) ........................... 573
An Introduction to Project Costing ...............................................................574
Who Can Use Project Costing?....................................................................574
The Life Cycle of a Project ...........................................................................575
The Project Life Cycle in Sage 50 Accounts .................................................575
Setting Up Project Costing...........................................................................577
Starting Up a Project....................................................................................581
Applying Project Costs.................................................................................588
Viewing Project Activity ................................................................................592
Working with Purchase Orders
(Accounts Professional only) ........................................................................595
Project Enquiries, Analysis and Reporting ....................................................597
Billing Your Customer for a Project ...............................................................601
Completing Your Project ..............................................................................606
Contents
Chapter 12: Support Tools ............................................................... 607

Accountant Link...........................................................................................608
e-Banking ....................................................................................................629
Audit Assistant.............................................................................................638
Working with Attachments using Document Manager ..................................650
Exporting to Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook .......................................656
Importing into Sage 50 Accounts.................................................................664
Event Logging..............................................................................................672
Working With Internet Resources .................................................................676
News Feeds.................................................................................................676
Chapter 13: Reporting ...................................................................... 681
An Introduction to Reports ...........................................................................682
Running the Audit Trail Report......................................................................683
Running the Trial Balance Report .................................................................684
Running the Profit and Loss Report .............................................................685
Running the Balance Sheet Report ..............................................................686
Running the Quick Ratio Report
Running the Budget Report .........................................................................688
Running the Prior Year Report......................................................................689
Running the Transactional-Based Management Reports
Column-Based Financial Reports.................................................................692
Batch Reporting...........................................................................................694
Chapter 14: Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts ........ 699
The Euro and Other Currencies....................................................................700
The Countries Table .....................................................................................703
The Foreign Trader
Processing in Sage 50 Accounts Using the Foreign Trader
The Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard
Viewing and Changing Revaluations
Bank Transfers Involving Foreign Currency Accounts
How Foreign Trader Affects Sage 50 Accounts ............................................724
Chapter 15: Recording Opening Balances ...................................... 727

Transferring Figures from a Previous System to Sage 50 Accounts ..............728
Gathering your Opening Figures...................................................................730
Entering your Opening Balances into Sage 50 Accounts..............................736
Checking the Opening Figures You Have Recorded .....................................753
Chapter 1
The chapter guides you through the In this chapter:

process of installing Sage 50 Accounts
Introduction to Sage 50 Accounts........2
and explains each step of the ActiveSetup
Wizard. Installation ...........................................3
Once youve installed Sage 50 Accounts, The ActiveSetup Wizard.......................4
well look at registering the software and Registering Sage 50 Accounts...........18
discuss your support and training options.
About SageCover ..............................18
SageCover Online Support ................19
sage.co.uk & sage.ie .........................19
Sage Training .....................................19
Introduction to Sage 50 Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts is the UKs most popular small business accounting solution and is
recommended by over 90% of accountants. It is designed to streamline all your
accounting routines, reduce data entry and save you time. The software integrates
seamlessly with other Sage products, as well as with Microsoft Office software to create
a complete business management system, offering multi-user and multi-company
configurations to suit all business types.
Sage 50 Accounts will save you time and money, and is ideal if your business is growing
or developing. Sage 50 Accounts will assist you in managing your business in the
following areas:
Managing your Customers
As your customer base expands it is important to be responsive to their needs by
having instant access to their individual details. These would include their contact
details, purchase history, debt level, credit and trading terms.
Managing your Products
However complex your business, Sage 50 Accounts can help you streamline your
stock management, production and order fulfilment.
Managing your Suppliers
Your suppliers can be just as important as your customers and Sage 50 Accounts
provides you with everything you need to keep track of what you buy, managing your
debts, and how much you are paying.
Managing your Accounts
Having full access and control over your accounts puts you in a strong position to
make confident, informed decisions moving forward with the knowledge that all
transactions are visible and have been fully accounted for.
Managing your Finances
Sage 50 Accounts helps you manage your finances and assists you when preparing
your regular financial reports. As soon as you have entered your first transactions you
can use these reports to study how your business is performing.
Managing your Business
Sage 50 Accounts is designed to help you manage your business work as efficiently
as possible providing you with more control of your accounts.
Managing your Funds
Aimed at non-profit/charitable organisations to analyse funds and prepare accounts
based on an accruals or receipts and payments basis. Information about funds is
supplied separately to the Sage 50 Accounts User Guide in portable document
format (PDF). To view this information, once Sage 50 Accounts is installed, from the
Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Help > Charities.
Installation
This section guides you through installing a single user version of Sage 50 Accounts for the first
time. If you are installing a network version, or are upgrading from a previous version of Sage
50 Accounts, refer to Installing and Upgrading to Sage 50 Accounts. This is a separate
document to this guide, supplied as a PDF. When you install Sage 50 Accounts you have to
option to view this information. This information is also provided in the booklet provided with the
Sage 50 Accounts installation CD.
New users of Sage 50 Accounts (single user) should follow these instructions.
Note: You must ensure that you are logged onto your PC as Administrator, or as a user with
administrative access rights, before attempting to install Sage 50 Accounts. The installation
process cannot proceed if you do not have sufficient access rights.
1. Shut down any other programs you are running.
2. Put the Sage 50 Accounts CD into your CD-ROM drive.
If the Sage menu does not appear automatically after a few moments, open the Start menu
from the Windows menu bar, choose Run and then type d:\start in the Open text box.
Note: If your drive letter is different to those shown above, replace them with the
appropriate letter.
The Installation main menu appears.
3. Before you begin to install Sage 50 Accounts, you may wish to double-click the 'Readme'
file on the CD using Microsoft Windows Explorer. This contains any additional or
late-breaking information about your Sage product.
Note: Sage 50 Accounts 2008 requires Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 to run. If you
do not have Internet Explorer version 6 on your PC, a warning message appears advising
you that you must install it before you continue with the Sage 50 Accounts installation.
Install Internet Explorer from the Sage 50 Accounts CD, then start the Sage 50 Accounts
2008 installation again.
4. Click Install and follow the on-screen instructions.
5. When the installation is complete, click Finish.
You can now close the installation menu.
A Sage Accounts shortcut is created on your desktop, so that you can double-click this
icon to start the software.
If prompted, restart your PC.
You are now ready to run your Sage 50 Accounts program for the first time.
3
The ActiveSetup Wizard

The first time you open Sage 50 Accounts, the ActiveSetup Wizard appears. The ActiveSetup
Wizard is a series of windows, which capture information such as the company address, your
VAT details and whether you are installing Sage 50 Accounts for the first time or upgrading from
a previous version.
Before you start Sage 50 Accounts for the first time, gather the following information you need
for the ActiveSetup Wizard.
Information needed Where to find it
The name of the Chart of Accounts Your previous bookkeeping method or

(COA) that best suits your company. your accountant.
There are several COA supplied with
Sage 50 Accounts that support different
business types. For example, you can
choose from building, charities, medical,
agriculture, garage and transport. See
Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of
Accounts.
Company legal name and address The company owner or your

accountant.
The company's financial year start date. Your previous bookkeeping method or
your accountant.
VAT details, if you collect VAT, sell or Your local tax office or accountant.
purchase goods from EC member states.
VAT registration number.
The VAT scheme the company uses
(standard or cash accounting)
The currency your company operates in. Your previous bookkeeping method.
The software activation numbers: Either on the important information

Serial Number sticker sheet in your product box or on
the advice note that accompanies your
Activation Key Sage product.
If you cannot find the numbers contact
the Sage Customer Care department.
Details about how to enter this information into the ActiveSetup Wizard follow.
4
Access Sage 50 Accounts

To open Sage 50 Accounts, from the Windows desktop, click the Sage option.
To use ActiveSetup enter your company information into the relevant boxes. To progress onto
the next step, click Next. To return to the previous step to re-enter or edit any information, click
Back. If you need additional help on any of the windows in the ActiveSetup Wizard, press F1.
Step 1: Welcome
You can choose from three options on the Welcome window. The option you select determines
those window(s), which subsequently appear.
5
You can choose:

I would like to set up a new company:
Single User Version: Select this option if you are installing the software for the first
time on the PC.
Multi-User Version: Select this option if you are installing the software for the first
time and this is the PC that will hold the company data (PC1).
Use a company already set up in another installation.
Single-User Version: Select this option if you want to use data from an existing
installation of Sage 50 Accounts, either on your own PC or on a networked PC.
Selecting this option copies the existing data, making it available for you to use in this
installation of Sage 50 Accounts.
Multi-User Version: if you use the multi-user version and this is the PC that holds the
company data (PC1), select this option. Enter the drive letter and directory path to the
existing data, or click Browse to search for the data on the PC.
If you don't know the location of the company data you can instruct Sage 50
Accounts to search for existing data. On the subsequent Installation window, select
the Search Local or Search Wide options and click Next. The most recent data is
listed first. Select the company data you want to use.
Additional information is provided in the wizard by clicking on the graphic:
Restore data from a back-up file.

Single-User Version: Use this option if you have existing data files in the form of a
Sage backup. For example, you might select this option if you are reinstalling Sage 50
Accounts on a new PC, or if you are installing your new software for the first time on
a PC that doesn't have an existing version of Sage 50 Accounts on it, but you have a
set of data that you want to use with your new software.
Multi-User version: if you are preparing a multi-user version and this is the second
PC (PC2) that accesses the company data held on PC1, select this option.
Enter the drive letter and directory path to the company data held on PC1, or click
Browse to search for the data across the network.
When you have made your selection, to proceed, click Next.
6
New Company - Window 2 - Enter Company Details

Enter company information in the Enter Company Details window, similar to the following
fictitious example:
Enter the name of your Company. This information will be saved in the Company Preferences
area of the software (Company > Settings). The name you enter here will also appear on the title
bar of your software.
Now enter the address of your company. This address will be added to the reports, statements,
invoices and credit notes that you create. If your company has a number of offices, we
recommend that you enter your main or head office address here.
Finally, enter the country for your business. This could be important for validation of your VAT
registration number.
When you have completed your entries, to proceed, click Next.
7
New Company - Window 3 - Select Business Type

Choose the business type which best fits your needs. Selecting a business type here creates
the nominal structure upon which your Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports are based. This
structure is called the chart of accounts.
There are various types of chart of accounts available to select from. As you select from the list
of business types, an illustration of some of the chart of accounts structure is shown in this
window, to the right of your selection.
You may already have your own chart of accounts. If this is the case, select the 'Customised'
option.
Note: This option creates only a basic chart of accounts. If you use this option, you will have to
set up your own nominal codes.
Once again, for further information on Customised chart of accounts, click on the graphic:
Once you have selected the chart of accounts you want to use, to continue, click Next.
Note: The wizard provides you with a navigation highlight (orange) on the left side of the wizard
to illustrate how far through the company setup procedure you have come. When you have
completed your selection, to proceed, click Next.
8
New Company - Window 4 - Select Financial Year

Enter the month and year in which your Financial Year starts.
If you are unsure about the dates of your current financial year, you should contact your
accountant. It is important that you get this date right, as you cannot easily change it once you
have started entering transactions.
Sage 50 Accounts users cannot change this date, without losing all entered transactions.
9
New Company - Window 5 - Select VAT Details

Enter your VAT information on this section of the wizard. Indicate whether your company is VAT
registered, enter your VAT Registration Number, and select whether your company uses the
Cash Accounting or Standard Accounting VAT scheme.
Is your company VAT registered?

Indicate whether your company is registered for VAT.
Enter your VAT registration number
If your company is VAT registered, you will have a VAT registration number. Enter this number in
the entry box provided. This number will be printed on the invoices and credit notes that you
produce. For more information about VAT registration, please refer to the help topic:
Manage your VAT > VAT Basics > VAT Registration
Is your company registered for VAT Cash Accounting?
Select this check box if you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme.
This scheme accounts for VAT on the actual amount of income received and expenditure paid,
rather than accounting for VAT as soon as you raise or receive an invoice or credit note as
occurs with the Standard VAT scheme.
10
Note for users in the Republic of Ireland: The ROI VAT Cash Accounting scheme works
slightly differently from the UK scheme; it allows you to calculate VAT on the money you receive
from your customers and the invoices/credits you receive from your suppliers.
If your PC's Regional Options are set to English (Ireland), selecting the VAT Cash Accounting
check box enables you to calculate your VAT according to the ROI VAT Cash Accounting
scheme.
If you have any doubts about the VAT scheme you should be using, please contact your
accountant.
Once again, click on the graphic for further information on VAT Cash Accounting:
When you have made your selections and entries, to proceed, click Next.
New Company - Window 6 - Select Currency
In order to begin trading with customers and suppliers you must specify the base currency that
your company uses. It is important that you select the correct base currency now. You cannot
change your base currency at a later date.
11
Select your base currency from the drop-down list. If the base currency that you want to use is
not listed, select <Unlisted Currency>. You can then edit this record once you have completed
the ActiveSetup Wizard.
New Company - Window 7- Activate Program
On this window, to activate Sage 50 Accounts, enter your serial number and activation key.
Serial Number
Enter the Serial Number in this box. If you are a new user, you can find the Serial Number and
Activation Key on the Important Information notice that came inside your software box.
If you are upgrading from an earlier version, you will either find your Serial Number and Activation
Key on an Advice Note sent from Sage.
Activation Key
Enter the Activation Key in this box. If you have any problems with your Serial Number or
Activation Key, telephone the Customer Care Helpline on 0845 111 5555. Residents of the
Republic of Ireland should telephone 01 642 0863. Residents of Northern Ireland should
telephone 0845 245 0280.
12
If your Serial Number and Activation Key entries are valid the wizard will change to the Finish
window. Invalid entries will result in an information message, advising you to check your
information and try again.
New Company - Window 8- Finished
You have now entered all OF the information required to set up your company.
Your entries and selections are summarised in this window for you to review. If, after review, you
wish to alter any of these details, click Back to the appropriate window.
Otherwise, to complete the ActiveSetup Wizard and create your new company in Sage 50
Accounts, click Finish.
You have now completed the ActiveSetup Wizard.
13
Existing Company - Window 2 - Installation
If you decided to use company data from an existing installation of Sage 50 Accounts, either on
your own PC or on a networked PC, this installation window appears.
Use this window to enter the drive letter and directory path, to where your existing data is
located. If you are unsure of the exact path, click Browse to locate the existing data.
Alternatively, use the Search options to search your local hard drive or network for your existing
data. To search your own PC, select the Search Local (local hard drive) option. To search PCs
linked to your own on a network, select Search Wide (All).
Selecting the Search Wide (All) option excludes your local hard drive from the search. In
addition, choosing this search option may make the search take longer than it would if you
searched only your own PC's hard drive.
Note for Multicompany Users: When you are creating a new company and choose the Use a
company already set up in another installation option to link to existing data, these search
options do not appear. You must enter the location of the data you want to connect to in the
Location box on the Select Installation window of the wizard.
14
Window 2a - Location of existing Sage 50 Accounts installation

This window only appears if you selected one of the search options on Window 2. Choose one
or more of the installations displayed in the list to retrieve your existing Sage 50 Accounts
company data.
If you have a multicompany licence and want to retrieve the data of two or more companies at
the same time, choose all the installations, to which you want to connect. If you choose to do
this, the ActiveSetup Wizard converts each company's data in turn and creates a new company
for each, within Sage 50 Accounts.
When you have made your company data selection, to proceed, click Next.
Existing Company - Window 3 - Activate Program

Note: This window only appears if the ActiveSetup Wizard does not find existing software
registration details on your PC. If the wizard does find these details on your PC, this window
does not appear and instead, the Finished window is displayed.
Functionality on this window is the same as that described in New Company - Window 7-
Activate Program on page 12.
Existing Company - Window 4 - Finished

This window is very similar to that described in New Company - Window 8- Finished on page
13.
15
To review or change any of the details you entered, click Back. Otherwise, to complete the
ActiveSetup Wizard and create your company in Sage 50 Accounts, click Finish.
Restore from Backup - Window 2 - Select Backup File

If you chose to restore data from a back-up file, then this is the second window displayed.
You might have selected this option if you are reinstalling Sage 50 Accounts on a new PC, or if
you are installing your new software for the first time on a PC that doesn't have an existing
version of Sage 50 Accounts on it, but you have a set of data that you want to use with your
new software.
Enter the location and file name of the back-up file that contains your existing Sage 50 Accounts
data. Alternatively, if you are unsure of the exact location, to locate the file, click Browse.
Once you have selected the back-up file, to proceed, click Next.
Restore from Backup - Window 3 - Activate Program

Note: This window only appears if the ActiveSetup Wizard does not find existing software
registration details on your PC. If the wizard does find these details on your PC, this window
does not appear and instead the Finished window is displayed.
16
This window is very similar to that described in New Company - Window 7- Activate Program
on page 12.
Restore from Backup - Window 4 - Finished

This window is very similar to that described in New Company - Window 8- Finished on page
13.
To review or change any of the details you entered, click Back. Otherwise, to complete the
ActiveSetup Wizard and create your company in Sage 50 Accounts, click Finish.
17
Registering Sage 50 Accounts

Unless you register your Sage 50 Accounts software, you can only use your new Sage 50
Accounts for a maximum of 45 days (UK only). At the end of the unregistered period you will be
unable to use the software. However, all of the information you entered during this period will be
unaffected.
To register your Sage 50 Accounts software, call one of the following telephone numbers:
Mainland UK 0845 111 5555
Northern Ireland 0845 245 0280
Republic of Ireland 1890 946 771
If you have Internet access, you can register your software online. From the Sage 50 Accounts
menu bar, select Tools > Activation > Upgrade Program, then from the Product Registration
window, click Web Register. Follow the instructions on-screen to register your software.
About SageCover
If you are new to Sage 50 Accounts, you are entitled to receive free SageCover for a forty five
day period. Your cover begins when you register your Sage product. This entitles you to
unlimited assistance in registering, installing and starting to use your new software.
During this period you can contact us by calling 0845 111 5555, emailing your query to
support@sage.com or by visiting www.sage.co.uk. There is no limit to the amount of times you
can use the SageCover service in this period.
Note: The free period of SageCover applies only to new users of Sage 50 Accounts. If you are
upgrading from an earlier version of Sage 50 Accounts, you should use your existing SageCover
support contract if you have any queries.
If you do not have an existing SageCover agreement, you can subscribe to SageCover as
detailed below.
If you want to subscribe to a full annual SageCover period, which gives you additional benefits
such as discounted program upgrades, call 0800 33 66 33 if you are resident in the UK
(mainland), 0800 1690315 for residents of Northern Ireland, or 1800 255300 for residents of the
Republic of Ireland.
Alternatively, complete the order forms that are sent to you following registration of your Sage
50 Accounts software.
18
SageCover Online Support

If you have SageCover and access to email, you can send online queries to SageCover support.
To do this, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Help > Email Support and follow the
on-screen instructions.
At www.sage.co.uk you'll find a wealth of business advice as well as tips on how to get the
maximum benefit from your new software.
Business advice includes several hundred expertly written articles on topics ranging from How
to write a marketing plan to How to write a contract of employment.
sage.co.uk & sage.ie

The Sage UK website, www.sage.co.uk or www.sage.ie for those users in the Republic of
Ireland), is a valuable resource available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You can find information on our products and services, print your latest invoice from us or sign
up for a free newsletter. It's a convenient place to buy Sage products, find out how to get help
and advice locally from a Sage business partner and much more.
We are constantly adding new features to the website, so visit regularly to take advantage of
our online services.
To access the website, from your Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select WebLinks > sage.com.
Sage Training
Sage offers a portfolio of classroom training courses for all of our users, designed to enable you
to make the most of your Sage software packages. Every Sage training course is written and
presented by staff who know and understand Sage software.
There are training centres in Birmingham, Bristol, Croydon, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle
upon Tyne, North London, Reading, Swansea and Leeds, all offering a range of training courses
every month.
For customers who prefer to study in their own time, Sage has also developed a range of self
study products, including on-line training courses, interactive CD-ROMs and workbooks with
practice data.
For further details about our Training products and course availability, please contact one of our
sales advisors on 0800 33 66 33.
19
20
Chapter 2
Getting Started with Sage 50
Accounts
Now that you have installed Sage 50 In this chapter:

Accounts and run the ActiveSetup Wizard,
Accessing Sage 50 Accounts ............22
you are ready for a quick tour.
The Practice Data Mode ....................23
This chapter will help you become familiar
with Sage 50 Accounts. You will find out Using Sage 50 Accounts Demonstration
what Sage 50 Accounts can do and you Data ..................................................26
will learn about the demonstration data, a The Sage 50 Accounts Desktop ........27
fictitious set of accounts included with
Sage 50 Accounts Window Types .....32
Sage 50 Accounts for example purposes,
along with a complete Practice Company Using the Search to Find Records......52
Mode, in which you can practise using Finding Transactions ..........................57
Sage 50 Accounts, without compromising
Using ActiveSearch............................59
your real companys data.
Function Keys....................................60
This chapter also describes the layout of
the Sage 50 Accounts desktop and how Getting Help ......................................62
you use the various window types. Wizards .............................................63
Finally, this chapter outlines the tasks you An Overview to Setting Up Sage 50
need to perform to prepare the system for Accounts ...........................................64
use and describes the administrative and
maintenance tasks which you will need to Administrative / Maintenance Tasks ...65
carry out from time-to-time.
Accessing Sage 50 Accounts

This section describes how you access and log in to Sage 50 Accounts, and how to
change your user password.
Starting up Sage 50 Accounts

To access Sage 50 Accounts from your Windows desktop, double-click the Sage
Accounting desktop icon. The Sage Logon box is displayed.
The first time you open Sage 50 Accounts, you must log in using the default user name,
MANAGER. You do not need a password. You can then set up access rights for the other
users who need access to your Sage 50 Accounts data. For further information on setting
up access rights, see Setting Up Users on page 161.
Note: To be able to set up access rights, you must log in as MANAGER.
Changing your password

Initially, the default user name, MANAGER, is created without a password. Before you
start to set up data for your company, you should create a password for it. Thereafter, you
should change your password regularly in order to ensure continued security.
To change your password

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Change Password.
Note: If you already have a password, the Password Entry window appears asking
you to enter your current password here.
The Change Password window appears.
2. In the New Password box, enter your new password.
You can use letters or numbers in your passwords, or a mixture of both. However
you cannot use special characters, for example =, !, #, commas or full stops.
3. In the Confirm New Password box, enter your new password again. You cannot save
this password until the entries in the New Password and Confirm New Password are
the same.
4. To save your new password, click OK. To begin entering your new password again,
click Discard. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
The Practice Data Mode

When your Sage 50 Accounts software starts, you are presented with a choice of three
operating modes:
Open Your Companys Data
Open Practice Data
Open Demonstration Data
Note: By using the Don't show these options on start-up check box, you can avoid this window
on subsequent occasions, if you wish.
1. Selecting the first option and then clicking OK, opens your Sage 50 Accounts software with
your own company's data, and you can proceed to work on your own data.
2. However, by electing to go with the second option Open Practice Data, and then choosing
OK, you are presented with the Welcome to Practice Mode window.
3. By choosing the third option and then choosing OK, the software opens with the fictitious
demonstration company data - Stationery & PC Mart UK. Refer to Using Sage 50
Accounts Demonstration Data on page 26 for more information about this mode.
23
The software opens in a clean state, with no customer, supplier or product records created,
when you click Start Practising.
You can rehearse the various tasks and procedures, gain confidence in the various terms,
methods and routines required, safe in the knowledge that you are not compromising your own
real company data.
When working in Practice Mode, the Welcome window reminds you that you are in this mode.
Note: While in this mode, the Backup and Restore commands are disabled in the File menu.
When you are finished working in Practice Mode, you can switch to either your Company's data
or the Demonstration Company data from the File menu.
24
Similarly, if you are already working in your Company's Data or Demonstration Data
environments, you can return to the Practice Company environment from the File > Open route.
When you choose to return to the Practice Company environment, the software offers you two
choices:
If you choose to continue with your last practice, you retain all your previously created data and
settings. Where you choose to start again, you can choose the types of data to retain or reset:
Select the check boxes for the data that you wish to keep, when the Practice Company is reset,
then to proceed choose OK.
25
Using Sage 50 Accounts Demonstration Data

The best way to become familiar with Sage 50 Accounts is to practise!
Sage 50 Accounts includes a demonstration data set for a fictitious company called Stationery
& Computer Mart UK.
To access the demonstration data, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Open >
Open Demo Data. If Sage 50 Accounts prompts you to log in, enter the default user name
MANAGER, leave the password box empty, and click OK.
Start using Sage 50 Accounts by experimenting with this demo data. Try moving around the
windows and familiarise yourself with list boxes, option buttons, check boxes and the other
elements of the software. Use the Search, Clear and Swap buttons on the Nominal Ledger
window to see how they work and then select some records from the Nominal list. These are
all activities you will use throughout Sage 50 Accounts and learning them now will be a real help
later on.
As you are working through this guide, you can swap between your own company information
and the demo data to practise any functions that you are unsure of. The demo data is fully
interactive and you can enter information into the data set to try out the functions and work
within the system. Whilst you are in the demo data set, you can do nothing that will influence
your real accounts. So dont worry and try things out.
Remember, you are not on your own. This chapter explains how to use Sage 50 Accounts on
your PC, the rest of this guide explains procedures and processes with step-by-step
instructions.
You also have the Sage 50 Accounts Help system at your disposal, which you can search at
any time if you are stuck. Just click Help on the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, then select the
Contents and Index option from the drop-down list displayed. Alternatively, press F1 if you are
stuck on a particular window.
Note: All details in the demonstration data are fictitious. Any similarities in the demonstration
data with real names, addresses or other company details, past or present, is coincidental.
26
The Sage 50 Accounts Desktop

The following pages are intended to provide you with a guided tour of the Sage 50 Accounts
Desktop, describing its major features and how you use them.
Sage 50 Accounts is compatible with most Windows products. This means that it has its own
main window, which you can maximise, minimise and resize, and keep open while you work on
other Windows-compatible applications. When you double-click the Sage Accounts Desktop
option, the Sage 50 Accounts window appears.
Note: The exact appearance of the window depends upon how you have configured your View
options; see Defining your desktop view options on page 31 for details.
This is the Sage 50 Accounts The navigation bar provides The view selector allows you to select
Menu Bar. Open a menu by quick and easy access to the what is to be displayed in the work
putting the arrow over the major functions of Sage 50 area.
word and clicking the mouse Accounts.
or Alt + underlined key.
Tabs show the windows that The work area is where you work within Sage
are open for viewing in the 50 Accounts and where the software displays
work area. information about your data.
27
Using the navigation bar

The navigation bar, on the left hand side of the window, is the easiest way to access the major
facilities provided by the Sage 50 Accounts software.
The Tasks and Links panes

show the major activities to be
performed on the current
data, in this case Company.
The options allow you to open

the various Sage 50 Accounts
modules.
Modules
The options shown at the bottom of the navigation bar provide access to the major areas of the
software. These are the Sage 50 Accounts modules:
Customers
Suppliers
Company
Bank
Products
Projects
Diary
28
Click the option you require to access the corresponding area of the software. When you
choose a module, the options shown in the Tasks and Links area of the navigation bar change
and the appropriate display is shown in the Sage 50 Accounts Work Area.
Tasks and links

The options shown in the Tasks and Links areas of the navigation bar vary, depending upon the
module chosen. They provide you with access to particular functions. For example, in the
Customers module, the Tasks include: New Customer, New Quotation, New Sales Order, and
so on; the Links include: Project List and Invoice List.
To make a selection, simply click the option you require.
Note: Throughout this guide, where we need to describe selection of a module, followed by
selection of a Task or Link option this is shown in the window: Customers > New Customer.
Using the view selector to change the view

The view selector allows you to change what is displayed in the Sage 50 Accounts work area.
The options available depend upon which module you are working in, but typically they might
include:
A Process Map - showing the workflow associated with the selected module.
A list display - of items appropriate to the selected module.
A Dashboard - showing key information for the selected module.
For detailed information about these window types, see Sage 50 Accounts Window Types on
page 32. For details of how to set default view options, see Defining your desktop view options
on page 31.
To make a selection, click the Change View button shown in the top right-hand corner of the
work area and then select the option you require from the drop down menu displayed.
Note: Throughout this guide, the step-by-step procedures assume that you have a list window
displayed.
29
The work area

The work area is where Sage 50 Accounts displays information and where you enter your data
into the software. The layout of the work area depends upon the view you have selected and
type of window you are using.
For detailed information about the window types which can be displayed in the work area, see
Sage 50 Accounts Window Types on page 32. For details of how to set default view options,
see Defining your desktop view options on page 31.
Menu commands
Each option on the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar provides access to a drop-down menu. If you
use other software on your PC, you will probably be familiar with drop-down menus. You can
open menus and choose options using the keyboard or mouse, as described below.
Selecting menus with a mouse

Left-click when the pointer is on the menu option name, to display the pull down menu. To
select an option, left-click when the mouse pointer is pointing to the option on the menu that
you want.
Right-click
You can use the right button on your mouse in many areas of Sage 50 Accounts. This is known
as right-click. You can use the right-click as a quick way of copying, pasting and deleting. You
can also right-click in many areas to access common commands that relate to the line that you
click on.
Selecting menus with the keyboard

All menu and option names have one underlined character. You can select a menu by pressing
the ALT key simultaneously with the key corresponding to the underlined character. For
example, to select the Edit menu, you would type ALT and E (ALT+E) at the same time. When
the menu appears, you can select one of the options on the menu by pressing just the character
underlined. For example, having opened the Edit menu, you could select the Delete Row option
by pressing the D key.
30
Defining your desktop view options

Desktop view options allow you to define:
Which of the modules will be displayed when you first access Sage 50 Accounts.
Which of the window types - dashboard, process map or ledger list, are to be displayed,
when each of the modules is opened.
Whether dashboards and process maps are to be switched off globally.
To define your desktop view options

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Options.
2. Click the View tab.
3. Select the options you require:
Initial View Use the drop down to select the module that is to be
displayed, when you first access Sage 50 Accounts.
Not available in Practice
Mode
Default View For each of the modules, use the drop-down list to select
which of the screen types will be displayed when the module
is opened.
Turn off all dashboards Use this option to switch off all dashboards.
If you select this option, you will not be allowed to select a
dashboard for any of the Default View options. If you already
have a dashboard selected, this is changed to the appropriate
list screen.
Turn off all process Use this option to switch off all process maps.
maps
If you select this option, you will not be allowed to select a
process map for any of the Default View options. If you
already have a process map selected, this is changed to the
appropriate list screen.
Dont display the Use this option to remove the Welcome Page from the
Welcome Page display.
4. To save the new settings, click OK. To exit without saving your changes, click Cancel.
31
Sage 50 Accounts Window Types

When you select a Task or a Link from the Sage 50 Accounts navigation bar or an option from
the toolbar, a window appears in the work area of the window.
You can have several windows open at once, so you can move between one function and
another without having to close each one in turn. However, only one window can be active at
any one time. When you open a new window, a new tab appears in the bottom left area of the
window. to move between any of the windows, click on these tabs.
In the example above, you can click any of the tabs to change the view from Supplier Process
to Nominal Ledger, Customers Window or the Welcome Window.
32
Process maps
Process maps provide a diagrammatic representation of the workflow associated with a
particular module.
For example, the Supplier Process, shown above, shows the process from New Purchase
Order - on the left, through to Cheque List - on the right.
Each of the blocks displayed represents a function available with Sage 50 Accounts. To access
one of these, click the appropriate option.
Process maps are available for the following modules:
Customers
Suppliers
To view a process map, select the appropriate option from the view selector, as described in
Using the view selector to change the view on page 29.
33
Dashboards
Dashboard windows are used in Sage 50 Accounts as a quick way of providing you with useful
information related to the module you are currently working in.
Update option. The

adjacent text shows the
date and time of the last
update.
The information displayed is up-to-date at the time the dashboard is first displayed. If you have
the window displayed for any length of time, you can click the Update option to refresh it.
Dashboards are available for all modules.
To view a dashboard window, select the appropriate option from the view selector, as described
in Using the view selector to change the view on page 29.
34
The Welcome Page

The Welcome Page provides you with a central resource base, from where you can access
numerous user assistance links and files. The resources are divided into three categories:
Introduction and Help

In the top section of the window are three links to useful information:
The What should I do first? link takes you to a Getting Started screen, where you can review
your initial introductory tasks in the software, and access tutorial simulations of the initial tasks
that you should consider carrying out. These simulations are accessible from the Help menu >
Tutorials option.
Next, the Whats New? link takes you to the Whats New? help topic, where you can review the
new features in this version of Sage 50 Accounts, while the Just Practice link takes you directly
to the Practice company page of this help file.
Further Information
The middle section of the Welcome page provides links to more comprehensive sources of
information.
The Regular Tasks link takes you to a second launchpad window, where you can review those
more complicated but regular tasks that you need to undertake. Again, tutorial simulations of
some of these tasks are also available from Help > Tutorials option.
The PDF Guides link takes you to a separate menu, where you can access the numerous pdf
documents provided with the software.
This PDF menu gives you access to the numerous pdf documents provided with the software.
Note: If you encounter difficulties in opening any of the PDF documents in your browser
window, please perform one of the following:
35
Open Adobe Reader first, then click the specific PDF document link on the PDF menu.
Configure your browser to display PDF files, as described at the Adobe Support Site.
The Help link in this section takes you directly to the first page of the software help file.
Contact Sage
The Contact Sage link provides you with the necessary details for getting in touch with Sage.
Use the Weblinks link to take you to a window providing all available Sage links, along with an
HMRC link.
36
List windows
As you perform many of the Sage 50 Accounts functions, you can set the work area to display
a list or ledger window which shows you the record or records you can work with.
To view a list window, select the appropriate option from the view selector, as described in Using
the view selector to change the view on page 29.
Note: Throughout this guide, the step-by-step procedures assume that you have a list window
displayed.
In some cases, you must first create these records; in others, you are given a standard set of
records to work with straight away. As you create each new record, it is added to the list in code
or reference order, so that you can always find the record you want quickly.
The following figure shows an example of the Customers Ledger window.
.
Select one or more records by You can sort this list in any column-type order by clicking on
clicking on the lines you require. the header range, for example Balance or Contact.
Toolbar options provide data

processing options
New records appear on the Command buttons allow you to manipulate

list automatically. the list.
37
A scroll bar appears when there are more records to be viewed than can be displayed in the list
box at any one time.
Selecting a record for processing

Each ledger window displays a list of records you have added to your ledger.
When you want to work with a single record, for example if you want to make a transfer from a
bank account, you can select the record from the list before you click the appropriate button
from the toolbar. This saves you from selecting the record once the process window, for
example the Bank Transfer window, is open.
To select a record from a ledger window, move the mouse pointer to the record in the list and
left click. The selected record is highlighted in the list.
If the Enable Smart Totals option is switched on in Company Preferences, the information:
1 of xx items selected
displays at the bottom of the list, where xx is the number of records currently displayed in the
ledger. In addition, when you select a record that has a balance associated with it, for example
in the Customers or Bank window, the balance amount shows in the Total Amount box at the
bottom of the record list.
For more information about setting up your Company Preferences, see Entering Your Company
Preferences on page 109.
Selecting more than one record

There may be times when you want to process several records in succession, or print a report
based on a particular selection of records. Using the same method as when selecting one
record, you can click as many records in the list as you want. As you do so, each one is
highlighted and becomes part of the selected set of records for processing.
Tip: You can also select the records you want by using your cursor arrows on your keyboard to
scroll down or up, and pressing the SPACEBAR to select the record or records you want.
If you select several records and then click Record, for example if you want to make
amendments to several records in succession, the first record highlighted in the list appears on
the record window ready for processing. When you finish processing that record, you can view
the next one in the selection by clicking Next. To go back to a previous record from the ones
you have chosen, click Previous.
You will find it useful to be able to select several records when using the report options. You can
highlight all the records you want to include in the report, before choosing the report you want
to print.
If the Activate Smart Totals option is switched on in Company Preferences, as you select your
records, Sage 50 Accounts shows how many records you have highlighted at the bottom of the
list. In addition, Sage 50 Accounts adds together the balance on each record and displays the
38
total balance in the Total Amount box at the bottom of the list. The balance may show as one
total amount, for example on the Invoicing window, or it may display as total debit and credit
amounts, such as in the Nominal Ledger.
Note: The total debit or total credit, only display on the Nominal Ledger when it is set to use the
List layout.
Deselecting records
Having highlighted a record you may want to deselect it, either because you have finished
processing it or perhaps because you selected the wrong one. If you click the selected record
(or use the SPACEBAR), the highlight disappears. As you deselect records, Sage 50 Accounts
subtracts their balance from the Total Amount box at the bottom of the list and the figure for the
number of records selected is decreased.
Using the toolbar

The main actions you can perform on the records displayed in a list window are shown on the
toolbar at the top of the window. To run any of these options, left-click the appropriate icon.
When you run many of these options, a separate process window will appear for you to work in.
Command buttons
Command buttons appear in most of the Sage 50 Accounts list windows. Use these to take
action once you have entered some data or selected a record to work with. Command buttons
appear on virtually every window and include one or more of the following commands:
.
Save Choose the Save button to accept the data you have entered and process the
information, for example make the changes in the record. Any data entry boxes
on the window will be cleared for you to enter details for another record. Save
does not take you out of the option.
Close Click Close to choose when you want to exit from an option. Close does not
save any data you have entered so make sure you do this first, if appropriate.
Discard If you click Discard button, any data you have just entered in the data entry
boxes will clear from the window for you to start again.
Note: Discard does not undo any entries you have already saved.
OK The OK button is sometimes shown instead of the Save button. The difference is
that OK will not only save and process your data but will also exit the option.
Cancel The Cancel button is sometimes shown instead of the Discard button. The
difference is that Cancel not only Discards your data entry or process but it also
exits the option.
39
When there are too many buttons to display on the visible window, for example if you are using
a low display resolution, a double-arrow symbol appears to the right-hand side of the command
button bar. Click the arrow symbol to access the remaining available buttons:
Using the swap and clear buttons

If you have highlighted records that you no longer want selected, click Clear. Any records that
were highlighted are deselected, and no records are left highlighted.
When you want to select numerous records, it may be quicker to select those records you dont
want, rather than what you do want. By using the Swap button, you can change the selection
to those that are not highlighted.
Click the records you dont want selected so they are highlighted and then click the Swap
button. Everything that isnt highlighted is immediately selected, and the records you clicked on
are deselected. You can swap back again using the same button. Try it out and youll soon be
familiar with the process.
Sorting the list

You can sort the records in most Sage 50 Accounts windows by ascending, descending or
alphabetical order, depending on the information in the list. Left-click on the column name to
sort the records. When you close and restart Sage 50 Accounts, any sorts that you apply are
remembered.
Showing more data columns in the windows

Many of the windows can show more columns of data if you maximise the window. Try it and
see. If you still cant see all of the columns a scroll bar appears, enabling you to see the
additional columns.
Resizing and hiding data columns

As you become more familiar with the ledgers and windows in Sage 50,Accounts you may find
that you use some data columns more than others. For example, in the Customers window, you
might use the A/C and Name columns frequently for looking up a particular account but
perhaps, use the Contact column less often.
40
Using the Configurable Columns feature, you can hide certain data columns that you do not use
very frequently, allowing more room on-screen for those columns that you use more often. You
can also resize the columns on-screen to make the best use of the space available, according
to your needs. So, in Customers, you could hide the Contact column and then make the A/C
and Name columns wider.
Note: You cannot hide essential columns, such as the Account Reference.
Sage 50 Accounts stores the settings you select against your user name, so you can
personalise your software view without affecting other users. When you next log into the
software, Sage 50 Accounts remembers your settings and displays each window as you
configured it.
Alternatively, you can customise columns for all users at once, so that every user sees the same
data column configuration regardless of their user name.
To do this, log in using the Manager user name, choose Tools then Options from the menu bar,
and select the Use Manager account settings for column display check box. You can then set
up the columns in each option of Sage 50 Accounts, as you want them to appear for all users.
To set your configurable column options

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Options.
2. From the Toolbar tab, select the Configurable Columns option you require.
Allow columns to be Use this option to switch on configurable columns.

hidden and resized
See To resize a data column on page 42 and To hide or
restore a data column on page 42 for details of how to hide
and resize columns.
Use Manager account Use this option to set your column displays to be the same as
settings for column those set up by the Manager user name. This option may be
display useful to maintain consistency between users.
Use default settings for Use this option to switch off configurable columns.
column display
If you select this option, you will not be allowed to hide
columns or add further columns to display windows; the
right-click functionality is disabled. You will still be allowed to
resize columns. However, when the window is closed, the
column widths will be reset to their default settings.
If you choose this option after having already used the
configurable columns facility to define some window layouts,
all windows are returned to their default settings and any
columns previously hidden will be redisplayed.
41
3. To save the new settings, click OK. To exit without saving your changes, click Cancel.
Note: If you have upgraded from a previous version of Sage 50 Accounts, any previous
configurable columns settings will have been lost during the upgrading process. You will need
to reconfigure these settings.
To resize a data column

Note: If you do not have configurable columns 'switched on', any changes you make will be
reset back to the default values when you close the window.
1. From the appropriate Sage 50 Accounts window, hover your mouse pointer over the label
in the heading of the column you want to resize.
2. Move the mouse pointer so that it appears between the column heading labels:
When it is positioned correctly between the column headings, your mouse pointer appears
as a cross with a double-headed arrow, pointing to the left and right.
3. To increase the column width, left-click and hold the button down. With the left mouse
button held down, drag the mouse pointer towards the right until the column is at the width
you require. Release the left mouse button.
4. To reduce the column width, left-click and hold the button down. With the left mouse
button held down, drag the mouse pointer towards the left until the column is at the width
you require. Release the left mouse button.
5. To reset all of the columns in the current window to their default width, right-click any
column heading and select Use Defaults from the drop-down menu.
The window displays all the columns at their default width.
Note: When you select Use Defaults, any columns you have previously hidden reappear
on the current window.
To hide or restore a data column

Note: If you do not have configurable columns switched on, you will not be allowed to hide and
restore columns; the right-click functionality is disabled.
1. From the appropriate Sage 50 Accounts window, right-click the heading of the column you
want to hide.
For example, if you want to hide the Contact column in the Customers window, select the
Customers > Customer List, and right-click the Contact label at the top of the column.
42
A drop-down list appears, displaying all the column headings that relate to the current
window. The column headings that currently display in the window show a tick alongside
them on the list.
2. To hide a column from the current window, left-click the column heading on the drop-down
menu.
The column disappears from the window, and the item no longer shows a tick against it on
the drop-down list.
Note: You cannot hide all of the columns on any window. To prevent this happening, Sage
50 Accounts does not allow you to hide the first column on the window. For example, in
Customers module, you cannot hide the A/C column.
3. To restore a column to the current window, right-click a column heading that is currently
displayed. The column headings menu appears. Left-click the column heading you want
to display.
The column reappears on the window, and the item shows a tick against it on the
drop-down menu.
4. To restore the default column settings for the window and display all the available columns,
select Use Defaults from the drop-down list.
The window displays all the available columns at their default width.
Duplicating records
To save you time when you are creating new records, Sage 50 Accounts provides the facility to
duplicate the details of an existing record. This is particularly useful if you need to create several
customers or suppliers, for example that use many of the same account details. You can
duplicate a customer, supplier, nominal, bank, product or fixed asset record.
Note: You cannot use the Duplicate facility to create control or bank accounts in the Nominal
Ledger. When you duplicate an existing nominal record, Sage 50 Accounts automatically sets
the record type to Nominal.
You can duplicate invoices, for example, if you want to create a number of invoices for the same
products or services. Accounts Professional users can use the Duplicate feature to make
copies of existing sales orders and purchase orders.
To duplicate a records details

1. From the appropriate ledger window, select the record you want to duplicate.
2. Click Duplicate.
The Record window appears, showing the details copied from the original record. For more
details about what information Sage 50 Accounts copies for each record type, please refer
to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
43
3. Enter an Account Reference, Nominal Code, Product Code or Fixed Asset Reference for
the new record.
Note: You must enter a new, unique Account Reference, Nominal Code, Product Code or
Fixed Asset Reference. If you enter one that already exists, Sage 50 Accounts displays a
warning message. To return to the record window and enter a new reference, click OK.
When duplicating a nominal record, if you enter a nominal code that falls outside the range
of your current chart of accounts, Sage 50 Accounts displays the message:
This nominal code is outside the range of the chart of accounts, therefore its balance will
not be reflected in your P&L and Balance Sheet reports. Either choose a different nominal
code or ensure that you update the chart of accounts layout.
Click OK to return to the Nominal Record window. You can choose a different nominal code
that falls within the current chart of accounts, or alternatively you must remember to amend
your chart of accounts layout to include the new nominal code. For details about editing
your chart of accounts, see Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of Accounts.
4. Add or amend the details you require in each of the records tabs.
5. To save the new record, click Save. To discard your changes, click Discard.
6. To close the record window, click Close.
The main ledger window appears.
You have successfully duplicated the record.
Making changes to records in a batch

If you want to make identical changes to a number of records in a ledger, Sage 50 Accounts
lets you make the changes once and then apply them to all the records you require.
For example, if you want to set the Terms Agreed flag on all of your customer records, you can
select all of the relevant records simultaneously, and make the change only once.
Because you do not need to open and amend every record individually, this feature saves you
valuable time and effort.
You can make batch record changes in Customers, Suppliers and Products. Accounts
Professional users can also record changes in Fixed Assets.
To make changes to a batch of records

1. From the Customers, Suppliers, Products or Fixed Assets window, select those records
you want to modify.
2. Click Batch Changes.
The Batch Changes window appears.
44
Note: You can only enter information into the boxes that are suitable for batch changes.
Boxes and buttons that appear greyed out are unavailable. For a list of what you can
change for each type of record, please refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
3. Make the changes you require.
4. Choose one of the following options:
Save Click Save to apply changes to the selected records. A

confirmation message appears:
You have chosen to make changes to multiple records. Do
you want to save changes?
To confirm that you want to apply your changes, click Yes. If
you do not want to apply your changes, click No to return to
the main ledger window.
Alternatively, to cancel and return to the Batch Changes
window, click Close.
Close To cancel your changes without applying them to the records

you selected, click Close. A confirmation message appears:
Do you want to save changes?
To save the changes to all the records you selected, click Yes.
If you do not want to apply your changes, to return to the
main ledger window, click No. Alternatively, to cancel and
return to the Batch Changes window, click Close.
Discard To discard any changes you have made and return to the
main ledger window, click Discard.
5. To return to the main ledger window, click Close.
For details about what you can change in a batch of records, type 'Batch Changes' in the Help
Help systems Index tab.
45
Data entry windows

In Sage 50 Accounts, your data is entered onto windows. Each window is divided into small
boxes into which data can be typed using the keyboard or selected from a list of choices.
There are three types of boxes:
Alphanumeric: Boxes that accept both letters and numbers, plus a few symbols such as
hyphens or brackets.
Numeric: Boxes that accept only numbers.
Date: Boxes that accept and display a date.
There is a limit to the amount of information you can enter into a box. During data entry, Sage
50 Accounts ensures that you enter the right information type and amount of data in each box.
So, for example, you will not be permitted to enter text in a numeric box. You will also be
prevented from entering a date which is not a calendar date.
Other types validation ensure that, as far as possible, the right kind of information is entered into
the appropriate box. Any deviation from the expected data may result in the input being rejected
or ignored, or in the window displaying an error message.
Entering and editing data

To type data into a window, you can move the arrow-shaped pointer - the cursor - to the box
where you want to enter data, at which stage the pointer changes to a vertical bar called the
insertion pointer.
Move the cursor to the part of the box where you want to begin typing and left-click. If the box
is blank, an insertion pointer appears at the far left of the box. If there is data already in the box,
the insertion pointer appears at the same place as the cursor was positioned, when you clicked
the mouse button.
The figure below shows a typical data-entry window.
46
Find records with this button.
When you click Save, a blank window appears, ready for another record. If you want to recall
your last record, click the drop-down list button, represented by a downward pointing arrow,
and this will give you a list, in alphanumeric order, of all the records that have been entered. Find
the record reference that you want and select it with your mouse.
47
Moving around windows

After you have entered data within a box, you can use any of the following keys, found on your
keyboard, to locate the cursor elsewhere within the box or the window:
:
TAB Move to the next box.
SHIFT+TAB Move back to the previous box.
ESC Exit the window. If any data has been entered, you will be asked to
save the details.
END Move the cursor to the last character of the last word in the box.
HOME Moves the cursor to the start of the box.
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW Moves the cursor to the first character of the next word in the box.
CTRL+LEFT ARROW Moves the cursor to the first character of the previous word in the
box.
Alternatively, you can use the mouse to place the cursor wherever you want and click the left
mouse button to accept the location.
Editing box contents

To add characters within a box, simply place the cursor at the point you want to start typing and
click the left mouse button. When you type, characters are inserted from the cursor position,
displacing existing characters to the right of the cursor.
To delete all or part of the contents of a box, use one of the following methods:
To delete individual characters to the left of the cursor, use the BACKSPACE key.
To delete several characters at once, you can highlight the text using the mouse.
Alternatively, you can press and keep the SHIFT button depressed while you use the right
or left arrow key to select the characters you want to remove, and then press DELETE.
To delete a complete word, either highlight the word by placing the cursor over it and
double-clicking the left-hand mouse button, or use CTRL+SHIFT and the right or left arrow
key, to highlight the whole word and then press DELETE.
To delete a whole line on transaction entry window, place the cursor in any box on the
transaction line and press F8.
To delete the entire contents of the box, use the mouse to highlight the contents of the box
and then press DELETE.
48
Using drop-down list boxes and scroll bars

You can enter some entries by selecting from a drop-down list box. These are indicated by a
down-pointing arrow to the right-hand side of a box.
Click this arrow for the drop-down box to
appear.
Use these arrows to scroll up and down the list

box to select the appropriate records.
When you click a drop-down arrow in a list box, the software opens a list of the first few choices.
To make a selection, click the option you want, and it appears in the box. If necessary, use the
scroll bar to move down the full list.
Scroll bars
Windows and drop-down lists will not always be able to display all of the records or fields that
can be selected. Where a window has more to display than can be shown at one time, a scroll
bar appears at the right-hand side of the window, like the one shown on the drop-down list box
above.
To use the scroll bar, click the up or down arrows, holding the mouse button down, to scroll the
list up or down respectively. Alternatively, drag the empty box in the scroll bar up or down using
the mouse.
Option buttons
Option buttons that appear in Sage 50 Accounts let you select one action, from two or more
possible actions.
You can only select one option button. In this

example, the Top Left option is selected.
You select an option button by left-clicking on the required option - a dot appears in the selected
option, or use the TAB key to move the cursor to the option button area, then select the button
with the arrow keys.
49
Check boxes
Check boxes let you select one or more of the actions you require from a range of actions. For
example, in the Graph windows, you can show different types of transactions.
You can select one, two or three of

these check boxes at once.
Select a check box by left-clicking on the required box - a tick appears. Alternatively, use the
TAB key to move the cursor to the check box area and select on or off using the SPACE BAR.
To clear a check box, repeat the procedure so that the tick does not appear in the box.
Using the calendar button

All boxes which require you to enter a date have a Calendar button attached. When you click
this button a calendar appears from which you can select the date you need using your mouse.
When you click this button, a calendar appears from
which you can select the required date.
Using the calculator button

To help you perform your calculations, a Calculator button is attached to many numeric
data-entry boxes. When you click this button a mini calculator is displayed, which you can use
like an everyday calculator with clicks of your mouse. The results seen on the on-screen
calculator appear in the numeric data entry box.
Click this button to display a mini calculator.
Smart Link buttons

There are often times as you use Sage 50 Accounts, where you require additional information
about an account or transaction. At the click of a button, the Smart Link feature allows you to
move from the window you are working in to another window containing related data. Your
account information becomes more accessible as you work.
For example, when you enter an invoice, you may want to check the customer's details. Click
the arrow button alongside the account code box to go to the customer's record details.
Click this button to go to view the
account details.
50
The 'Drill-Down' facility

You can click a transaction listed on a customer, supplier, bank or nominal activity window to
drill down into the associated order, invoice or credit note details.
The following example shows the same transaction listed on the Bank Activity window.
Click this icon to see the details that
make up the transaction.
51
Using the Search to Find Records

Often it can be time-consuming to sort through numerous records to find the few that are
relevant to the task you want to complete. You can use the Search function to look through your
records in the Customer, Supplier, Nominal, Products, Invoicing, Sales Order Processing
(Accounts Professional only), Purchase Order Processing (Accounts Professional only),
and Financials windows, to find what you want. You can also run your management reports
specifically on those records that you have searched for.
Note: Applying a search in the Financials window to show only specified transactions does not
have any effect on reports within this module.
You can save the search requests you create to reapply them at a later date. For example, you
could set up a search to show customers who are over their credit limit. You can then save this
search to reapply again at regular intervals as part of your credit control procedures.
To set up a search request

1. From the appropriate window, for example, Customers, click Search.
Use the Search button
The Search window appears showing either a new search window or, if you have previously
created a search request, the last search that you created.
2. If a search is already shown and you want to create a new request, click Discard.
52
You can now start to build your new search.
3. From the Join drop-down list, select Where.

4. From the Field drop-down list, select the field you require. This is the field where you want
to search. For example, if you want to find all records with a balance less than 100 (< 100)
you would choose Balance.
As you complete lines within your search, you can see the expression being built in the
Expression box.
5. From the Condition drop-down list, select the condition you want to apply.
The following conditions are available:
Is Equal To
Is Not Equal To
Is Less Than
Is Greater Than
Is Less Than or Equal To
Is Greater Than or Equal To
Is Between
For example, if you want to find all records with a balance less than 100 (< 100) you would
choose Is Less Than.
6. In the Value box, enter the value you want to search for.
For example, if you want to find all records with a balance less than 100 (< 100) you would
enter 100.
In some cases where a request cannot be assigned a numerical or text value, a drop-down
list is available. For example, if you are searching for customers who are over their credit
limit, a Yes/No drop-down list appears.
The value box also allows the use of wildcards. For further information, refer to the section
Building your search on page 54.
53
7. If you want to add a second expression to your request, press the TAB key to move onto
the second line.
When you add a second line, you need to decide whether you want both sections to be
met. For example, you want to search for customers over their credit limit and based in
Newcastle. If you want both conditions to be met you would choose And from the Join
drop-down list.
If you want either condition, for example if you wanted to find all suppliers who are based
in either Newcastle or Sunderland, you would choose OR.
You can then continue to enter the expression. You can enter as many lines as you need
to refine your search request so that it displays the records you are looking for.
In certain circumstances, brackets may appear in a search request you create. For further
information on brackets, refer to the following section.
You will also need to consider the ordering of your expressions. For further information
about how to do this, refer to the following section.
8. From the Join drop-down list, select the type of join that you want to make.
9. When you have finished setting up your search, you can save it by clicking Save As.
10. To apply the search request, click Apply.
11. To view your search results, click Close.
12. To delete the Search, select Search, then click Discard, then click Apply and select Close.
Building your search

The following section outlines the options you should consider before you build your searches.
Joining expressions using And / Or

If you use the And command to link two expressions, both expressions must apply for a record
to be found.
As a general rule, if you are using the same field and the same condition, do not use AND to
link the expression.
Use the Or command to link two expressions where either expression must be true for a record
to be found.
Using brackets
In certain circumstances, brackets may appear in the search requests you are creating. Sage
50 Accounts automatically adds the brackets for you.
54
The rules regarding the use of brackets are as follows:
1 If your search requests only include AND, brackets will not appear.
2 Brackets appear when OR is used to link expressions when the field chosen before
and after the OR are the same.
For example: Where Account Reference Is Equal To A OR Account Reference Is
Equal To B
The expression is represented as:
Where Account Reference = A OR Account Reference = B
3 If you are using both commands, AND/OR, in your expression, brackets appear if
the OR is considered to be a separate filter.
For example, if you wanted to search for all suppliers with settlement days greater
than 20 and a balance less than 500 and you also wanted to search for accounts
where the settlement due days is equal to 30 you could set up the following request:
Where Settlement Due Days > 20 AND Balance < 500 OR Settlement Due Days =
30
The search facility assumes that the first two statements are related and therefore
brackets them.
Using wildcards
The Value box allows the use of Wildcards. Wildcards are special characters which can
represent a line of text or an individual character.
The types of wildcards available are as follows:
* This represents any number of valid characters (including spaces) after a specific
value. For example, NE* would find all text beginning with NE.
$ This represents a specific line of text anywhere in the data. For example, $ABC finds
all text that contains ABC.
? This represents a single undefined character. For example, WE?001 will find WEB001
and WET001.
55
Ordering expressions
You must consider the order you set up your search request in order to get the correct results.
Consider the following example:
You want to search for all records with a balance greater than 100 that have a postcode of
NE7 or NE8. To do this the expression would be:
Where Balance > 100 AND (Postcode = NE7* OR Postcode = NE8*)
Alternatively, you can search for records that have a balance greater than 100 and have a
postcode of NE7 or all records in NE8 with any balance. To do this the expression would be:
Where Account Address Line 5=NE7* AND Balance >100 OR Account Address Line 5=
NE8*
56
Finding Transactions
Use the Find option in Financials to enable you to locate transactions in the audit trail quickly,
without having to scroll through every transaction on your audit trail.
This saves you time when trying to find a transaction where you only have a small amount of
information, for example, a reference.
To use the Find option to locate transactions

1. From within the Financials window, click Find.
The Find window appears.
2. Enter the following information:
Find What Enter the information you have regarding the transaction that you
are trying to find. For example, you could search for a specific
transaction number or a reference.
Search In Select the item that you are searching for from the drop-down list.
You can search on:
Transaction Number
Account Reference
Reference
Details
Date
Net Amount
Bank A/C Reference
Nominal A/C Reference
Ex Reference
Tax Amount
Amount Paid
Date Reconciled
57
Match You do not have to set a search on an exact word, you can select
how accurate a match you are looking for from the following:
Any finds all of the transactions that contain the details you have
entered, anywhere in the field you are searching on. For example,
searching for an Account Reference containing the text CAR,
matching using the Any option, will find CAR, CARLTON and
REDCAR.
Start finds all of the transactions that contain the details you have
entered at the beginning of the field you are searching on. For
example, searching for the Account Reference CAR at the start of
the field will find CAR and CARLTON not REDCAR.
Whole finds the transaction that contains the exact details you
have entered. For example, searching for an Account Reference
CAR, using the Whole option will only find CAR, not CARLTON or
REDCAR.
Case Sensitive If you want your search to find transactions with upper and lower
case letters exactly as they were typed in the Find What box, select
the Case Sensitive check box.
3. To find the first occurrence of your search, click Find First.

If a transaction is found, it is highlighted in blue. If this is not the transaction you are looking
for, click Find Next. Continue clicking Find Next until you locate the transaction you require.
If no transactions are found, a message appears informing you that your transaction could
not be found. To return to the Find window and re-enter new search details, click OK.
58
Using ActiveSearch
The ActiveSearch function speeds up data entry by finding the closest matches to what you are
typing and displaying them in a popup list for you to select from.
To select an item from the list use your DOWN ARROW to highlight the item you want and press
ENTER, or click the item you want with your mouse.
If you have selected an item from the list you can edit what is shown. If you use the BACKSPACE
key, you can delete the suggested text. You can use the LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW
keys to move along the line of text enabling you to edit the text.
Note: If you do not want to use the ActiveSearch, open the Settings menu, choose Company
Preferences and then click Parameters. Clear the Display ActiveSearch Popup check box.
There are two types of ActiveSearch popup list:
Reference popup list

Reference popup lists are made up from the account reference data in your program, such as
customer account references and nominal account codes.
For example, if you are typing into the A/C box on the Customer Record, the ActiveSearch will
find the closest matches to what you are typing from within the existing customer references.
You can select the account you want, or continue typing to create a new reference.
Recent items popup list

The Recent Items popup list is made up from the last 32 items you have typed in a selected box.
For example, if you are typing in the 'Details' box within Batch Customer Invoices, the
ActiveSearch will find the closest matches to what you are typing from the last 32 Details lines
that you have entered. You can then select the details you want from the list, or continue typing
to enter new Details text.
You can delete an entry from the Recent Items popup list, for example if you type an item
incorrectly and do not want it to appear in the list. To delete an entry, right-click it in the popup
list and select Delete from the menu. Alternatively, select Delete All to delete all entries from the
Recent Items popup list.
59
Function Keys
Sage 50 Accounts uses function keys in several areas to access a number of important
features, including the calculator and the Help features. Several of these keys are context
sensitive, meaning that they will only perform their function when you have selected an
appropriate box. For example, if you are in Customer Records and your cursor is in the A/C box,
pressing F4 will open the customer record list.
The various functions associated with the function keys are:

:
F1 Press this key to bring up Help that relates to the particular window you are using. For
example, if you are in the Customers window and press F1, the Sage 50 Accounts
Help system will display assistance on the Customers function.
F2 This key brings up the calculator which you can use with the mouse, in the same way
you would use a normal calculator.
F3 This key brings up the Edit Item Line window when you are entering an invoice.
Accounts Professional users can also use the F3 key in Sales Order Processing and
Purchase Order Processing.
F4 This button is a shortcut to the calendar, calculator or record list, if the selected text
box that you are using has any of these functions attached. Also if you select a
drop-down list box, you can press F4 to display this list.
F5 If you press this key it brings up the Currency Calculator when the focus is in a
numeric box. It will display the Spell Checker if the cursor is in a text box.
F6 Press this button in the appropriate window to copy data from the box immediately
preceding it. For example, when entering invoice data in the Customers window,
press F6 to copy the data from the box immediately above it. This speeds up the
process of entering the same data.
60
F7 Using F7 inserts a blank row in a list. For example, if you need to insert a blank row
for another customer invoice in the Customer Invoice window, place your cursor on
an existing row, press F7 and a new blank row appears immediately above the list
where your cursor rests.
F8 Press F8 to delete a row, for example, in the Customers Invoice window.
F9 Use this key in a relevant box to calculate the Net amount from any Gross tax values.
For example, in the Batch Supplier Invoices window, you can enter the gross figure in
the Net column and press F9, which splits the amount into a Net and VAT amount.
F11 This key launches the Windows control panel, so, for example, you could access
your Internet options without having to minimise or close down your Sage 50
Accounts software. Alternatively, you can configure this button to launch another
program on your PC.
F12 The F12 key launches the Report Designer. Alternatively, you can configure this
button to launch another program on your PC, or minimise your Sage 50 Accounts
program.
Configuring F11 and F12

Function keys F11 and F12 are user-configurable. If required you can set them to launch an
external program on your PC. Alternatively, F12 can also be configured to minimise the Sage 50
Accounts software.
To configure F11 and F12

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Options and then click the
Environment tab.
2. For each of the keys F11 and F12, enter the full path and the name of the .EXE file you
want the key to launch.
Alternatively, for F12, click the Configure F12 as Hide Key box.
3. To save the details entered, click OK. To discard your changes, click Cancel.
61
Hot Key Shortcuts in Sage 50 Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts supports hot key shortcuts. These are indicated in the program menus and
windows by an underlined letter:
To use the hot key shortcuts press the ALT key on your keyboard and, while keeping the key
pressed, press the key corresponding to the underlined letter shown in the menu.
As an example, in the menu illustration above, press ALT and F on your keyboard to open the
File Menu; then, keeping the ALT key pressed, press B on your keyboard to open the Backup
dialog.
Similarly, to select Search in the second illustration above, press ALT and R on your keyboard
to open the Search window.
Getting Help
The Sage 50 Accounts Help system provides you with all of the information you need to get the
most out of your Sage 50 Accounts software. To access the Help you can:
Press F1.
Press the F1 key at any point in Sage 50 Accounts. The Help topic that appears, directly
relates to the actual window that is displayed on-screen. For example, click Customers and
then click Record. Pressing F1 at this point displays the Help information relating to the
Customer Record.
From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Help. Choose Contents and Index.
Use the Contents tab on the left side of the Sage 50 Accounts Help system to search for
a Help topic.
62
Wizards
The wizards in Sage 50 Accounts are specifically designed to help you complete routine or
complicated procedures. A wizard takes you through the procedure you want to carry out in a
logical, step-by-step process. All you have to do is follow the on-screen instructions.
You will find wizards in various places in Sage 50 Accounts, such as on the Modules menu from
Sage 50 Accounts main menu bar and on the various ledger windows, throughout the software.
63
An Overview to Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts

You are now ready to begin entering information into your new Sage 50 Accounts software. In
summary, the tasks you are advised to perform in sequence are:
Set your company defaults. Check that you have entered your company details correctly,
including your financial year start date and your VAT scheme. For more information, see
Chapter 3, Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts.
Check your nominal account structure. This includes setting up bank accounts in Sage 50
Accounts. Sage 50 Accounts has already created a nominal account structure for you, but
you should check that the structure is right for your company. At this stage you can rename
your nominal accounts to suit your business, add additional accounts and delete others
that you do not need. For more information, see Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of
Accounts and Chapter 5, Setting Up Records.
Enter your customer and supplier information. If you need to keep details of your
customers and suppliers, the next stage is to enter their records and their opening
balances. A customer or supplier record is like a card in a card index box. Each record
holds information about a specific customer or supplier, such as an address, telephone
number, contact name, credit details and so on. Depending on your business, you may
need to complete both supplier and customer records or you may need only supplier
details. For more information, see Chapter 5, Setting Up Records and Chapter 15,
Recording Opening Balances.
Enter your product information. If your business has stock, you should now enter your
product details, including their opening balances. For more information, see Chapter 5,
Setting Up Records and Chapter 15, Recording Opening Balances.
Enter the opening balances for your nominal ledger and bank accounts, in that order. Any
figure listed on your opening trial balance should be entered as an opening balance against
the relevant nominal account. You should enter the opening balance for your bank account
after you have entered the balances of all your other nominal ledger accounts. This is the
last task which you should complete in order. For more information, see Chapter 15,
Recording Opening Balances.
64
Administrative / Maintenance Tasks

There are certain procedures that you should perform daily, or whenever you use Sage 50
Accounts. These routines ensure that your data is not damaged and make sure that you always
have a copy of your data in case of PC errors.
This chapter show you how to check your data for errors and how to make a backup of your
files. It also discusses the importance of these routines.
Well show you how to change your program date, a useful feature if you need to process many
transactions on a certain date.
FInally, well guide you through the process of restoring your data from a backup.
Changing the program date

One of the strengths of Sage 50 Accounts is that you can change the program date, for
example, the day's date that you want to use to record your transactions.
Important Note: This is not your financial year start date.
This means that you don't have to run your Month End on the exact Month End date. This is
the same with your Year End. Because you may have to wait for certain invoices or bills to come
in before you can run a period end procedure, Sage 50 Accounts lets you change your program
date to whatever date you choose.
You can also change the program date if you have a set of invoices that need to be entered with
yesterday's date. When you have finished entering the invoices, you can use Change Program
Date to reset the date to today's date.
Note: The date will automatically set itself to the current PC system date when you restart the
software.
You can change the program date by selecting Settings > Change Program Date from the Sage
50 Accounts menu bar. The Change Program Date box (see below), appears. Here you can
enter the date that you need to process your transactions.
65
Checking your data

The Check Data facility lets you check that your data files are not corrupt and, in certain
circumstances, it allows you to make corrections. It should be run regularly, but especially
before taking a backup, and after restoring your data.
The data files are examined to detect the following error conditions:
Input errors: values outside the limits of the program.
Internal inconsistencies: values that fail to correspond, or transactions that do not match
up correctly.
Missing data: files or important pieces of information that are missing.
Corrupt data: damaged/unreadable data files.
Invalid nominal account types.
If you have any errors in your data, you can print a report detailing these errors.
To check your data files

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Maintenance.
The File Maintenance window appears.
2. Click Check Data.
As the files are checked, a bar displays how far the Check Data utility is progressing.
If there are no problems, the Maintenance window appears informing you of this. Click OK
to continue.
3. If there are problems, the File Maintenance Problems Report window appears.
4. If any errors appear, we recommend that you fix them before you continue entering any
more data.
Warning: Before using Fix you should take at least two backups of your data.
The Fix facility will attempt to repair any errors found on your data. If there is a rare occasion
where this routine is not successful, for example, because of data corruption, you will need
to either restore to an error-free backup or send your data to Sage Technical Support -
contact 0845 111 55 55 if you are a UK resident or 01 6420877 for residents of the
Republic of Ireland, to be repaired by the Data Repair Service.
If you need to send your data to our Data Repair Service, we will need a backup of your
data before the fix has been run. You should also contact our helpline, on the same number
as above, for the necessary procedural forms.
Note: Depending on the level of SageCover you have, you may be charged for this service.
5. Click Fix.
66
6. After it has fixed your data set, Sage 50 Accounts will ask you whether you want to run
Check Data again. We advise you to do this to ensure the integrity of your data.
If there are no errors, the Maintenance window appears informing you of this. Click OK or
Close to continue.
Backing up your data

It is essential that you back up your data on a regular basis in case of PC malfunctions. Sage
50 Accounts provides its own backup routine, but if you want to use a different tool you can. To
select a different backup tool, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Options and
then enter the details of the backup utility into the Backup tab.
If you want to use Sage 50 Accounts' Backup facility, follow the instructions below.
Note: The amount of disk space required depends on how much data you have saved in your
software. If you are backing up to floppy disk, make sure you have a set of blank disks ready.
Do not forget to label your disk(s) with the date and file name, and if more than one disk is used,
number the disks sequentially indicating how many disks there are in total (1 of 4, 2 of 4 etc.).
Write on the label which files you have backed up - either data files, layout templates, report
templates, image files or all files. This means that if you only need to restore specific files, you
know which disk to use.
Note for multi-company users: You must back up each company, including your consolidated
company, separately. The Backup facility will only back up the company data that you are
currently using.
To back up your data

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Backup.
2. A message appears asking you if you would like to check your data. We recommend that
you check your data before you make a backup. To do this, click Yes. If you do not want
to check your data, click No.
If you have chosen to check your data, a bar appears showing how the data check is
progressing. When the data has been checked the File Maintenance Problems Report
window appears.
If any errors appear, click Close to continue the backup. When it finishes, you should
contact Sage Technical Support - call 0845 111 55 55 if you are a UK resident or 01
6420877 for residents of the Republic of Ireland. SageCover members can also use the
Ask a Question database, available via www.sage.co.uk, to obtain information about their
errors.
67
The Backup window appears, displaying the Backup Company tab.
The Company Details area of the window shows the name and location of the company
data that is currently open in your software. If you are using a multicompany version of the
software, check that the correct company name is shown here; that is, that the company
you want to back up is the one you currently have open.
3. Use the Where do you want the company backed up to? section of the window to enter a
location and file name for your backup.
By default, the filename for the backup is Sageback <date>.001, where <date> represents
the current program date. For example, if you back up on 9th July 2006, the filename
becomes Sageback 09-07-2006.001. This filename format helps you to identify your
backups, but you can change this if you require.
Use the Location box to enter or browse to the drive and folder you want to use for your
backup.
Note: If you are backing up to a removable storage device, such as a USB data key, please
make sure that the device is attached to your PC before you click Browse.
4. To check or change the file types included in your backup, click the Advanced Options tab.
Otherwise, click OK to proceed with the backup.
The Backup progress window appears, showing the details of the backup as it proceeds.
68
If you are backing up onto floppy disk you are prompted to replace each disk, as they
become full.
5. When the backup is finished, a message appears to confirm that the backup has been
successful. Click OK to acknowledge the message.
You have now backed up your data.
To Back Up to CD
There are two types of CD you can back up to: CD-R or CD-RW. Please follow the steps
relevant to the type of CD you are using.
To back up to CD-R
The Backup window appears, displaying the Company Backup information.
2. Following the instructions in the topic To Back Up your Data, make a backup to a location
on your hard drive (usually C:\).
3. Locate the backup file on your hard drive and use the software provided with your CD-R
drive to burn the file to a blank CD-R disk.
Note: We are unable to offer specific advice or support on the procedure for burning the
backup file to your CD-R. This is because the CD-R drive uses third-party software for this
process. If you need help with using your CD-R drive or its software, refer to the Help
supplied with the drive or contact the manufacturer.
If you are using Windows XP, you can copy the backup file to your CD-R using the My
Computer option. For more information, refer to your Windows XP Help.
To back up to CD-RW
1. Insert the CD-RW disk, to which you wish to back up.
The Backup window appears, displaying the Company Backup information.
3. Follow the instructions in the topic To Back Up your Data, ensuring that you select your
CD-RW drive (for example, E:\ as the location for the backup.
To Select Files to Back Up using Advanced Options

2. From the Backup window, click the Advanced Options tab.The Advanced Options
information appears.
3. From the list shown in the File types to include in backup section of the window, select the
file types you want to back up.
69
For example, if you have made changes to your report templates and you want to include
these files in your backup, select Data Files and Report Files from the list. Alternatively, to
back up all files, select the Select all files to include in backup check box.
4. Check that the details shown in the Description of backup for <Company Name> section
of the window are correct. If necessary, make any changes to your file type selections, as
described in step 3 above.
5. To proceed with your backup, click OK.
Note: If you want to back up your data to a CD, refer to Backup to CD on page 64.
The Backup progress window appears, showing the details of the backup as it proceeds.
If you are backing up onto floppy disk you are prompted to replace each disk, as they
become full.
6. When the backup is finished, a message appears to confirm that the backup has been
successful. Click OK to acknowledge the message.
You have now backed up your data.
To View or Delete your Previous Backups Information

Alternatively, you can also view this information by selecting File > Restore.
2. From the Backup or Restore window, click the Previous Backups tab.
The Backups Taken information appears, displaying the history of the backups you have
made for the current company.
3. To delete a previous backup from disk, select the backup in the list and click Delete. You
can use the Swap and Clear buttons to reverse or clear your selections.
Note: Deleting a previous backup from the list deletes the backup file completely from your
disk, storage device or PC. You should make sure that you keep sufficient backups to help
protect you against data loss.
4. To confirm that you want to delete the backup, click OK when prompted by the
confirmation message.
The selected backup(s) is/are deleted from disk.
5. To close the Backup (or Restore) window, click Cancel.
70
Backing up strategies
The more sets of backups you keep, the greater protection you have against data loss. We
recommend the following backup routine:
Back up at the end of each day, labelling disks Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Fri. Re-use these
disks weekly. This allows you to go back to any day in your current week.
Back up at the end of each week, labelling disks Week1, Week2, Week3 and Week4. Re-use
these disks weekly. This allows you to go back to any week in your current month.
Back up at the end of each month, labelling disks Month1, Month2 etc. Keep these disks
until the end of the year. This allows you to go back to any month in your current year.
Note: Remember to replace your floppy disks regularly.
Restoring your data

What does restore mean?
To restore your data means to replace your current program data files with those stored on a
backup disk. This procedure permanently overwrites your current data, so you should use it with
caution and always ensure you back up first.
Why might I need to restore data from a backup?
If you want to view your accounts as they were in the past, for example before you
performed a procedure such as the Year End, you will need to restore from a backup taken
prior to the procedure.
If you have suffered data corruption that cannot be fixed, you can restore your most recent
'good' backup.
Your accountant might have done some work on your accounts for you and supplied a
backup file for you to restore.
You might have sent your data to Sage to be amended, for example to have your FInancial
Year End date changed, if you are using Sage 50 Accounts. You will need to restore the
backup Sage returns to you.
How do I restore data from a backup?
The method you will need to use to restore your data depends on how you originally backed up
the data.
If you back up using the Sage 50 Accounts Backup feature, you can restore the file by
selecting File > Restore.
The Restore window consists of 2 tabs: Restore Company Backup and Previous Backups.
If you use your own backup tool, such as a network tape backup, you will need to follow
the instructions for your selected utility in order to restore data. For more information, refer
71
to the user assistance supplied with your chosen backup utility or contact your network
administrator.
To restore backup data

Important Note: Restoring data from a backup file permanently overwrites the current
company data in Sage 50 Accounts. Make sure that you have taken a backup of your current
data before you proceed with the Restore process.
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Restore.
The Restore window appears, displaying the Restore Company Backup information.
2. In the What backup do you want to restore? section of the window, enter or browse to the
filename and location of the backup you want to restore.
Note: If the file you are restoring is located on a removable storage device such as a USB
data pen, make sure that the device is attached to your PC before you click Browse.
3. When you have selected the file to restore, the Your backup will be restored to area of the
window displays the details of the company that is currently open and of the backup you
have selected. Check that this information is correct before continuing, and make changes
to the selection in the What backup do you want to restore? area of the window, as
described in step 2 above, if necessary.
4. To begin the restore process, click OK.
When the restore process completes, a confirmation message appears.
5. Click OK to acknowledge the confirmation message.
You have successfully restored your data.
Note: After restoring data from a backup you should use the Check Data option from the File
Maintenance window to ensure that your data files are not damaged.
Correcting your Data

Often mistakes are made when entering transactions. You can correct them provided the
associated transaction entries have not been cleared from the audit trail. Sage 50 Accounts
generates the necessary adjustments for you.
You can:
Change entries
You can change entries unless they have been disabled because of their type or how they
have been processed.
Batched transactions: You can change individual transaction lines. If you delete an
individual transaction belonging to the batch, the whole batch is deleted.
Foreign currency transactions: The date on this type of transaction cannot be changed.
72
Delete entries
You can delete entries, unless they have been VAT reconciled and need reversing.
CIS only: Once a transaction has been included in the monthly return (CIS 300), it cannot
be deleted or reversed.
Reverse entries
A reversal is when an opposite transaction is generated. For example, if you reverse an
invoice a credit is generated. The generated transaction is included in the next VAT return
to counteract the error.
The Corrections window

In this version of Sage 50 Accounts, a dedicated Corrections window has been provided,
accessed using the File menu > Maintenance > Corrections command route:
When this is selected, the Corrections window appears, listing all uncleared transaction items
in the audit trail.
From the list, select a transaction item and click the Edit Item or Delete Item buttons on the
Corrections window toolbar, as appropriate.
It is possible that you may need to search or find the specific transaction from a very large list
of transaction items. Click the Search or Find buttons in the Corrections window, as
appropriate.
73
From the Links pane you can perform a backup. There are tutorial simulations available for
viewing from the Help menu > Tutorials option, for amending incorrect transactions, deleting
transactions and amending transaction payments.
To Correct a Transaction
Before you correct transactions, you are strongly advised to take a backup of your data files.
Please be aware there are some things you cannot correct:
The date on a foreign currency transaction.
Critical fields in a journal entry (nominal code, date, net amount).
There are two ways you can deal with journal entry errors. You can use the Reversals
option from the Nominal Ledger toolbar to reverse the journal, then post a journal with the
correct details. Alternatively, you can record another journal to make the appropriate
amendments.
Non critical journal entry fields are department number, reference, details and tax code can
be corrected. Although correcting the tax code may have VAT Return implications.
CIS only: Transactions that have been included in the monthly return (CIS 300).
To correct a transaction:
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Maintenance > Corrections.
The Corrections window appears with all audit trail transaction items listed. Any
transactions which have previously been deleted using the File Maintenance facility, appear
in red. You cannot edit these transactions.
2. Select the transaction you want to correct from the list and then click Edit Item.
The Making Corrections window appears. The title caption of this window displays the
number of the selected transaction and the transaction type.
74
The window divides up the transaction details into several groupings. These can include:
Details - Reference, Bank, Description, Creation Date etc. Some of these details are
editable, some are not.
Totals - Net, Tax, Paid. These are not editable from this window but can be edited in the
Edit Details window.
Information Flags- Paid in full, Finance charge, Disputed, Printed, Opening balance, CIS,
reconciled, Revaluation
Foreign Currency - Gross, Rate, Currency
Item List Line Details - individual items in this list can be edited, again in the Edit Details
window.
3. Edit the transaction general details, as required.
4. To edit an individual item line, select the item and click Edit.
The Edit Details window appears.
75
Edit the item details in this window, as required.

You can edit the following information:
N/C You can change the nominal account here.
Details If you want to amend the details posted with the transaction,
you can do this here.
Date The date the transaction was posted is displayed here. This
date cannot be amended here. This affects the date of all
linked split transactions.
Department This shows the department to which the transaction has been
posted. You can amend the department number here.
Fund If you have enabled Charities in your Company Preferences,

you can use the drop-down button to select the Fund
associated with the transaction.
Ex-Ref You can enter or amend the additional reference here.
76
Project Ref Use the Project Ref drop-down button to select a project
reference, against which to allocate the transaction correction.
Cost Code Use the drop-down button here to select the cost code, to
which the transaction correction is to be allocated.
Net This shows the net amount. You can edit or amend the net
amount here.
Tax This shows the tax amount. You can edit or amend the tax
amount here.
T/C Shows the tax code used for the transaction.

It can be changed. If the change affects the VAT amount, the
Net and Tax boxes will need to be amended manually to
reflect the tax code used.
Paid If any payment has been made, the amount appears here.
This cannot be amended.
Paid in Full If this check box has been selected the transaction has been
paid in full. This cannot be amended.
VAT Reconciled If this check box has been selected, the transaction has been
reconciled for VAT and has appeared on a VAT return. This
cannot be amended.
Payment Allocations The payments or receipts made against the transaction are
displayed in the Payment Allocations list box.
5. When you have completed your details editing, to return to the Making Corrections
6. To post your amendments, click Save.
Note: If you do not want to post any amendments you have made, click Close.
A confirmation message appears.
Your software gives you a warning if it cannot post your amendment. To post your
amendments, click Yes.
You have successfully edited your transaction.
To Edit a Batched Transaction

1. From the Corrections window select the transaction you want to correct from the list, then
from the Corrections window toolbar, click Edit Item.
77
The Making Corrections window appears. Again, the title caption of this window displays
the number of the selected transaction and the transaction type.
2. Edit the transaction general details, as required. This will affect all individual items in the
batch.
3. To edit an individual item line, select the item and click Edit.
The Edit Details window appears, showing all the individual item lines that make up the
batched transaction.
Edit the Item Details in this window, as required.
4. From the Payment Allocations list, select the individual item you wish to amend, and click
Edit. The Edit Transaction Allocation window appears.
5. In the Ref box, enter or amend the reference for this allocation.
The remaining information shown for this window is entirely dependent on the allocation
type and is for information only (it cannot be amended).
6. Click Close to return to the Edit Details window.
7. Repeat steps 5 - 7, as required. Once all the required corrections have been made, click
Close to return to the Edit Details window.
8. When you have completed your details editing, click Close to return to the Making
Corrections window.
9. To post your amendments, click Save.
Note: If you do not want to post any amendments you have made, click Close.
Your software displays a warning if it cannot post your amendment. For example, this
would occur if you try to amend an allocated transaction when using the VAT Cash
Accounting scheme.
10. To post your amendments, click Yes.
To Reverse Transactions using Corrections

1. Select File > Maintenance > Corrections.
The Corrections window appears with all audit trail transaction items listed.
Any transactions which have previously been deleted using the File Maintenance facility
appear in red. You cannot edit these transactions.
78
2. Select the transaction you want to reverse from the list, then from the Corrections window
toolbar, click Edit Item.
The Edit Details window appears.

3. If the transaction has been reconciled on the VAT Return a Reverse button appears on the
Edit Details window. Click Reverse. When prompted to reverse the transaction, click Yes.
To Delete Transactions using Corrections

1. Select File > Maintenance > Corrections.
The Corrections window appears with all audit trail transaction items listed.
Any transactions which have previously been deleted using the File Maintenance facility
appear in red. You cannot edit these transactions.
2. Select the transaction you want to delete from the list, then from the Corrections window
toolbar, click Delete Item.
79
The Deleting Transactions window appears.
The title caption of this window displays the number of the selected transaction and the
transaction type.
The window divides up the transaction details into several groupings:
Details - Reference, Bank, Description, Creation Date etc. Some of these details are
editable, some are not.
Totals - Net, Tax, Paid. These are not editable from this window but can be edited in the
Edit Details window.
Information Flags- Paid in full, Finance charge, Disputed, Printed, Opening balance, CIS,
reconciled, Revaluation
Foreign Currency - Gross, Rate, Currency
Item List Line Details - individual items in this list can be edited, again in the Edit Details
window.
3. To view the details of an individual item line, select the item and click View.
The View Details window appears, listing all payment allocations for the transaction.
80
4. To view an individual payment allocation, select the allocation from the Payment Allocations
list, and click View.
The View Payment Allocation window appears, detailing all details relating to the selected
payment allocation.
5. Click Close.
6. Repeat steps 4 - 5, as required.
81
To return to the Making Corrections window, click Close.

7. To delete the selected transaction, click Delete.
Note: If you do not want to delete the transaction, click Close.
8. The deleted transaction appears in the Corrections window transaction list in red, with the
Details entry signifying deletion.
How Sage 50 Accounts Corrects your Data Files

It is not possible to list all the errors that can occur, or the corrective action taken by Sage 50
Accounts. However, a few general principles underlie the Sage 50 Accounts approach.
What happens if I change the value or date of a transaction?
New postings are generated. Differences arise though if the transaction is VAT reconciled or not,
as follows:
If the transaction is not VAT reconciled, it is marked as deleted, and a new copy replaces the
original.
For example, when you amend the date of an invoice which is not VAT reconciled, Sage 50
Accounts creates a new transaction which is identical to the original transaction.
This new transaction is marked as deleted and given its own unique number on the audit trail.
The original transaction is corrected with the new date.
If the transaction is VAT reconciled, a reversal transaction is posted and a new transaction
generated.
What happens if I delete a transaction?
All deleted transactions appear in red in the Making Corrections window and the on audit trail
in the Financials window.
By default, these deleted transactions are included on your reports and transaction activity list
boxes. To exclude these from the Customer, Supplier activity lists, select the Exclude Deleted
Transactions check box on the Parameters tab in the Company Preferences window. The
deleted transactions will still appear in the Financials activity list.
What happens if I change the reference, department or details of an transaction?
The software overwrites the transaction, unless is has been VAT reconciled.
What happens if I correct the values of sales or purchase allocation?
Transactions are generated but are not allocated to the corrected transaction. To re-establish
the allocation you will need to allocate the right transaction from those generated.
82
For example: You have a Purchase Invoice 100 allocated to a Purchase Payment 100. If you
amend the Purchase Invoice to 80 the original invoice is deleted and a Purchase Invoice for
80 generated.
The Purchase Payment is adjusted to a Payment on Account for the full amount of 100. You
would then use the Bank module to allocate the 80 Purchase Invoice to the Payment on
Account. This would then leave a credit of 20 on the customer's account.
If you delete the transaction the original is retained but marked deleted, therefore a new
transaction is not generated.
What happens if I change the VAT code?
The VAT amounts are not recalculated.
Note: You cannot change the VAT code on a VAT reconciled transaction.
The solution is to reverse the transaction to cancel the original transaction, and then enter a new
one, with the correct tax code and amount.
What can I correct on a journal entry?
The department number, reference, details and tax code may be amended.
However, an amended tax code does not recalculate any VAT values. Nor does changing the
non-Vatable code (T9) make the entry available for the VAT Return.
The solution is to reverse the journal and then create the journal again. This is also the solution
to use if the nominal code, date or net amount are incorrect, as they cannot be changed.
How can I check that correction have been made?
Print a copy of the transaction histories and the audit trail.
What happens if I correct a bank reconciled transaction?
The bank's balance is updated.
Can I change deleted transactions in my backup?
No you cannot.
83
84
Chapter 3
Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts
This chapter contains all the information In this chapter:

you need to help you set up Sage 50
Setting the Financial Year ...................86
Accounts to suit your business.
The Configuration Editor ....................87
The Configuration Editor assists you in
setting up many of your company defaults, Entering Your Company Preferences109
from selecting the best Chart of Accounts Entering Your Bank Defaults.............133
for your business to setting up terms, tax
Entering Customer Defaults .............134
codes, statuses, departments and labels
that are used throughout the software. Ageing Transactions in Sage 50
Accounts .........................................137
You can find out how to enter your
company preferences such as your Entering Supplier Defaults................142
address and contact details, and Entering Product Defaults ................144
parameter settings, specific to your way of
Entering Invoice and Order Defaults .147
working.
Setting Up Users .............................161
This chapter also explains how to enter
defaults for your customer, supplier, bank
and product records, and for invoices and
orders. These defaults save you time later,
when creating these records.
Finally, youll see how to protect your
accounts data by setting up access rights
and passwords.
If you deal with foreign currencies you also
need to set up Sage 50 Accounts
accordingly. For more information see
Chapter 14, Working with Foreign
Currencies and Accounts.
Setting the Financial Year

When you first used your software, you entered the financial year start date in the
ActiveSetup wizard. We recommend that you check that you have entered the correct
date now, as you cannot easily change the financial year start date after you have started
entering transactions.
To check your Financial Year Start Date open the Settings menu and choose
Financial Year. Your Financial Year start date appears. If you need to change the date,
you should do so now.
If the date is greyed out, you have already started to enter transactions. For further
information about changing your financial year start date after you have started
entering transactions, type financial year into the index of the Sage 50 Accounts Help
system, then double-click on changing. It is essential that you read all the information
about changing your financial year start date before attempting to change the start
date.
Note: If you change your Financial Year start date, all of your prior year columns, on
nominal records, will be cleared.
The Configuration Editor

The Configuration Editor allows you to set up the basic information that your company needs
to get you started with your Sage 50 Accounts software.
The information that you enter here can be saved and used in future installations of Sage 50
Accounts. Accountants can set up this basic information for their clients so that defaults, such
as the nominal ledger are ready to use.
The Configuration Editor consists of the following areas:
General
Chart of Accounts
Terms
Tax Codes
Account Status
Products
Fixed Assets (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional versions only)
Custom Fields
Dispute Reasons (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional versions only)
Credit Control
Project Costing (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional versions only)
87
The General Tab

When you use the Configuration Editor to set up your company defaults, you can save your
settings to a template. You can then use this template to set up a new company ready to work
with, or edit the template at a later date.
Use the General tab of the Configuration Editor to give your template a name, and specify where
you want to store the template. You can also select the General tab to locate and open an
existing template for editing.
Note: You cannot load and use a new template once you have completed and exited from the
Active Setup Wizard.
88
To set up your general configuration settings

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Configuration.
The Configuration Editor window appears, showing the General tab.
2. Enter the following settings in the relevant boxes:
Template Name Type a name for the configuration file. You should enter a
name that allows you to identify the file.
We recommend that you use a name that relates to your
company or to your business type or industry sector. You can
enter up to thirty characters.
Description Enter a description for the configuration file. You can enter up
to two hundred and fifty two characters to describe the
template that you are creating. For example, 'Configuration for
Garage, revised by Smith and Sons'.
Filename If you have an existing template that has already been set up,
you can choose the Browse button to find the file.
Sage has created a set of templates with information for
specific industry types. When you click Browse, a list of these
existing template files appears.
3. To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

To save the changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
89
The Chart of Accounts Tab

The Configuration Editor enables you to set up and amend your Chart of Accounts to suit your
business. You can add or modify ranges of nominal accounts to preset categories and you can
set up or change individual nominal accounts. You can also specify whether an account is a
standard nominal code, a control account, or a bank account.
Before you edit your chart of accounts, we recommend that you read Chapter 4, Setting Up
your Chart of Accounts.
The Chart of Accounts list box uses the following colour coding to differentiate between the
types of nominal account:
Green Floating range

A floating range is one that could be an asset or a liability depending on the
balance of the nominal accounts included in it, and so appears in both the current
assets and current liabilities categories of the Chart of Accounts.
Blue Control account

Control accounts are used by Sage 50 Accounts to make double-entry postings,
and include your Debtors and Creditors Control Accounts, Default Bank Accounts
and VAT Control Accounts.
90
Red Bank account

A bank account is a nominal code that you create in the Bank module.
Pink Bank and Control account

If a bank account also appears in your list of control accounts, for example your
default bank account, the Chart of Accounts list box displays it in pink.
Note: The Configuration Editor only allows you to create one chart of accounts for each
configuration file. To set up another chart of accounts, you will need to create a separate
configuration file.
For instructions about adding and editing your existing chart of accounts, see Chapter 4,
Setting Up your Chart of Accounts, or press F1 on the Chart of Accounts tab and read the
information that appears in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
The Terms Tab

Each time you create a new customer or supplier record, you can enter details such as the credit
limit, trading terms and discount available for that account.
If you give most of your customers similar terms and conditions, or receive similar terms from
many of your suppliers, you can use the Configuration Editor to set up defaults. This saves you
time as you will not need to enter the same information each time you create a new record.
In addition, if your company applies credit charges to customers who do not pay on time, you
can set up your finance rates here.
91
To set up your terms

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Terms tab.
The Terms information appears.
2. Enter your Customer Trading Terms and Supplier Trading Terms in the relevant boxes:
Credit Limit Enter the standard credit limit that you give your customers,
or that your suppliers give you.
Sett. Discount If you want to offer early settlement discount, or if your

suppliers offer you this facility, enter the default percentage in
this box.
Payment Due Days Enter your usual credit terms - that is, the number of days that
you usually give your customers to pay, or that your suppliers
give you.
Sett. Due Days You can give your customers a discount for early payment, or
your suppliers may offer you this discount. If payment is
received within the days you enter here, you or your customer
can qualify for a discount.
92
Terms Type in up to thirty characters of text, such as '30 Days'. You

can print this on your invoices or statements if required.
3. To add a Customer Finance Rate, click Add in the Customer Finance Rates section.
You can enter the following finance rate information:
Date applying from Enter the date from when you want the new interest rate to
apply.
Base Rate % Enter the current base rate here.
Additional % If you want to charge interest above the current base rate,
enter the additional percentage here.
4. To amend an existing finance rate, click Edit in the Customer Finance Rate section.
5. To delete a finance rate, click Delete.
To save your changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.
The Tax Codes Tab

Sage 50 Accounts sets the standard UK and EC VAT Rates automatically for you, so you don't
normally need to adjust anything. However, we recommend you read this section to familiarise
yourself with the codes that are used, and what they represent.
Upon installation, Sage 50 Accounts sets the code T1 - standard rate, currently at 17.5%, as
the default tax code.
Note for ROI users upgrading from an existing Sage version: When you set your Regional
Settings to English (Ireland), Sage 50 Accounts sets the standard default tax codes T1 to 21%
and T3, which is used for reduced rate transactions, to 13.5%. The remaining tax codes remain
as detailed in the bulleted list later in this section.
Note for new ROI users installing Sage 50 Accounts for the first time: When you install with
your Regional Settings set to English (Ireland), Sage 50 Accounts creates the following standard
default tax codes: T0, 0% (zero rated sales and goods for resale); T1, 21% (standard rate sales
and goods for resale); T2, 0% (exempt transactions for sales and goods for resale); T3, 13.5%
(reduced rate sales and goods for resale); T4, 0% (sales to VAT registered customers in the EC);
T7, 0% (zero rated purchases from suppliers in the EC); T8, 0% (from suppliers in the EC); T9,
0% (transactions not involving VAT); T10, 0% (zero rated goods for non-resale); T11, 21%
(standard rate goods for non-resale) and T12, 13.5% (reduced rate goods for non-resale).
If you need to add or change VAT Codes, use the Tax Codes tab from the Configuration Editor.
Tax codes are used to identify the rate of VAT to be applied to a given transaction. You can
93
specify up to 100 VAT rates, each one identified by a code from T0 to T99. You can then select
the rates that are to be included in the VAT Return calculations and which relate to EC
transactions.
When you install your software, Sage 50 Accounts automatically sets up the following VAT
Rates for you:
T0 zero rated transactions
T1 standard rate
T2 exempt transactions
T4 sales to VAT registered customers in the EC*
T5 lower rate
T7 zero-rated purchases from suppliers in the EC**
T8 from suppliers in the EC**
T9 transactions not involving VAT***
* This tax code can be used for VAT registered customers outside of the UK, but within the EC.
You must have the customer's VAT registration number entered on the customer record if you
want to use the T4 tax code. If your customer is not VAT registered, you should use one of the
standard UK VAT rates.
** These tax codes can be used for suppliers outside of the UK but within the EC. In accordance
with VAT regulations, EC VAT rate codes used for purchases are given a 'notional' rate that is
linked to a UK VAT Rate. For example, the T8 tax rate for standard-rated purchases from
suppliers in the EC is linked to T1, which is the standard rate of VAT in the UK.
*** These transactions are not included on the VAT Return. Sage 50 Accounts also uses T9 as
the default tax code for all the routines that are non-vatable, e.g. journal entries and error
corrections. If you want to change the function of T9, you will need to set up another tax code
that is non-vatable, for Sage 50 Accounts to use for these routines
You can add or edit tax codes. To add or edit a tax code, open the Settings menu and choose
Tax Codes. Select the code you require and then click Edit.
Note: The tax codes are set up by default, but it is your responsibility to ensure that these tax
codes are used correctly.
For more information about tax codes, you should check the following HMRC publication
notices:
Notice 700 - The VAT Guide. This is the main VAT reference guide.
Notice 725 - The single market. This notice explains the way that VAT is charged and accounted
for on the movement of goods within the EC single market.
For more tax information and copies of Notice 700 and Notice 725, you should refer to the
HMRC website. You can access this website from your Sage accounts software, by clicking on
the Sage.com icon on the main Sage desktop, then making the appropriate selection from the
pop-up list.
94
To edit a VAT rate

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Tax Codes tab.
The Tax Codes information appears, listing all the VAT rates currently available for you. The
list also shows whether each rate is In Use - that is, included on your Sage 50 Accounts
VAT Return, and if the rate refers to transactions with EC countries.
2. To edit an existing VAT Rate, select a tax code and click Edit.
The Edit Tax Code window appears. This window shows any basic information about the
tax code that you have selected, such as the code, rate and description.
95
3. Enter or edit the following information:

Enter or edit the rate to be applied (as a percentage) in the Rate text box provided.
You should not change this rate if it is an EC Code, as this rate does not apply.
If you want to include this tax code in your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return, select the
Include in VAT Return check box. Clear the check box if you do not want to include
transactions with this tax code in your VAT Return calculations.
If the rate relates to transactions with EC countries, enter the EC details in the boxes
provided.
To use the code for the Reverse Charge Sales List category, select the Reverse
Charge check box. In addition, use the Link To drop-down list to select the theoretical
VAT rate to be used on the Sales Invoice/Purchase-related elements of the Reverse
Charge.
If you want to change the tax code description, type the text you require into the
Description box.
4. To save the details of this tax code, click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
5. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
6. To save the changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
The Account Status Tab

Sage 50 Accounts helps you to manage your customer accounts by allowing you to set up a
range of status settings for these accounts. You may want to set several different types of
account status, to signal whether your customers are good or priority customers. You may also
want to assign statuses for bad customers, or specify that a particular status on an account
places that customer On Hold.
A number of account statuses are already set up for you to use, but you can edit or add to these
if you require.
96
To edit an account status

1. From the Configuration Editor, click the Account Status tab.
The Account Status information appears, listing all the account statuses currently available
to you. The list shows a Y if a status places an account On Hold.
2. Highlight the account status you want to amend and click Edit.
Note: If you try to edit the Open account status, a message appears advising you that you
cannot change the On Hold status.
The Edit Account Status window appears.
3. If you want to edit the name of the account status, type the new name into the Description
box.
4. If you want to change the on hold status, select or clear the Marks account as On Hold
check box as required.
5. To save your changes, click OK. Alternatively, to exit without saving, click Cancel.
Apply.
97
The Products Tab

The Products tab of the Configuration Editor allows you to manage your Product Categories.
The categories you set up will be available as a drop-down list on Sage 50 Accounts's Product
Record window.
Sage 50 Accounts lets you divide your products into nine hundred and ninety nine different
categories for analysis and reporting purposes. For example, if you are a stationery and PC
retailer, you may want to separate your sales into Paper Products, Office Supplies, PC
Accessories and so on. By placing similar products into categories you can:
Create reports based on categories. For example, you can print a Product Activity report.
Use the Search option to carry out analysis within specific categories.
Update the sales and purchase prices of the product within certain categories using the
Global Changes Wizard.
To report on products that belong to different categories, use the Search button on the Products
window to enter the category number as a selection criterion before you run the relevant report.
You can also change the category label to a term more relevant to your business, and set up
custom additional information labels to appear on all your product records.
To edit a product category

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Products tab.
The Products information appears.
98
2. Select the category you want to amend, and click Edit.

The Edit Product Category window appears.
3. In the text box provided, enter the name for your product category.
4. To save your entry click OK, or to abandon your entry, click Cancel.
Apply.
6. To save the changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving your details,
click Close.
To set up your product category label fields

2. If you want to set up an alternative label for the Product Category box on your product
records, type the name you require in the Label box.
Apply.
To set up your product record custom fields

2. Enter your custom field labels in the Product Custom Fields section. You can enter up to
three custom field labels. The labels you enter appear on the Web tab of each of your
product records.
Apply.
99
The Fixed Assets Tab

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
Sage 50 Accounts lets you divide your fixed assets into ninety nine different categories for
analysis and reporting purposes. For example, you may want to set up separate categories for
equipment, furniture and vehicles, which you can use on each fixed asset record you create.
Note: You can change the name of the Fixed Asset Category label, wherever it appears in Sage
50 Accounts by typing a new name in the Label box on the Fixed Assets tab of the Configuration
Editor.
For more information, see Working With Fixed Assets on page 235.
To edit your fixed asset categories

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Fixed Assets tab.
The Fixed Assets information appears, listing all of the fixed asset categories currently
available to you.
2. Click Edit or double-click the category that you want to add or change.
The Edit Fixed Asset Category window appears.
3. In the text box provided, type a name for your fixed asset category.
4. To save your entry click OK, or to abandon your entry, click Cancel.
Apply.
6. To save the changes, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
100
To edit the fixed asset category label

Your company may not use fixed asset categories. It is possible to change this label so that you
can enter your own analysis information on your fixed asset records. The following procedure
explains how to change the label on Fixed Asset boxes, wherever they appear throughout your
Sage 50 Accounts software.
1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Fixed Assets tab.
2. Enter your new text label in the Label box.
Apply.
4. To save the changes, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
101
The Custom Fields Tab

There are some fields in the software you can rename. A meaningful name will help, when
entering information into the software.
Customer and Supplier record fields
You can add three additional pieces of detail to an account. You can then use those details
when generating reports to analyse your sales and purchases.
For example, you might want to record the customer type, sales representative and sales region
on a Customer Record.
Alternatively, you may want to record suppliers by region and account manager.
Department field
You can use departments to analyse your sales and purchases by area. An area can represent
a location, project or region.
To set up your custom fields:
1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Custom Fields tab.
The Custom Fields information appears.
2. Enter the label names you want to use, then click Apply.
3. To save the change to your template file, click Save.
102
The Dispute Reasons Tab

When you mark a customer or supplier invoice as being in dispute, Sage 50 Accounts requires
you to enter a reason code that explains why the transaction is disputed.
The Dispute Reasons tab allows you to create up to one thousand different dispute reason
codes so that you can specify why an invoice is being disputed.
To set up your dispute reasons

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Dispute Reasons tab.
The Dispute Reasons information appears, listing all of the dispute reasons currently
available.
Note: By default, only one dispute reason is available - 1 - No Reason.
2. Select the dispute reason that you want to add or change, then click Edit.
The Edit Dispute window appears.
3. In the text box provided, type a description for your dispute reason.
Note: You cannot edit dispute reason 1 - No Reason and leave the description blank. If no
other reason codes exist, Sage 50 Accounts uses this as the default entry, when you
dispute an item and it is important that there is always one reason code entry available for
you to use.
4. To save your entry click OK, or to abandon, click Cancel.
103
Apply.
6. To save the changes, click Save, or to exit without saving click Close.
The Credit Control Tab

If your customers do not pay after you have sent them their statement, you can use Sage 50
Accounts' Payment Reminder letters. You can choose from three different types of letter: a
simple reminder, the more forceful warning, or the threat of legal action.
Using Sage 50 Accounts' Credit Control features, you can choose to automatically generate
letters to send to your customers, reminding them of any outstanding invoices. The Credit
Control tab of the Configuration Editor allows you to select, which of your standard or
customised reports you would like to use for each type of letter.
To set up your credit control letter details

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Credit Control tab.
The Credit Control standard letters information appears.
2. In the Reminder Letter box, enter the path to the Sage 50 Accounts report you want to use
for a simple reminder letter. If you do not know the exact path to the letter you want to use,
click Browse to locate the file.
104
3. From the Set status to drop-down list alongside the Reminder letter path, select the status
code you want Sage 50 Accounts to set the customer's record to, after you send them a
Reminder letter.
4. Repeat the procedure to enter a path and status code for the Statement, Warning and
Legal Threat letters.
Apply.
6. To save your entries, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
This is an important step in setting up your communication history settings for your preferred
letter definitions, relating to Statements, Reminder letters, Warning letters and Legal Threat
letters. For more information about Credit Control Communication history, please refer to the
accompanying Credit Control pdf document, available from Help menu > Credit Control.
The Project Costing Tab

Each time you create a project record, details from the Project Costing tab are applied to the
record. These details cover:
Project status: Used to track progress. The project status also defines whether the project,
at a given status, can accept charges and whether the project record can be deleted. Sage
50 Accounts offers a list of five that you can use or amend as required.
Cost types and code: Used to track project costs including spend against budget.
Project custom fields: The labels that appear on a project record against a set of three
analysis fields that can be used to categorise projects. For example, you could categorise
a project by its manager, type or geographical area and then generate reports for these
categories.
For more information about project costing see Chapter 11, Project Tasks (Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional Only).
105
To set up or amend a project status, cost type, cost code or custom field
1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Project Costing tab.
The project status list, cost types and codes as well as custom fields for projects are
displayed.
2. Enter the following project settings:
106
Project Status Use this section of the window to add, edit or delete a project
status. You can add to Sage 50 Accounts' original five
statuses, creating up to ninety nine.
To add a new status, click Add. Set up each status with a
unique short code and a description. You can then use the
Allow Postings and Allow Deletion check boxes to specify
whether the status allows you to make cost postings to the
project, or whether you can delete the project. You cannot set
up a status with both of these check boxes selected, but you
can create a status with neither box selected if you want the
status to relate to projects that do not allow postings or
deletion, similar to the SUSPEND status.
To edit a status, select the status in the list and click Edit.
To delete a status, select the status in the list and click Delete.
You can only delete a status if no project records currently use
it.
Note: You cannot delete the default status. In addition, you
must always retain at least one status, which will be set as the
default if it is the only one remaining. You cannot delete all
statuses.
If you want to change the default status, select the status you
require and click Set as Default.
Project Custom Fields The Project Record contains three analysis fields that you can
use to categorise projects for reporting and analysis
purposes. For example, you could categorise projects by
project manager, project type and geographical area.
Use the Field 1, Field 2 and Field 3 boxes in the Project
Custom Fields area to set up the labels for the project record
analysis fields.
107
Cost Type Use the Cost Type section of the window to define your
project cost types. You can amend or add to Sage 50's
default type (Other), to establish up to ninety nine cost types.
To add a new cost type, click Add. Enter a unique description
for the cost type, then click OK.
To amend the name of a cost type, select the cost type from
the list and click Edit.
To delete a cost type, select the cost type in the list and click
Delete. You can only delete a cost type, provided it is not
linked to a cost code or set as the default cost type.
To set a cost type as the default, select the cost type and click
Set as Default. Each time you create a cost code the default
cost type is displayed for use with the cost code, although it
can be changed.
Cost Codes Use the Cost Codes section of the window to define your
project cost codes. You can add to Sage 50 Accounts'
original four cost codes, creating up to ninety nine codes.
To add a new cost code, click Add. Enter a unique short code
and a description for the cost code. If the default cost type is
not right for this code cost, select another from the
drop-down list. To save the cost code, click OK.
To amend a cost code, select the code in the list and click
Edit.
To delete a cost code, select the code in the list and click
Delete. You can only delete a cost code if no transactions
exist that use the code.
3. To save your changes click Save, or to discard your changes and exit without saving, click
Close.
108
Entering Your Company Preferences

The Company Preferences facility is a very important area of the software as it affects the way
your software displays information. We recommend that you read this section and enter your
company preferences, before you use any of the other Sage 50 Accounts features.
Some areas of the Company Preferences facility will already contain information, taken from the
data that you entered on the ActiveSetup Wizard. We recommend that you check this
information and enter the remaining company preferences now.
Use the Accountant tab to enter your accountant's name and address details. Sage 50
Accounts uses this information when you use Accountant Link to exchange data with your
accountant. For information about entering your accountant's details and using Accountant
Link, see Accountant Link on page 608.
To enter your address preferences

Use this area of the software to fill in your company address.
1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
The Company Preferences window appears.
109
2. If necessary, edit your company name and address. You can also add your company's
telephone and fax numbers, email and website address, along with our DUNS Number.
The DUNS Number (Data Universal Numbering System) is a nine digit number, used to
identify a business.
Use of this numbering system to identify a business is to ensure compatibility with Zanzibar,
the UK Government e-purchasing portal. Every e-order and e-invoice that passes through
Zanzibar must include a DUNS number.
Charities only: Enter your Charity Tax Reference in Charity No. and it will appear on your
Gift Aid report.
3. Accounts Professional users: If you want to use Sage 50 Accounts to produce Intrastat
Supplementary Declarations information and you do not have a default company Delivery
Address set up, you must set the Country to GB, or IE for users in the Republic of Ireland.
Select GB or IE from the drop-down list in the Country box.
4. Enter your company's VAT registration number in the box provided.
5. If you have an Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional version of Sage 50 Accounts,
you can have multiple delivery and contact addresses. For example, if your business has
several offices, you can enter a delivery address for each office. Similarly, if you have several
Customer or Supplier contacts, to whom you send different documentation - invoices,
statements, letters, you can specify different contact addresses for each.
Type Delivery Address or Contact Address into the Help systems index to find out how.
Help
6. To save any changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.
110
To enter your label preferences

Setting your label preferences determines how your Sage 50 Accounts software displays
information. This includes how you want to display addresses and additional information on
your customer, supplier and product records.
The Company Preferences information appears.
2. Choose the Labels tab.
The Labels information appears.
3. To ensure that you always enter address information consistently, you can amend the
labels that appear on all address data entry windows. For example, you can change the
labels to Street 1, Street 2, Town, County and Postcode. This ensures that the county will
always be entered on the fourth line. Therefore if you want to search for all customers in a
specific county, you can search on Address Line 4. For more information about searches,
Using the Search to Find Records on page 52.
111
To enter your company parameters

By setting your company parameters, you can choose from a range of options which affect how
your Sage 50 Accounts software works. These options are explained in the following
instructions.
2. Click the Parameters tab.
The Parameters information appears.
3. Enter the following information in the relevant section of the window:

:'
Default Call Charge You can charge people for the amount of time you talk to them
(Accounts on the telephone. The hourly rate that you enter here is used as
Professional only) the default rate that can be assigned to service invoices
generated from within customer records contacts tab. To read
about how to charge people for telephone calls, see Invoicing
from telephone calls (Accounts Professional Only) on page 465.
112
Display Account Select this check box if you want Sage 50 Accounts to display
Status the status of your customers and suppliers.
If you select this check box, two option buttons become
available.
If you want Sage 50 Accounts to display the account status
when you use the account, but allow you to continue, select
Show a warning on each change. When you create or amend
an invoice, credit note or order for the account, Sage 50
Accounts displays a warning message, informing you that the
account is on hold. You can still create or amend the invoice,
credit note or order.
If you want Sage 50 Accounts to prevent postings to accounts
that are on hold, select the Stop the account option. When you
try to create or amend an invoice, credit note or order for an
account that is marked as on hold, Sage 50 Accounts displays
a warning message advising that the account is on hold, and
that you must take the account off hold before you can create
or modify the transaction.
Exclude Deleted Select this check box to exclude any transactions from your
Transactions transaction activity list boxes, which have been deleted using
the Error Corrections option. If you do not select this check
box, deleted transactions appear in red on the activity
windows. You cannot exclude them from the Financials
window.
Display ActiveSearch Select this check box to enable the ActiveSearch facility. The
popup ActiveSearch facility speeds up data entry by trying to match
what you are typing to records stored within Sage 50 Accounts
or items that you have previously typed. For more information,
see Using ActiveSearch on page 59.
Access Rights Sage 50 Accounts' Access Rights facility lets you set individual
passwords for each user accessing Sage 50 Accounts. You
can also restrict the options a user has access to, increasing
the security of your company data. Select this check box if you
want to set up access rights. For more information, see Access
rights on page 161.
113
Allow Negative Stock If you want Sage 50 Accounts to allow negative stock levels,
select this check box. For example, a negative stock value may
occur if you have not recorded recent deliveries of stock to your
warehouse but have still been recording the sales to your
customers.
Note: If your stock value does fall to a negative value, this will
affect your product valuation reports.
Copy skeleton journal If you want to be able to save the values of your skeleton
values Nominal Ledger Journal Entries which you make regularly,
(Accounts Plus and select this check box. For example, you can save your salary
Accounts journal values so that you do not have to enter all the values
Professional only) each time you post your salary journal.
Timeslips Link If you want to import your accounting journals from your
(only relevant to Timeslips software to your Sage 50 Accounts software, select
owners of the Sage this check box. When you have selected this check box an
Timeslips product) additional option appears on the File Import menu, enabling
you to import your accounting journals from Timeslips.
Enable Reversing You can set a journal to reverse on a given date. You may find
Journals this useful if you need to account for an expense or income you
have not yet received.
Similar to accruals and prepayments, except the journal deals
with a single month. Accruals and prepayments meanwhile,
spread the expense/income over several months.
114
Login Check (Network If you try to logon to Sage 50 Accounts using a logon name
versions only) that is already in use on another PC on the network, Sage 50
Accounts prevents the logon. You cannot logon to a company
using the same logon name from more than one PC at a time.
If you want to be able to remove the logon name from the user
list at the point of logging in to Sage 50 Accounts, select this
check box. If you try to logon using the same logon name more
than once, Sage 50 Accounts displays the message "This
username is already in use. Do you want to remove this user
from the request list and logon again?" You can remove the
user by clicking Yes, and logon to Sage 50 Accounts as
normal.
If you do not select this check box, Sage 50 Accounts displays
the message:
Username is in use - the software cannot connect you at this
time.
You cannot logon using this logon name until the user logs out
on the other PC.
Note: If you use this facility, you must ensure that this check
box is cleared on every other PC that is running Sage 50
Accounts across the network.
No Recurring entries Clear this check box if you do not want to be reminded of
at startup outstanding recurring entries, when you start your Sage 50
Accounts software.
If this check box is not selected, a message appears when you
start your Sage 50 Accounts software if it detects any recurring
entries that are due to be posted. Accepting the pop-up
message opens the Recurring Entries window.
Enable Project Costing Select this check box if you want to use Sage 50 Accounts'
Project Costing facility.
Enable Charity \ Select this option if you want to use Sage 50 Accounts to
Non-Profit options manage a charity or non-profit organisation.
Details of the facilities available, when running Sage 50
Accounts in this way are described in the document Charities,
which is provided in electronic format as a .PDF file, and can
also be accessed via Help menu > Charities.
115
Enable Smart Totals Select this check box if you want Sage 50 Accounts to display
a total balance for all records selected within a ledger window,
such as Customers, Nominal or Invoicing. The window also
displays how many records you have selected out of the total
number available, for information purposes.
Note: The number of records selected and their total balance
only displays on the Nominal Ledger if it is set to use the List
layout. If the Nominal Ledger is using the Analyser or Graph
layout, the totals do not display.
Log Events Select this check box if you want Sage 50 Accounts to keep a
record of important changes and processes in your data, such
as when a user runs the year end process. For more details,
see Event Logging on page 672.
116
To enter your reporting preferences

2. From the Company Preferences window, click the Reporting tab.
The Reporting information appears.
3. Enter the following information in the relevant section of the window:
Print End of Report Select this to print an End of Report message at the end of all
Banner reports to indicate that the report is complete.
117
Cheque lines per page Enter the number of lines that appear on your cheque layout
(Accounts here. The software uses this value to generate the correct
Professional and cheque number when your remittance note runs over more
Accounts Plus only) than one page.
Note: If you have 12" cheque layouts, set this to 15 cheque
lines per page. If you are using A4 cheque layouts, set this to
11 cheque lines per page. When you are printing your cheques,
you may have to continue making adjustments to the number
of cheque lines per page until your cheque layout is printed
correctly.
Print Address on Select this check box to print your name and address on all of
Stationery your invoices, orders, statements and letters.
Use Data Path for If you want your client machines to use the reports stored on
Reports the server, select this check box. This means that all client
(Network users only) computers are using the same set of reports.
118
To set up your Accountant Link defaults

Note: The Accountant information you enter applies to the company data that is currently open
in Sage 50 Accounts. If you use a multi-company version of Sage 50 Accounts, you must enter
the Accountant details into each company's data individually.
2. From the Company Preferences window, click the Accountant tab.
The Accountant information appears.
3. In the Accountant Details section of the window, enter your accountant's name, address
and contact details.
4. In the Accountant Link Import/Export Folders section of the window, enter the default
locations you want the Accountant Link Wizard to use for importing adjustments from your
accountant and exporting your data to file.
By default, Sage 50 Accounts uses Import and Export folders within your software
directory. For example, if your software is installed into C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts,
the import location is C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Imports and the export location is
C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Exports.
Note: We recommend that you use the default locations.
119
5. To save your changes and return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click OK.
Alternatively, to return to the desktop without saving your changes, click Cancel.
To set up your Accountant Link defaults using Sage 50 Client Manager

Note: If you are using a multi-company version of Sage 50 Client Manager, the information you
enter here relates to your own practice, and applies to the data for every company you use or
create. You only need to enter these details once.
2. From the Company Preferences window, click the Accountant tab.
The Accountant information appears.
3. In the Accountant Details section of the window, enter your practice name, address details,
email address, and agent number. Sage 50 Client Manager uses the information you enter
in the SSD Agent No box, when you submit Intrastat submissions on behalf of your clients.
4. In the Accountant Link Import/Export Folders section of the window, enter the default
locations you want the Accountant Link Wizard to use for importing data from your clients
and exporting your adjustments to file.
120
By default, Sage 50 Accounts uses Import and Export folders within your software
directory. For example, if your software is installed into C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts,
the import location is C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Imports and the export location is
C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Exports.
Note: We recommend that you use the default locations.
5. If the data within this company is imported from a client's file, Sage 50 Client Manager
clears the Dataset Source check box. If no import has taken place, Sage 50 Client
Manager selects this check box. You cannot amend this setting directly.
6. To save your changes and return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click OK.
Alternatively, to return to the desktop without saving your changes, click Cancel.
To Enter your Budgeting Method Preferences
Do you want to track keep an eye on costs and income? Then select the budgeting method
you want to use from the drop-down lists.
You can choose from:
Standard
This is budgeting by the nominal account record only.
121
You can view your budget, actual and previous year figures. The information can also be
viewed in graphical format.
If you have used this method in a previous version of Sage 50 Accounts, v12 or earlier, and
you choose to use the Advanced nominal code budgeting, your current nominal budgets
are transferred for you. The earlier budgets are made read only on the nominal accounts.
Advanced Budgeting
When Advanced Budgeting is selected, a confirmation message appears:
Do you want to copy existing Nominal budget and Actual values to your departments?
Note: All budgets are copied to the default department (Department 000)
To proceed, click Yes. To cancel, click No.
Nominal Code - Advanced
This is also budgeting by nominal account record only. It is very similar to the Standard
method but presented in a better way.
The extra benefits include:
View previous budget results for the past five years
Enter a budget for the next year - referred to as a forecast year
Copy the current year's values to create a budget for your forecast year - at the same
time increase or decrease those figures
Department Overview - Advanced
With this method you can set up a budget for a department and analyse its costs or income
by nominal category.
Nominal categories are the accounting areas used to group your nominal accounts, such
as Sales, Purchases, or Overheads.
The value of all nominal accounts in a category are used to monitor what has actually
happened against what was planned. If you prefer a more detailed breakdown for your
budgets, see the Department In-Depth - Advanced Budgeting method below.
This method is part of the Advanced budgeting feature. Advanced budgeting provides
many benefits, such as being able to view previous budget results for the past five year, or
enter a budget for the next year - referred to a forecast year.
Department In-Depth - Advanced
With this method you can set up a budget for a department and analyse the cost or income
by nominal account. This method gives you the most detailed analysis when it comes to
budgeting.
This method is part of the Advanced budgeting feature. Advanced budgeting provides
many benefits, such as being able to view previous budget results for the past five year, or
enter a budget for the next year - referred to a forecast year.
122
To Configure your VAT Preferences

VAT preferences are a range of settings that control how Sage 50 Accounts deals with all your
VAT calculations, submissions and payments.
Your selections are used to configure Sage 50 Accounts, so that the software can handle all
your VAT reporting requirements, in accordance with current legislation.
Access your VAT Preferences
1. Select Company > Company Preferences > VAT tab. Alternatively, open the Settings >
Company Preferences > VAT tab.
Note: Password entry is required to display the Company Preferences window.
2. In the VAT Preferences tab, set your VAT Details, ECSL preferences, e-Submission
credentials and contact preferences.
Configure your VAT Details Preferences

1. At the top of the VAT Details window, enter your VAT registration number.
2. Set your other VAT details, in each of the following categories:
Non-Vatable Tax Code
On installation, your software automatically sets T9 as the tax code for transactions,
which do not involve VAT and are not included on the VAT Return, and also for all
123
those routines within your software that are non-vatable, for example, journal entries
and error corrections.
If you want to change this default tax code, select the tax code you require from the
drop-down list.
Item VAT Amendable
Select this check box, a tick appears when it is selected, if you want to be able to
change the VAT amount that is automatically calculated by your software, when you
create invoices or credit notes.
Accounts Professional users can also amend VAT amounts, when creating sales and
purchase orders.
VAT Cash Accounting
The default VAT accounting scheme is set at Standard Scheme only. Sage 50
Accounts supports the following VAT schemes:
VAT Cash Accounting
VAT Standard Accounting
To find out more about the scheme right for your company, please refer to the HM
Revenue & Customs website at www.hmrc.gov.uk.
For those Customers in the Republic of Ireland, use the Irish Revenue website at
www.revenue.ie.
If you have decided to use the Standard Scheme only, leave the VAT Cash Accounting
check box blank.
Click the check box if you decide to use VAT Cash Accounting.
Validate VAT Numbers
Your EC Sales List submission (ECSL) requires the inclusion of your customer's
country code and VAT registration number.
Leave this check box selected if you want Sage 50 Accounts to validate EU VAT
numbers for all EU member countries.
Enable e-VAT Submission
Select this check box if you wish to submit your VAT return and EC Sales List to
HMRC over the Internet.
In order to make e-VAT submissions you will have already obtained a Government
Gateway Account.
If you do not wish to submit your VAT returns online, do not select the Enable e-VAT
Submissions check box. You can still make your VAT payments using the Payment button on
the VAT Ledger toolbar. This will open the Bank Payment window.
124
Configure your e-Submissions Credentials Preferences

Configure your e-Submissions credentials in each of the following categories, using the same
details as you used, when setting up your Government Gateway account:
User ID
Type your User ID in this entry box, defined as your Government Gateway Account
Username, when you set up your account.
Confirm Password
Re-type your Password in this entry box, defined as your Government Gateway
Account password, when you set up your account.
Password
Type your Password in this entry box, defined as your Government Gateway Account
password, when you set up your account.
Configure your e-Submissions Contact Details

Configure your e-Submissions contact details in each of the following categories, using the
same details as you used, when you set up your Government Gateway account:
Forename
Type your first or given name(s) in this entry box, as defined when you set up your
Government Gateway account.
Surname
Type your last or family name in this entry box, as defined when you set up your
Telephone
Type your contact telephone number in this entry box, as defined when you set up
your Government Gateway account.
Email
Type your contact email address in this entry box, as defined when you set up your
Configure your HMRC Bank Account Details
Use the Sort code and Account number entry boxes to set your HMRC bank account details.
HMRC have advised that at some point after October 2008, it is their intention to change their
bank account details. These bank details are only used, when the user is paying their VAT liability
to HMRC, using the Sage e-banking feature.
At present, these details are hard-coded into the software - see HMRC Bank Accounts on page
283.
125
When these details change, you can modify the Sort Code and Account Number in the HMRC
Bank Details section of this tab.
Configure your EC Sales VAT Descriptions
To set your default message text that will appear on your invoices, when an EC sales tax code
is used, click EC VAT Description.
The EC VAT Descriptions window appears.
Choose from one of the four available options that are listed.
From the 01 October 2007, HMRC introduced additional legislation relating to the information
contained on an EC Sales invoice.
At present, when goods are sold to an EC member state, if the EC customers VAT registration
number is obtained, then the invoice can be zero-rated for VAT purposes - that is, no VAT is
charged and it is up to the EC customer to account for the VAT on their tax return. The new
legislation requires descriptions to be included on the invoice, to enable the EC customer to
account correctly for the notional VAT on their VAT Return.
To Set your Payment Solutions Preferences

Do you want the facility to receive pay by card payments from your customers or refunds from
your suppliers, over the telephone?
You can do this by signing up for a Sage Payment Solutions Account from the Payment
Solutions tab, accessed from Settings Menu > Company Preferences.
126
1. Click Sign up now!, then complete the Online Application Form. Full help and support is
available to you from within the online application form, if you run into any difficulties.
2. When completing the online application form, if you wish to have the facility of payment
card AVS/CV2 verification, make sure that you set AVS/CV2 verification to ON.
3. Once your account is set up, select the Enable Sage Payment Solutions check box at the
top of the Payment Solutions tab.
4. Enter your account Vendor ID, defined during account creation, and also your email
address in the Sage Payment Solutions Credentials section of the Payment Solutions tab.
5. Choose the receiving bank account reference from the A/C Ref drop-down list in the Bank
section of the tab. All pay by card payments will be directed to this nominated account.
Tip: Select this bank account carefully. You may find it worthwhile to set up a dedicated
bank account for your Sage Payment Solutions transactions.
On a daily basis, you may have many Sage Payment Solutions transactions, which will later
be transferred as a single amount from your Sage Payment Solutions account to your
general bank account.
Using a dedicated Sage Payment Solutions account will assist with subsequent bank
reconciliation.
127
6. Select the Enable AVS & CV2 Validation check box, if required.
7. To save your settings, click OK.
With the completion of these steps, you will now have the facility in the Customer Receipts,
Bank Receipts, Supplier Refund, and Invoice task windows to access the Sage Payment
Solutions Pay by Card and Pay Deposit by Card facility for card payment over the telephone.
128
To Enter your CIS Preferences

(CIS only)
1. Select Company > Settings.
2. From the Company Preferences window, click the CIS tab.
The CIS information appears.
3. Enter your CIS information in the relevant sections on the window.

4. To check or change the nominal accounts set for CIS purposes, click View/Edit Nominal
Codes. To change a nominal code, choose the required code from the drop-down list.
5. To save changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.
129
You can enter the following CIS Details:

Status
This information was entered when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard. It indicates the type
of business you operate. To change the status, from the drop-down list, choose the status
you want to apply to your business. This information is passed to HM Revenue & Customs,
when you submit electronic information to them using the software's eSubmission feature.
Unique Tax Ref
This information was entered when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard. It is sometimes
referred to as UTR and is supplied by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
It is found on your existing voucher (CIS23, CIS24, CIS25), and comprises the first ten
digits of the tax reference field on the bottom left of the voucher. This information is passed
to HMRC, when you submit electronic information to them using the software's
eSubmission feature.
Employer's PAYE Ref
referred to as EMPREF and is supplied by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
EMPREF is also known as the PAYE Reference and can be found on the front of the
payment booklet issued to every contractor. It comprises a three number office reference,
a forward slash and up to ten characters or numbers. For example, 913/WZ51258.
Enter the EMPREF you want to use here. This information is passed to HMRC, when you
submit electronic information to them using the software's eSubmission feature.
Accounts Office Ref
referred to as AoREF and is supplied by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
AoREF can be obtained from the P30B paying-in book or the letter issued in its place. It
comprises a tax office number of up to three numeric characters using, where necessary
leading zeros, followed by the letter P and then an alpha character.
Finally there is a series of 8 numbers. For example 131PE00045678 or 001PF23456789
This information is passed to HMRC when you submit electronic information to them using
the software's eSubmission feature.
You can enter the following CIS Tax Rate:
Standard
The software sets up two tax rates for you, the standard rate and the higher rate. This is
the standard tax rate. At the time of publication the standard rate is 20% (Net).
The rates are subject to change. Check the HM Revenue & Customs website for the latest
information.
130
Higher
The software sets up two tax rates for you, the standard rate and the higher rate. This is
the higher tax rate. At the time of publication the higher rate is 30% (Net).
The rates are subject to change. Check the HM Revenue & Customs website for the latest
information.
You can enter the following e-Submissions Credentials:
User ID
This is the User ID you received when you registered with the Government Gateway. If you
entered this information when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard then your User ID is
displayed here. Enter the User ID you want to use here.
This information is passed to HM Revenue & Customs, when you submit electronic
information to them using the software's eSubmission feature.
Submit as an agent (Client Manager only)
If you are registered with HM Revenue & Customs as an agent to submit CIS information
on behalf of others, select this check box.
Password
This is the Activation PIN you received, when you registered with the Government Gateway.
If you entered this information when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard then your PIN is
stored here but it is masked for security. It appears as a line of asterisks.
Enter the PIN you want to use here. This information is passed to HM Revenue & Customs
Agent Reference (Client Manager only)
If you are registered with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as an agent to submit CIS
information on behalf of others, enter your Agent Reference.
This information is passed to HMRC, when you submit electronic information to them using
the software's eSubmission feature.
Confirm Password
Please confirm the Activation PIN you received when you registered with the Government
Gateway. If you entered this information, when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard, then your
PIN is stored here but it is masked for security. It appears as a line of asterisks.
Enter the PIN you want to use here. This information is passed to HM Revenue & Customs,
You can enter the following e-Submissions Contact Details:
Forenames
This is a contact name for your company. If you entered this information when you ran the
CIS Activation Wizard then the contact's name is displayed here.
131
Enter the contact name you want to use. This information is passed to HM Revenue &
Customs when you submit electronic information to them using the software's
Surname
This is a contact name for your company. If you entered this information when you ran the
CIS Activation Wizard then the contact's name is displayed here.
Enter the contact name you want to use. This information is passed to HM Revenue &
Customs, when you submit electronic information to them using the software's
Telephone
This is a contact telephone number for your company. Enter the telephone number you
want to use. If you entered this information when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard, then
the telephone number is displayed here.
This information is passed to HM Revenue & Customs, when you submit electronic
information to them using the software's eSubmission feature.
Email
This is a contact email address for your company. If you entered this information, when you
ran the CIS Activation Wizard, then the email address is displayed here.
Enter the email address you want to use. If you have a number of email addresses, you
should enter your main contact email address here. This information is passed to HM
Revenue & Customs, when you submit electronic information to them using the software's
132
Entering Your Bank Defaults

Use the Bank Defaults facility to set up how you want to use your banking options. For example,
you can choose how you want transactions to be grouped.
To enter your bank defaults

1. Select Bank > Bank Defaults.
The Bank Defaults window appears.
2. Select the bank defaults you want to use.
Enable e-Banking Select this check box to enable the e-Banking facility.
For more information about e-Banking, see e-Banking on page
629.
Group items in Bank If you select this check box, consecutive transactions of the
Rec same type are combined as one item when shown in the Bank
Reconciliation window if the reference code and date are the
same. A 'Y' also appears in the Grouped? column of the Bank
Reconciliation window if the transactions have been grouped.
List Payment/Receipt Select this check box to display every individual transaction,
by split when viewing invoices in the Supplier payments and customer
receipts windows. If this check box is not selected, the
individual transactions are grouped and only one line appears
per invoice.
No Warning on Visa When entering a receipt on a Credit Card Account, Sage 50

receipts Accounts warns you that you have selected a credit card
account. To turn off this warning, select this check box.
133
Group Bank If this check box is selected, bank transactions, such as bank
Transactions payments and bank receipts, with the same reference and
transaction date that are saved on the same batch entry
window, are grouped together on the bank activity under one
header line. To see the individual transactions that make up the
header, you must use the drill-down facility. If you do not want
your bank transactions to be grouped together in this way,
clear this check box. When you clear the check box, each
bank transaction appears on a separate line of the Bank
Activity window.
Note: This facility does not work retrospectively. If you change
the setting of this check box, it will only effect the transactions
that you post after the setting has been changed.
Always Create Select this check box if you want to create a remittance advice
Remittance note each time you save a supplier payment. This is useful
when you need to record details of exactly what you are paying
for. If you do not want to create a remittance advice note for
every supplier payment, clear this check box. You will still be
able to request a remittance advice note from the supplier
payment window.
To save your bank defaults, click OK. To exit without saving your bank defaults, click Cancel.
Entering Customer Defaults

Each time you create a new customer record you will be asked to enter details, such as the
credit limit, terms and discount type and value.
If you give most of your customers similar terms and conditions, you can use the defaults to
save you time, when creating customer records. Defaults mean that you do not have to enter
the same information into each record over and over again. If you need to, you can override the
defaults shown in a record. If every customer is different, do not set up your customer defaults.
To enter your customer defaults

1. Select Customers > Customer Defaults.
The Customer Defaults window appears.
134
2. In the Record tab, enter your customer information.

Note: You can change any of these details on the customer record.
Country All customer records list the country, where the customer is based.
Use the drop-down list to select the country that you want to assign
to each newly created customer record.
Currency Use the Currency drop-down list to select a currency that will be
assigned, by default, to each newly created customer record.
This box is greyed-out unless you are a Accounts Professional and
have Foreign Trader enabled. For information about setting up and
trading in multiple currencies, see Chapter 14, Working with Foreign
Currencies and Accounts.
Std. Tax Code Select a default tax code that will be assigned to all transactions that
you create for this customer.
Note: If necessary, this default tax code can be changed in any
transaction that is created.
135
Def. N/C Enter the default nominal account code that you want to be used,
when you create customer records and when you generate a service
or batch invoice for a customer.
Note: If necessary, this default nominal code can be changed in any
service or batch invoice that you create.
Department Enter the department that you want to set as the default on each
newly created customer record, or use the drop-down list to choose
the department you require.
Discount % You can set a basic discount that will be applied to all customer
transactions. No conditions will be used when applying the discount,
it will be applied to every invoice that you enter for your customers.
You can still change the discount amount manually on each invoice if
necessary. If you want to apply each discount individually, you should
leave the discount amount as 0.00.
Type (Accounts Select from this drop-down list whether or not to set a default
Plus & additional discount for your customers. If you want to give an
Accounts additional discount, select the Additional Discount from the following:
Professional
only) No additional: Do not apply any extra discount.
Invoice Value: Select this additional discount type to apply
discounts, based on the value of the invoice raised. The percentage
discount that is applied is calculated from the Customer Defaults
Discounts tab, where ten different value ranges can be assigned
different discount rates. If you want to set up a discount based on a
customer's invoice values, enter the discount structure using the
Discounts tab from the Customer Defaults window.
Discount A, B, C, D, E: Select one of these quantity tables to apply
additional discount based on the quantity of products bought. These
tables are set up using the Discount tab of each product record.
If you have chosen to rename your quantity tables, the names that
you have entered appear in this list.
Price List Select the default price list you require from the drop-down list.
(Accounts Plus
& Accounts
Professional
only)
136
Default Select the default account status from the drop-down list. This is the
account status that will be assigned to each new customer record.
You can change this in each individual customer record if necessary.
Terms Agreed Click this check box if you want the software to accept that terms
have been agreed with all customers.
When you select this check box, no warning message will be
displayed, in relation to terms not being agreed with a specific
customer.
3. Use the Statements tab to enter any standard statement descriptions that you want to
apply to your invoices, credits, discounts and payments.
4. Use the Ageing tab to set the periods you want to use to monitor how long your customers
have owed you money.
If you want to know more about credit control and ageing, refer to the accompanying
Credit Control pdf - Help Menu.
5. (Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus users) You can also enter customer
discounts based on invoice values on the Discount tab.
For further information on discounting in general, see Pricing and Discounts on page 368.
6. To save your customer defaults, click OK. If you do not want to save your defaults, click
Cancel.
The defaults you have entered here appear on any new customer record you create.
Ageing Transactions in Sage 50 Accounts

Ageing in Sage 50 Accounts deals with the length of time that your customers have to pay you.
Sage 50 Accounts has three ways which you can use to set your deadlines for payment.
These are:
Calendar Monthly Ageing.
Period Ageing.
Start Period Ageing on the first day of the month after Transaction Date.
These are explained in the following sections.
You can only use one of these options for all of your customers or all of your suppliers - that is,
you can have one scheme for your customers and a different one for your suppliers. You can
set the type of ageing by selecting Customers > Customer Defaults, or Suppliers > Supplier
Defaults, clicking the Ageing tab and selecting the type of aged setup that you require.
137
However, you can still change the number of days a customer has to pay you, in the individual
customer record.
Type 'Credit Control' in the Help index to find out more.

Help
Calendar Monthly Ageing

Use this option to set up ageing on a calendar basis. This means that all of a month's
transactions will be classed as outstanding on the first day of the following month.
For example: An invoice was sent out to a customer on the 15th January 2008, and was
recorded into Sage 50 Accounts on the same day.
The following table shows the calendar ageing periods.
Note: Because you can change the program date in Sage 50 Accounts and because you can
specify date ranges for your analyses, the first aged option is shown as Future.
For example, if you change your program date to the 31st December 2007 and then run your
aged analysis, the invoice shows up as Future, that is, it has not yet aged.
Date you run the Aged option Period the transaction shows in
Prior to 31 December 2007 (inclusive) Future
1 January 2008 to 31 January 2008 Current
1 February 2008 to 28 February 2008 Period 1
1 March 2008 to 31 March 2008 Period 2
1 April 2008 to 30 April 2008 Period 3
1 May 2008 onwards Period 4
Period Ageing
Use this option to set time limits based on the number of days that payment is overdue. Sage
50 Accounts sets these periods as 30, 60, 90 and 120 days but you can set any number of
days you require.
recorded into Sage 50 Accounts on the same day. The following table shows the ageing period.
Note: For an explanation of Future, see the previous table.
138
Prior to 14 January 2008 (inclusive) Future
15 January 2008 to 13 February 2008 Current
14 February 2008 to 14 March 2008 Period 1
15 March 2008 to 13 April 2008 Period 2
14 April 2008 to 13 May 2008 Period 3
139
Start Period Ageing on the First Day of the Month after Transaction
Date
Use this option to set up ageing from the first day of the month following the transaction date
(i.e. the date that you record the invoice on your Sage 50 Accounts system).
recorded into Sage 50 Accounts on the same day.
The following table shows the ageing period in which the transaction is found if the Aged option
is run for a selection of dates.
Prior to 14 January 2008 (inclusive) Future
15 January 2008 to 29 February 2008 Current
1 March 2008 to 30 March 2008 Period 1
31 March 2008 to 29 April 2008 Period 2
30 April 2008 to 29 May 2008 Period 3
140
To set up your customers' aged balance defaults

2. From the Customer Defaults window, click the Ageing tab.
The Ageing information appears.
3. Select the type of ageing you require.

4. If you want to include transactions that are dated after the date of the report when you use
the Aged option on the Customer toolbar, select the Include Future Totals in Balance check
box. For example, you may want to use this option if a customer has not paid an
outstanding invoice, and you want to see if they are ordering goods in the coming months.
In this way, you can put a hold on selling them more goods or services until they have
settled their outstanding invoices.
To exclude these future transactions, clear this check box.
5. To save your entries and exit click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
Note: You can set up your Supplier Aged Balance Defaults in the same way by selecting
Suppliers > Supplier Defaults and clicking the Ageing tab.
141
Entering Supplier Defaults

Each time you create a new supplier record, you are asked to enter details such as credit limit,
terms and discount. If you have the same terms with most of your suppliers, you can use the
defaults to save you time when creating supplier records. Defaults mean that you do not have
to enter the same information over and over again, into each record. If you need to, you can
override the defaults shown in a record. If every supplier is different, do not set up your supplier
defaults.
Use the Supplier Defaults facility to set up the defaults that appear on each supplier record that
you create. Within this facility, you can also set your supplier aged balance defaults. This is the
time period in which you have to pay a particular supplier. For example, one supplier may expect
payment within thirty days, but another may give you ninety days to pay your outstanding
balances.
To enter your supplier defaults

1. Select Suppliers > Supplier Defaults.
The Supplier Defaults window appears.
2. Use the Record tab to enter your suppliers information. Press the F1 key to open the Sage
50 Accounts Help system for more information about your Supplier Record Defaults.
142
3. Use the Ageing tab to set the defaults for your suppliers' aged balance reports.
For more information about ageing and credit control, refer to the accompanying Credit
Control pdf - Help Menu.
4. To save your entries and exit, click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
The defaults you have entered here appear on any new supplier records you create. You can
change these defaults on each individual supplier record if necessary.
143
Entering Product Defaults

Each time you create a new product record, you need to enter details such as nominal code,
department, tax code, etc. If you give most of your products similar details, you can enter a set
of 'default' answers that will appear automatically in the new product records you create.
However, if you need to, you can change any of the details that were entered automatically for
you on each product record.
If you have Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional version of Sage 50 Accounts you can also
add your own descriptions to each of the product discount tabs, by default called Discount A-E,
so that they are more meaningful to the way your product discounts are structured. For
example, you could call them Trade, Retail, Wholesale, 10% Discount and 20% Discount.
For further information about how to do this, refer to To enter your discount tab names
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only) on page 146.
If you do change the names on the discount tabs, these name changes appear in the following
areas of your software:
Product Record Discounts tab.
Customer Record Defaults tab - Additional Discount list.
Customer Defaults Record tab - Type drop-down list.
New Customer Record wizard.
Global Changes
Sales Order Processing/Invoicing Edit Item Line window - Discount Breakdown window.
144
To enter your product defaults

1. Select Products > Product Defaults.
The Product Defaults window appears showing the Details information.
2. Enter your default information.

3. To save your product defaults, click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
For more information about the entry boxes in this tab, click F1 to open the specific help topic.
145
To enter your discount tab names

1. Select Products > Product Defaults.
The Product Defaults window appears.
2. Click the Descriptions tab.
3. Enter the names you want to use for each of your Discount tabs in the boxes provided.
4. To save your changes, click OK.
Your new discount names now appear in place of Discount A- E.
146
Entering Invoice and Order Defaults

If the invoices, credit notes that you produce, or proformas and quotations for users of Accounts
Plus or Accounts Professional, have similar characteristics, you can enter a set of defaults for
them. This means that some details will be automatically entered into your invoices, and orders
for users of Accounts Professional, thus saving you time.
For example, if you regularly use the same carriage values - postage costs for your invoices,
sales orders and purchase orders, you can save yourself time by entering them once in the
Footer Defaults tab. These defaults are then used for each invoice and order you create but you
can change them when you enter the invoice/order if required.
There are also several facilities you can use to influence when your invoices are discounted, and
the type of discount that is applied. However, depending on the version of Sage 50 Accounts
you have, some facilities may be unavailable.
You can also set Sage 50 Accounts to calculate discounts based on unit price as explained in
How discount is calculated on page 387.
Accounts Professional users - Changing the way the discount is calculated will affect
incomplete sales order.
Accounts Professional users only: You can change your settings for cash sales. You can alter
the bank account used when a cash sale is recorded. You can also limit the order
documentation that is automatically produced for a cash sale. You may decide you do not want
a sales order, invoice or goods despatched note generated for this type of order.
Note: The order defaults within Invoice / Order Defaults are available to Accounts Professional
users only. Other Sage 50 Accounts variants will only display Invoice Defaults. Also, if you
are a Accounts Professional user, you can also set up defaults for your sales and purchase
orders.
147
To set up your invoice and order defaults

1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults.
The Invoice and Order Defaults window appears, showing the General tab.
2. Use the following boxes to indicate your default details:
Invoices Default to This default will save you time when you are entering invoices or
Account Reference credit notes in the New/Edit window of the Invoicing and Order
Processing functions. If you type the account reference first (A/C
Ref) when you enter invoices or credit notes, select this box. If
you enter Type - that is, invoice or credit note first, then do not
select this box.
Invoice Items Default This default will also save you time when entering invoices and
to Quantity credit notes. If you want Sage 50 Accounts to default to the
Quantity box in the Edit Item Line window of a Product Invoice or
Credit Note, as well as on a Sales or Purchase Order, then select
this check box. If de-selected, Sage 50 Accounts defaults to the
Description box.
148
Show Special Select this check box to allow you to use the special product
Product Codes in codes available from the Invoicing, Sales Order Processing and
Invoicing/SOP/POP Purchase Order Processing windows. This check box is
(Accounts selected by default. For more information, see A Note about
Professional only) special product codes on page 438.
Place Order Shortfalls If you select this check box, then any purchase orders
on Order generated using the shortfall facility will be automatically placed
Automatically on order. For more information, see Stock Shortfall (Accounts
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only) on page 551.
Professional only)
Lock Autonumber on Use this option to ensure that you do not overwrite the
Invoicing/SOP/POP automatically assigned invoice, sales order or purchase order
number. If you want to be able to assign your own number to a
new invoice, credit note, sales order or purchase order, deselect
this check box.
Default Invoice Select the type of invoice you create most frequently from this
Format drop-down list. For example, you might use service invoices for
most of the invoices you create. When you use the invoicing
facility, the type of invoice you have selected from here will
already be selected for you. This saves you time when entering
your invoice, as you do not have to select the correct invoice
type each time.
You can choose from: product invoice, product credit, service
invoice and service credit.
If you have Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional you can also
choose from product proforma, product quote, service proforma
and service quote.
A Repeat Last option is also available which, when selected,
creates each new invoice in the same format as the previous
one.
149
Default Sales Order Select the type of sales order you create most frequently from
Format (Accounts this drop-down list. When you use the sales order facility, the
Professional only) type of sales order you have selected from here will already be
selected for you.
You can choose from Product Sales Order, Product Proforma
(SOP) and Product Quote (SOP).
A Repeat Last option is also available which, when selected,
creates each new invoice in the same format as the previous
one.
Convert Quotes To Select the type of document you want to be created when a
(Accounts quotation is converted or marked as won.
Professional only)
You can choose between Invoices and Sales Orders.
Update Using Order This default makes it easy for you to trace your invoices if you
No want to see the sales order number as the transaction reference
on the audit trail. If you want to see the invoice number as the
reference, do not select this box.
For non-Accounts Professional users, if this box is selected, the
reference will appear blank unless a number is entered manually.
Update Service If you check this box and enter some text in the box below it,
Invoices using the this will override anything you type into the service invoice New/
Following Text Edit window. For example, you may be entering a series of
invoices for cleaning services and want cleaning to be the detail
updated to the ledgers.
Update Using Select this check box to update your invoices and credit notes
Customer by customer department.
Department
Purchase Order Select the delivery address that you want to use as the default
Delivery Address for your purchase orders. Select from the customer, supplier or
(Accounts company default delivery address from the drop-down list.
Professional only)
If you choose to use the company delivery addresses, the
default company address appears automatically as the delivery
address on your purchase orders.
If you choose the customer or supplier delivery address, the
default address for the selected customer or supplier account
will be used.
150
Currency Exchange If you have run the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard so that you can
Rates (Accounts deal with foreign currencies, the Currency Exchange Rate box
Professional only) appears.
This option determines how Sage 50 Accounts updates your
currency exchange rates used to calculate foreign currency
transactions. Select an option from the drop-down list:
Always prompt to save exchange rate changes - you can choose
if you want to update with the new exchange rate or not.
Automatically save any exchange rate changes - Sage 50
Accounts automatically updates your rates without asking.
Never save any exchange rate changes - You have to enter your
rates manually.
3. To save your entries and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.
To set up your invoice and order footer defaults

If you want to assign default carriage costs - that is, postal or transit costs, to your customers,
you will need to set up your footer defaults. You can also set up the nominal codes where you
want the carriage charged to, and also the department.
The Invoice and Order Defaults window appears.
2. Click the Footer Defaults tab.
3. Under invoice and sales order carriage defaults, enter the carriage net amount, nominal
code and the department that you want to analyse the carriage values to. This information
is used by default on the Footer tab of your sales orders and invoices. You can change this
information, when you enter the order or invoice, if required.
4. Under purchase order carriage defaults, enter the carriage net amount, nominal code and
the department that you want to analyse the carriage values to. This information is used by
default on the Footer tab of your purchase orders. You can change this information, when
you enter the order or invoice, if required.
5. To save your defaults, click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
151
To enter your invoice and order numbering options

Use this facility to set up how you want your invoices and orders numbered.
2. Click the Options tab.
3. Enter the numbers that you want your invoice and credit notes (and sales orders, purchase
orders, goods despatched notes and goods received notes for Accounts Professional
users) to start from in the boxes provided.
4. Select the option you want to use when you save your invoices/orders. If you want to save
your invoice/order and then clear the window ready to enter the next invoice/order, select
the Create New Invoice/Order after saving option. If you want to save your invoice/order
leaving the details on the window ready for you to edit, select the Edit the last Invoice/Order
after saving.
5. Accounts Professional users only: Select the options you want to use for Goods
Despatched Notes (GDN) and Goods Received Notes (GRN). You can choose from three
options for each:
152
Generate for all Select this option if you want Sage 50 Accounts to generate a
Despatches GDN or GRN automatically for each despatch or delivery.
When you record a despatch or delivery, Sage 50 Accounts
Generate for all displays a prompt message, asking if you want to print the
Received GDN or GRN now or later.
Prompt at each If you select this option, Sage 50 Accounts prompts you each
Despatch time you record a despatch or delivery. At this prompt, you
can choose whether or not to generate the GDN or GRN. If
Prompt at each you choose not to generate the goods despatched or goods
Received received note, Sage 50 Accounts does not store the GDN or
GRN information in the Despatched or Deliveries tab of the
sales or purchase order, so you cannot view or print the note
later.
Do not Generate If you select this option, Sage 50 Accounts updates the sales
order or purchase order and your stock level, but does not
produce a GDN or GRN. If you choose Do not Generate, the
GDN (or GRN) option does not appear on the Sales Order
Processing (or Purchase Order Processing) toolbar, and the
Despatched (or Deliveries) tab is not available within your
sales (or purchase) orders.
6. To save your changes, click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
Use the Discounts tab to set up the discounts that you want to apply to your customer invoices.
For more information about discounts, see Pricing and Discounts on page 368.
Finally, Accounts Professional users can use the Intrastat tab to set up your defaults for
Intrastat reporting. For details, see To set up your Intrastat defaults on page 158.
To set up your discount defaults

Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users, to help you choose the right settings refer to
the table on page 156, which explains the effect the different defaults will have on your invoices.
Changes to how quantity and value discounts are applied will affect new invoices and orders, it
does not work retrospectively. Therefore, any transactions posted earlier will not be updated
with the new discount options
2. Click the Discounts tab.
3. Select any of the following check boxes and options:
153
Discount by Unit Price Select this option if you want to calculate discounts based on
on the unit price of the products listed on the invoice.
Apply Quantity / Value Use the check boxes to specify when the quantity or value
Discounts to discounts will be applied to invoices. You can choose a single
option or all options. See the three options below:
(Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional
only)
Special Prices
Select this check box to apply discounts to special prices. If
this box is unchecked, value discounts will not be applied to
any invoices or orders that contain special prices, and
quantity discounts will not be applied to any line items using
special prices.
Price List Prices

Select this check box to apply quantity discounts to your
customer price list prices. If this box is not checked, value
discounts will not be applied to any invoices or orders that
contain price list prices, and quantity discounts will not be
applied to any line items using price list prices.
Standard Prices
Invoices that include standard prices will always be
discounted. This check box will always be selected by default.
This means it cannot be changed.
Select whether you want the Special Price, Price List and
Standard Price discounts to be applied to all customers, or
only to those customers who are not included on any price
lists. For a complete list of what is included, depending on the
options that you choose, see the table on page 156.
Always apply value Select this check box to apply discounts to any special items
discounts to special (transactions with a code of S1, S2 or S3) that are listed on
items (S1, S2 and S3) your invoices, regardless of the other settings for applying
quantity and value discounts.
(Accounts Plus and
only)
154
Show Discount on Main With this option enabled, two discount columns are displayed
Invoice/Order Screen on the invoice and order entry windows (Discount and
Discount %). The columns display any discount awarded to
items on an invoice/sales order and can be used to change
the discount that has been applied.
If you switch the columns off you cannot quickly override the
applied discounts. The discounts can still be changed but on
an individual items basis. This is done by selecting an item line
then pressing F3 on the keyboard to display the Edit Item Line
window, you can then amend the discount.
4. Once you have chosen the desired options, click OK to apply these defaults to all future
invoices and orders.
155
Choosing defaults for quantity and invoice discounts

Quantity discounts are always applied.

Value discounts are always applied.
Quantity discounts are applied to standard prices and price

list prices only.
Value discounts are applied, provided that the transaction
does not contain any special prices.
Quantity discounts are only applied to standard prices.

Value discounts are only applied if the transaction does not
contain any special prices or price list prices.
156
Quantity discounts are applied to standard prices and

special prices only.
Value discounts are applied if the transaction does not
contain any price list prices.
Quantity discounts are only applied to standard prices, if the

customer on the invoice is not associated with a price list.
Value discounts are only applied when the customer is not
attached to any price list, and the transaction does not
contain any special prices.
Quantity discounts will be applied to standard prices and

special prices, when the customer is not attached to a price
list.
Value discounts are applied when the customer is not
attached to any price list.
157
To set up your Intrastat defaults

2. Click the Intrastat tab.
The Intrastat information appears.
Note: If your company country code is set to anything other than GB or IE, the Intrastat
facilities are not available.
3. If you export goods to the European Union (EU), set up your Dispatch settings by selecting
Generate Intrastrat entries for Sales Orders, then from the drop-down lists, select the
Terms of Delivery and Default Nature of Transaction Code (NOTC) you use regularly.
4. If you import goods from the EU, set up your Arrivals settings by selecting Generate
Intrastrat entries for Purchase Orders, then from the drop-down lists, select the Terms of
Delivery and Default Nature of Transaction Code (NOTC) you use regularly.
Note: If required, the Terms of Delivery and NOTC codes can be changed as you generate
your Intrastat Declaration.
5. To save your changes, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.
158
To set up your cash sales defaults

(Accounts Professional only)
2. Click the Cash Sales tab.
The Cash Sales information appears.
3. Select the documents you want generated for a cash sale - sales order, goods despatched
note or sales invoice.
4. To add a message to the generated invoice, select the Add message to Invoice option. In
the box provided enter the text you want to appear on the invoice. For example Cash sale
- Paid in full.
Select the bank account you want the value of a cash sale applied to from the Default Cash
Sales Bank Account drop-down list. You must select a base currency bank account.
You can also specify whether you always want the default cash sales bank account to be
used, or whether you would prefer to choose a bank account, when a cash sale is
recorded.
At installation a default cash sales bank account is set for use and the Always post to
Default Cash Sales Bank Account option is enabled.
159
5. To save your changes, click OK. To return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop without
saving, click Cancel.
160
Setting Up Users
To help you protect your sensitive financial information, Sage 50 Accounts allows you to control
access to the software using passwords and access rights. You can even control access to
specified areas of your accounts data, for example if you do not want users to be able to view
financial statements such as the Profit and Loss report.
Setting a password is the first step towards protecting your data.
Changing your password

You can use the Change Password facility to:
Enter your company password.
Change your company password.
Change your user passwords if you are using access rights.
Type 'Password' in the Help index to find out how to set up and apply passwords.
Help
Access rights
The Access Rights feature lets you set individual passwords for each person who uses Sage 50
Accounts. You can even restrict which ledgers, facilities and windows each user can access.
For example, you can hide nominal and bank balances from certain users.
To be able to set up your access rights, you must log in as Manager.
Note: For single-user licences, the Access Rights facility is only available if you select the
Access Rights check box on the Parameters tab of Company Preferences. For multi-user
licences, this facility is enabled by default.
To create a new user

1. Open the Settings menu and choose Access Rights.
2. Click New.
The Create New User window appears.
3. Enter a logon name and a password for your new user in the boxes provided.
4. Set the access you are giving the new user from the options provided.
Full Access Select this option to give the user unlimited access to all parts
of Sage 50 Accounts. You can modify these options later if
you want. For further information about how to do this, refer
to the following section.
161
No Access Select this option to give the user no access to any part of
Sage 50 Accounts.
5. To save the new user's details, click Save. To clear the details without saving, click Discard.
6. To exit the Create New User window, click Close.
To assign access rights

1. From the Users list on the User Access Rights window, select the user whose access rights
you want to assign.
2. Click Details.
The Access Details list appears showing all of the options and menus in Sage 50 Accounts
that can have access rights attached. The user's current access level for each option is
also shown as full, partial or none.
3. To change the access status of any of the options, click Modules.
The Option List window appears.
4. Select each option you want to change from the list, then select whether the user is to be
given full access or no access to the option. Click OK.
5. If you want to give partial access to modules within Sage 50 Accounts, select the module
you require and click Dialogs.
6. Select each window you want to change from the list, then select whether the user is to
be given full access or no access to the window. Click OK.
7. To return to the User Access Rights window, click Close.
162
Chapter 4
Setting Up your Chart of Accounts
The Chart of Accounts is a list of all the In this chapter:

nominal accounts your company uses. It is
Setting Up your Chart of Accounts ..164
central to your accounting system and
Sage 50 Accounts uses it to form the Adding a Chart of Accounts.............167
structure of your Profit and Loss and Editing your Chart of Accounts ........169
Balance Sheet reports.
Checking your Chart of Accounts ....170
This chapter explains how to work with
Deleting a Chart of Accounts ...........172
your Chart of accounts, from reviewing
and modifying the chart you selected Copying a Chart of Accounts ...........172
when you created the company data, to
adding or deleting charts as you require.
You can also find out how to check your
Chart of Accounts for errors, and learn
about the errors that can occur when
creating or modifying a chart.
If you are a non-profit making organisation
please refer to the Sage 50 Accounts for
Charities guide (PDF), which provides
additional information. To access the
guide, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu
bar, select Help > Sage 50 for Charities.

The Chart of Accounts (COA) is a list of all the accounts that your company uses. In
essence, it is how you categorise your accounting system. A default COA is shown in
Sage 50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts on page 177.
The COA is used to produce the Profit and Loss report, the Balance Sheet report, the
Budget report and the Prior Year reports. It is also used when you run your Year End. The
Year End facility refers to the COA to see which accounts make up the Profit and Loss
report. These are cleared down during the Year End procedure. For more information, see
Running the Year End on page 300.
Sage 50 Accounts offers several COA designed for different organisations. The first time
you access Sage 50 Accounts, you choose which one you would like to install. For more
information see The ActiveSetup Wizard on page 4. To ensure the selected COA suits
your business it needs to be reviewed and possibly modified. This is explained in the
following sections.
Note: For those wanting to produce more than one Profit and Loss report showing a
variation of business results, you can add more than one COA to achieve this.
Reviewing the COA you have installed

If you have opted to create your own nominal account structure please move on to
Modifying the COA you have installed on page 165.
The COA you selected is a good base to start from but is unlikely to meet all your needs,
and may need some tailoring. You need to:
Identify those nominal accounts you will not use. For example you may never use
nominal accounts such as 'Overseas Entertainment'.
Note: Some nominal accounts in the COA are classed as control accounts. These
accounts cannot be deleted. For more information see Control Accounts on page
180.
Identify additional nominal accounts that you want to use, over and above those that
have been installed. It is possible to add new nominal accounts at any time.
Consider whether the nominal account names are suitable for your needs. You can
personalise the names to make them more meaningful to you. It is possible to
change the name of a nominal account at any time.
To review your Chart of Accounts

Print the Nominal List. To do this, select Company > Nominal Ledger, then click Print List.
Using the Nominal List, identify those nominal accounts:
That can be deleted.
That need to be renamed.
Identify any gaps and decide how many nominal account you need to add to the COA.
Modifying the COA you have installed

Sage 50 Accounts enables you to tailor the COA to suit your business. By editing the COA, you
can add new categories or make existing categories more suitable to your line of business. For
example, you can change the sales category from Product and Export Sales to the actual goods
or services your company sells.
If you want to add new sections to your profit and loss report or your balance sheet you must
amend your COA.
What do you want to do?
Add a Chart of Accounts. See, To add a Chart of Accounts on page 167
Edit your Chart of Accounts. See, To edit your Chart of Accounts on page 169
Copy a Chart of Accounts. See, Copying a Chart of Accounts on page 172
Change the name on the nominal account. See, Editing Nominal Records on page 186.
Delete a nominal account. See Deleting Nominal Records on page 187.
Change the nominal account code. See Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained on page 174
Add a nominal account. See Entering Nominal Records on page 182.
If you intend to add a nominal account or change a nominal account code, you need to
understand how nominal codes are used in Sage 50 Accounts.
The importance of nominal codes

There are a few things to be aware of, when dealing with nominal codes.
Each nominal account has a unique nominal code; you cannot create duplicate codes.
The number of digits in a code needs to be consistent.
The installed nominal codes use a four digit number. It is important that all nominal codes
use the same number of digits. For example you cannot use a four digit code for some
nominal accounts and a three digit code for others.
Their effect on the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports.
The COA uses the codes to group nominal accounts and earmark them for use in the
Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports. Each report is concerned with a different set
165
of values linked by category type. For example, the following table shows the Profit and
Loss report using values linked to categories for sales, purchases, direct expenses and
overheads. Any nominal account within the ranges expected for the category type will be
used.
For example, a nominal account with a code between the range of 4000 to 4999 will be
used for the sales values in the Profit and Loss report.
Nominal code Nominal Code

Category type
range from range to
Sales 4000 4999

Profit and Loss
Purchases 5000 5999
Direct Expenses 6000 6999
Overheads 7000 8999
Fixed Assets 0001 0999

Balance Sheet
Current Assets 1000 1999
Current Liabilities 2000 2299
Long Term Liabilities 2300 2999
Capital & Reserves 3000 3999
When you add a nominal account you must ensure that the code falls within the correct
category range so that values on the nominal account are picked up and used in the
correct financial report.
If you have transferred from a previous system of bookkeeping and have decided to use
you own COA, you need to set the nominal code ranges for each category type. Take care
to ensure the nominal accounts needed for the each financial report fall within the correct
category ranges. For more information, see The Nominal Account Structure on page 179.
166
Adding a Chart of Accounts

You can add your own COA if you require, for example if modifying the default chart means
making too many changes to be worthwhile, or if you require more than one chart for different
areas of your business.
To add a Chart of Accounts

1. Select Company > Chart of Accounts.
2. From the Chart of Accounts window, click Add.
3. Enter the name of your new Chart of Accounts in the Name box, then click Add.
The Edit Chart of Accounts window appears.
The Chart of Accounts is subdivided into category types. By default, the category types for
the Profit and Loss report are Sales, Purchases, Direct Expenses and Overheads; and for
the Balance Sheet report they are Fixed Assets, Current Assets, Current Liabilities, Long
Term Liabilities and Capital & Reserves. Your default Chart of Accounts is shown in Sage
50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts on page 177.
Sage 50 Accounts has automatically set up category accounts for each category type in
your default layout of accounts, but you can amend these if necessary.
If you opted to create your own nominal account structure during the ActiveSetup Wizard,
the default Chart of Accounts does not contain any category accounts.
4. Select each category in turn from the Category Type list, and for each one enter or amend
the following details in the boxes provided.
167
Tip: To insert a line, press F7. To remove a line, press F8.
Description This is the heading for this type of category. This appears on your
financial reports. You can change this if necessary.
Category Account This is the heading for each range of nominal accounts in this
category, one line per range.
You can define up to eighty category account ranges for each
category.
For example, in your Sales category you may want to set up

headings such as Home Sales, Export Sales, Product Sales, etc.
You can enter up to sixty characters of text for each heading.
Low/High Use the Low and High boxes to determine the range of nominal
accounts to be included for each category account.
If there is only one code in the range, enter the same number in
both boxes. Where more than one nominal account belongs to a
category account, enter the lowest nominal account number in
the range in the Low box and the highest number in the range in
the High box. The codes you enter are inclusive.
Floating Nominal Note: The floating nominal accounts only appear when you are
Accounts editing the current assets and current liabilities categories.
Certain nominal records shown in the balance sheet could be an
asset or a liability depending on the balance. These accounts are
known as floating nominal accounts. The software adds the
balance of the floating nominal accounts to the correct side of the
Balance Sheet automatically, when the report is generated.
In order for Sage 50 Accounts to do this, place any floating

nominal accounts in the boxes provided for both the current
assets and current liabilities. For example, enter Bank Account
1200 in the Current Assets and Bank Overdraft 1200 in the
Current Liabilities.
When you enter a nominal account description in one category,
you are prompted to copy it to the other. To do this, click Yes.
When you run your financial reports, all of the nominal accounts entered in each range will
be added together to give a subtotal for the category account heading, to which they
belong.
168
5. Check you have set up the Chart of Accounts correctly. See Checking your Chart of
Accounts on page 170.
6. If you want to print a copy of your Chart of Accounts, click Print. Choose whether you want
to print, preview, or save the information to a file, then click Run. You can also send the
details using email.
7. To save your Chart of Accounts, click Save.
Editing your Chart of Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts enables you to tailor the Chart of Accounts to suit your business. By editing
the Chart of Accounts, you can add in new categories or make existing categories more suitable
to your line of business. For example, you can change the sales category from product and
export sales to the actual items your company sells.
To edit your Chart of Accounts

2. From the Chart of Accounts window, select the COA layout you want to change and then
click Edit.
The Edit Chart of Accounts window appears.
3. Select each category in turn from the Category Type list, and for each one enter or amend
the details in the boxes provided.
4. Check you have set up the Chart of Accounts correctly. See Checking your Chart of
Accounts on page 170.
169
Checking your Chart of Accounts

In Sage 50 Accounts you can check the Chart of Accounts for any errors and then print out a
report detailing these errors.
To check the Chart of Accounts for any errors

2. From the Chart of Accounts window, select the COA layout you want to check and then
click Edit.
The Edit Chart Of Accounts window appears.
3. Click Check.
If an information window appears informing you that no errors have been found, it means
all of the nominal codes are represented correctly and you can continue to use Sage 50
Accounts.
If a print window appears, select the output - printer, preview or file that you require for the
error report, then click Run. You can also send the details using email.
This report tells you of any errors within your Chart of Accounts.
Errors that can occur in the Chart of Accounts layout

The most common errors found in the Chart of Accounts are described below.
The following ranges overlap onto each other...

This means that either the low number, the high number or both of the category account ranges
fall within another category account range.
For example,
Category
Low High
Account
Product Sales 4080 4099
Export Sales 4080 4100

(This is overlapping the first category account range.)

(This is overlapping the first category account range.)
You need to edit the Chart of Accounts to amend the category account ranges. For further
information about how to do this, refer to To edit your Chart of Accounts on page 169.
170
One of the following ranges is enclosed within the other range...

This error means the low and high numbers of one category account range fall within the low
and high numbers of another.
For example,
Category
Low High
Account

(This is enclosed within the first category account range)

(This is both an overlapping and an enclosed range error)
You need to edit the Chart of Accounts to amend the category account ranges. For further
information about how to do this, see To edit your Chart of Accounts on page 169.
Nominal code ... not represented in chart

This means that a Nominal Account exists in the Nominal Ledger but is not included in any of
the ranges within the Chart of Accounts.
You chose to edit the Chart of Accounts and create a new category account or amend an
existing one to include the new nominal code. For further information about how to do this, see
To edit your Chart of Accounts on page 169. Alternatively, if you are not using the nominal
account, you can delete it. For more information, see Deleting Nominal Records on page 187.
Nominal code ... has been used as part of one 'floating' category, but not as
part of the equivalent 'floating' category in Current Assets/Current Liabilities
When a nominal code is included in both current assets and current liabilities, Sage 50 Accounts
decides which category to include it in depending on whether the code has a debit or a credit
balance.
The above error message means you have a nominal code included in one floating category but
not in the other. For example, you have the nominal code set up in current assets but not in
current liabilities.
You need to edit the Chart of Accounts and include the nominal code in both floating categories.
For further information about how to do this, refer to the following section.
171
The following 'floating' category range in Current Assets has no matching

range in Current Liabilities
The floating category range that is entered within the Current Assets and the Current Liabilities
must be the same. For example, if you have entered the Bank Account Range as 1200 - 1209
in the Current Assets, you must also enter the same range (1200 -1209) in the Current Liabilities.
Deleting a Chart of Accounts

If a Chart of Accounts is no longer in use, you can delete it from the list of charts.
Note: You cannot delete the Chart of Accounts that is set as the 'Current' chart.
To delete a Chart of Accounts

2. From the Chart of Accounts window, select the COA you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. To confirm that you want to delete the selected Chart of Accounts, click Yes. Sage 50
Accounts deletes the Chart of Accounts and returns to the Chart of Accounts window.
Alternatively, to cancel the deletion and return to the list of charts, click No. The Chart of
Accounts you selected is not affected.
Copying a Chart of Accounts

If you wish to produce a new chart of accounts layout, based on an existing layout, you can
quickly copy the layout.
The Chart of Accounts window appears.
2. From the Chart of Accounts window, select the chart of accounts layout that you wish to
copy.
3. Click Copy. A copy of your selected layout appears in the Description list.
4. To modify the layout name, click Edit. For further information about editing your Chart of
Accounts, please refer to the topic Editing your Chart of Accounts on page 169.
5. To return to the Nominal Ledger window, click Close.
172
Chapter 5
Setting Up Records
In Sage 50 Accounts, you can create In this chapter:

individual records to store all of the details
Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained174
for each of your customer, supplier, bank
and nominal accounts. These records are The Nominal Account Structure .......179
rather like index cards in a manual filing Control Accounts.............................180
system. You can also create a record for
Entering Nominal Records ...............182
each product item that you keep in stock,
or for service items that you regularly Editing Nominal Records..................186
provide. Deleting Nominal Records................187
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Viewing Nominal Account Activity ....187
users can also create fixed asset records.
Entering Bank Account Records ......190
This chapter explains how to set up each
Editing a Bank Record .....................193
of these record types in Sage 50
Accounts, and discusses the importance Deleting a Bank Record ...................193
of planning your account codes carefully. Planning your Customer and Supplier
Codes..............................................194
Entering Customer and Supplier
Records...........................................195
Deleting Customer Records .............200
Deleting Supplier Records................200
Setting Up Your Product List............201
Creating a Product Record ..............201
Editing a Product Record.................206
Deleting a Product Record...............206
Setting Up Project Records (Accounts
Plus and Accounts Professional Only) ....
207
(Accounts Plus and Accounts
Professional Only) ............................213
Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained

All the transactions you enter into Sage 50 Accounts are put into categories. These
categories are called nominal ledger accounts and are represented in Sage 50 Accounts
by codes. These nominal ledger accounts act as records of where you have earned and
spent money as a result of running your business. The individual nominal accounts are
grouped into ranges. For example, in the default Chart of Accounts supplied with Sage
50 Accounts a rent account - default nominal code 7100, is in the Overheads range of
accounts, with a default range of 7000 to 9999. This indicates rent is classed as an
overhead.
Sage 50 Accounts has nine nominal account ranges:
Fixed Assets (0001 to 0999)
Current Assets (1000 to 1999)
Current Liabilities (2000 to 2299)
Long Term Liabilities (2300 to 2999)
Capital & Reserves (3000 to 3999)
Sales (4000 to 4999)
Purchases (5000 to 5999)
Direct Expenses (6000 to 6999)
Overheads (7000 to 9999).
These ranges are further categorised into four different types. These are:
1. Asset accounts, including your current and fixed assets.
2. Liability accounts, including your current and long term liabilities.
3. Income accounts, including your sales accounts.
4. Expenditure accounts, including your purchase accounts, direct expenses and
overhead accounts.
It is these categories which Sage 50 Accounts uses to create your financial reports, such
as your Profit and Loss and your Balance Sheet.
Sage 50 Accounts's complete default Chart of Accounts is shown in the section, Sage
50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts on page 177. This shows the categories, types
and names of accounts that make up the Chart of Accounts.
Setting Up Records
Asset Accounts Sage 50 Accounts uses asset accounts to store the details
of the money that you own. This money may be funds in the
bank (current assets) or in the form of property or a car (fixed
assets).
Your asset accounts hold the monetary value of your assets,
no matter what form the money is in. Another examples of
an asset account automatically set up for you in Sage 50
Accounts is Office Equipment.
Liability Accounts Sage 50 Accounts keeps track of the money you owe in
liability accounts. Typically, this could include the tax you
need to pay, the VAT you need to pay (current liabilities) and
how much is outstanding on your mortgage (long term
liabilities).
Other examples of liability accounts automatically set up for
you in Sage 50 Accounts include Bank Loan and Hire
Purchase accounts.
Together, these asset and liability accounts hold all the details of where your money actually is,
and in the case of liabilities, where it would have to go if you paid off loans, for example.
When you print out the details of how much money is recorded in each of your asset and liability
accounts, this report is commonly called a Balance Sheet. The Balance Sheet, which you can
print from Financials, shows your company's financial status, that is, what you own and what
you owe. The difference between the two is known as your company's net worth.
When you record the money you receive and the money you pay out in Sage 50 Accounts, the
transactions are 'posted' to specific nominal accounts. Let's say you receive 500. You record
the money you have received as a deposit into a nominal account called, for example, your
Current Bank account, so it adds to your assets. However, at the same time it is a good idea to
keep track of where your money is coming from. To let you do this, Sage 50 Accounts follows
the traditional practice of making a second entry of the same amount to an income account.
This is the double-entry of double-entry bookkeeping!
So, when you record money you've received into Sage 50 Accounts, you don't just allocate the
money into a bank account, but you also post the value of the money to one of your income
accounts, such as Sales of Product A.
.
Income Accounts Use income accounts to keep the details of where your money is
coming from, how much you receive and when. No money is
actually held in these nominal accounts, they simply record what
you have received. The money is actually recorded as being
placed in the bank or other asset account.
175
Expenditure Accounts Use the expenditure accounts to keep details of what you spend
your money on, how much and when. No money is actually held in
these nominal accounts, they just record the money you have
spent. The money is actually recorded as being taken out of the
bank or other asset account, or in the case of a loan, a liability
account.
For example, if you write a cheque (for example 120) to a garage to pay for both a car repair
(100) and some petrol (20), you would record the transaction into Sage 50 Accounts using
the Bank Payments facility. This would take 120 out of your bank account, but in the payments
window you would also post the same value to an expenditure account, such as Car Expenses.
So, at the end of the month or the year, you can look at your Car Expenses account and see
not only the individual transactions you have made over the period, but also just how much you
have spent on your car. This way you can keep track of the money you spend, and where you
spend it.
The number of nominal accounts you use to keep track of your income and expenditure is up
to you. The example described previously, allocated both the cost of the car repair (100) and
the petrol (20) to one expense account, but it could easily have been two.
You could make a more precise analysis of this expenditure by splitting the expense into two
expense nominal accounts, one called Car Repairs and the other Petrol Costs. For example,
when you record the cheque payment, you still take 120 out of the bank account, but then
split this amount, by posting 100 to the Car Repair account and 20 to the Petrol Expense
account as two separate items.
This is still double-entry accounting, even though three postings have been made. As long as
the debit and credit payment are the same, you can have as many postings as you like.
When you print out the details of how much money is recorded in each of your income and
expenditure accounts, the report is commonly called a Profit and Loss Report. This report
shows the money you have received and how much you have paid out. The surplus of income
over expenditure is your profit. For more information see Running the Profit and Loss Report on
page 685.
176
Setting Up Records
Sage 50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts
Category, Type and Name of Account Nominal Code Range
These account categories combine to make up your Profit and Loss report
Sales (Income)
Sales of Assets 4200 4299
Credit Charges (Late Payments) 4400 4499
Other Sales 4900 4999
Purchases (Expenditure)
Purchases 5000 5099
Purchase Charges 5100 5199
Stock 5200 5299
Direct Expenses (Expenditure)

Labour 6000 6099
Commissions 6100 6199
Sales Promotion 6200 6299
Miscellaneous Expenses 6900 6999
Overheads
Gross Wages 7000 7099
Rent and Rates 7100 7199
Heat, Light and Power 7200 7299
Motor Expenses 7300 7399
Travelling and Entertainment 7400 7499
Printing and Stationery 7500 7599
Professional Fees 7600 7699
Equipment Hire and Rental 7700 7799
Maintenance 7800 7899
Bank Charges and Interest 7900 7999
Depreciation 8000 8099
Bad Debts 8100 8199
General Expenses 8200 8299
Suspense and Mispostings 9998 9999
177
Sage 50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts continued
Category, Type and Name of Account Nominal Code Range
These account categories combine to make up your Balance Sheet report

Fixed Assets (Assets)
Property 0010 0019
Plant and Machinery 0020 0029
Office Equipment 0030 0039
Furniture and Fixtures 0040 0049
Motor Vehicles 0050 0059
Current Assets (Assets)

Stock 1000 1099
Debtors 1100 1199
Deposits and Cash 1210 1239
Credit Card (Debtors) 1250 1250
Bank Account 1200 1209
VAT Liability 2200 2209
Current Liabilities (Liabilities)

Creditors: Short Term 2100 2199
Taxation 2210 2219
Wages 2220 2299
Credit Card (Creditors) 1240 1240
Bank Account 1200 1209
VAT Liability 2200 2209
Long Term Liabilities (Liabilities)

Creditors: Long Term 2300 2399
Capital & Reserves (Liabilities)

Share Capital 3000 3099
Reserves 3100 3299
Note: Bank Account and VAT Liability are floating accounts. For more information about this,
refer to the table in To add a Chart of Accounts on page 167.
178
Setting Up Records
The Nominal Account Structure

Nominal records are structured into groups within fixed number ranges. These groups are the
same ones that are used to make up Sage 50 Accounts' financial reports.
Default nominal ranges

Sage 50 Accounts' default nominal ranges are listed below, and also in the previous table. We
recommend that you keep this structure. If you do not, you must be very careful to assign your
new nominal records to the correct nominal range, shown below.
Group From To
Sales 4000 4999

Purchases 5000 5999
Direct Expenses 6000 6999
Overheads 7000 9999
Fixed Assets 0001 0999
Current Assets 1000 1999
Current Liabilities 2000 2299
Long Term Liabilities 2300 2999
Capital & Reserves 3000 3999
You can add more nominal records within these groups to improve your accounting system. For
example, you could analyse your sales based on the different types of products you sell. If you
sell wine you could set up nominal records for each type within the fixed range for Sales as
follows:
White Wine Sales 4100

Red Wine Sales 4110
Rose Wine Sales 4120
Sparkling Wine 4130
Champagne 4140
Note: Accounts are numbered sequentially but gaps are left so that records to be added.
Warning! Care must be taken when numbering records. If a record is created out of sequence
it may result in errors in your management reports.
179
Control Accounts
Control accounts are important because they allow you to see the total figures for debtors,
creditors, VAT on purchases and so on, without having to add up all the balances on the
individual accounts. They also allow you to check that all the individual accounts are correct.
Control accounts are used by Sage 50 Accounts to make automatic double-entry postings. A
number of control accounts are created automatically. The control accounts are as follows:
Debtors Control This account tells you how much you are currently owed in total by your
customers. This is why it is known as the Debtors Control Account.
(or sales ledger
control account) Any customer transactions entered into Sage 50 Accounts are posted to
this account. When you post an invoice to a customer's account, the full
amount of the invoice is posted to this account as a debit. If you record a
customer receipt, the debtors control account is credited by the full
amount of the receipt. You can only change this account code if no
transactions have been entered.
Creditors Control This account tells you how much you currently owe in total to your
suppliers. This is why it is known as the Creditors Control Account.
(or purchase
ledger control Any supplier transactions entered into Sage 50 Accounts are posted to
account) this account. When you post an invoice received from a supplier, the full
amount of the invoice is posted to the account as a credit. If you record a
supplier payment, the creditors control account is debited by the full
amount of the payment. You can only change this account code if no
transactions have been entered.
Default Bank This account is automatically selected, when you open the Bank module.
VAT on Sales This is the nominal account where the value of any VAT is automatically
posted, when you record income that is subject to VAT.
VAT on This is the nominal account where the value of any VAT is automatically
Purchases posted, when you record payments on which you can claim VAT back.
Sales Discount If you enter a discount when you record a customer's payment, the value
of the discount is posted to this account as a debit.
Purchase If you enter a discount when recording a payment to a supplier, the value
Discount of the discount is posted to this account as a credit.
Retained This nominal account adds up the net balance of all your income and
Earnings expenditure accounts, when you run the Year End process. The value
received represents the surplus or loss.
180
Setting Up Records
Default Sales This is the Default Sales nominal account, used on invoices where there
is no default n/c on the Customer / Product record.
Accruals If you have set up accruals, this is the nominal account the accruals are
posted to, when you run the Month End routine.
Prepayments If you have set up prepayments, this is the nominal account where they
are posted, when you run the Month End routine.
Bad Debts If you write off a bad debt using the Write Off, Refund, Return option, this
is the nominal code, to which the bad debt is posted.
Mispostings This account is used in automatic error correction routines, to record any
mispostings.
VAT Manual Where you decide to make a manual adjustment to a particular figure on
Adjustment the VAT Return using the VAT Manual Adjustment window, Sage 50
Accounts records the adjustment, reason for adjustment, date, time and
user name against this control account.
The default code for this account is 2204.
Suspense This is the account that automatically receives the opposite side of your
opening balance postings. If you enter your opening balances from a
complete Trial Balance, then the overall net effect of the postings on this
account is zero.
Credit Charges If you charge interest on late payments from customers, the value is
posted to this nominal account.
181
Entering Nominal Records

There are a number of ways you can create a nominal record. You can:
Enter details directly into a blank nominal record. This method is described in this section.
Use the Nominal Record Wizard to guide you step-by-step through the process.
To do this, select Company > Nominal Ledger. From the Nominal Ledger toolbar, click
New. The Nominal Record Wizard is displayed.
Copy an existing record's details using the Duplicate facility. For more information about
this feature, see Duplicating records on page 43.
Note: You cannot use the Duplicate facility to create control or bank accounts in the
Nominal Ledger. When you duplicate an existing nominal record, Sage 50 Accounts
automatically sets the record type to Nominal.
To add a new nominal account record

1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
2. Click Record.
The Nominal Record window appears.
182
Setting Up Records
You will see five prior year columns, which show your financial data from past years, so that
you can compare your company's performance. If you are a new user, these columns will
display zeros. For more information, see Historical Data Analysis on page 305.
3. In the Details tab, enter the following information:
N/C You must give the new account a number. We recommend you keep
within the numbering scheme set up automatically by Sage 50 Accounts
for the standard set of nominal accounts. These are:
Fixed Assets range from 0001 to 0999
Current Assets range from 1000 to 1999
Current Liabilities range from 2000 to 2299
Long Term Liability range from 2300 to 2399
Capital and Reserves range from 3000 to 3999
Income Accounts range from 4000 to 4999
Purchase Accounts range from 5000 to 5999
Direct Expenses range from 6000 to 6999
Overheads range from 7000 to 9999
For example, if you are assigning a new fixed asset account, assign it a
number within the fixed asset account range (0001 to 0999).
If you are creating a new nominal account that is out of your existing Chart
of Accounts category ranges, when you move your cursor off the N/C
box, a warning message appears telling you that you must update the
Chart of Accounts.
This means that you must change your default Chart of Accounts to
accommodate the new nominal accounts that you have created. You can
do this by editing the Chart of Accounts. Read how to do this in Chapter
4, Setting Up your Chart of Accounts.
To continue, click OK and carry on entering your nominal account
information.
Name Enter an account name. This name appears on your financial reports and
on the Sage 50 Accounts transaction windows, when you use this
account.
Balance This box shows the current balance of this nominal account. This box is
empty, when you first create a new account.
The OB button - Opening Balance, is used to enter your opening balance
for this nominal account.
183
Note: We recommend that you do not enter your opening balances at this
point but refer to Chapter 15, Recording Opening Balances when you
have entered all of your Customer, Supplier, Product, Nominal and Bank
Records.
Account This is a display only box. When you create a new nominal record, this box
Type initially displays Control Account but clears, when you enter the nominal
code you want to assign to the record. When you save the record, Sage
50 Accounts assigns the default type of Nominal Account.
Note: If you want to create a new record with the account type Bank
Account, you must create it in the Bank module. For details, see Entering
Bank Account Records on page 190.
If you open an existing nominal record, the Account Type box shows Bank
Account if you created this account in the Bank module, Control Account
if you have added the account to your list of control accounts, or Nominal
Account for any other type of nominal record - that is, neither a control
account nor a bank account.
4. If you want to, you can enter a budget for this nominal account against each month of your
financial year. You would do this so you can see whether you overspend or underspend in
a particular area, for example, travel expenses. To do this, click in the Budget box against
each month in turn, entering the budget for this nominal account.
5. To create a new account, click Save. If you need to clear your entry and start again, click
Discard. To return to the main Nominal window, click Close.
Viewing the Nominal Record Graphs Tab

As you make transactions to and from a nominal account, the transactions automatically update
the monthly balances on the Nominal Record. You can see these monthly balances in the form
of a graph on the Nominal Record Graphs tab.
184
Setting Up Records
Viewing the Nominal Record Activity Tab

Every time you record a transaction into Sage 50 Accounts, the activity is stored on the audit
trail. This single list stores every transaction you have made in the order it was recorded into
Sage 50 Accounts.
You can see the transaction activity of a single nominal account, at any time, by clicking the
Activity tab on the nominal record. This shows the individual transactions posted to each
account.
If you are viewing the activity of a bank account or reserved control account, for example the
Debtors Control Account, the Activity window is split into two sections. The headers appear in
the top pane, with the corresponding splits appearing in the bottom pane.
185
Only those transactions that have not been cleared by running the Clear Audit Trail facility
appear in this window. For further information on this, refer to Clearing the Audit Trail on page
318.
Using the Nominal Record Memo Tab

Sage 50 Accounts lets you create a memo for each nominal account record, where you can
add any extra information that relates to the account. The Memo tab enables you to attach
electronic documents and filing system references to your records using the Document
Manager functionality. For full details, see Working with Attachments using Document Manager
on page 650.
Editing Nominal Records

When you look through the nominal codes that have been created automatically, you may find
some that your business will use but need renaming to make them more meaningful to you.
To do this, select Company > Nominal Ledger and then click Record. Select the nominal record
you want to change from the drop-down list, remove the old name and type the new name you
require in its place.
186
Setting Up Records
Deleting Nominal Records

To delete nominal records that you do not need, select Company > Nominal Ledger, highlight
the records you no longer require and then click Delete.
Note: You cannot delete a nominal record if it has any of the following:
Transactions associated with the nominal record.
A balance that is anything but zero.
If it is a nominal record that is also a control account.
Viewing Nominal Account Activity

You can view a detailed transaction history, or Activity, for any nominal account.
1. From the Nominal Ledger window, select the nominal account(s), whose activity you want
to view and click Activity.
Alternatively, you can open the Nominal Record and click the Activity tab to display the
nominal account's transaction activity.
The Activity window appears, showing the transactions that have been made to the first
account you selected.
If the account you selected is a Bank Account, or if it is the Debtors Control Account,
Creditors Control Account, or the Sales or Purchase Tax Control Account, the Activity
window is split into two panes:
The upper pane of the Activity window shows summary or grouped information about
each transaction, one line per transaction.
The lower pane of the Activity window displays the individual items that make up each
transaction. For example, if you select a sales receipt transaction in the upper pane,
the lower pane shows information about the items that make up the associated
invoice.
2. To filter the transactions displayed, choose the criteria you require from the following
selection fields:
Show
To filter the transactions by a specific period, select the period you want to display from the
Show drop-down list.
You can choose to filter the transactions by a number of financial periods; for example, you
can choose to display a single calendar month's transactions, or view the activity for a
financial quarter, half year, prior year or current financial year. You can also choose to show
only future-dated transactions - that is, those that fall beyond the end of the current
financial year.
187
If you require, you can specify a date range, transaction type or transaction number range
to display. To do this, select Custom Range from the Show drop-down list and complete
the relevant boxes on the Activity Range window that appears.
Your software retains the filter you specify from the Show drop-down list and applies it the
next time you view the activity. This is true for all of the Show drop-down settings, although
any values you enter in the Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
This read-only field displays the date range you selected using the Show drop-down lost.
For example, if you selected Custom Range and entered the date range 01/07/2008 to
31/07/2008, these dates appear in this box.
The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.
Type
If you select Custom Range from the Show drop-down list and use the Activity Range
window to choose a specific type of transaction to display, this box shows which
transaction type you selected.
For example, if you chose to view only bank receipts by selecting BR - Bank Receipts on
the Activity Range window, this field shows BR. The Activity window now only displays
bank receipt transactions dated within the specified range.
You cannot change the transaction type shown in this field directly - to change the type of
transaction displayed here, you must select Custom Range from the Show drop-down list
and re-select the transaction type you want to view.
O/S Only
If you selected Custom Range from the Show drop-down list and selected the Outstanding
Transactions Only? check box on the Activity Range window, this check box is selected.
This indicates that the Activity window is displaying only those transactions that are not yet
paid or allocated.
You cannot change this setting directly here - to select or clear this box, select Custom
Range from the Show drop-down list and select or clear the Outstanding Transactions
Only? check box in the Activity Range window.
Trans
This box shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select Custom Range from the Show drop-down list and use the
Activity Range window to specify a range of transactions to view, this box shows the
transaction numbers you chose.
If you do not specify a transaction range, this box displays the first and last transaction
numbers from your audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your audit
trail, this box shows '1 to 2169'.
188
Setting Up Records
You cannot change the range shown in this field directly. To change the transaction number
range shown here, select Custom Range from the Show drop-down list and enter the
transaction number range you want to view.
3. To print the information shown, click Print List.
4. If you selected more than one account, use Previous and Next to move between the
selected records.
5. To exit the Activity window, click Close.
For more information, please refer to the Nominal > Record > To View a Nominal Accounts
Activity topic in the main software Help file (F1).
189
Entering Bank Account Records

Bank accounts are nominal accounts but they should be created through the Bank module.
There are three ways of entering a bank account record:
You can enter details directly into a blank bank record. This method is described in this
section.
You can use the Bank Record Wizard to guide you through the process step-by-step.
Note: Depending on your Sage 50 Accounts settings, when you select New Account from
the Bank module, either a blank record or the Bank Record Wizard is displayed. The default
is the Bank Record Wizard. For more information about this setting, refer to the Sage 50
Accounts Help system.
You can copy an existing record's details using the Duplicate facility. For more information
about this feature, Duplicating records on page 43.
Your bank account can be one of three types:
Cheque Account
Sage 50 Accounts treats both banks and building societies as cheque accounts. Three cheque
accounts have been set up for you: a bank current account, a bank deposit account and a
building society account. Edit these banks to match your real bank accounts with their correct
names and addresses.
Cash Account
A single cash account has been set up for you called Petty Cash. You can set up other cash
accounts such as Shop Safe or Emergency Cash Supply.
Credit Card Account

Sage 50 Accounts lets you set up bank accounts for each of your credit cards so that you can
keep track of the card payments that you make. One credit card account has already been set
up for you.
If you want to enter more accounts, read the next section.
190
Setting Up Records
To enter cheque, credit card and cash accounts

Note: This method assumes the Bank Record Wizard is disabled.
1. Open the Bank module, then select Record.
2. The Bank Record window appears, displaying the Account Details tab.
3. In the boxes provided, enter the following bank account details:
A/C Ref The account reference of the bank. Bank accounts are
special types of nominal ledger accounts and so this code is
also a nominal ledger code which appears in the Nominal
Ledger window. We recommend that you use a number
within the range 1200 to 1299 as Sage 50 Accounts uses this
range for the bank accounts it has already set up and your
financial reports are already set up for these groupings.
191
Nominal Name A description of the bank account. This appears on the Bank
Accounts window to identify the account, for example,
Current Account. It also appears in the nominal ledger list of
accounts.
Current Balance This is the balance of your bank account. We recommend

that you do not enter your opening balances at this point but
refer to Chapter 15, Recording Opening Balances when you
have entered all of your customer, supplier, product, nominal
and bank records.
Minimum Limit Enter the amount that you do not want the balance of this
account to drop below. You can also enter a negative amount
here. If the balance does go below this level, the bank details
are displayed in red on your Bank Accounts window.
A/C Type From the drop-down list, select the type of account you want
your bank account to be. Once you have entered
transactions into this account, you cannot change the
account type.
A bank account can be a cheque account, cash account or a
credit card account. The bank types generate different
transactions types, for example, payments can be bank
payment (BP), cash payment (CP) or visa payment (VP).
We recommend that you set up and use the bank accounts in

Sage 50 Accounts to mirror the way you use your actual bank
accounts and cash.
Currency Displayed if you have activated Foreign Trader. See The

(Accounts Foreign Trader (Accounts Professional Only) on page 704.
Professional only)
You may select a currency description from the drop-down
list. This box is for information purposes only.
If you have the Foreign Trader facility activated, this is the
currency your transactions will be posted in.
No Bank Reconciliation Select this check box if you do not want to run a bank
reconciliation for this account. You would usually want to
reconcile your accounts to make sure your computerised
accounts matched your bank statement. #
However, for cash accounts such as petty cash you would
select this check box, as you are unlikely to reconcile your
petty cash.
192
Setting Up Records
Last Reconciled Date If a bank reconciliation has been performed previously, the
date of the reconciliation appears in this box.
Last Reconciled If a bank reconciliation has been performed previously, the

Balance last reconciled balance appears in this box.
4. To record your new bank account, click Save.
Editing a Bank Record

When you look through the bank records that have been created automatically, you will probably
want to rename them and enter details specific to your accounts, so that they become more
meaningful to you.
You can edit an existing bank record at any time - to do this, select the record you want to
change from the list in the Bank Accounts window and click Record. Enter or amend the details
as you require and click Save to record your changes.
Deleting a Bank Record

To delete bank records that you do not need, open the Bank module, then click Delete.
Note: You cannot delete a bank record if it has any of the following:
Transactions associated with the nominal record.
A balance that is anything but zero.
If it is a bank record that is also a control account.
193
Planning your Customer and Supplier Codes

It is important that you plan your Customer and Supplier references. Your Customer and
Supplier Records all need a reference code. We recommend you plan the codes that you want
to use before you begin entering your Customer and Supplier Records.
This is important because once you have entered transactions against a Customer Record, you
cannot change the account reference.
We recommend that you use codes that will be meaningful to you. You can use the first eight
letters of your customer's or supplier's name. We recommend that you use both numbers and
letters. This is to prevent two customers with the same name having the same code. For
example, if you have a customer named Ms Smith, we suggest that you name the code
SMITH01, so you can create unique codes for further customers with the same surname, for
example, SMITH02, SMITH03.
Planning your codes will enable you to locate the customer or supplier you require quickly and
easily. The tables below provide examples of coding. The first table shows alphanumeric codes
and the second provides numeric examples.
Note: When using numeric codes make sure you use leading zeros in the number. This will keep
the code sorted in the correct order.
Customer Name Account Reference
Business Exhibitions BUSI01
Business Services BUSI02
Picture Frame Ltd. PICT01
Wise Electricals WISE01
Customer Name Account Reference
Business Exhibitions 0001
Business Services 0010
Picture Frame Ltd. 0020
Wise Electricals 0100
194
Setting Up Records
Entering Customer and Supplier Records

Your Customer and Supplier records are like cards in an index box. Each record holds
information about a specific customer or supplier, such as an address, telephone number,
contact name, credit limit and so on. As you add your records, they appear automatically in the
list on the Customers or Suppliers window.
These lists let you see the customers and suppliers you have and the amount they currently
owe, or that you owe them, instantly. If records appear in red in the lists, it means that those
accounts have exceeded their credit limit, allowing you to see at a glance the accounts that
need your attention.
There are three ways of entering a customer or supplier record:
You can enter details directly into a blank customer or supplier record. This method is
described in this section.
Remember, if you have set up your customer or supplier defaults, some details will appear
automatically for each record you create. You can change these if you require.
You can use the Customer/Supplier Record Wizard to guide you through the process
step-by-step.
Note: Depending on your Sage 50 Accounts settings when you select New Customer or
New Supplier from the Tasks pane, either a blank record or the Customer/Supplier Record
Wizard is displayed. The default is the Customer/Supplier Record Wizard. For more
information about this setting refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
Finally, if a record already exists that contains much of the same information as the new
record you want to set up, you can use the Duplicate option to create a copy of the original
record. This option saves you time if you need to set up several records with very similar
details, for example if you have a number of customers based at the same address.
For more information about this feature, see Duplicating records on page 43.
To enter your customer and supplier records

1. Select Customers > New Customer or Suppliers > New Supplier.
The Customer Record or Supplier Record window appears, displaying the Details tab.
2. Use the tabs of the record window to enter your customer or supplier account details, as
follows:
195
Tab Customer Record Supplier Record
Details For both record types, use the Details tab to enter the basic account
details. See Chapter 15, Recording Opening Balances before you
enter your customer's or supplier's opening balance.
If you have Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional, you can also
enter multiple delivery and contact addresses for your customers or
suppliers. If your customer or supplier has several different offices and
contacts, you can enter a different delivery and contact address for
each office. To do this, click Other Addresses. Click New and then
enter the details you require. To save the address, click OK.
Defaults For both record types, use the Defaults tab to amend the defaults that
you have already set up for Sage 50 Accounts. If you make a change
on this tab, it applies only to the selected customer or supplier, and
does not affect the defaults you set up previously.
Note for Customer Records: Note for Supplier Records if

The default nominal code for this you are using Accounts
customer appears in the Professional: The default
Miscellaneous Defaults section nominal code for this supplier
on this tab. appears in the Miscellaneous
Defaults section on this tab.
If you want Sage 50 Accounts to
use this default nominal code on By default, the Use Default
product invoices and credit notes Nominal Code for Purchases box
(and sales orders for Accounts is selected. This means that
Professional users) in place of Sage 50 Accounts uses this
the nominal code from the default nominal code on each
product record, select the Use item line of all new purchase
Default Nominal Code for Sales orders raised for this supplier.
check box.
If you want Sage 50 Accounts to
Similarly, if you want Sage 50 use the default nominal code
Accounts to override the from the product record when
product's tax code on product you raise a new purchase order
invoices and credit notes (and for this supplier, ensure the check
sales orders for Accounts box is unchecked.
Professional users), select the
Use Default Tax Code for Sales
check box.
196
Setting Up Records
Credit 3. For both record types, use the Credit Control tab to enter or edit
Control your credit control details. If you want to know more about Sage
50 Accounts' credit control facilities, refer to the accompanying
Credit Control pdf - Help Menu.
Sales The Sales tab shows the value of Not applicable.

invoices and credit notes you
have sent to a customer and the
money received from them for
each month of your financial year.
You can use this tab to show the
trends in your customer's
monthly transactions.
Purchases Not applicable. The Purchases tab shows the

value of invoices and credit notes
sent by your suppliers and the
money you have paid out to them
for each month of your financial
year.
You can use this tab to show the
trends in your supplier's monthly
transactions.
Orders Click the Orders tab to view a Click the Orders tab to view a
(Accounts history of the sales orders that history of the purchase orders
Professional the selected customer has that you have placed with this
only) placed with you. supplier.
Double-click any of the orders in Double-click any of the orders in
the list to view the Sales Order the list to view the Purchase
record. Order record.
You can also create a new You can also create a new
invoice or sales order for this purchase order for this supplier
customer from this window, by from this window by clicking New
clicking New Invoice or New Order, or duplicate an order by
Order. selecting it and clicking
Duplicate.
For more information about
creating new invoices and For more information about
orders, see Chapter 8, Customer creating new and duplicate
Tasks. purchase orders, see Chapter 9,
Supplier Tasks.
197
Projects If you use Sage 50 Accounts's Not applicable.

(Accounts Project Costing, click the
Plus and Projects tab to view details of the
Accounts projects associated with this
Professional customer.
only)
You can also create a new
project record for the selected
customer by clicking the New
Project button.
For full details about Project
Costing, see Chapter 11, Project
Tasks (Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional Only).
Graphs For both record types, the Graphs tab shows invoices, credits and
balances month by month, in a graphical form.
Activity For both record types, the Activity tab shows the transactions you
have made with each customer or supplier. You can see invoices,
credit notes, receipts/payments, payments on account and even cash
discounts. In addition, the Activity window also shows a balance,
turnover and monies received or paid.
Each line of the Activity list represents a single invoice, credit note,
payment on account, discount or receipt/payment. Each line in turn is
made up of one or more individual items. To see these items, click the
'+' symbol at the left-hand side of the transaction line you want to
view. If any of the transaction's items have been paid, then click the
'+' symbol against these items to show the payment details.
The Activity tab also shows your customer's or supplier's aged
balances. For further information about aged balances, refer to the
accompanying Credit Control pdf, accessed from Help Menu > Credit
Control.
Bank Not applicable. If you use the BACS - Bank

Automated Clearing Services
system to make payment
transfers directly to this supplier's
bank account, use the Bank tab
to enter your supplier's bank
account details.
198
Setting Up Records
Communicati For both record types, you can use the Communication tab to record
on details of the telephone conversations, emails, faxes or letters you
have, send or receive with your customers or suppliers.
Memo For both record types, the Memo tab enables you to attach electronic
documents and filing system references to your records using the
Document Manager functionality. For full details, see Working with
Attachments using Document Manager on page 650.
The Memo tab also lets you keep additional notes about each of your
customers or suppliers. For example, you can make a note of the date
and times you talk and write to your customers or suppliers, and you
can enter reminder notes to tell your customers about new products
or follow up special prices your suppliers offer you.
Each memo creates a separate text file with the extension .SLM for
customer memos, or .PLM for supplier memos. These files are stored
in a sub-directory of your Sage 50 Accounts program called Memo.
The customer's or supplier's account name is used as the file name,
therefore a memo for the customer account SMITH01 would be
stored in a file called SMITH01.SLM.
Note for network users: All Sage 50 Accounts memos are stored on
the data server.
4. To save your new record, click Save.

To exit the record without saving, click Close, then click No to the confirmation message
that appears.
199
Deleting Customer Records

You can only delete a customer record if there are no transactions in the audit trail linked to this
customer and the customer's balance is zero. If you try and delete a record that does not meet
these conditions, a warning message appears, telling you that the account cannot be deleted.
To delete customer records

1. Open the Customers module, then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Customers list.
The customers are listed in the Customers window.
2. Select the customer you want to remove and then click Delete.
3. To confirm deletion, click Yes.
Deleting Supplier Records

You can only delete a supplier record if there are no transactions in the audit trail linked to this
supplier and the supplier's balance is zero. Sage 50 Accounts does not let you delete a supplier
record if these conditions are not met.
To delete supplier records

1. Open the Suppliers module, then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Suppliers list.
The suppliers are listed in the Suppliers window.
2. Select the supplier you want to remove and then click Delete.
3. To delete the account, click Yes.
200
Setting Up Records
Setting Up Your Product List

The product records that you enter in Sage 50 Accounts will eventually form your product list.
When you are planning your stock system, the product codes you enter need to be as
descriptive as possible so that you can locate the product quickly when you are entering data
or viewing a report. For more information, see the following section.
For example, a clothing manufacturer could use a stock system which detailed material type
and colour.
For example:
SILK-RED
SILK-GRY
COTT-BLU
LINE-WHI
Creating a Product Record

The product record holds information such as the stock items description, sales price, and unit
of sale.
On the Activity tab of the record you can view the sales value of your products and the quantity
sold. Accounts Professional users can also see the projects the stock has been issued to.
Each time you create a new product record, you need to enter details such as nominal code,
department and tax code. If you give most of your products similar details, you can enter a set
of default answers that will appear automatically in the new product records you create.
However, if you need to, you can change any of these details that were entered automatically
for you on each product record. See Entering Product Defaults on page 144.
There are three ways of entering a product record:
You can enter details directly into a blank product record. This method is described in this
section.
You can use the Product Record Wizard to guide you through the process step-by-step.
To do this, select Products. From the Products toolbar, click New. The Products Record
Wizard is displayed.
You can copy an existing record's details using the Duplicate facility. For more information
about this feature, Duplicating records on page 43.
201
To enter your product records

1. Select Products > New Product.
The Product Record window appears, displaying the Details tab.
2. Use the Details tab to enter or view your main product information.
Do not enter your opening balances until you have read Chapter 15, Recording Opening
Balances.
You can also use the pricing options to set multiple selling prices for your products. For
further information about how to use the pricing options, refer to Customer Pricing on page
369.
If you do not put in a nominal code of your own choice, then Sage 50 Accounts will
automatically assign each product with a default code.
The only form of commodity code that HM Revenue & Customs accept is eight numeric
characters. If you are using Sage 50 Accounts to produce Intrastat Supplementary
Declarations information, you must make sure that your commodity code is correctly
entered into the 'IntraStat Com. Code' box.
Note for Accounts Professional users upgrading from Sage 50 Accounts v10 and
earlier: During the upgrade procedure, Sage 50 Accounts transfers any commodity code
data that is in the correct format from the old Com. Code box to the new IntraStat Com.
Code box.
If data appears in the Com. Code prior to the upgrade but it is not in the correct format,
Sage 50 Accounts enters the data into the Com. Code Description box. It is your
responsibility to check all your commodity codes, and enter them into the IntraStat Com.
Code box in the required format, if necessary. In addition, the Weight box now displays a
'kg' label. You should ensure that any weights you entered prior to the upgrade are correct,
as you may have previously used this box for other weight measures, such as imperial
pounds (lb).
3. The Memo tab enables you to attach electronic documents and filing system references to
your records using the Document Manager functionality. For full details, see Working with
Attachments using Document Manager on page 650. You can also use the Memo tab to
enter any additional product details.
4. Whenever a product is made up of other products you hold in stock, it is said to have a bill
of materials (or BOM). This is a list of the other products or components that are needed
to make up the product or product assembly.
For further information on how to use bill of materials, refer to Chapter 10, Product Tasks
(Stock).
5. The next three tabs enable you to view information about your product sales.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: The Sales tab displays, for each
month of your financial year, the sales value and quantity sold for the product you
202
Setting Up Records
selected. The Sales tab also shows you the date of the last product invoice that was
raised for this product. Use the Sales tab to set budget values and to enter prior year
values for each month of your financial year, for each of your product records.
You can enter your budget values directly into the table, or you can enter the total
budget allocation for the year in the Totals box. If you enter a total budget, Sage 50
Accounts divides it by twelve and enters the resulting value into each month's budget
box. If there is a remainder after dividing the total by twelve, Sage 50 Accounts enters
it into the box for month twelve.
The Actual figures update as you begin to enter and update invoices. Because you
can compare your budget figures against actual monthly figures for both this year and
for the year just ended, use this tab to keep track of how close you are to meeting
your budget targets. This also shows whether your product sales are performing
better than the same time last year. You can also set your cost of sales values for each
month here or alternatively they will be updated automatically as you update your
invoices.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: The Graphs tab displays the same
information as the Sales tab but in a graphical format.
The Activity tab shows the individual transactions you have posted for your product
records. You can see adjustments, goods in and out and stock transfers, as well as
the current quantities in stock, on order and allocated.
6. Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: Quantity discount in Sage 50 Accounts
is determined through product discount rate tables. Five tables are provided per product.
This means that you can give five different quantity discount rates to your customers
(Discounts A-E).
203
The product discounts you can set up are based on quantity levels and you can enter
quantities for up to ten levels of discount.
For further information on setting up quantity discounts, refer to Discounts on page 386.
7. With the advances in e-commerce it has become increasingly important to advertise your
products and services on the Internet. You can use the Web tab to enter information about
your web shop.
You can insert an image of the product (either in a BMP, JPEG or GIF format), so that your
customers can see exactly what you sell. To read how to do this, press F1 when you are
on the Web tab, and read the topic To Set Up Your Product Web Details that appears in
the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
204
Setting Up Records
8. To save your product record, click Save.
205
Editing a Product Record

You can edit your product records at any time to keep the details of your stock items up to date,
for example if you have increased the sales price of an item.
Note: Once a record has been created, you cannot change its product code. If you enter a new
product code in an existing record, the data in the record clears and a new product record is
created.
To edit a product record

1. Select Products.
2. From the Products window, select the records you want to edit, then click Record.
The Product Record window appears, showing the details of the first product you selected
from the list.
3. Make the changes you require in the boxes provided.
4. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data you entered and start again click
Discard.
5. To exit the product record and return to the Products window, click Close.
Deleting a Product Record

You can only delete a product record if the following conditions apply:
The record has no outstanding transactions, for example there are no outstanding orders.
The products In Stock, On Order and Allocated balances are all zero.
The product is not a component of a Bill of Materials.
The product activity does not show any transactions. Any history on the products activity
must be removed. For more information, see Clearing Stock Transactions on page 323.
To delete a product record

1. Select Products.
2. From the Products window, select the product record(s) you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. To delete the record, click Yes. Alternatively, to cancel deletion, click No.
You can also delete a Product by opening the record of the product you require, then
clicking Delete from the Product Record window.
206
Setting Up Records
Setting Up Project Records

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
The Project Record holds all of the necessary information you need to define a project. The
window breaks down the information into six main areas, which Sage 50 Accounts represents
using six separate tabs:
The Details tab holds the basic information about the project, such as the status, start and
end dates and site details.
The Analysis tab holds the project summary totals that you can use to help you work out
how much to bill your customers and to assist with project enquiries. You can view the
project's cost and revenue figures here.
The Activity tab allows you to view the transactions posted against a project, such as
costs, invoices and product movements.
The Budgets tab is used to record the funds assigned to the project. Each cost code on
the project record can have a budget assigned to it. The cumulative value applied to the
cost codes is displayed as the total budget on the Analysis tab. As costs are applied to the
project you can monitor expenditure against budget.
Note for existing users: Following upgrade, any budgets on your existing projects are
assigned to the first cost code listed on the project record.
The Structure tab is used to build and maintain a project that is broken down into phases
or activities made up of several project records.
The Memo tab enables you to enter text on the record, and attach document shortcuts
and filing system references using the Document Manager facility.
There are four ways of creating a project, you can:
Enter details directly into a blank project record, as explained in this section.
Use the Project Record Wizard and follow the on-screen instructions.
Note: Depending on your Sage 50 Accounts settings when you select New Project from
the Projects module Tasks pane, either a blank record or the Project Record Wizard is
displayed. The default is the Project Record Wizard. For more information about this setting
(Hide Wizard Options) refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
Use Sales Order Processing (Accounts Professional users only). When you create a new
sales order containing the special product code S3 and click Save, Sage 50 Accounts
displays the prompt message Would you like to create a project for this sales order?
Click Yes to open a new project record that automatically contains the customer's account
details and order number. When you save the project record, the project's reference code
transfers into the item line of the sales order, so that when you complete the order, create
an invoice and update the ledgers, the project's activity automatically shows the invoice
transaction.
207
Use the Customer Record window. Open a customer's record and click New Project, then
enter the project's details into the record that appears.
Note: Budgets and structures are applied to the project record after it has been created. All cost
codes and associated cost types are applied to the project record as it is created and are made
available on the Budgets tab. This is covered in Starting Up a Project on page 581.
To create a project record

Note: This activity assumes the Hide Wizard Options is switched on (Tools > Options).
1. Select Projects > New Project.
The Project Record window appears, showing the Details information.
2. Enter your project information in the three sections of the Details tab:
208
Setting Up Records
Project Details Use this area of the record to enter details to identify and
define the project. You must enter a unique project reference
before you can save the record. You can also enter a name
and description for your reference.
In the Status box, select a project status from the drop-down
list. Initially, Sage 50 Accounts provides five predefined
statuses for you to choose from: ACTIVE, SNAG,
COMPLETED, SUSPEND and INITIAL. For details about each
status, see Using project statuses on page 577.
If the project record is part of a multi-level project and you
change its status, you have the option you are prompted to
select whether to apply the same status to any sub-projects
linked to the project record.
You can amend or create a project status in the Configuration
Editor. For more information, see To set up or amend a
project status, cost type, cost code or custom field on page
106.
Customer Details In the Customer Details area of the window, enter the account
reference, name and order number of the customer to whom
the project relates. If the project is internal, not connected with
a customer or associated with several customers, leave this
section empty.
You cannot link different customers to different project records
for a multi-level project.
Note: If you link the project to a customer, a summary of the
project information appears on the Projects tab of the
Customer Record. For more information, see To view a
customer's project history on page 597.
Site Details Enter the address and contact details of the site where the
project is taking place, if you require.
You are now ready to enter details on the Analysis tab.
209
To enter project analysis details

1. Click the Analysis tab.
The Analysis information appears.
2. Enter the price quoted for the project in the Revenue Totals section of the window.
3. You can view, but not amend, the project analysis information in the remaining areas of the
window, including:
Billing Totals As you create and post invoices to bill your customer for the
project, the 'Billing Totals' section of the project record
updates to show the date and amounts billed. For more
information about billing, see Billing Your Customer for a
Project on page 601.
Revenue Totals Using the price you quote and the invoices you raise for the
project, the 'Revenue Totals' section of the window displays
the profit made to date and the amount left outstanding to bill
for the project.
210
Setting Up Records
Budget Totals The Total budget is the cumulative value of budgets that have
been applied to individual cost codes on the Budgets tab. The
displayed value is read only.
The Actual variance shows the difference between the budget
for the project and the actual costs that have been applied to
it.
The effect of committed costs on the budget is included in the
Total variance box. An explanation of committed costs
follows.
Cost Totals This area of the window displays the actual costs that have
been applied to the project as well as the date the last cost
was applied.
This area also displays any committed costs associated with
the project.
Committed Costs:
Accounts Plus users: These costs are the result of stock
that is allocated to the project.
Accounts Professional users: These costs cover stock
that is allocated to the project as well as the value of
purchase order goods/services that have not yet been
charged to the project.
4. If you require, enter up to three extra pieces of information relating to the project in the
Analysis Types section of the window. Sage 50 Accounts uses this information for reporting
purposes. You can define the Analysis Types in the Configuration Editor - for more
information see To set up or amend a project status, cost type, cost code or custom field
on page 106.
5. To save the project record, click Save. Alternatively, to abandon your changes without
saving, click Discard.
6. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.
The Projects window appears.
You have successfully create a project record. To add budgets and a project structure see
Starting Up a Project on page 581.
211
To delete a project record

You cannot delete a project if its status does not allow deletion.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users, the project record cannot be deleted if it is
associated with committed costs or allocated stock.
Sub-projects linked to the record are also deleted.
1. Select the Projects module and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Projects view.
2. From the Projects window, select the project(s) you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. To confirm the deletion, click Yes. To cancel the deletion, click No.
You have successfully deleted your project record(s).
212
Setting Up Records

The first time you use the Fixed Assets facility, the Fixed Assets list box is empty. As you create
asset records they appear in the Fixed Assets window, one line per asset record. Scroll down
the list in this window to see the assets you own, their cost, how much they have depreciated
and their current book value.
Use the Record option to enter information about your assets. In the Details tab, you can enter
information such as a reference, description, serial number and location for your asset.
In the Postings tab, you can enter how you want the asset to depreciate.
If you require, you can copy an existing fixed asset's details to a new record using the Duplicate
facility. For more information about this feature see, Duplicating records on page 43.
To enter a fixed asset

1. Select Company > Manage Fixed Assets.
2. Click Record.
The Fixed Asset Record window appears.
213
3. In the Details tab, enter the following details about the asset:
Asset Reference Every asset must be given a unique code for easy identification.
Description Use the three boxes to describe the asset.
Serial Number If your asset has a serial number, you can enter it here.
Location/Employee Use this box to enter the asset's location or the employee who is
registered to use the asset.
Date Purchased Enter the date that you purchased the asset.
Supplier A/C If you bought the asset from one of your suppliers, you can
indicate that here by selecting the appropriate supplier's
account code.
Assets For reporting purposes, you can categorise your fixed assets.
Select the asset category required from the Asset drop-down
list. For further information on categories, refer to the previous
section.
Before you can save this new record, you must enter the nominal ledger posting details.
4. Click the Posting tab.
The Posting information appears.
214
Setting Up Records
5. In the boxes provided, enter the following details:
Department Enter the department that you want the depreciation

transactions to be assigned to, or select the department you
want to use from the drop-down list.
Balance Sheet Enter the nominal ledger balance sheet account code that
Depreciation N/C you want to use to record the depreciation postings. Every
time an asset is depreciated, the amount of depreciation is
posted to this account as a credit posting.
A number of depreciation accounts have already been set up
for you in the Balance Sheet section of the nominal ledger, for
example, 0051 Motor Vehicles Depreciation.
P&L Depreciation N/C Enter the nominal ledger account code that you want to
appear in your profit and loss report to show the cost of
depreciation.
Every time an asset is depreciated the value of that
depreciation is added to this account code as an expense to
the company (debit posting).
A number of depreciation accounts have already been set up
for you in the Profit and Loss section of the nominal ledger, for
example, 8003 Vehicle Depreciation.
Depreciation Method Select the depreciation method that you want to apply from
this drop-down list box. Once you have posted the first
month's depreciation, you cannot change this depreciation
method to anything other than Write Off.
215
Depreciation Rate Enter the annual percentage rate of depreciation. If you are
calculating the depreciation using the straight line method,
the value you enter here will be divided by twelve to calculate
the monthly depreciation.
For example, if you want to depreciate an asset completely
over four years using the straight line method, then you would
enter 25 (percent) here. In this case, the asset is depreciated
by 2.0833 percent each month until after four years, the book
value is zero. For an item costing 10,000 this means that a
depreciation of 208.33 would be posted for 48 months.
You can enter a non-depreciating fixed asset, for example,
Property, by entering a zero depreciation rate here.
For more information about depreciation methods see
Depreciation on page 236.
Cost Price Enter the price you paid for the asset. If you have selected to
depreciate this asset by the straight line method, it is this
value that is used to calculate the depreciation amount.
Book Value Enter the current book value. If the asset is brand new, this
should be the same as the Cost Price. If the asset has already
depreciated, you should change this to show the current
value, that is, the cost price less depreciation.
If you have decided to depreciate this asset by the reducing

balance method, it is this value that is used to calculate the
depreciation amount.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically reduces the value by the
depreciation amount when you run the Month End procedure
and select the Post Depreciation option.
Once a depreciation posting has been made by the Month
End routine for this asset, you will not be able to change the
Cost Price or the Book Value.
The following boxes are updated automatically by Sage 50 Accounts and are shown for
your information only. You cannot edit them.
Next Depreciation This box shows the value of next month's depreciation.
216
Setting Up Records
Depreciation to Date This shows the total amount of depreciation posted to the
fixed asset record so far.
Date Last Posted This shows the date of the last depreciation transaction.
6. To save this fixed asset's details and posting settings, click Save. To cancel the entry and
start again, click Discard.
7. To exit from the fixed asset record, click Close or use the Previous and Next buttons to
move to another record.
217
To delete a fixed asset record

1. Select Company > Manage Fixed Assets.
2. From the Fixed Assets window, select the asset you want to delete.
Note: You can delete a fixed asset at any time.
3. Click Delete.
4. To delete the asset record, click Yes. If you do not want to delete the asset, click No.
Sage 50 Accounts deletes the fixed asset record.
Note: You can also delete an asset record from within the Fixed Asset Record window using
the Delete button.
218
Chapter 6
Company Tasks
This chapter covers the tasks contained In this chapter:

within Sage 50 Accounts Company
Prepayments (Accounts Plus and
module.
Accounts Professional Only).............220
The chapter introduces the topics of
Accruals (Accounts Plus and Accounts
prepayments, accruals, budgeting, fixed
asset handling and VAT Return
preparation. It also touches on preparing Budgeting in Sage 50 Accounts.......226
your accounts for audit and running your Working With Fixed Assets ..............235
month end and year end routines.
Preparing Intrastat Declarations .......239
Also in this chapter, we look in detail at
Managing your VAT..........................249
how to produce your Intrastat declarations
and guide you through the processes of Carrying Out Your Month End ..........285
recording and reversing journal entries, Running the Year End ......................300
even showing you how to use journals to
Recording a Journal Entry................308
pay your employees wages.
Clearing the Audit Trail .....................318
Clearing Stock Transactions.............323
Compressing Your Data ...................323
Prepayments
You can use the Prepay facility in Sage 50 Accounts to set up details of invoices you pay
in advance, enabling you to post prepayment journals automatically when you run the
Month End process. For example, you probably pay your rent or insurance premiums in
advance.
Prepayments spread the expense, so that your Profit and Loss report shows the expense
shared over the number of months to which it relates, instead of one large payment in a
single month.
Note: You must post the payment or invoice for the expense in the normal way, using the
correct date.
To add a prepayment
2. Click Prepay.
The Prepayments window appears.
3. In the boxes provided, enter the following prepayment details. Alternatively, click
Wizard and follow the on-screen instructions.
Company Tasks
N/C Enter the relevant nominal code in this box. This will be the same
nominal code you will post the bank payment or purchase invoice to.
For example, if you are setting up a prepayment for rent, you would use
the nominal account for Rent, 7100.
Details Enter a description for the prepayment. This appears on the audit trail.
Dept If you want your prepayment to be assigned to a specific department,

for reporting purposes, enter or select the department you require.
Prepayment The Prepayment nominal code, as set up in the control accounts,

N/C appears for you automatically. You can change this if necessary.
Value Enter the total net value of the prepayment here.
Months Enter the number of months over which the prepayment is to be spread.
You can enter any number from 2 to 12.
Monthly This display-only box shows the monthly amount which is posted when
Amount you run the Month End and select the 'Post Prepayments' option. You
cannot change this.
Sage 50 Accounts calculates this value automatically by dividing the
value of the prepayment by the number of months over which the
prepayment is to be spread.
Post This box shows the number of payments which have already been
posted using the month end post prepayments option for this
prepayment.
You cannot change these details.
The following information appears at the top of the Prepayments window, but you cannot
edit it:
N/C This shows the name of the nominal account you have entered for this
prepayment.
PRP This shows the name of the Prepayment nominal account you have
entered for this prepayment.
Current Item This shows the number of the Prepayment entry in the list which is
being added or amended.
221
No Of Items As you make new entries, this box is automatically updated.
4. To save your prepayment details, click Save. To exit without saving, click Close.
Note: No accounting is done as a result of saving the prepayment details. Sage 50
Accounts only posts the prepayment journal entries when you run the Month End and
select the 'Post Prepayments' option.
Example of the postings made for a prepayment

A prepayment of 300 is made once every three months in advance for rent, and the cost is to
be accounted for over the three month period.
In Month 1, you manually post a bank payment to your Rent nominal code for 300.00. Your
Prepayment is set up to post 100 per month when you run the Month End and select the 'Post
Prepayment' option.
As part of the Month End routine for Month 1, Sage 50 Accounts automatically posts a reversal
to clear the balance of 300.00 on the Rent nominal code and transfer it to the Prepayments
account before posting the first prepayment journal entry.
Sage 50 Accounts makes the following postings over the three months:
.
Transaction Debit Credit
Month 1 Prepayment Reverse 300.00 300.00

1103 Prepayment A/C 7100 Rent Account
Month 1 Prepayment 1 100.00 100.00
7100 Rent Account 1103 Prepayment A/C


After the three months, your Rent nominal code shows the accumulated balance of 300.00 for
the quarter, and your Prepayment account shows a zero balance.
222
Company Tasks
Accruals
You can use the Accruals facility in Sage 50 Accounts to set up details of invoices you pay in
arrears, enabling you to post accrual journals automatically when you run the Month End
process.
For example, you probably pay your telephone, gas and electricity bills in arrears. Accruals
spread the expense, so that your Profit and Loss report shows the expense shared over the
number of months to which it relates instead of one large payment in a single month.
Note: You must post the payment or invoice for the expense in the normal way, using the
correct date.
To set up an accrual
2. Click Accrual.
The Accruals window appears.
3. In the boxes provided enter your accrual details. Alternatively, click Wizard and follow the
on-screen instructions.
223
N/C Enter the same nominal account code as the one which you will
post the bank payment or purchase invoice to when you receive it.
For example, if you are setting up an accrual for a telephone bill, and
will post your purchase invoices to the Telephone nominal account
7502, enter the nominal account code 7502 in this box.
Details Enter a description for the accrual. This appears on the audit trail.
Dept If you want to assign this transaction to a department for reporting

purposes, enter the department number here.
Accrual N/C The accrual nominal code, as set up in the Control Accounts,
appears automatically. You can change this if required.
Value Enter an estimate of the total net value of the accrual here.
Months Enter the number of months over which the accrual will be spread.
You can enter any number from 2 to 12.
Monthly Amount This box shows the monthly amount which is posted when you run
the Month End and select the Post Accruals option. You cannot
change these details.
Sage 50 Accounts calculates this value automatically by dividing the
value of the accrual by the number of months over which the accrual
is to be spread.
Post This box shows the number of accruals which have already been
posted using the Month End Posting Accruals option for this
accrual. You cannot change this.
The following information is shown at the top of the accruals window, but cannot be edited:
N/C This shows the name of the nominal account you have entered for
this accrual.
ACR This shows the name of the accrual nominal account you have
entered for this accrual.
Current Item This shows the number of the entry in the list which is being added
or amended.
No of Items As you make new entries, this box is automatically updated.
224
Company Tasks
4. To accept your accrual details, click Save. To exit without saving, click Close.
Note: No accounting is done as a result of saving the accrual details. Sage 50 Accounts
only posts journal entries when you run the Month End and select the Post Accruals option.
For more information see Carrying Out Your Month End on page 285.
Example of the postings made for an accrual

If you estimate that your quarterly telephone bill will be 300, you can set up an accrual to
spread the cost over the three months of the quarter.
Your Accrual is set up to post 100 per month when you run the Month End and select the Post
Accruals option. Sage 50 Accounts makes the following postings over the three months:
Transaction Debit Credit
Month 1 Accrual 1 100.00 100.00

7502 Telephone 2109 Accrual A/C
Month 2 Accrual 2 100.00 100.00

Month 3 Accrual 3 100.00 100.00

Month 3 Accrual Reversal 300.00 300.00
2109 Accrual A/C 7502 Telephone
As part of the Month End routine for Month 3, Sage 50 Accounts automatically posts a reversal
to clear the accumulated balance of 300.00 on the Telephone nominal code and the Accrual
account. You must now manually post a Bank Payment to your Telephone nominal code for the
actual value of the telephone bill.
225
Budgeting in Sage 50 Accounts

You can use the software to keep an eye on a range of business costs. Budgets can be set up
for:
Nominal codes
You can use the Standard budgeting, a basic budgeting feature you can use to view your
budget, actuals and previous years figures.
Alternatively, you can opt to use Advanced budgeting that includes up to five years historical
figures and is designed to improve budget set up.
Departments
This is part of the Advanced budgeting feature. You can choose to analyse the department
budget by nominal categories such as Sales, Purchases or Overheads. Alternatively, you can
analyse the budget against a nominal code.
Products (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
You can view your budget, actuals and previous year figures at the same time. The actuals are
automatically updated for you when invoices, sales orders or credit notes are generated.
Projects (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
A budget can be set up for a project on the project record. As costs are applied to the project
you can track project costs including spend against budget.
Nominal Account Budgets

This is the Standard budgeting method in Sage 50 Accounts. With this budgeting method you
can set budget values for each month of your financial year for each of your nominal accounts.
You can compare these figures against actual monthly figures for both this year and for the year
just ended.
This means that you can keep track of how close you are to meeting your budget targets, and
see whether your business is performing better or worse than at the corresponding time last
year.
You can amend your nominal account budget values at any time by using the Global Changes
feature from the Tools menu.
Note: When you run a year end you also have the option to move the actuals values for the
year just ended to the budgets for the coming year. This sets the budget values to be what really
happened in each month of the year just ended.
You can also add a percentage increase to your budget values, so that your budget values for
this year are greater than your actuals for last year.
You may prefer to take advantage of Advanced budgeting.
226
Company Tasks
To Set Up your Nominal Account Budgets

1. Select the nominal account or accounts you require, from the Nominal Ledger window.
2. From the Nominal Ledger toolbar, click Record.
3. The Nominal Record window appears showing details of the account you selected.
4. The analysis table contains three columns, which show for each month of your financial
year the following: Actuals, Budgets and Prior Year.
In the Budgets column, enter your budget values for each month, or you can enter the total
budget allocation for the year in the Totals box. If you enter the annual total, Sage 50
Accounts automatically divides this total equally between the twelve months.
You can amend your nominal account budget values by using the Global Changes feature
from the Tools menu.
B/F stands for Brought Forward items. These are transaction items that are dated in the
previous financial year.
The row labelled Future displays the totals of any transactions that have already been
entered for your next financial year.
5. To save your budget values click Save, or to clear the boxes and re-enter a new account
code, click Discard. To return to the main Nominal Ledger window, click Close.
Department Budgets
Department budgets are an excellent way to keep an eye on costs and income to assess the
profitability of departments in your business. You can check these figures on an annual basis as
well as a month by month basis.
Not just limited to departments, they can be used to track any area of your business such as:
Business locations such as Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester to track what is spent
against budget.
Regional sales or funds to track income against set targets.
All budgetary information is managed in your base currency.
What can I do with department budgets?

View the budget figures against your actual results.
Change a budget.
Enter a budget for the next year, referred to as the forecast year.
Copy current year budget values to the next year. At the same time increase or decrease
the copied values.
View previous budget results - for the past five years.
227
Add information to the department record, either as notes or attachments.

Generate various budget reports including a Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet report for
each department budget.
To Use Department Budgets

Consider a Chart of Accounts just for Budgeting
Do you only want to see the nominal accounts you are interested in when setting up budgets
and reporting on them? Then create a Chart of Accounts just for budgeting.
Decide how you want to track the budget
Standard
Budgeting by nominal account record only.
You can view your budget, actual and previous year figures. The information can also be viewed
in graphical format.
If you have used this method in a previous version of Sage 50 Accounts - v12 or earlier, and you
choose to use the Advanced nominal code budgeting, your current nominal budgets are
transferred for you. The earlier budgets are made read only on the nominal accounts.
Nominal Code - Advanced
Budgeting by nominal account record only. Very similar to the Standard method but presented
in a better way.
Extra benefits include:
View previous budget results for the past five years.
Enter a budget for the next year - referred to as a forecast year.
Copy the current year's values to create a budget for your forecast year. At the same time
increase or decrease those figures.
Department Overview - Advanced
With this method you can set up a budget for a department and analyse its costs or income by
nominal category.
Nominal categories are the accounting areas used to group your nominal accounts, such as
Sales, Purchases, or Overheads.
The value of all nominal accounts in a category are used to monitor what has actually happened
against what was planned. If you prefer a more detailed breakdown for your budgets, see
Department In-Depth - Advanced Budgeting in the main Help.
This method is part of the Advanced budgeting feature. Advanced budgeting provides many
benefits, such as being able to view previous budget results for the past five year, or enter a
budget for the next year - referred to a forecast year.
228
Company Tasks
Department In-Depth - Advanced

With this method you can set up a budget for a department and analyse the cost or income by
nominal account. This method gives you the most detailed analysis when it comes to budgeting.
This method is part of the Advanced budgeting feature. Advanced budgeting provides many
benefits, such as being able to view previous budget results for the past five years, or enter a
budget for the next year - referred to a forecast year.
Set the software to use your chosen budgetary method
1. From the Settings menu, choose Company Preferences, then click the Budgeting tab.
2. Select the budgeting method you want from the drop-down lists.
3. If you have created a Chart of Accounts just for budgeting, select it from the drop-down list.
4. Click OK.
Edit department records - not required when budgeting by nominal code only
1. Open the Company module, then from the Links pane, click Department.
The Department list appears.
2. Choose a Department from the 0 - 999 Department List, then click Edit.
The Department window appears.
The Department Reference is the numeric value allocated to that Department- that is,
Department 12 has a reference of 12. It cannot be edited.
Any user-defined reference defined in the v12 or v2008 versions of the software is added
to the end of the department name, in brackets. This information is added to any
conversion log.
3. While the Department and Reference cannot be deleted, you can enter a name, up to sixty
characters, for the department.
4. Enter a Notes narrative, up to one hundred characters - this is optional.
5. To save your edited Department, click Save.
Set up budget records

1. Open the Company module, then from the Links pane, click Budgets.
2. Select the accounting area you want to budget against.
Overview - select the department from the Reference drop-down list and the nominal
category from the Nominal Area.
In-Depth - select the department from the Reference drop-down list and the nominal
account from the Nominal Area. Click the Nominal Area to expand the nominal structure.
229
Nominal code - find and select the nominal account you want by clicking on the Nominal
Area to expand the nominal structure.
3. Using a Chart of Accounts just for budgeting? Select the layout from the Chart of Accounts
drop-down list.
4. Add information about the budget in Notes (optional).
5. Enter the budget in the Total Budget box. The software distributes the amount evenly
across the twelve months in the Monthly Breakdown table. Amend those individual
monthly values to suit.
Alternatively, enter a budget value for each month into the table.
6. Click Save.
Assign a department
Assign a department to transactions as they are recorded in Sage 50 Accounts, for example
when entering invoices and orders etc.
Care is needed at that point to assign the transaction to the correct department record. If you
do not assign a department the program uses Department 0.
Monitor the budget
Other than generating reports, you can also monitor budgets using the:
Budget record:
To view the actual values against the planned budget for the current year, open the budget
record and view the actuals against the budget.
To view historical budgets, use the Year drop-down.
Activity feature:
To view the transactions that make up the actuals for a department. You can choose the data
range you are interested and print the results.
If you are budgeting by department, select Company > Departments > Activity.
If you are budgeting only by nominal code, click Company > Nominal Ledger > Activity.
Departments window
To view the revenue and expenses to date for a department.
Generate budget reports
Important: If you deal with foreign currencies run the Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard before
you generate a report.
Department Reports
1. Click Company > Department.
2. Select the department from the list you want to report on. Click Reports.
230
Company Tasks
3. Select the report you want from the list then click New.
The Report Wizard appears. Follow the instructions provided, and the report will open in Report
Designer.
To see the difference between the budget and your actual figures, generate a variance report.
Click Company > Variance, and then follow the above instructions.
Department Profit and Loss
2. Select the department you want to report on from the list. Click P and L.
3. Choose where you want to send the report to, then click Run.
4. To limit the data range in the report, use the boxes in the Criteria Values window, then click
OK. The report opens in Report Designer.
Department Balance Sheet
2. Select the department you want to report on from the list. Click Balance.
3. Choose where you want to send the report to, then click Run.
4. To limit the data range in the report, use the boxes in the Criteria Values window, then click
OK. The report opens in Report Designer.
231
Keeping Department Budgets Up-To-Date

What happens if I change a department's name?
The department's name is updated. The change does not affect your budget values.
Can I Change the budget method?
It may be possible to change your budget method. If it is possible your current budgets are
transferred to the new method.
Use the table illustration below to check if you can.
Product Budgets
To view or edit a product budget:
1. Open the Products module, then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Products view.
2. Now select one or more of the product records displayed in the list box, then click Record.
The details of the first product you selected from the list box appear on the product record.
3. Click the Sales tab.
The Sales information appears showing two tables of sales figures, one showing the Sales
Value of the product, and the other showing the Qty Sold.
232
Company Tasks
The row labelled Late Adj shows any transactions from the previous Financial Year which
have not yet been cleared.
The row labelled Future displays the totals of any transactions that have been entered for
your next financial year.
The Date of Last Sale box shows the date of the last product invoice that was raised for
this product.
If you selected more than one product record, use the Next and Previous buttons to scroll
between product records.
4. To return to the Products window, click Close.
Sales Value Budget
You can enter your budget values directly into this table, or you can enter the total budget
allocation for the year in the Totals box.
If you enter a total, your software divides it by twelve and enters the resulting value in each
month's budget box.
If there is a remainder after dividing the total by twelve, your software enters it into the box for
month twelve.
Quantity Sold Budget
This column displays the budgeted sales that you had planned to sell in that month.
Project Budgets
A budget can be set up for a project on the project record. As costs are applied to the project
you can track project costs including spend against budget.
To Assign a Project Budget

1. From the Projects window, select the project(s) you require and click Record.
2. Click the Budgets tab.
The budget information displays all cost codes set up in Sage 50 Accounts.
3. Select the Budget column for each cost code and enter the budget value.
4. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data and start again click Discard.
233
To View Project Costs and Compare to Budget

1. From the Projects window click Enquiry.
2. Select the project record you want from the Project Reference drop-down list.
The projects cost and budgetary information appears.
Alternatively, from the Projects window select the project record, click the record's Analysis
tab and then click the arrow to the right of Actual cost.
3. To see a breakdown of the projects costs from cost types to cost codes, down to
transaction level, first double click the project name. The costs and budgets for the cost
types are displayed.
For a further breakdown, select a value and then double-click. The costs and budgets for
the cost codes associated with the cost type are displayed. Use the Cost Type drop-down
list to view costs and budgets at cost code level for another cost type.
To enquire down to transaction level, select the cost code and then double-click. Use the
Cost Code drop-down list to view transactions for other cost codes.
To include committed costs in various calculations, select the Include committed costs in
variances option.
Note: Selecting information from a drop-down list always displays rolled up figures for the
project.
4. To generate a copy of the displayed information, click Print List.
5. Click Close to exit.
For further information refer to the Budgeting - Projects topics in the main program help.
234
Company Tasks
Working With Fixed Assets

Fixed assets are those assets which your business intends to keep for longer than a year.
Examples of fixed assets include property, office equipment and motor vehicles.
To work with fixed assets in Sage 50 Accounts open the Company module, then from the Task
pane, click Manage Fixed Assets.
In the Fixed Assets window, you can enter the details of your fixed assets, put in details about
their depreciation and also dispose of them.
Entering your fixed asset records, which includes entering how you want them to be
depreciated, is explained in Setting Up Your Fixed Asset Records (Accounts Plus and Accounts
Professional Only) on page 213.
The next section outlines the depreciation methods that Sage 50 Accounts uses.
Type 'Fixed Assets' in the Help index to find out more.

Help
235
Depreciation
Depreciation is the reduction of the Book value due to wear and tear, or because of a reduction
in the resale value. For example, if the asset is new, the book value is the same as the cost price.
If the asset is not new, the book value is the cost price, minus the depreciation. Depreciation of
your fixed assets, over time, reduces their book value, reduces the profit to your company and
increases the loss.
The Fixed Assets facility allows you to keep a record of this depreciation and make sure that
your company's Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet accounts are updated with accurate
monthly depreciation values.
Sage 50 Accounts offers two accepted methods of depreciating assets and also gives you the
ability to write-off the asset at any time - that is, to depreciate the asset to zero.
Note: Sage 50 Accounts only makes automatic depreciation postings as part of the Month End
routine. In order to post automatic depreciation journals, you must run this routine at the end of
each month and select the 'Post Depreciation' check box. For more information, see Carrying
Out Your Month End on page 285.
Type 'Depreciation' in the Help system index to find out more.
Help
Depreciation methods in Sage 50 Accounts

You can depreciate your fixed assets using one of two methods in Sage 50 Accounts:
The Straight-Line method
The Reducing Balance method
Read the following sections for more information about each depreciation method.
The Straight-Line method

This method depreciates an asset by a fixed percentage every month until the asset value is
reduced to zero. The fixed percentage is calculated from the original cost price of the asset.
For example, if you enter an asset with a cost price of 10,000 and you want this to be
depreciated over a four year period then you would enter 25 percent as the annual depreciation
rate. Every month, the same amount will be depreciated from the asset's value until it is reduced
to zero. This is shown in the following table:
Cost Price Dep. Rate Dep. Amount New Book Value
Year 1 10,000 25% 2,500 7,500
Year 2 10,000 25% 2,500 5,000
Year 3 10,000 25% 2,500 2,500
236
Company Tasks
Cost Price Dep. Rate Dep. Amount New Book Value
Year 4 10,000 25% 2,500 0
Note: Sage 50 Accounts is designed to depreciate your assets every month, so in the case
shown previously, the annual depreciation rate of 25 percent is divided by twelve to give a
monthly depreciation rate of 2.0833 percent. At the end of each year this monthly rate amounts
to 25 percent of depreciation.
The Reducing Balance method

This method depreciates the value of an asset by a fixed percentage each year just like the
straight-line method but this fixed percentage is applied each time to the new reduced book
value of the asset. Theoretically, the book value will never reach zero, but for all practical
purposes, the write off value of an asset is reached by using a realistic percentage.
For example, if you have an asset worth 10,000 which is to be depreciated at the rate of 25
percent a year, the annual depreciation calculation using the reduced balance method is as
follows:
Book Value Dep. Rate Dep. Amount New Book Value
Year 1 10,000 25% 2,500 7,500
Year 2 7,500 25% 1,875 5,625
Year 3 5,625 25% 1,406 4,219
Year 4 4,219 25% 1,054 3,165
You can see from this example that, in comparison to the straight line method, the reducing
balance method takes longer to depreciate an asset using the same annual depreciation rate.
For example, after four years at 25% the asset has been written off by the straight-line method
but has a remaining book value of 3,165 in the example above.
Note: Because Sage 50 Accounts calculates the depreciation every month the annual rate of
depreciation is calculated as a reducing balance monthly. In the example above, the first annual
depreciation amount of 2,500 will occur, but the first month will show a greater value of
depreciation than the next and so on.
Writing off fixed assets

You can write off your assets when they no longer have any value. When you write off your
assets, the book value is reduced to zero and it is written off in your accounts. You can find the
237
write off option from within the Fixed Asset Record, on the Posting tab in the Depreciation
Method box - see To enter a fixed asset on page 213.
Selling fixed assets

If you have sold your fixed asset, you can use the Fixed Asset Disposal Wizard to make all the
necessary postings to record the sale of the asset.
To run the Fixed Asset Disposal Wizard, open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane,
click Manage Fixed Assets. From the Fixed Assets toolbar, click Disposal.
Creating fixed asset categories

Sage 50 Accounts lets you divide your fixed assets into ninety nine different categories for
analysis and reporting purposes. For example, you may want to set up separate categories for
equipment, furniture and vehicles, which you can use on each fixed asset record you create.
You can set up your fixed assets categories from the Fixed Assets tab on the Configuration
Editor.
For more information, see The Fixed Assets Tab (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional
only) on page 100.
238
Company Tasks
Preparing Intrastat Declarations

Intrastat is the system for collecting statistics on the physical trade in goods - that is, the actual
movement of goods, between the Member States of the European Union (EU). It has been in
operation since the beginning of the Single Market on 1st January 1993, and replaced customs
declarations as the source of trade statistics within the EU. The requirements of Intrastat are
similar in all Member States of the EU.
Note: The supply of services is excluded from Intrastat. Only movements which represent
physical trade in goods are covered by Intrastat.
Intrastat is closely linked with the VAT system. Businesses who are not registered for VAT and
private individuals who move goods within the EU have no obligations under the Intrastat
system.
When your import and/or export trade to the EU exceeds a certain level, known as the
assimilation threshold, you are required by law to submit certain details of your trade to HM
Revenue & Customs. The forms used to submit this information are called Supplementary
Declarations, or SDs.
Sage 50 Accounts helps you to complete your SDs by identifying EU transactions and using
them to generate the information you need to submit. You can then transfer the figures that
Sage 50 Accounts produces onto the official Supplementary Declarations forms.
For further information about all aspects of Intrastat, please refer to HM Revenue & Customs
Notice 60, The Intrastat General Guide.
Before you start using Sage 50 Accounts to confirm your Intrastat dispatches and arrivals, you
need to set up your Instrastat defaults. For information on how to do this, see To set up your
Intrastat defaults on page 158.
Confirming your Intrastat dispatches

When you deliver a sales order to your customer, Sage 50 Accounts shows a status of Part or
Complete in the Despatched column on the Sales Order Processing window. You can now
include these items on your Intrastat Dispatches declaration. Using the Intrastat facilities, Sage
50 Accounts searches your sales orders for qualifying items and displays them in a list, ready
for you to confirm the entries for your declaration.
Note: For products to appear on the Intrastat Dispatches Confirmation (SOP) window, the
following criteria must be met:
You must have enabled Intrastat Declarations. For more information, see To set up your
The Country Code that appears on your company Delivery Address must be GB, or IE for
users in the Republic of Ireland. If you do not have a company Delivery Address set up,
then the Country Code on your default company address details must be GB, or IE for
users in the Republic of Ireland. You can set up your company Delivery Address and default
company address details in Company Preferences (Company > Settings).
239
The Product Tax Code on the sales order must be T4m or your designated EC Sales tax
code, if different.
The Country Code of the delivery address on the sales order must be that of an EU
member. For a full list of EU member countries and their corresponding Country Codes,
please refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
The product must have a valid Intrastat Commodity Code present on the product record.
For more details about the commodity code, see Creating a Product Record on page 201.
To confirm your Intrastat dispatches

1. Open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane, click Prepare Intrastat Return.
A Confirm box appears.

2. Select Sales Orders and then click OK.
Note: The Intrastat facility is only available if the Generate Intrastat Entries for Sales Orders
check box is selected in the Intrastat tab of Invoice and Order Defaults. For more
information, see To set up your Intrastat defaults on page 158.
The Intrastat Dispatches Confirmation (SOP) window appears.
240
Company Tasks
The Intrastat Dispatches Confirmation (SOP) window displays the following information:
For the period This is the date that will appear on your Summary
Declarations report. The current program date appears here
automatically, but you can change this if you require.
Order No Displays the number of the sales order to which the item
belongs.
Product Code Shows the product code of the item, as it appears on the
sales order.
Description The product's description appears here.
Quantity Delivered Shows the quantity of this item that have been dispatched for
the order. You can amend this if you require.
NOTC The Nature of Transaction Code (NOTC) indicates the type of

transaction made. For example, a sale resulting in a change in
the legal ownership of goods uses NOTC 10. For a list of
commonly-used NOTCs, please refer to the Sage 50
You can amend the NOTC here if you require.
Delivery Terms Shows the three-character delivery terms code. Refer to the
Sage 50 Accounts Help system for details of the available
codes. You can amend the code if you require.
Note: If the value of your dispatches or arrivals exceeds 14
million, you must also specify the contract delivery terms on
your SD. Like the Intrastat assimilation threshold, the delivery
terms threshold may change annually. However, unlike the
assimilation threshold, you will only be required to begin
declaring delivery terms at the start of the next calendar year,
not during the month in which the threshold was exceeded.
Net Mass kg A requirement depending on the Commodity Code used

(every commodity code requires either net mass or
supplementary units, or in some cases both).
Displays the net weight of the item, rounded up to the nearest
kilogram. You can amend this if you require.
241
Goods Value Shows the value of the item rounded up to the nearest pound
(or euro). Sage 50 Accounts displays this in your company's
base currency - for UK users or for users in the Republic
of Ireland.
The value includes any related freight or insurance charges
where they form part of the invoice for the goods. You can
amend the value if you require.
Country To Displays the two-letter country code of the country to which

you are dispatching the item. You can view a full list of EU
country codes in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
Supp Units Displays the Supplementary Units for the item. This is a
requirement depending on the commodity code used. Every
commodity code requires either net mass or supplementary
units, or both.
If the item requires Supplementary Units, you must enter this
information here manually.
Item Delivery Status Displays whether the item has a dispatched status of
Complete or Part. Only items that have been delivered appear
in this list.
3. Check the details of each item to make sure that you want to include it in the Intrastat
return. If items appear that you do not want to include, select the item and press the F8
function key on your keyboard to delete it.
Note: HM Revenue & Customs require that your Supplementary Declarations for
Dispatches should also include returns from Purchase Order Processing. As Sage 50
Accounts does not include these automatically in Sales Order Processing, you need to add
Purchase Order Processing returns manually if you want to include them in your
declaration. For further information, refer to HM Revenue & Customs Notice 60, section
7.2.
4. When you are happy that the items in the list are correct and should appear on the Intrastat
Dispatches return, click Generate.
A confirmation message appears:
The items on this Intrastat Confirmation window will now appear on the Supplementary
Declarations reports. Which type of report would you like to produce?
242
Company Tasks
5. Choose which type of Supplementary Declarations report you want to produce from the
following:
CSV If you choose CSV, Sage 50 Accounts produces your

Supplementary Declarations information in the form of a
comma-separated value (CSV) file. For more information
about the structure of the CSV file, please refer to the Sage 50
You can submit the CSV file electronically or via the Internet to
HM Revenue & Customs. Further details about electronic
submission of your Intrastat data are available from the HM
Revenue & Customs website.
When you click the CSV button, the report appears. Select
Save As to save the report, and specify where you want to
save the CSV file.
Paper-based If you do not want to submit your Supplementary Declarations

report electronically to HM Revenue & Customs, you can
produce a paper-based report. You can use this report to help
you to complete the official Supplementary Declarations form.
Note: You cannot submit the report Sage 50 Accounts
produces to HM Revenue & Customs - you must transfer the
information onto the official form (C1501). You can request
copies of the form you need from HM Revenue & Customs, or
you can download it from their website.
Note: When you produce the Supplementary Declarations report, Sage 50 Accounts
stores a copy of it in your data in a folder named Intrastat Archive. You can view this at any
time, for example if your original report is lost, damaged or queries by HM Revenue &
Customs. For details about how to view archived declarations, see To view an archived
Intrastat declaration report on page 244.
6. To close the Supplementary Declarations report window and return to the previous
The sales orders that contain items included in the Supplementary Declarations report
display Part or Complete in the Intrastat column.
You have now produced your Supplementary Declarations for Intrastat Dispatches.
243
To view an archived Intrastat declaration report

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Open > Report.
The Open window appears.
2. Locate the Intrastat Archive folder. This is stored within your Sage 50 Accounts data
directory.
For example, if your Sage 50 Accounts software is installed into the default directory, the
path to the archive folder is C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\ACCDATA\Intrastat Archive.
3. Select the Intrastat Archive folder and click Open.
4. Locate the archive file you want to display. Sage 50 Accounts names the archived report
files using the type of report (dispatches or arrivals), the date and time you produced the
report, and the file type of the report you originally produced - CSV, or .datareport for the
paper-based report. For example, if you produce a paper-based report for Intrastat
Dispatches on 22 March 2005 at 15.39, Sage 50 Accounts saves the report using the file
name Dispatches SD 22032005 1539.datareport.
Note: You can only view .datareport reports - that is, the paper-based report, in this way.
To view an archived CSV report, you must open the file from the Intrastat Archive folder in
a program such as Microsoft Excel.
5. Select the file and click Open.
Sage 50 Accounts displays the archived report, ready for you to print or check as you
require.
6. To close the archived report and return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click Close.
Confirming your Intrastat arrivals

When you record full or part delivery of a purchase order, Sage 50 Accounts shows a status of
Part or Complete in the Delivered column on the Purchase Order Processing window. You can
now include these items on your Intrastat Arrivals declaration. Using the Intrastat option, Sage
50 Accounts searches your purchase orders for qualifying products and displays them in a list,
ready for you to confirm the entries for your declaration.
Note: For products to appear on the Intrastat Arrivals Confirmation (POP) window, the following
criteria must be met:
You must have enabled Intrastat Declarations. For more information, see To set up your
The Country Code that appears on your company Delivery Address must be GB, or IE for
users in the Republic of Ireland. If you do not have a company Delivery Address set up,
then the Country Code on your default company address details must be GB, or IE for
users in the Republic of Ireland. You can set up your company Delivery Address and default
company address details in Company Preferences (Company > Settings).
244
Company Tasks
The Product Tax Code on the purchase order must be an EC Purchase Tax Code.
The Country Code of the supplier on the purchase order must be that of an EU member.
For a full list of EU member countries and their corresponding Country Codes, please refer
to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
The product must have a valid Intrastat Commodity Code present on the product record.
For more details, please see Creating a Product Record on page 201.
To confirm your Intrastat arrivals

1. Open the Company module, then the Tasks pane, click Prepare Intrastat Return.
A Confirm box appears.
2. Select Purchase Orders and then click OK.
Note: The Intrastat facility is only available if the Generate Intrastat entries for Purchase
Orders check box is selected in the Intrastat tab of Invoice and Order Defaults. For more
information, see To set up your Intrastat defaults on page 158.
The Intrastat Arrivals Confirmation (POP) window appears.
The Intrastat Arrivals Confirmation (POP) window displays the following information:
For the period This is the date that will appear on your Supplementary
Declarations report.
The current program date appears here automatically, but you
can change this if you require.
245
Order No Displays the number of the purchase order to which the item
belongs.
Product Code Shows the product code of the item, as it appears on the
purchase order.
Description The product's description appears here.
Quantity Received Shows the quantity of this item that have been received for
the order. You can amend this if you require.
NOTC The Nature of Transaction Code (NOTC) indicates the type of

transaction. For example, a purchase resulting in a change in
the legal ownership of goods uses NOTC 10. For a list of
commonly-used NOTCs, please refer to the Sage 50
You can amend the NOTC here if you require.
Delivery Terms Shows the three-character delivery terms code. Refer to the
Sage 50 Accounts Help system for details of the available
codes. You can amend the code if you require.
Note: If the value of your dispatches or arrivals exceeds 14
million, you must also specify the contract delivery terms on
your SD. Like the Intrastat assimilation threshold, the delivery
terms threshold may be changed annually. However, unlike
the assimilation threshold, you will only be required to begin
declaring delivery terms at the start of the next calendar year,
not during the month in which the threshold was exceeded.
Net Mass kg A requirement depending on the Commodity Code used

(every commodity code requires either net mass or
supplementary units, or in some cases both).
Displays the net weight of the item, rounded up to the nearest
kilogram. You can amend this if you require.
Goods Value Shows the value of the item rounded up to the nearest pound
(or euro). Sage 50 Accounts displays this in your company's
base currency - for UK users or for users in the Republic
of Ireland.
The value includes any related freight or insurance charges
where they form part of the invoice for the goods. You can
amend the value here if you require.
246
Company Tasks
Country From Displays the two-letter country code of the country from
which you receive the item. You can view a full list of EU
country codes in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
Supp Units Displays the Supplementary Units for the item. This is a
requirement depending on the commodity code used (every
commodity code requires either net mass or supplementary
units, or in some cases both).
If the item requires supplementary units, you must enter this
information here manually.
Item Delivery Status Displays whether the item has a delivered status of Complete
or Part. Only items that have been delivered appear in the list.
3. Check the details of each item to make sure that you want to include it in the Intrastat
return. If items appear that you do not want to include, select the item and press the F8
function key on your keyboard to delete it.
Note: HM Revenue & Customs require that your Supplementary Declarations for Arrivals
should also include returns from Sales Order Processing. As Sage 50 Accounts does not
include these automatically in Purchase Order Processing, you need to add Sales Order
Processing returns manually if you want to include them in your declaration. For further
information, refer to HM Revenue & Customs Notice 60, section 7.2.
4. When you are happy that the items in the list are correct and should appear on the Intrastat
Arrivals return, click Generate.
A confirmation message appears:
The items on this Intrastat Confirmation window will now appear on the Supplementary
Declarations reports. Which type of report would you like to produce?
5. Choose which type of Supplementary Declarations report you want to produce from the
following:
247
CSV If you choose CSV, Sage 50 Accounts produces your

Supplementary Declarations information in the form of a
comma-separated value (CSV) file. For more information about the
structure of the CSV file, please refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help
system.
You can submit the CSV file electronically or via the Internet to HM
Revenue & Customs. Further details about electronic submission of
your Intrastat data are available from the HM Revenue & Customs
website.
When you click the CSV button, the report appears. Select Save As
to save the report, and specify where you want to save the CSV file.
Paper-based If you do not want to submit your Supplementary Declarations report

electronically to HM Revenue & Customs, you can produce a
paper-based report. You can use this report to help you to complete
the official Supplementary Declarations form.
Note: You cannot submit the report Sage 50 Accounts produces to
HM Revenue & Customs - you must transfer the information onto
the official form (C1500). You can request copies of the form you
need from HM Revenue & Customs, or download it from their
website (www.hmrc.gov.uk).
Note: When you produce the Supplementary Declarations report, Sage 50 Accounts
stores a copy of it in your data in a folder named Intrastat Archive. You can view this at any
time, for example if your original report is lost, damaged or queried by HM Revenue &
Customs. For details about how to view archived declarations, see To view an archived
Intrastat declaration report on page 244.
6. To close the Supplementary Declarations report window and return to the main Purchase
Order Processing window, click Close.
You have now produced your Supplementary Declarations for Intrastat Arrivals.
248
Company Tasks
Managing your VAT

With the implementation of e-VAT submissions to HMRC, all VAT functionality in Sage 50
Accounts has been brought together into the new design VAT Ledger. From the new VAT
Ledger you can generate your VAT Returns, EC Sales List and Reverse Charge Sales List and
make associated submissions and payments to HMRC.
The VAT Ledger

1. Open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage VAT.
The VAT Ledger appears.
From the VAT Ledger you can create and review all VAT elements related to your business.
All VAT-related tasks can be undertaken using the VAT Ledger toolbar.
Note: The Submit Return and HMRC Receipts buttons are only visible if you have Enabled
e-Submissions in your Company Preferences VAT tab.
For users in the Republic of Ireland, the VAT Ledger toolbar is different from the above:
If you are a user in the ROI, please refer to the specific VAT return help topic (F1) topic for
standard VAT or VAT Cash Accounting schemes.
The VAT Ledger work area lists all previously created VAT Returns, EC Sales and Reverse
Charge Sales Lists.
Note: If you have upgraded from a previous version, then those VAT Returns that you have
saved in that version will not be visible in the VAT Ledger. To view these, select File > Open
> VAT Archive.
Each Return listed is shown with the Period to which it applies, the Amount, a Status flag
of Submitted, Pending or N/A, as appropriate, and a Y/N Paid indicator.
Note: The Status column will only be displayed if you have previously selected the Enable
e-VAT Submissions check box in the Company Preferences VAT tab.
2. To view any previously completed Return, highlight it in the list and click View.
The Return is displayed as Read Only, and can be printed, drilled-down into and closed.
All other options are unavailable.
249
3. To print out the VAT Ledger listing, click Print List.

4. To delete a highlighted VAT Return, EC Sales List or RC Sales List in the list, Click Delete.
Note: A warning message will prompt you to check your current backup status.
Remember that your VAT records, like all your business records, must be kept for at least
six years to comply with both company and tax legislation.
The VAT Return checklist

To help you run through your VAT Return successfully, you should follow these steps:
Ensure that your VAT Settings and Preferences have been set up.
Calculate your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return.
If required: Calculate your Sage 50 Accounts EC Sales List.
If required: Calculate your Sage 50 Accounts Reverse Charge Sales List.
Check your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return.
Analyse your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return.
If required: make Manual Adjustments to your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return.
Print your VAT Return reports.
Back up your data.
Reconcile and Archive your VAT transactions.
Clear your VAT Control Accounts.
Submit your VAT Return to the relevant tax authority.
Optional: View your HMRC Receipts.
If required: Make a Payment to HMRC.
250
Company Tasks
VAT Preferences
VAT preferences are a range of settings that control how Sage 50 Accounts deals with all your
VAT calculations, submissions and payments.
Your selections are used to configure Sage 50 Accounts, so that the software can handle all
your VAT reporting requirements, in accordance with current legislation.
To Configure your VAT Preferences

1. Click Company > Company Preferences > VAT tab. Alternatively, click Settings Menu >
Company Preferences > VAT tab.
Note: Password entry is required to display the Company Preferences window.
251
2. In the VAT Preferences tab that appears, set your VAT Details, EC Sales List preferences,
e-Submission Credentials and Contact Details. For detailed information on the various
entry box categories on this tab, please refer to the Manage your VAT > VAT Preferences
> To Configure your VAT Preferences topic in the main software help file (F1).
Configure your VAT Details Preferences

At the top of the VAT Details window, enter your VAT registration number. For further information
about this, please refer to the Manage your VAT > VAT Basics > VAT Registration Validation topic
in the main program help file (F1).
Set your other VAT details as follows:
Non-Vatable Tax Code
On installation, your software automatically sets T9 as the tax code for transactions, which do
not involve VAT and are not included on the VAT Return, and also for all those routines within
your software that are non-vatable, for example journal entries and error corrections.
If you want to change this default tax code, from the drop-down list, select the tax code you
require.
Item VAT Amendable
If you want to be able to change the VAT amount which is automatically calculated by your
software, when you create invoices or credit notes, select this check box.
Accounts Professional users can also amend VAT amounts when creating sales and purchase
orders.
VAT Cash Accounting
The default VAT accounting scheme is set at Standard Scheme only. Sage 50 Accounts
supports the following VAT schemes:
VAT Cash Accounting
VAT Standard Accounting
To find out more about the scheme that is right for your company, check the Manage your VAT
> VAT Schemes topics in your main program help file (F1).
If you decide to use VAT Cash Accounting, click the check box.
Validate VAT Numbers
Your EC Sales List submission (ECSL) requires the inclusion of your customer's country code
and VAT registration number.
Leave this check box selected if you want Sage 50 Accounts to validate EU VAT numbers for
all EU member countries.
Enable e-VAT Submission
If you wish to submit your VAT return and EC Sales List to HMRC over the Internet, select this
check box. In order to make e-VAT submissions you must obtain a Government Gateway
Account.
252
Company Tasks
If you do not wish to submit your VAT returns online, do not select the Enable e-VAT
Submissions check box. You can still make your VAT payments using the Payment button on
the VAT Ledger toolbar. This will open the Bank Payment window.
Configure your EC Sales List Preferences

If you are registered for VAT and supply goods to customers in the EC, you need to submit an
EC Sales List. The information provided on the EC Sales List is used in the UK and by other
Member States to ensure that VAT has been correctly accounted for, on the sale of goods within
the EC.
In the case of a multi-company environment, an EC Sales List (ECSL) must be submitted for
each company within the group.
If you intend to submit your EC Sales List to HMRC online, then configure your VAT Internet
Submissions in each of the following categories:
Error Threshold
Select either 30% or 0% Error Threshold from the drop-down list provided.
Your selection is required to determine whether the error tolerance setting for an ECSL
submission is set to 30% or 0%.
A 0% selection signifies that the User is willing to accept zero tolerance for submissions, in
which case the submission will be rejected wholesale, when the first error is encountered in a
submission line.
Selecting 30% signifies that the User is prepared for a 30% tolerance range, where more than
30% of the lines will need to be deemed as having errors, for the submission to be rejected by
HMRC.
The default setting, as per HMRC recommendation, is 30%.
Branch Identifier
Type the three-digit number, representing the EC Sales List Branch Identifier.
The default number is 000.
This number is allocated by the HMRC National Advice Service.
Branch Post Code
Type the EC Sales List Branch Postcode. This is an alphanumeric entry of up to eight
characters. This is blank by default.
Configure your e-Submissions Credentials Preferences

Configure your e-Submissions credentials in each of the following categories, using the same
details as you used, when setting up your Government Gateway account:
User ID
Type your User ID in this entry box, defined as your Government Gateway Account Username,
when you set up your account.
253
Password / Confirm Password

Type your Password in these entry boxes, defined as your Government Gateway Account
password, when you set up your account.
Submit as an Agent (Client Manager only)
Click the Submit as an agent check box to enable the Agent Ref: field. Enter your Agent
Reference details in this field.
Configure your e-Submissions Contact Details

Configure your e-Submissions contact details in each of the following categories, using the
same details as you used, when you set up your Government Gateway account:
Forenames
Enter your first or given names in this entry box, as defined when you set up your Government
Gateway account.
Surnames
Enter your last or family name in this entry box, as defined when you set up your Government
Gateway account.
Telephone
Enter your contact telephone number in this entry box, as defined when you set up your
Email
Enter your contact email address in this entry box, as defined when you set up your Government
Gateway account.
Configure your HMRC Bank Account Details

HMRC have advised that at some point after October 2008, it is their intention to change their
bank account details. These bank details are only used, when VAT liability is paid to HMRC,
using the Sage e-banking feature.
At present, these details are hard-coded into the software - see HMRC Bank Accounts on page
283.
Bank Details section of this tab.
254
Company Tasks
Configure your EC Sales VAT Descriptions

From the 01 October 2007, HMRC introduced additional legislation relating to the information
contained on an EC Sales invoice.
At present, when goods are sold to a EC member state, if the EC customers VAT registration
number is obtained, then the invoice can be zero-rated for VAT purposes - that is, no VAT is
charged and it is up to the EC customer to account for the VAT on their tax return. The new
legislation requires descriptions to be included on the invoice, to enable the EC customer to
account correctly for the notional VAT on their VAT Return.
To set your default message text that will appear on your invoices, when an EC sales tax code
is used, click EC VAT Description.
The EC VAT Descriptions window appears.
Four default descriptions are provided, and a further four additional messages can be created.
With the exception of No description, which is read only, all default messages can be amended.
Choose from one of the four available options that are listed.
Your selected description will be included on the EC Sales invoice.
255
The VAT Return Process

Producing your VAT Return in Sage 50 Accounts consists of:
1. Calculating your VAT Return.
2. Checking your VAT Return.
3. Analysing your VAT Return.
4. Making any required Manual Adjustments to your VAT Return.
5. Reconciling and Archiving your VAT Return, after first taking a backup.
6. Printing your VAT Return reports.
7. Clearing your VAT Control Accounts.
8. Submitting your VAT Return to the tax authorities.
9. Making a VAT Payment online or offline to the tax authorities.
To Calculate your VAT Return

1. Open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage VAT. From the Value
Added Tax Return window, click VAT Return.
Note: The alternative navigation route of Company > Financials > VAT is also available.
2. Enter the VAT Period dates For the period and To. These dates are inclusive, for example,
any transactions logged on these dates are included in the VAT Return.
You can include previously reconciled VAT transactions. To include these transactions,
select the Include Reconciled Transaction check box.
3. To calculate the totals for your VAT Return, click Calculate.
Sage 50 Accounts searches through the audit trail and totals all the VAT transactions,
within the period you specified.
It also searches for any transactions that are dated before the period specified but have
not previously been reconciled. If any unreconciled transactions are found, you are told
how many and asked if you want to include them or not.
If you wish to include these transactions in your VAT Return, click Yes, if you do not, click
No. If you choose not to include them, they remain as unreconciled transactions and the
message will appear again when you next run your VAT Return.
Your VAT totals are automatically entered for you into the appropriate VAT Return total
boxes, in the Value Added Tax Return window.
256
Company Tasks
How your VAT Return is Calculated

As soon as you click Calculate, Sage 50 Accounts searches through the audit trail for VAT
transactions. The boxes on the Value Added Tax Return window are then automatically updated
with the appropriate values. These values are calculated on the basis of the tax codes you
assigned for each transaction.
These tax codes are set up in the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration).
Your software includes in the VAT Return only those transactions that have not yet been
reconciled and fall within the period you specify. However, if necessary, you can include
reconciled transactions, and/or unreconciled transactions that are dated before the specified
period.
For full details on how Sage 50 Accounts calculates your UK or Republic of Ireland VAT Return
using the Standard VAT or VAT Cash Accounting scheme, please refer to the various VAT topics,
located in the Manage your VAT > VAT Return Generation folder in the main software help file
(F1).
257
The UK VAT Return (Standard VAT Accounting Scheme)

The VAT Return is made up of nine boxes which represent the various VAT charges from all of
the transactions that you have entered into Sage 50 Accounts.
Box 1 - VAT due in this period on sales

This box contains the VAT charged on all your sales transactions. Credit notes are deducted.
This represents the total VAT due in this period on Sales.
Click the figure in Box 1 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your software
uses to calculate this value.
Box 2 - VAT due in this period on EC acquisitions
This represents the VAT due this period on acquisitions from EC member states. It is calculated
applying the UK standard rate of 17.5% on T8 transactions.
Box 3 - Total VAT due (sum of boxes 1 and 2)
This box displays the sum of the values calculated in Boxes 1 and 2. It represents the total VAT
that you owe for this period before the deduction of VAT on purchases.
Box 4 - VAT reclaimed in this period on purchases
This represents the amount of VAT that you can reclaim for purchases and other inputs. This
includes the value calculated for EC acquisitions in Box 2.
Box 5 - Net VAT to be paid to the tax authorities, or reclaimed by you
This is the difference between Box 3 and Box 4.
If the value in Box 3 (Total VAT due) is greater than the value in Box 4 (VAT reclaimed in this period
on purchases), the difference appears as a positive figure in Box 5. This represents the total
amount of VAT that you must pay to HMRC for this period.
258
Company Tasks
If the value in Box 3 (Total VAT due) is less than the value in Box 4 (VAT reclaimed in this period
on purchases), the difference appears as a negative figure in Box 5. This represents the total
amount of VAT that you can claim back from HMRC as a rebate for this period.
Box 6 - Total value of sales, excluding VAT
This is the total value of sales, excluding VAT. This includes all exports to other countries, both
EC and non-EC members. It also includes the value in Box 8.
Box 7 - Total value of purchases, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all purchases excluding VAT. This includes all imports from both
EC and non-EC countries. It also includes the value in Box 9.
Box 8 - Total value of EC sales, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all sales to EC member states, excluding VAT.
Box 9 - Total value of EC purchases, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all purchases from EC member states, excluding VAT.
The UK VAT Return (VAT Cash Accounting Scheme)

The VAT Return is made up of nine boxes which represent the various VAT charges from all of
the transactions that you have entered into Sage 50 Accounts.
Box 1 - VAT due in this period on sales
259
This contains the VAT charged on all your receipts. This represents the total VAT due in this
period on your sales.
Box 2 - VAT due in this period on EC acquisitions
This represents the VAT due in this period on acquisitions from EC member states. It is
calculated applying the UK standard rate of 17.5% on T8 transactions.
Box 3 - Total VAT due (sum of boxes 1 & 2)
This box displays the sum of the values calculated in Boxes 1 and 2. It represents the total VAT
that you owe for this period.
Box 4 - VAT reclaimed in this period on purchases
This represents the amount of VAT that you can reclaim for payments and other inputs. This
includes the value calculated for EC acquisitions in Box 2.
Box 5 - Net VAT to be paid to the tax authorities, or reclaimed by you
This is the difference between Box 3 and Box 4.
If the value in Box 3 (Total VAT due) is greater than the value in Box 4 (VAT reclaimed in this period
on purchases), the difference appears as a positive figure in Box 5.
This represents the total amount of VAT that you must pay to HMRC for this period.
If the value in Box 3 (Total VAT due) is less than the value in Box 4 (VAT reclaimed in this period
on purchases), the difference appears as a negative figure in Box 5.
This represents the total amount of VAT that you can reclaim from HMRC as a rebate for this
period.
Box 6 - Total value of sales, excluding VAT
This is the total value of receipts, excluding VAT. This includes all exports to other countries, both
EC and non-EC members. Box 6 also includes the value of T4 EC invoices and credit notes. It
also includes the value in Box 8.
Box 7 - Total value of purchases, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all payments, excluding VAT. This includes all imports from both
EC and non-EC countries. It also includes the value in Box 9.
260
Company Tasks
Box 8 - Total value of EC sales, excluding VAT

This represents the total value of all invoices to EC member states, excluding VAT.
Box 9 - Total value of EC purchases excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all invoices from EC member states, excluding VAT.
The Republic of Ireland VAT Return (Standard VAT Accounting Scheme)

The Republic of Ireland VAT Return is made up of ten boxes, which represent the various VAT
charges from all of the transactions that you have entered into Sage 50 Accounts.
T1 - VAT due in this period on sales

T1 is split into three sections:
Box 1:
VAT charged on supplies of goods and services within the ROI.
Box 2:
VAT due on purchases made within the EU (credits are deducted).
261
Box 3:
Total VAT on sales. This is the sum of Boxes 1 and 2.
T2 VAT reclaimed in this period on purchases
Box 4:
This represents the tax reclaimable on purchases and other inputs including acquisitions from
the EU.
T3 Net Payable (Excess of T1 over T2)
Box 5:
This is calculated as the difference between Boxes 3 and 4. If the value in Box3 (T1) exceeds
the amount in Box 4 (T2), the difference appears in Box 5. This value represents the total amount
of VAT you owe to the tax authorities for this period.
Note: If the value in Box 4 (T2) exceeds the amount in Box 3 (T1), the value shown in Box 5 is
zero and the difference appears in Box 6 to show the amount of VAT you can reclaim from the
tax authorities for this period.
T4 Net Repayable (Excess of T2 over T1)
Box 6:
This is calculated as the difference between Boxes 3 and 4.
If the value in Box 4 (T2) exceeds the amount in Box 3 (T1), the difference appears in Box 6.
This value represents the total amount of VAT that you can reclaim from the tax authorities for
this period.
E1 Total Goods TO other EU countries
Box 7:
This represents the total value of all sales to other EU member states, excluding VAT.
E2 Total Goods FROM other EU countries
Box 8:
This represents the total value of all purchases from other EU member states, excluding VAT.
Total value of sales, excluding VAT
Box 9:
This is the total value of all sales excluding VAT. This includes export sales to all countries, both
EU and non-EU.
262
Company Tasks
Total value of purchases, excluding VAT

Box 10:
EU and non-EU countries.
The Irish VAT Return (VAT Cash Accounting Scheme)

The Republic of Ireland VAT Return is made up of ten boxes which represent the various VAT
charges from all of the transactions that you have entered into Sage 50 Accounts.
T1 - VAT due in this period on sales

T1 is split into three sections:
Box 1:
VAT charged on money received for goods and services.
Box 2:
VAT charged on purchases made within the EU (credits are deducted).
Box 3:
Total VAT on sales. This is the sum of Boxes 1 and 2.
263
T2 VAT reclaimed in this period on purchases

Box 4:
This represents the tax reclaimable on purchases and other inputs including acquisitions from
the EU.
T3 Net Payable (Excess of T1 over T2)
Box 5:
This is calculated as the difference between Boxes 3 and 4. If the value in Box3 (T1) exceeds
the amount in Box 4 (T2), the difference appears in Box 5. This value represents the total amount
of VAT you owe to the tax authorities for this period.
Note: If the value in Box 4 (T2) exceeds the amount in Box 3 (T1), the value shown in Box 5 is
zero and the difference appears in Box 6 to show the amount of VAT you can reclaim from the
tax authorities for this period.
T4 Net Repayable (Excess of T2 over T1)
Box 6:
This is calculated as the difference between Boxes 3 and 4.
If the value in Box 4 (T2) exceeds the amount in Box 3 (T1), the difference appears in Box 6.
This value represents the total amount of VAT that you can reclaim from the tax authorities for
this period.
E1 Total Goods TO other EU countries
Box 7:
This represents the total value of all sales to other EU member states, excluding VAT.
E2 Total Goods FROM other EU countries
Box 8:
This represents the total value of all purchases from other EU member states, excluding VAT.
Total value of sales, excluding VAT
Box 9:
This is the total value of all sales excluding VAT. This includes export sales to all countries, both
EU and non-EU.
264
Company Tasks
Total value of purchases, excluding VAT

Box 10:
EU and non-EU countries.
To print the VAT Return report

1. After producing your VAT Return, click Print from the Value Added Tax Return window.
The VAT Return Report window appears.
2. Select the type of report you require from, VAT Return, Summary, Detailed or Adjustments
(where you have made manual adjustment to your VAT Totals).
3. To indicate the type of output that you require, select the appropriate option button from
Printer, Preview, File or Email.
4. To generate the report, click Run or to exit the Print VAT Report window without printing,
click Cancel.
Checking your VAT Return

You need to check your VAT Return to see if it is correct. If your VAT Return does not agree with
the net closing balance of the VAT control accounts, it could be because you have entered a
transaction with an incorrect date.
The procedure for checking your VAT Return is different, depending upon the VAT scheme you
are running. Follow the procedure that applies to your VAT scheme.
Note: The balance of your VAT Return should agree with the balance of your VAT Control
Accounts. If you make a manual adjustment to your Return, then these two balances will not
agree. Your VAT control accounts should agree with the VAT Return before any manual
adjustments are made.
To check your VAT Return using the Standard VAT scheme

1. Print your Detailed VAT report from the Print VAT Return window.
2. Select Company > Nominal Ledger, then click Reports.
3. From the Nominal Reports window, print the Nominal Activity Report, using the date range
of your VAT Return, and the nominal account range of your VAT on Sales and VAT on
Purchases Control Accounts. By default this is 2200 to 2201 by default, if you haven't
changed it.
4. Check that the balance in box 5 on your VAT Return agrees with the net closing balance
of your VAT on Sales and VAT on Purchases Control Accounts.
265
If this does not agree, check the following:

Does either the VAT on Sales or VAT on Purchases control account total include a
value for a tax code which is not included on your VAT Return? For example, by
default T9 is not included on your VAT Return.
When you ran your VAT Return, did Sage 50 Accounts find any transactions which
were outside of the date range but which had not yet been included on your VAT
Return? If so, did you ask to include these transactions on this VAT Return? For
example, this could happen if a transaction has been posted with an incorrect date.
After reconciling the last quarters VAT Return, did you post the clear down journals
correctly - that is, using the correct date?
Have you posted VAT incorrectly?
If your answer to any of these questions is yes, this could be the discrepancy. Correct the
discrepancy and then re-check your figures to see if your balances agree now.
5. If you still have a discrepancy, print the following reports and use these to help you to find
the discrepancy:
Audit Trail Detailed Report. Items on the audit trail which are marked with an 'N' in the
V (VAT) column are included when you calculate your VAT Return.
Items which are marked with an 'R' have already been included on your VAT Return
and have been reconciled for VAT so these are not included in this VAT Return.
Items marked with a dash are not included in your VAT Return; for example,
transactions which have been entered with a T9 tax code.
Customers Day Book Reports.
Suppliers Day Book Reports.
6. If you still have a discrepancy, print the Day Books for your Bank, Cash and Credit Card
Receipts and Payments and use these reports to try to find the error.
7. If you still cannot find the discrepancy, print out the journal day books and use these to try
and find the error.
To check your VAT Return using VAT Cash Accounting

1. Print your Detailed VAT report from the Print VAT Return window.
2. Select Company > Financials, then click Audit.
3. Print the Audit Trail Detailed report. Items on the audit trail, which are marked with an 'N'
in the V (VAT) column are included when you calculate your VAT Return.
Items which are marked with an 'R' have already been included on your VAT Return, and
have been reconciled for VAT so these are not included in this VAT Return.
4. Using the same date range as your VAT Return, print the following reports.
Nominal Ledger Day Book report.
266
Company Tasks
From the Bank Accounts window, click Reports. From the Bank Report window,
select Customer Receipts Day Book report, and your Supplier Payments Day Book
report if you are using the UK VAT Cash Accounting scheme.
From the Bank Reports window, print all of your payment and receipt Day Book
reports.
If you are using the Irish VAT Cash Accounting scheme, from the Suppliers window,
click Reports. From the Supplier Reports window, print your Supplier Invoices Day
Book and Supplier Credits Day Book reports.
5. Use these reports to check that the totals on your VAT Return are correct.
To Analyse the VAT Totals

1. From the Value Added Tax Return window, choose each of the Total boxes (1,2,4,6,7,8,9),
in turn to analyse the VAT Totals.
2. As an example, choose Box 1.
The VAT Breakdown - VAT due on Sales list box appears. Each line of the list box shows,
for each of the VAT codes (T/C) included in the totals calculation, the total VAT value or the
net value, depending on which total button you selected, accumulated by each type of
transaction.
Any manual adjustments that have been made, which relate to the Total concerned are
shown below the tax code list. The table will show the VAT values before and after the
manual adjustments. The adjustment will be minus (-) signed if the adjustment reduced the
total VAT figure.
You can print the information from this list box by printing the Summary VAT report from
the VAT Return window.
3. You can see the individual transactions that make up these totals by double-clicking the
total you require.
A VAT Breakdown - Transaction list box now appears, showing the individual VAT
transactions that make up the transaction type total for the selected Tax Code.
Click the Print List button in this list box to obtain a detailed VAT breakdown.
4. To return to the VAT Breakdown list box, click Close.
5. To return to the Value Added Tax Return window, click Close.
To Make Manual Adjustments to the VAT Totals
To make adjustments to a calculated VAT Return:

1. From the Value Added Tax Return window, click Adjustments.
267
The VAT Manual Adjustments window appears displaying the Calculated VAT totals.
Alongside the Calculated column there is an editable Adjustment column, in which you can
enter manual adjustments for boxes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
2. To open the VAT Manual Adjustments list box, click on the drill button in an adjustment cell
of choice. You can also double click or use F3, if you prefer.
3. Enter a reason in the Reason cell for making the adjustment. To move to the Adjustment
value cell, press TAB.
Note: You must enter a reason for adjustment in order to enter an amount.
4. Enter an Adjustment value. An adjustment can be positive or negative.
If necessary, add multiple adjustments, along with a reason for each. Sage 50 Accounts
records the adjustment, along with the date, time and the originator.
268
Company Tasks
5. When you are satisfied with the adjustments and explanations given, click Save to close
the list box, then click Close in the VAT Manual Adjustments window to return to the Value
Added Tax Return window.
Tip: In the Value Added Tax Return window, if you decide that you are not happy with the
VAT calculations so far, and you would like to start the VAT Return calculation again, click
Clear to clear all entries, including the adjustments.
6. To modify the adjustment you have just made, choose the Adjustment button again to edit.
Note: If you make an adjustment but then close the Return without Reconciling, the
adjustment will not be saved.
The default Control Accounts nominal code for manual adjustments is 2204. If you
encounter any difficulties with the nominal code for Manual Adjustments, refer to the Edit
or View your Control Accounts help topic (F1).
To Reconcile and Archive a VAT Return

Note: Before beginning this stage of the process, take a backup of your company data.
1. From the Value Added Tax Return window, click Reconcile. When you reconcile, Sage 50
Accounts flags the VAT transactions that were included in the VAT Return with an R.
You can see whether or not a transaction has been flagged as reconciled by looking at the
VAT column in the audit trail.
Transactions in the audit trail that have been reconciled with the VAT Return and with your
bank statements can be removed from this report by the Period End function (Clear Audit
Trail).
Once these transactions have been removed, they cannot be included in any future VAT
Return calculations.
2. When you click Reconcile, the VAT Return is also archived in full. A confirmation message
appears, prompting you to confirm whether or not to flag all the VAT transactions. To flag
the transactions, click Yes.
The Reconciled and Archived VAT Return is then listed on the VAT Window list. It is listed
with a Return Number (Rtn No.), the Period covered by the return, the amount, and a
Status of 'Pending'. This status denotes that the return has yet to be submitted.
269
Archive Locations
Customers in the Republic of Ireland

The VAT return is saved as an Irish Revenue XML VAT3 file, in a VAT3 sub-folder of the VATRtns
main archive.
Windows 2000, Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings \ All Users \ Application Data \ Sage \ Accounts \ 2009 \
Company.000 \ VATRtns \ <year> \ VAT3
Windows Vista
C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2009\Company.000\VATRtns\<year>\VAT3
Those customers in the Republic of Ireland, who have previously archived Sage 50 Accounts
VAT Return XML files, in a previous version of the software, for instance, will not have the
corresponding Irish Revenue XML files for VAT3 submission.
In such instances, the archived file should be re-opened and then re-archived, in order to create
the Irish Revenue XML file for VAT3 submission.
Handling late transactions

Sometimes you find that you receive an invoice from a supplier for a particular VAT period, after
you have completed that return. Obviously, the software needs to pick up these transactions,
when you run your next VAT Return.
On running the next VAT Return, the software not only checks for transactions in the current
period, but will also tell you of transactions that have not been VAT reconciled from previous
periods, for example late transactions. The software gives a warning message on running the
VAT Return when this happens.
If we include these transactions, this will avoid the Control Account and VAT Return disagreeing
because of late transactions.
Note: If the software warns of late transactions, under tax regulations you must print off a
separate list of the late transactions.
Handling future transactions

Standard VAT Accounting Scheme only
You can enter future transactions and when you run the VAT Return they will not be picked up.
However, these transactions are included on the balance of the Control Accounts therefore
causing a difference when reconciling the two.
To make sure that the difference is caused by the future dated transactions, run the Activity for
the future period only.
270
Company Tasks
Clearing your VAT Control Accounts

After you have reconciled your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return, we recommend you transfer the
values from your VAT on Sales and VAT on Purchases control accounts for the current VAT
period to your VAT Liability nominal account.
Note: Standard VAT Accounting Scheme only: We strongly recommend that when you are
satisfied that the balance of the VAT control accounts are accurate, you make the accounts zero
as at the end of the month or quarter. This way, it will always be zero at the beginning of the
following month, so if you do make a mistake you will only have to check back through one
month's transactions.
You can clear your VAT Control accounts in two ways. Firstly, by using the VAT Transfer Wizard;
to start the wizard, select Modules > Wizards > VAT Transfer Wizard. Please refer to the Manage
VAT > Transfer your VAT Liability topics in the main software help file (F1) for full details on the
VAT Liability Transfer Wizard. Secondly, by manually posting journals. Either process will achieve
the same result.
For example:
If the balance on your VAT accounts are as follows:
2200 VAT in Sales 5000 Cr
2201 VAT on Purchases 3500 Dr
The VAT Transfer Wizard would post the following journals (or you would do it manually):
2200 VAT on Sales 5000 Dr
2202 VAT Liability Account 5000 Cr
2201 VAT on Purchases 3500 Cr
2202 VAT Liability Account 3500 Dr
The value you transfer to the VAT Liability account is cleared either when you make a payment
to your local tax office or when you receive a refund from them (see the notes in the following
section).
Note: All the above transactions would be posted with the non-vatable tax code (T9 by default).
To find out more, type 'Clearing' in the Help index and then select 'VAT Control Accounts' from the
Help list.
271
Entering Scale Charges

Fuel Scale Charges are taxes levied against free fuel provided for personal use in company cars.
These charges are now dependent upon the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions band, defined for
the specific car engine.
To post your Scale Charges, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards
> Scale Charges Wizard. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete posting the scale
charges.
For full instruction on this wizard please refer to the main program help file - F1 on your
keyboard.
To Generate an EC Sales List

If you are registered for VAT and supply goods to customers in the EC, you need to submit an
EC Sales List. The information provided on the EC Sales List is used in the UK and by other
Member States to ensure that VAT has been correctly accounted for, on the sale of goods within
the EC.
In the case of a multi-company environment, an EC Sales (ECSL) must be submitted for each
company within the group.
1. Select Modules > Company, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage VAT.
2. From the VAT Ledger toolbar, click EC Sales.
The EC Sales List window appears. The company name, VAT Registration Number and
Branch Identifier boxes are pre-populated with the information entered in the VAT Settings
and Preferences set up stages.
272
Company Tasks
Enter the Period from / to dates, select the appropriate Calendar Quarter and click
Calculate.
All relevant EC transactions during the defined period are listed. Each customer is shown
with the following details:
Customer's country code
VAT registration number
Total value of supplies
A read-only pence (p) column signifying the pence setting in the value column
Indicator - 0 (business to business transaction) or 2 (triangulation transaction)
Submitted - in which the submitted status of each transaction is shown
Note: the submitted status may be Blank (Not Submitted), Successful (Submitted and
Accepted by HMRC), Partial (Re submitted) or Rejected (Submitted and Rejected by
HMRC).
3. Use the drill-down button, double-click or use F3 in the Value column boxes to display the
EC Sales List - Transaction window to examine in detail, the transactions that make up the
return.
The EC Sales Lists totals are the net amounts of SI minus SC transactions using the T4 tax
code for the selected period. This is the same for customers on either Standard VAT and
VAT Cash Accounting scheme.
273
4. If a transaction becomes triangulated select the Triangulated check box against that
transaction. To save any changes to triangulation setting, click Save and then Close to
return to the EC Sales List window.
5. If you are not satisfied with the list, click Clear.
6. When you are satisfied with the list details, click Save. Your new EC Sales List return is
added to the VAT Ledger list, with a status of Pending (not submitted).
Note: The Pending (not submitted) status will only be visible if e-Submissions has been
enabled in your Company Preferences - VAT Settings.
When you click Save, if your EC Sales List contains any transaction entries with a blank or
incomplete boxes, the software will remove those customers from the list and displays a
message advising of this.
Any submitted EC Sales List with blank customer VAT Registration Number entries
present, will be rejected by HMRC.
It is recommended that you review your EC Sales List for any such incidence and resolve
them before saving.
7. To print your ECSL return, click Print and then choose from the Report/Output print options
offered. To generate your print-out, click Run.
Note: The EC Sales List groups customers by VAT Registration Number. This means that
if you have two customers that are owned by the same parent company, and therefore,
they have the same VAT Registration Number, their transactions will be grouped together
on the EC Sales List, as a single entry.
8. To close the EC Sales List window, click Close.
What are Triangulation Transactions?

In the trading context, Triangulation is the term used to describe a chain of intra-EC supplies of
goods, involving three parties.
However, instead of the goods physically passing from one party to the other, they are delivered
directly from the first to the last party in the chain.
For example:
274
Company Tasks
A UK company receives an order from a customer in Germany. However, to fulfil the order the
UK supplier has to the purchase the goods from their supplier that is based in France.
To save time and delivery costs, the goods are delivered from France to Germany but the invoice
to the German customer is from the UK company.
As the goods do not enter the UK, an indicator (2) is placed on the EC Sales List to show that
the sale was part of a triangulation transaction.
To Generate a Reverse Charge Sales List

If your business involves the sale of goods that are affected by the MTIC/Carousel Fraud
Reverse Charge legislation, you need to generate and submit a Reverse Charge Sales List to
HMRC.
Why is a Reverse Charge Sales List Needed?

VAT carousel fraud, also known as Missing Trader Intra Community Fraud (MTIC), occurs when
certain specified goods pass between traders into the United Kingdom, and then out again via
EU countries, and on each occasion the goods are sold, the VAT is not paid to HMRC.
To combat this, HMRC introduced new legislation, from 1 June 2007. Under this legislation, if
you are supplying any of the specified goods and the invoice value for the goods is greater than
5,000, then you will not charge or collect output tax.
Similarly, if you are purchasing more than 5,000 of the specified goods from a VAT-registered
business, then you should not be charged VAT. However, you must account for the notional
reverse charge VAT that is printed on the invoice.
In this way, you will report the notional output and input tax on the same VAT return. The aim of
introducing this new reverse charge reporting is to minimise the exposure of HMRC to any tax
loss.
In addition to recording the notional reverse charge, affected businesses will have to submit a
Reverse Charge Sales List (RCSL) with each VAT return.
To generate a Reverse Charge Sales List

1. Select Modules > Company, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage VAT.
2. From the VAT Ledger toolbar, click Reverse Charge.
The Reverse Charge Sales List window appears. The company name, VAT Registration
Number and Branch Identifier boxes are pre-populated with the information entered in the
VAT Settings and Preferences set up stages.
275
3. Proceed to enter the For the period / to dates, for up to a 12 month period) and then click
Calculate.
After a moment, the Reverse Charge Sales List window is updated, showing total reverse
charge-related sales for each monthly period, defined by the date range entered.
4. To view the detailed transaction history for any of the totals shown, click the cell drill-down
button, double-click or use F3 to display the Reverse Charge Sales List - Transaction list
box for that period.
5. If you are not satisfied with the list, to remove the return details and recalculate, click Clear.
6. When you are satisfied with the list details, click Save. Your new Reverse Charge Sales List
return is added to the VAT Ledger list, with a status of N/A.
Note: The Status N/A indication will only be visible if e-Submissions has been enabled in
your Company Preferences - VAT Settings.
When you click Save, if your Reverse Charge Sales List contains any transaction entries
with a blank or incomplete boxes, the software will display a warning message advising
that any submitted Reverse Charge Sales List with blank customer VAT Registration
Number entries present, will be rejected by HMRC.
It is recommended that you review your Reverse Charge Sales List for any such incidence
and resolve them before saving.
If the Save process is successful, your Reverse Charge Sales List appears in the VAT
Return list and is also saved as a csv file. An information message appears with the Save
location of the csv file.
276
Company Tasks
7. To print your Reverse Charge Sales List return, click Print and then choose from the
Report/Output print options offered. Finally, to generate your print-out, click Run.
Note: The Reverse Charge Sales List groups customers by VAT Registration Number. This
means that if you have two customers that are owned by the same parent company, and
therefore, they have the same VAT Registration Number, their transactions will be grouped
together on the Reverse Charge Sales List, as a single entry.
8. Finally, to close the Reverse Charge Sales List window, click Close.
Note: You can choose which VAT tax code to use for Reverse Charge Transactions. By default
it is set to T20. In addition, you can nominate the theoretical VAT rate to apply to both the Sales
Invoice/Purchase Order-related elements in order to balance the reverse charge transaction.
For more information about how to change these codes, please refer to Add or Edit a VAT Rate
in the main software help file (F1).
View the RCSL Transaction Breakdown

1. When you calculate your Reverse Charge Sales List for the period defined, any totals for
the month periods are displayed with a drill-down button, adjacent to the total.
2. Click the drill-down button. The Reverse Charge Sales List - Transactions window appears,
providing a full breakdown of the monthly total.
3. Review the transaction breakdown for customer account reference, product details, and
Invoice number reference.
277
To View a Previous VAT Return

1. Open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage VAT, hen choose a
Return from the VAT Ledger.
2. Click View.
The Value Added Tax Return window appears with the full VAT breakdown for the period.
The return is displayed as Read Only, and can be printed, submitted online, drilled-down
into and closed but with all other options inactive.
Note: If you have upgraded from a previous version, then those VAT returns that you have
saved in that version will not be visible in the VAT Ledger. To view these, select File Menu
> Open > VAT Archive.
Sign Up for a Government Gateway Account

To use e-VAT submissions, you need to have a Government Gateway account. If you do not
have a Government Gateway account, you can sign up for one at:
https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration
When you receive your User ID and Activation PIN, you must activate these within twenty eight
days from the date shown on your Activation PIN letter. If you do not you will have to repeat the
registration process. Your letter will explain how to activate your registration.
You use your User ID and Activation PIN, when setting up e-Submissions preferences.
Making an e-VAT Submission

During the setting of your VAT Preferences, you will have chosen whether or not to enable e-VAT
Submission. If you have enabled e-VAT submission and entered all required e-VAT submission
credentials, then this section does apply to you.
Note: In the Budget 2007 - Review of HMRC Online Services, it was announced that all large
and medium sized companies, most small traders and all newly registered VAT traders, will be
required to file their VAT returns online and pay electronically, from April 2010 at the earliest.
1. Open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage VAT. The VAT Ledger
appears.
2. Choose the VAT Return / EC Sales List required. To submit a VAT Return or Sales List, it
must have a Status of Pending or Partial (Re submitted).
278
Company Tasks
3. Highlight the VAT Return / EC Sales List from the VAT Window list and click Submit Return.
4. At this point, if any of your Company VAT Preferences e-Submission credentials has not
been completed correctly, a Submission Incomplete list box appears, detailing error or
omission.
5. If your Company VAT Preferences e-Submission credentials are satisfactory the Sage
Internet Submissions wizard appears to guide you through your e-Submission.
The Sage Internet Submissions Wizard

Window 1 - Important Notice
The Important Notice window indicates clearly that you are about to submit your VAT Return
electronically to the Government Gateway. The submission process is irreversible and you are
advised that penalty / prosecution could follow if false statements are made.
A Click Here link invites you to view the information relating to data captured by Sage during
your submission process to HMRC.
Data Captured by Sage...
This window lists the summary file data elements submitted to Sage (UK) Limited, when any
e-Submission is made to HMRC using Sage software. The data is used for licence validation,
troubleshooting problems and statistical analysis. No personal data is submitted to Sage.
When you are ready, click Continue.
Window 2 - Check your Details
Your VAT Preferences e-Submission credentials are displayed. These should based upon the
information that you used, when setting up your Government Gateway account.
When you are satisfied that the credentials is correct, click Submit to send your information to
HMRC.
Window 3 - Submitting
Your e-Submission progress is displayed in this window. Various messages may appear above
the progress bar, signifying submission progress, delays, retries, all dependant upon
submission activity to the Government Gateway.
When submission is complete, the Window 5 - Finished appears.
Window 4 - Finished
When a submission has been successfully completed, a successful submission reply is received
from HMRC. The VAT Ledger returns list Status column is updated from Pending to Submitted,
against the specific Return submitted.
279
To view and print the details of the HMRC reply in Window 6 - Submission Succeeded, click the
link.
Click Close to complete the e-Submission process.
Window 5 - Submission Succeeded...
Details of the HMRC response are shown including Correlation ID, Submission Date/Time and
the Message content.
The window also indicates where an encrypted version of the file is stored on your PC.
To complete the e-Submission process, click Close.
Window 6 - Submission Log (Unsuccessful Submission)
If the submission is unsuccessful, the HMRC response provides a tabulated listing of the Error
Code assigned to the submission failure, the Location of the error step in the VAT XML
declaration and a brief description of the error.
To View HMRC Receipts

When you make a successful VAT Return / EC Sales List e-Submission to HMRC, the HMRC
receipt is saved to your Sage Accounts program folder in a sub-folder. To view these receipts:
appears
2. Highlight the VAT Return / EC Sales List required. To view a HMRC receipt, the selected
VAT Return or Sales List must have a Status of Submitted.
3. Click the HMRC Receipts button on the VAT Ledger toolbar. The HMRC receipt is then
displayed as a PDF file.
Where the submission is unsuccessful, the HMRC receipt provides a tabulated listing of the
Error Code assigned to the submission failure, the Location of the error step in the VAT XML
declaration a brief description of the error and the stored location of the HMRC Receipt file.
To Make a VAT Payment
Making an Offline VAT Payment to HMRC

1. Ensure that the VAT Ledger is open (Company > Manage VAT). Highlight a specific VAT
Return from the VAT Ledger list and click View.
The Value Added Tax Return window is displayed, with the full VAT breakdown for the
period.
280
Company Tasks
2. Print your VAT Return report.

3. Copy the figures from the Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return report to your actual VAT Return
form.
4. If the net VAT value in box 5 of your VAT Return is positive, and there is no minus sign
before the value, you owe this amount, and you should make a payment for this value.
If the value in box 5 of your VAT Return is negative and there is a minus sign before the
value, you have a reclaim amount for your VAT and are owed this amount.
Note: When you receive this payment, you can post a Bank Receipt with a non-vatable tax
code, T9 by default, into your VAT Liability Account.
5. If you have to make a payment, select the specific VAT Return in the VAT Ledger list and
click the Payment button on the VAT Ledger toolbar.
6. In the Bank Payments window that appears, many of the boxes will be pre-populated with
the specific VAT Return information and the amount to pay. Complete the Bank Payments
window entries and save the transaction.
7. Send the VAT Return form you completed, together with your payment, to the tax
authorities. You should now record your payment from your softwares bank account.
If you need to reclaim VAT, send the VAT Return form you completed to the relevant tax
authorities. When you receive this money, you will need to record it into the appropriate
bank account within the Bank module.
Entering an Online VAT Payment to HMRC with e-Banking Enabled

appears.
2. In the VAT Tab of the Settings > Company Preferences window, ensure that the Enable
e-VAT Submission check box is selected.
3. To enable e-Banking, from the Settings Menu choose Bank Defaults. The Bank Default
window appears. Select the Enable e-Banking check box, then click OK.
In addition, ensure that you have set up your electronic banking facility correctly.
4. Choose the VAT Return for which you want to make an online payment. The status of the
return must be Submitted but Not Paid.
281
5. Click the Payment button on the VAT Ledger toolbar.

The HMRC Payments window appears.
To set your HMRC Payment window settings for the various categories, press F1 on your
keyboard to open the relevant help page and use the help notes provided.
6. Click Save once you are satisfied that all box entries are correct and complete. Sage 50
Accounts posts a bank payment with a T9 tax code to Financials. This appears in the
Financials Window.
Making a VAT Payment to HMRC using e-Banking

1. Open the Bank module.
2. From the Bank Accounts window, select the bank account you are using to pay HMRC,
and then click e-Payments. The Send Payment window appears, displaying all outstanding
supplier and HMRC payments for the selected bank account.
3. Highlight the HMRC payment(s) requiring payment then click Send. The Payment
Confirmation From information box appears, displaying the number and value of payments
to be made.
To view where the payment will be made, click Show Details.
4. To confirm the payments to be made, click OK. The information is transferred from Sage
50 Accounts to a file, ready for your bank software to use.
Sage e-Banking / UK Payment Account setting within the HMRC Payments Window
When you complete Step 4 above, the VAT Ledger is updated and the VAT Return Paid box is
shown as Y instead of N.
Sage e-Banking / Payment from NON-UK A/C setting within the HMRC Payments
Window
Even if e-Banking has been enabled, you will not be able to post these HMRC transactions
using e-Banking. Attempts to do so will generate a system message:
"You have selected to make Payment to a NON UK A/C. Please note than you will not be able
to make this payment via the Sage e-Banking module. Please use another payment method to
make this payment to HMRC."
282
Company Tasks
HMRC Bank Accounts

HMRC operates two bank accounts for receiving VAT payments - one for receiving payment
from a UK bank account, and a second account for receiving VAT payments from a non-UK
bank account. Details of these two accounts are as follows:
HMRC Bank Account for VAT Payment from UK Bank Accounts
Bank of England
Threadneedle Street
LONDON
EC2R 8AH
Sort Code: 10-00-00
Account No: 52055000
Account name: HMCE VAT
HMRC Bank Account for VAT Payment from NON- UK Bank Accounts
Bank of England
Threadneedle Street
LONDON
EC2R 8AH
IBAN Number: GB03BKEN10000052055000
BIC Code: BKENGB33
Account name: HMCE VAT
HMRC have advised that late in 2008, it is their intention to change their bank account details.
These bank details are only used, when the user is paying their VAT liability to HMRC, using the
Sage e-banking feature.
Bank Details section of the VAT tab in your Company Preferences. For more information about
this, please refer to the topic To Configure your VAT Preferences on page 123.
283
VAT Audit reports

Sage 50 Accounts includes a full suite of reports to help you to prepare for a visit from your VAT
office and a tax inspection.
VAT Audit reports required for a VAT inspection using Standard VAT
Accounting
If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, the reports that you will require for a VAT tax
inspection are:
The Nominal Activity report - this details the transaction histories for the Sales and
Purchase Tax Control Accounts
Day Book Reports from each ledger for the current trading period, including:
Day Books: Nominal Ledger
Day Books: Customer Invoices (Detailed)
Day Books: Customer Credits (Detailed)
Day Books: Supplier Invoices (Detailed)
Day Books: Supplier Credits (Detailed)
Day Books: Bank Payments (Detailed)
Day Books: Cash Payments (Detailed)
Day Books: Credit Card Payments (Detailed)
Day Books: Bank Receipts (Detailed)
Day Books: Cash Receipts (Detailed)
Day Books: Credit Card Receipts (Detailed)
VAT Audit reports required for a VAT inspection using the VAT Cash
Accounting Scheme
If you are using a VAT Cash Accounting scheme, the reports that you will require for a VAT tax
inspection are:
The Day Book Reports from each ledger for the current trading period, including
Day Books: Nominal Ledger
Day Books: Customer Receipts (Detailed)
Day Books: Supplier Payments (Detailed) (for users operating on the UK VAT Cash
Accounting scheme)
Day Books: Bank Payments (Detailed)
Day Books: Cash Payments (Detailed)
Day Books: Credit Card Payments (Detailed)
284
Company Tasks
Day Books: Bank Receipts (Detailed), Day Books: Cash Receipts (Detailed)
Day Books: Credit Card Receipts (Detailed)
If you are based in the Republic of Ireland and using the Irish VAT Cash Accounting scheme,
you will also need the Day Books: Supplier Invoices (Detailed) and Day Books: Supplier Credits
(Detailed) reports.
Carrying Out Your Month End

At the end of each month you should run the Month End procedure. This lets you see how your
business has performed over the last month. It also lets you prepare your Sage 50 Accounts
data for the next accounting month.
Month End checklist

Follow these steps to run your Month End.
Change your program date to the Month End date. For further information about how to
do this, refer to Changing the program date on page 65.
Ensure that you have posted all of your transactions for the current month.
Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus only: If you are using foreign currency bank
accounts, you should make sure that you have posted your bank revaluation journals. This
is to ensure that your balance sheet is a true reflection of the value of your foreign currency.
To do this, select Modules > Wizards > Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard, and then follow
the instructions displayed on screen.
Process your recurring entries. For further information about how to do this, refer to
Creating and Processing Recurring Transactions on page 353.
Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus only: Set up any new prepayments and/or
accruals. For further information about how to do this, refer to Prepayments (Accounts
Plus and Accounts Professional Only) on page 220.
Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus only: Set up any new fixed assets
depreciation. For further information about how to do this, refer to Working With Fixed
Assets on page 235.
(Optional) Reconcile all of your bank accounts. For further information about how to do
this refer to Reconciling Your Bank Account on page 345.
(Optional) Post your opening and closing stock, for your profit and loss and balance
sheet reports. For more information, see Posting opening and closing stock on page 289.
285
Back up your data and label it as 'Before Month End (Month & Year)'. For further
information about how to do this, refer to Backing up your data on page 302.
Run the Month End procedure. For further information about how to do this, refer to
Running the Month End on page 287.
Note: Double check that you have changed the program date to the Month End date. If
you have not changed it and you carry out this step your accounts will be incorrect.
Back up your data and label it as 'After Month End (Month & Year)'. For further information
about how to do this, refer to Backing up your data on page 302.
(Optional) Remove your stock transactions.

Note for Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus users: Before clearing your stock
transactions, ensure that you have printed your Product Activity, Product Profit and
Product Valuation reports. For further information about this, refer to Clearing your stock
transactions on page 296.
(Optional) Remove all fully paid and reconciled transactions from the audit trail. For
further information about how to do this, refer to Clearing the Audit Trail on page 318.
If you have cleared your stock transactions and audit trail, back up your data and label
it as 'After Month End - after clear transactions (Month & Year)'.
286
Company Tasks
Changing the program date

One of the strengths of Sage 50 Accounts is that you can change the program date, for example
the day's date that you want to use to record your transactions.
Important Note: This is not your financial year start date.
This means that you don't have to run your Month End on the exact Month End date. (This is
the same with your Year End.) Because you may have to wait for certain invoices or bills to come
in before you can run a period end procedure, You can change your program date to whatever
date you choose.
When you have finished, you can use Change Program Date to reset the date to today's date.
Note: The date will automatically set itself to the correct date when you restart the program.
You can change the program date by selecting Settings > Change Program Date. The Change
Program Date box (see below), appears. Here you can enter the date that you need to run your
month end.
Running the Month End

Use the Month End process to clear down the month to date turnover figures on all of your
customer and supplier records. If you are using Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional you
can also use the Month End to process your prepayments, accruals and depreciation values.
You can post transactions for the next accounting period before closing the current month. Any
transactions with a date that is in a future period will be put in the relevant monthly total on the
nominal record. After completing the Month End, you can also post transactions for any
previous accounting period, and the correct period total will be updated in the nominal record.
To run the Month End

1. Select Tools > Period End > Month End.
The Month End window appears.
287
2. Use the following check boxes to indicate which Month End postings you want to make.
Clear Turnover Figures
Select this check box to set your month to date turnover figures to zero on each
customer and supplier record window.
Post Prepayments (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
If you have set up any prepayments, select this check box to post them.
Post Accruals (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
If you have set up any accruals, select this check box to post them.
Post Depreciation (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
If you have set up any fixed assets, select this check box to post the monthly
depreciation values for each of your fixed assets.
3. Click OK to proceed. A Confirmation message appears.
4. Click Yes to complete your Month End procedure.
You have now completed the month-end procedure.
288
Company Tasks
Posting opening and closing stock

Sage 50 Accounts includes a wizard to help you post your opening and closing stock figures.
To run the wizard, select Modules > Wizards > Open Closing Stock Wizard.
You can also do it manually. If you want to post your opening and closing stock journals
manually, select Company > New Journal and follow the guidelines below.
When you calculate your gross profit it is very important to use your cost of sales figure and not
your purchases. Consider the following example:
Your company buys stock for 10,000 therefore your purchases are 10,000.
Your company then sells half of its stock for 10,000 therefore your sales are 10,000.
If your gross profit was calculated as sales less purchases then your company would appear to
have made no profit at all even though you still have 5,000 worth of stock left. Therefore, the
cost of sales needs to be calculated to give the true profit.
The cost of the sales value can be calculated using the following formula.
COST OF SALES = OPENING STOCK plus PURCHASES less CLOSING STOCK
Sage 50 Accounts will automatically calculate your cost of sales for you and then produce
accurate net and gross profits if you enter the following journal entries.
To prepare to enter your opening and closing stock values

1. Check that your Nominal Ledger Chart of Accounts includes:
1001 Stock Balance Sheet
5200 Opening Stock Profit & Loss
5201 Closing Stock Profit & Loss
Note: These nominal accounts are automatically included in Sage 50 Accounts' default
Chart of Accounts.
2. Find out your opening stock balance in your 1001 Stock account.
289
To enter the stock values for month one

Note: You would complete this step when you run your first Month End.
1. In the first month of your financial year, clear the stock figure in the 1001 Stock account
and transfer it to the 5200 Opening stock account by posting the following journal entry.
Note: If you are just beginning to trade and have no stock at the beginning of the financial
year go to step 2.
CREDIT the 1001 Stock account with the full value of your opening stock at the start of the
financial year.
DEBIT the 5200 Opening Stock account with the full value of your opening stock at the
start of the financial year.
2. At the end of the first month, enter your closing stock value for the month by posting the
following journal entry.
Important Note: It is very important that the date you enter is within the first month.
CREDIT the 5201 Closing stock with the closing stock value.
DEBIT the 1001 Stock account with the closing stock value.
To enter the stock values for month two

Note: You would complete this step the second time you run a Month End.
1. At the beginning of month two, clear the values in the Closing stock and Stock account by
posting the following journal entry.
Important Note: It is very important that the date you enter is within the second month.
CREDIT the 1001 Stock account with the previous closing stock value.
DEBIT the 5201 Closing stock account with the previous closing stock value.
2. At the end of this month, enter the new closing stock value for the month by posting the
CREDIT the 5201 Closing stock account with the new closing stock value.
DEBIT the 1001 Stock account with the new closing stock value.
Important Note: It is essential that the journal entries in steps 1 and 2 are posted within
the same month.
290
Company Tasks
To enter the stock values for month three

Note: You would complete this step the third time you run a Month End.
1. At the beginning of month three, clear the values in the Closing stock and Stock account
by posting the following journal entry.
Note: It is very important that the date you enter is within the third month.
CREDIT the 1001 Stock account with the previous closing stock value.
DEBIT the 5201 Closing stock account with the previous closing stock value.
2. At the end of this month, enter the new closing stock value for the month by posting the
CREDIT the 5201 Closing stock account with the new closing stock value.
DEBIT the 1001 Stock account with the new closing stock value.
Note: It is essential that the journal entries in steps 1 and 2 are posted within the same
month.
To enter the stock values for subsequent months

Note: You would complete this step for the other Month End routines you run.
1. At the start of each month you must clear the values in the Closing stock and Stock
accounts.
2. At the end of each month you must enter the new closing stock for the month in the
Closing stock account and Stock account.
Note: The dates for posting the journal entries for steps 1 and 2 must be within the same
month to enable correct monthly profit and loss accounts to be calculated.
You are now able to produce profit and loss accounts which show the true profit or loss for
the month and year to date.
The following example shows three months trading. The example cost of sales figures appear
in the month to date column of the profit and loss account.
At the beginning of the financial year the stock was valued at 1000.
Month 1
Post the following journal entry:
N/C Name T/C Debit Credit
1001 Stock T9 1000
5200 Opening Stock T9 1000
291
At the end of the first month the closing stock value was 4000. Post the following journal entry:
1001 Stock T9 4000
5201 Closing Stock T9 4000
The purchases for the first month were 10,000. The cost of sales can then be calculated.
The opening stock figure is taken from the Opening stock account 5200. The closing stock
figure is taken from the Closing stock account 5201.
COST OF SALES = OPENING STOCK plus PURCHASES less CLOSING STOCK
COST OF SALES = 1000 + 10,000 - 4000
Therefore cost of sales is equal to 7000.
Month 2
At the beginning of month two post the following journal entry to clear the closing stock value
from month one:
1001 Stock T9 4000
At the end of month two post the following journal entry to enter the closing stock value:
1001 Stock T9 10000
The purchases for the second month were 20,000. The cost of sales can then be calculated.
For the second and subsequent months the opening stock figure is taken as the value of the
5201 Closing stock account debit, therefore equal to 4000 for month two. The closing stock
figure is taken as the 5201 Closing stock account credit, 10,000 for month two.
COST OF SALES = OPENING STOCK + PURCHASES - CLOSING STOCK
COST OF SALES = 4000 + 20,000 - 10,000
Therefore cost of sales is equal to 14,000.
292
Company Tasks
Month 3
At the beginning of month three post the following journal entry to clear the closing stock value
from month two:
1001 Stock T9 10000
At the end of month three post the following journal entry to enter the closing stock value for
month three:
1001 Stock T9 6000
The purchases for the third month were 35,000. The cost of sales can then be calculated as
follows.
COST OF SALES = OPENING STOCK + PURCHASES - CLOSING STOCK COST OF SALES
= 10,000 + 35,000 - 6000
Therefore the cost of sales is equal to 39,000.
Posting monthly accruals

If you are expecting an invoice from one of your suppliers - a purchase invoice but you have not
received it before you are ready to perform the Month End procedure, you can accrue the value
of this invoice so that it appears in your Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet.
This means that these reports will be accurate for the month you are completing. After you have
completed your Month End and when you receive the invoice in the next month, you can then
reverse the accrual and post the invoice correctly.
Use journal entries to post your monthly accruals, and make sure you enter the correct date and
values, and nominal codes if you are not using the defaults, each time.
293
To post your monthly accruals using journal entries

1. Select Company > New Journal.
The Nominal Ledger Journals window appears.
2. Enter the correct date for your accrual, for example the date that should appear on your
purchase invoice.
3. Enter the following details for your journal entry in the boxes provided.
N/C Name Details T/C Debit Credit
5000 Purchases Monthly Accrual T9 Debit
2109 Accruals Monthly Accrual T9 Credit
4. When you are sure that you have entered the correct date and figures, click Save.
You have posted your monthly accruals and can now complete your Month End.
After you have completed your Month End procedures and have received the purchase
invoice in the next month, you should then reverse the accrual and post the invoice
correctly.
To reverse your monthly accruals and post your invoice correctly

Note for Accounts users: To reverse your monthly accruals and post your invoice correctly,
you will have to manually reverse the journal. To do this repeat steps one to four from the
preceding section and reverse the debit and credit postings in step three, for example where
you posted a debit, post a credit and vice versa. After you have done this go to step 8 in this
section.
2. Click Reversals.
You are prompted to print your Nominal Ledger Day Book report and to make a backup of
your data. We recommend you follow this advice, so that you have a copy of your original
data before you process the reversal.
To print the Nominal Ledger Day Book, click Print Now and select the range and output
you want to use for your Day Book from the Criteria window. After you have selected the
range and output to use for your Day Book report, you are returned to the Nominal
Reversals window.
294
Company Tasks
3. To back up your data, click Backup Now and complete the backup procedure.
When you have completed your backup, click OK to continue.
The Transaction Range window appears.
4. Specify the transactions you want to display, by entering a transaction number range or
date range in the boxes provided.
5. To continue with the reversal procedure, click OK.
If matching transactions are found, the Nominal Reversals window appears listing the
matches. If no matches are found, a message appears informing you of this.
6. Highlight the items that you want to reverse, and then click Reverse.
Note: The total debit and total credit amounts must be equal.
If the selected items balance, a confirmation window appears, showing the transactions
you have selected to reverse. You cannot change the information shown here.
7. If the information shown is correct and you are sure that you want to reverse this journal,
click Save.
If the information is incorrect, click Cancel to return to the Nominal Reversals window.
The reversal journals are posted to the audit trail with the original journal transaction date,
a reference of REVERSE and details of Reversal of Original Transaction Number.
You have now reversed your monthly accruals and can now post your purchase invoice
correctly. To do this, continue with the steps below.
8. Select Suppliers > Batch Invoice.
9. For each invoice item (or whole invoice), enter the following details one line at a time.
A/C Enter the account code of the supplier you have received the invoice from
here.
Date Enter the date that appears on your purchase invoice here.
Ref You can enter a reference for your invoice if you want to.
Ex Ref You can enter an additional reference here.
N/C Enter the nominal code you want to post this invoice to, for example, the
Purchases nominal code.
Dept Enter a department code here if you want to assign the transaction to a
department for analysis purposes.
Details Enter the details of the purchase invoice here.
Net Enter the net amount of the invoice here.
295
T/C Enter the tax code for your invoice.
VAT The VAT amount is calculated automatically for you and entered here.
10. To accept your entries, click Save. The details are 'posted' instantly to update the Nominal
Ledger and the relevant supplier's details.
11. To exit the Batch Supplier Invoices window and return to the Suppliers window, click Close.
Clearing your stock transactions

The Clear Stock function can be run as part of the Month End and Year End routines. It is a way
of clearing down transactions from your Product Activity prior to a specified date. This way you
can decide how long you keep individual transactions on your system.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: Before you run the Clear Stock function, you
should print your Product Valuation and Product Activity reports. The Retrospective Product
Valuation report may not show the correct valuation after running the Clear Stock function.
Note: When you clear your stock, the individual transactions are removed from each product
record leaving any adjustments in (AI) and movements in (MI) which are brought forward in full
as opening balances, showing the quantity used.
To clear your stock

1. Make sure you have at least one backup of your data before running the Clear Stock
function. For more information, see Backing up your data on page 302.
2. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Period End > Clear Stock.
A warning message appears.
3. To continue, click Yes.
The Clear Stock window appears.
4. In the Date box, enter the date up to which transactions are to be cleared.
5. To clear the stock, click OK.
296
Company Tasks
Printing your Product reports

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional)
You should print out the following reports:
Product Activity (PRDHIST.report) This shows the product's detailed history.
Product Profit (PRDPROF.report) This shows if your products have sold at a profit.
Professional only)
Product Valuation (PRDVALUE.report) This shows how much your stock is worth.
Professional only)
To print the report, from the Products window choose the Reports option then select the
appropriate folder for the report you want to run. Highlight the report, click Generate Report,
enter your criteria and click OK. Repeat this for the other two reports.
Clearing the Audit Trail

Clearing the audit trail removes fully paid and fully reconciled transactions from your audit trail
up to a date that you choose. This means that you have fewer transactions to work with, which
makes tasks such as printing reports and taking backups quicker.
For full details about clearing your audit trail, see Clearing the Audit Trail on page 318.
Handling late entries

On occasions, purchase invoices are received after you have completed your Month End
procedures in Sage 50 Accounts. These transactions are called late entries.
There are two ways you can deal with these late entry transactions.
If you know the values of these invoices and you have not finalised your Profit and Loss,
Balance Sheet and VAT Return for the month, you can accrue the values to process later.
When you receive the invoice next month, you can reverse the accrual and post the invoice
correctly. For more information, see Posting monthly accruals on page 293.
If you have finalised your Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and VAT Return and then
subsequently receive an invoice, post this invoice as a late entry. For further information
about how to do this, refer to the next section.
We would strongly recommend that the tax point date is unchanged when posting the late
invoice, otherwise you may have difficulty reconciling your VAT Return with your local tax office.
297
Note: As a result of posting late entry journals, you may find that your retrospective aged reports
may not reconcile with the figures on your Creditors Control account.
Posting late entries

If you have already completed your Month End procedures and finalised your Profit and Loss,
Balance Sheet and VAT Return for the month, then subsequently receive an invoice, you need
to post this transaction as a late entry. Posting a transaction as a late entry consists of:
1. Posting the purchase invoice using the correct tax point date, for example the same date
that appears on the original purchase invoice.
2. Posting a journal entry to remove the late purchase invoice value from last months
accounts.
3. Posting a journal entry for the value of the purchase invoice using a date in your current
month. This means the value of this invoice is recorded in your current month's financial
reports.
To post your purchase invoice

1. Select Suppliers > Batch Invoice.
The Batch Supplier Invoices window appears.
2. For each invoice item or whole invoice, fill in the details.
3. To accept your entries click Save. The details are posted instantly to update the Nominal
Ledger and the relevant supplier's details.
4. To exit the Batch Supplier Invoices window and return to the Suppliers window, click Close.
You have now posted the late purchase invoice you have received. You should now post
a journal entry to remove the value of this purchase invoice from last month's accounts.
To post a journal entry to remove the late purchase invoice value from last
month's accounts
2. Enter the correct date, for example enter the same date you used when you posted the
late purchase invoice.
3. Enter the following details similar to the following example:
298
Company Tasks
5000 Purchases Late Invoice T9 Credit
2201 Purchases Tax Control Late Invoice T9 Credit
2100 Creditors Control Late Invoice T9 Debit
4. When you are sure you have entered the correct date and figures click Save.
You have now posted the late entry adjustment to remove the value of the late purchase
invoice from your previous month's accounts, for example the month you have just
completed. You should now post a journal entry to record this value in your current month's
account.
To post a journal entry to record the value of the late purchase invoice into
your current month's accounts
2. Enter the correct date, for example enter a date in your current month.
3. Enter the details similar to the following example.
5000 Purchases Late Invoice T9 Debit
2201 Purchase Tax Control Late Invoice T9 Debit
2100 Creditors Control Late Invoice T9 Credit
4. When you are sure you have entered the correct date and figures, click Save.
You have now recorded the value of the late purchase invoice in your current month's
accounts. The next time you run your financial reports for your current month, this value
will be included.
299
Running the Year End

The Year End facility in Sage 50 Accounts takes care of all of your financial Year End accounting.
You may not want to run your Year End on the Year End date, often you may want to wait for a
short period of time after the Year End has passed, in order to receive your last invoices. When
you decide you are ready, you can change the program date to the Year End date, then run your
Year End.
At Year End, take the precaution of taking a backup of your data before running the Year End
procedure. In this way you will be able to make comparisons at a later date. You can then see
how your business is performing year after year.
When you run your Year End, there are likely to be transactions that have been entered for the
new financial year, so the balances of your income (your Sales accounts) and expenditure (your
Purchases, Direct Expenses and Overheads) accounts are unlikely to be zeroed out.
For more information, see Sage 50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts on page 177. The
balances are transferred into the Retained Earnings account (3200, by default), so they are
ready to accept transactions for the new financial year. In addition to this and for each account,
the Actual balances are moved to the Prior Year balances. You can also update the budget
values.
Run your Year End process to:
Transfer the balances from your profit and loss accounts to your retained earnings account.
Carry the balances from your balance sheet accounts forward to the new financial year.
Update the audit trail with the Year End journals that are automatically posted.
Update the nominal records with the prior year figures and any future transactions.
Update the product record to transfer sales values and quantity sold to the prior year
boxes.
Transfer customer and supplier YTD values to the Prior YTD boxes.
Increment the financial year start date by one.
An outline of the steps you are asked to complete in the Year End process is shown in the
following section.
Year End checklist

(Optional) Run your month end, choosing not to clear the audit trail. For more information,
see Carrying Out Your Month End on page 285.
Note: If you use month end to post monthly prepayment, accrual or depreciation journals,
you must complete the Month End function for Month 12 before running the Year End.
Take two backups and label them 'Before Year End (Month & Year)'. For further information
on taking a backup, see Backing up your data on page 302.
300
Company Tasks
Check that your program date is set to your Year End date. For further information about
how to do this, see Changing the program date on page 65.
Ensure you have processed any final adjustments for this financial year.
Print the following reports, if required:

Trial Balance
Profit and Loss
Balance Sheet
Aged analysis reports for debtors and creditors
Statements for customers and banks
Day Books for customers, suppliers, banks and nominal
Activity reports on all ledgers
Audit Trail
Budget Analysis report
Prior Year Analysis report
Product Valuation (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional)
Product Profit Reports (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional)
Run your accounts Year End. For further information about how to do this, refer to Running
the Accounts Year End on page 303.
Take a backup and label it After Year End. For further information about how to do this, see
Backing up your data on page 302.
Check that your financial year start date is correct. For further information about how to do
this, refer to Checking the Financial Year Start Date setting on page 307.
Print your post Year End reports. We recommend that you print the Year End Journals,
Brought Forward Trial Balance and any activity reports you require.
(Optional) Clear your audit trail. For further information about how to do this, refer to
Clearing the Audit Trail on page 318.
Remove any unwanted customer, supplier, nominal, bank and product records. For further
information about how to do this, refer to Chapter 5, Setting Up Records.
Run the Compress facility to reclaim disk space used by deleted records. For further
information about how to do this, see Compressing Your Data on page 323.
Note: You may not achieve much compression if you do no t run Clear Audit Trail.
301
Backing up your data

Use the Backup facility to take a backup of your Sage 50 Accounts data files. Sage 50 Accounts
will automatically back up your data files to drive C:\ You can change the backup destination
and select which files you want to back up if required. For example, you can back up all your
files, your report and/or layout templates, or just your data files. Before running your Year End,
we recommend that you back up all of your files.
To back up your data

2. A message appears asking you if you would like to check your data. We recommend that
you check your data before you back up. To do this, click Yes. If you do not want to check
your data, click No.
If you have chosen to check your data, a bar appears showing how the data check is
progressing. When the data has been checked the File Maintenance Problems Report
window appears.
If any errors or warnings appear, we recommend that you fix them before you continue with
the data.
Warning: Before selecting Fix you should take at least two backups of your data.
The Fix option will attempt to repair any errors found on your data. If there is a rare occasion
where this routine is not successful (for example, because of data corruptions), you will
need to either restore to an error-free backup or send your data to Sage Technical Support
(contact 0845 111 55 55 if you are a UK resident or 1890 946 771 for residents of the
Republic of Ireland) to be repaired by the Data Repair Service. If you need to send your
data to our Data Repair Service, we will need a backup of your data before the Fix option
has been run. You should also contact our helpline (on the same number as above) for the
necessary procedural forms.
3. The Previous Backups tab shows the Date, Time and File Name of previous backups
made. The Filename column includes the backup path used.
Alternatively, enter the drive, directory and file name you require in the boxes provided. By
default the backup path defaults to the last path, if available.
Note: Be careful that you don't overwrite existing backups that you want to keep - if you
want to keep old backups, use different file names each time.
4. To select the type of data that you want to back up from, click the Advanced Options tab
and click the Type check boxes required.
5. To proceed with the backup, click OK. If you do not want to continue with the backup, click
Cancel.
6. If you have chosen to overwrite an existing backup, a warning message appears informing
you of this. To overwrite the file, click Yes. If you do not want to overwrite the file, click No.
302
Company Tasks
The Backup window appears, showing the details of the backup as it proceeds.
When the backup is finished, a message box appears telling you whether the backup has
been successful. Click OK to acknowledge this message.
Note (E-Banking users only): The E-Banking files that you import to and export from your
banking software are not backed up as part of the Sage 50 Accounts backup routine.
Running the Accounts Year End

The Year End process takes care of all of your financial Year End accounting.
Note: Before running the Year End process, make sure you have completed all of your month
end procedures first. When you have completed your month end procedures, take another
backup.
To prepare for your Year End, run your month end procedure choosing not to clear the audit
trail. When you are sure that your month end figures are correct, change your program date to
your Year End date. You are now ready to run your Year End.
Note: The Year End applies to all Chart of Accounts.
303
To run your Year End

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Period End > Year End.
The Year End window appears.
When you run your Year End, there are likely to be transactions that have been entered for
the new financial year, so the balances on all of your profit and loss nominal accounts
accounts are unlikely to be zeroed out.
2. If you budget using nominal accounts and departments and want the program to set up
budget figures for the coming year, select the Nominal & Departmental Budgets Copy
Current Year Budgets option.
Choose the figures you want the software to use. To increase or decrease those values,
enter a percentage change in the Percentage Change box.
3. If you budget against your product records and want the software to set up budget figures
for the coming year select the Stock Budgets Copy Current Year Budgets option.
Choose the figures you want the software to use. To increase or decrease those values,
enter a percentage change in the Percentage Change box.
4. In the Year End Journals date box, enter the date you want to appear on your Year End
journals. Your financial Year End date appears here automatically, but you can change this
if you want to.
If you want to keep last years data for purposes of comparison (it becomes read-only), tick
Archive Company Data before Year End. For a full explanation of this, read the next section.
5. An updated Audit Trail report is produced for you to view the Year End postings. Select the
type of output you require: either Printer or File.
6. To carry out the procedure, click OK.
304
Company Tasks

7. To continue with your Year End, click OK.
When your Year End completes, a warning message appears reminding you to change
your Program Date back to the correct date.
After you have entered the correct date, to continue, click OK.
Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus users can now clear down their stock
records if required. See Clearing your stock transactions on page 296.
Historical Data Analysis

This facility lets you take a snapshot of your company data just before you run the Year End. It
lets you compare this years data with last years, the year before, and so on. For example, you
can run and compare profit and loss and balance sheet reports from one year to the next, to
see how your company is doing. You can compare the datasets as often as you like and
whenever you like.
Type 'Historical Data Analysis' in the Help systems Search tab to find out more.
Help
Important Note: The archived data is not the same as a data backup. Your archived data is
read-only - you cannot restore and use this data in the event of data corruption!
In addition to being able to conduct analysis and run different reports on archived data, you will
also have other columns on all of your nominal records. These columns will show your prior year
archived data sets totals. So, you can quickly see how different sectors of your company are
doing compared to previous years. For more information, see Entering Nominal Records on
page 182.
To archive your data

1. From within the Year End window (see previous section) select the Archive Company Data
before Year End check box.
2. Set any other options in the Budgets, Postings and Output To areas of the window as part
of your Year End procedure.
3. Click OK.
A confirmation message appears, recommending that you run the Check Data facility. We
recommend that you run the Check Data facility and correct any problems that are
highlighted. For more information about the Check Data facility, see Checking your data on
page 66.
4. Click Yes to check your accounting data.
After the Check Data process has finished, and you have corrected any errors that have
been listed, the Archive Company window appears.
305
5. Enter the following details in the Archive Company window:
Path to Archive This displays the data path where the archive will be saved. You
cannot change the location of this data path.
If you installed Sage 50 Accounts in the default directory, the
archive path will be C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Archives\.
Description Enter a description that will help you identify the archive at a later
date. The default Description includes the current year.
Archive Folder The name displayed here is the name of the folder where the
archive will be saved. As a default, the folder name is based on the
current financial year, however you can enter a new folder name if
necessary.
For example, if the name entered in this box is 2008 and you have
installed Sage 50 Accounts in the default directory, the full archive
path will be C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Archives\2008.
Note: Each archive must be held in a unique folder. If you attempt
to save an archive file using an existing folder, a warning message
appears.
Archive Date This displays the current program date. You cannot change this
date.
6. To continue with the archive click OK. To cancel the archive and return to the Year End
window, click Cancel.
To view an existing company archive

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Open > Company Archive.
Note: If you have a two or multi-company version of Sage 50 Accounts, each company
will have its own archive list.
2. Select the company archive that you want to view and then click Open.
You can now analyse and report on the data contained in the archive, as you normally
would in Sage 50 Accounts. Some functions will be unavailable.
Note: You cannot modify an opened archive. Activities such as the creation of new
customers, suppliers, nominal accounts, products, banks, and invoices are not possible.
Also, it is not be possible to post or otherwise modify transactions or to process recurring
entries.
Accounts Professional users only: A new report is created so that you can view your
Profit & Loss with your prior year values, taken from your archived company data.
306
Company Tasks
3. When you have finished looking at your archived data, you will want to return to your
company data. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Open > Company and
then select the company whose data you require.
The archived company data closes and your current (live) accounting data reappears.
To delete an existing company archive

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Open > Company Archive.
The Company Archives window appears.
2. Select the company archive that you want to remove, then click Delete.
Sage 50 Accounts removes the archived company data.
Checking the Financial Year Start Date setting

To check your financial year is correct, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings >
Financial Year. Check that the month and year are correct for your new financial year.
Note: If you change your Financial Year start date, all of your prior year columns (on nominal
records) are cleared.
307
Recording a Journal Entry

The "journal" is used for recording non-regular transactions. These include:
Entering opening figures of a new business (i.e. opening balances).
Depreciation of fixed assets.
Error corrections in your accounts.
Purchase and sale of fixed assets.
Writing off bad debts.
The journal is also important because it acts as a record of the non-regular transaction, like a
note book, to help you remember what the non-regular transactions were for.
You can also use journal entries to make transfers between any of your nominal account types:
Asset, Liability, Income or Expense. However beware, when using journal entries, you must
adhere to strict double-entry bookkeeping principles; for every debit total, there must be a
corresponding balancing credit. This does not mean that for every single debit item you must
post a single credit item. For example, you can post several debits but one balancing credit, and
vice versa. As long as the net difference between your postings is zero, for instance the total
value of credits equals the total value of debits, you can post the journal entry.
For example, you would use journal entries to record the payment of staff wages. This is
explained in more detailed in the section, Paying wages using journal entries on page 313.
To make a journal entry

1. Select Company > New Journal
The Nominal Ledger Journals window appears. A journal comprises of a batch of individual
debit and credit transactions. To follow double-entry bookkeeping principles, the values of
the credit transaction must equal the value of the debit transaction. Each line of the journal
entry table represents a single transaction, and there must be at least two transactions in
the journal.
Note: You can use the Print List button on the Nominal Ledger Journals window to print
what is displayed. You may want to do this if you want to manually tick off the journals that
you have posted.
308
Company Tasks
2. The boxes at the top of the journal show the following batch details:
Reference Enter a unique reference for the transfer, using up to thirty characters.
Date The system date appears automatically. You can change this if necessary.
Balance As you enter transactions, the box automatically updates to show the
difference remaining between the Debit and Credit totals.
3. In the transaction table, enter the following transaction details, one line per transaction:
Note: You can use the Print List button on the Nominal Ledger Journals window to print
what appears. You may want to do this if you want to manually tick off the journals that you
have posted.
N/C Enter the nominal account that you want to post this transaction to. If
required, use the drop-down button to choose the nominal code from the
nominal account list or to create a new account.
Name The name of the nominal account you have entered appears here
automatically. You cannot edit this box.
Dept If you want to analyse this transaction to a department, enter the

department number here.
309
Details Enter a description for the transaction of up to sixty characters.
T/C Enter an appropriate VAT Code for the transaction. Journals are usually a
movement of funds between accounts that do not involve VAT. The
default non-vatable tax code as set up on the Company Preferences'
VAT tab appears here automatically.
Whatever code you use, Sage 50 Accounts will not calculate the VAT for
you or post VAT to the VAT Control Account. If you want to include VAT in
this journal, enter the VAT element as a separate line, with the
appropriate debit or credit to the appropriate VAT Control Account (sales
or purchases) and a relevant tax code.
Debit Each transaction can either be a debit or a credit (not both). Enter any
debit value here.
Credit Each transaction can either be a debit or a credit (not both). Enter any
credit value here.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users: If you use this journal entry regularly,
you can save it as a skeleton, so that you can re-create it quickly and easily. For more
information about skeleton journals, type 'skeletons' in the index of the Sage 50 Accounts
Help system.
4. To post your journal, click Save or to clear the window and enter new data, click Discard.
5. To return to the Nominal Ledger window, click Close.
Reversing nominal journals

If you have posted a journal entry incorrectly, you can use the Reversals facility to remove the
journal. You can then re-enter the journal correctly.
For example, if you have posted a journal with the incorrect date, you can reverse the journal
and then re-enter the information with the correct date.
To reverse a journal entry

2. Click Reversals.
You are prompted to print your Nominal Ledger Day Book report and to make a backup of
your data. We recommend that you print your Day Book and take a backup of your data
so that you have a copy of your original data before you process the reversal.
310
Company Tasks
3. To print the Nominal Ledger Day Book, click Print Now and select the range and output
you want to use for your Day Book from the Criteria window. After you have selected the
range and output to use for your Day Book report, you are returned to the Nominal
Reversals window.
4. To backup your data, click Backup Now and complete the backup procedure. For further
information about backing up your data, refer to Backing up your data on page 302.
When you have completed your backup, the Nominal Reversals window appears.
5. Click OK.
The Transaction Range window appears.
Note: You can find the details in the Nominal Ledger Day Book that you printed in step 2.
Transaction Range Enter the transaction number range that you want to use to find
From and To the journal entry you want to reverse.
Date Enter the date that you posted the original journal entry here.
Reference If you know the reference that you used to post the journal entry,
enter it here.
Department If you have posted the journal entry against specific department,
enter it here.
7. To continue with the reversal procedure, click OK.

If no transactions are found with the details you have entered, a message appears. Click
OK to return to the Transaction Range window.
If matching transactions are found, the Nominal Reversals window appears listing all of the
posted journal entries that match the transaction range criteria.
311
8. Highlight the items that you want to reverse.

Note: The total debit and total credit amounts must be equal.
9. Click Reverse.
Tip: If the journal you are looking for is not displayed in the list, you may have used the
wrong transaction range or date. To enter the correct details, click Range then click OK to
return to the Nominal Reversals window.
If the selected items do not balance, a message appears informing you that your debits
and credits must be equal before the journal can be reversed. Click OK and make your
selections again.
If the selected items do balance a confirmation window appears, showing the transactions
you have selected to reverse. You cannot change the information shown here.
10. If the information shown is correct and you are sure that you want to reverse this journal,
click Save.
If the information is incorrect, click Cancel to return to the Nominal Reversals window.
The reversal journals are posted to the audit trail with the original journal transaction date,
a reference of REVERSE and details of Reversal of Tran. xx, where xx is the number of the
reversed transaction.
You have now completed the journal reversal and should re-enter the original journal using
the correct details.
Tip: To look at the reversals you have made, run the Day Books: Nominal Journal Reversal
Report from the Nominal Reports facility.
312
Company Tasks
Paying wages using journal entries

When you pay your staff, you need to update your accounts to include the payments you have
made for wages and deductions. First, you need to post the salary journal entry to your nominal
ledger to keep your trading accounts correct. You then need to record your bank payments to
update your bank balance.
To prepare to post your salary journals

The Nominal Ledger window appears.
Check that your Nominal Ledger Chart of Accounts includes the net wages, PAYE, pension
fund and national insurance/PRSI nominal account codes in the balance sheet section of
the layout of accounts. For more information, see Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of
Accounts.
The default for these nominal account codes are:
2210 PAYE
2211 National Insurance
Note: Users in the Republic of Ireland can change the name of this account to PRSI. For
more information, see Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of Accounts.
2212 Tax Credits Funding (if applicable)
2214 Student Loans (if applicable)
2215 Attachments (if applicable)
2216 Deductions (if applicable)
2220 Net Wages
2230 Pension Fund
Check that your Nominal Ledger Chart of Accounts includes nominal accounts codes for
gross pay, employer's NI and employer's pension in the profit and loss section of the layout
of accounts. For more information, see Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of Accounts.
The defaults for these nominal account codes are:
7000 Gross Wages
7001 Directors Salaries
7002 Directors Remuneration
7006 Employer's NI
7007 Employer's Pension
7010 SSP Reclaimed
7011 SMP Reclaimed
Note: If you need to edit or create a Chart of Accounts or the nominal account codes, refer
to Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of Accounts and Chapter 5, Setting Up Records.
313
2. Make a note of the totals from your payroll run, for example the money that you have paid,
for the period to be posted for PAYE, net wages, total National Insurance/PRSI
contributions - that is, employer and employee national insurance/PRSI contributions,
employer's National Insurance/PRSI contributions, gross wages, any employer and
employee pension contributions and SSP/SMP reclaimed, if applicable.
To post your salary journals

2. Enter a reference and the date of your payroll run then post the journal entry as shown in
the following table:
.
Debit Credit
7000 Gross Wages Debit

(Total gross wages including adjustments, SSP and SMP)
7006 Employers NI Debit

(Total employer's NI contributions)
2220 Net wages Credit

(Total net wages i.e. total of employees' take home pay)
2210 PAYE Credit

(Total PAYE deducted)
2210 PAYE (Tax Credit amount) Debit

Note: If you receive Tax Credit Funding, this Debit amount should
be posted to the Tax Credit Funding account. If you do not already
have a Tax Credit Funding account, we suggest using a nominal
code in the Current Liability section of the Balance Sheet. For
example, 2212.
2211 National Insurance/PRSI Credit

(Total employer and employee national insurance/PRSI
contributions).
Note: If you receive an employee or employer National Insurance
rebate, the value should be posted to this nominal code as a debit.
2214 Student Loans (if applicable) Credit

(Total of Student Loans deductions made)
2215 Attachments (if applicable) Credit

(total of Attachments deducted from employees' net pay)
314
Company Tasks
2216 Deductions Credit

(Total of remaining employee deductions, excluding Attachments
and Student Loans)
If your Payroll includes pensions you need to post the following

transactions.
2230 Pension Credit

(Total employer and employee pension contributions)
7007 Employers Pension Debit

(Total employer's pension contributions)
If your payroll includes SSP or SMP you need to post the following
transactions:
7010 SSP Reclaimed Credit

(Total SSP reclaimed)
7011 SMP Reclaimed Credit

(Total SMP reclaimed)
2211 National Insurance/PRSI Debit

(Total SSP/SMP reclaimed)
Note for Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users: You can recall the standard
skeleton salary journal, by choosing Recall and selecting the file salary.njr, or you can save
your own skeleton so you can re-create it quickly and easily. For more information about
skeleton journals, type skeletons in the index of the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
3. To save your journal entry details, click Save.
Note: You will only be able to save the journal entry when the balance displayed is equal
to zero.
4. To exit the Nominal Ledger Journals window, click Close.
You have posted your salary journal entry to your nominal ledger and should now record
the bank payments for the net wages, PAYE, national insurance and pension, if applicable.
315
To record the bank payment for your wages

1. Select Bank > New Payment.
The Bank Payments window appears.
2. Enter the details into the Bank Payments window as follows:
:
Bank From the drop-down list, choose the required bank account.
Date The program date is automatically entered for you to. Change this if
required.
Ref Enter a unique reference, of up to thirty characters. For example, the

cheque number.
N/C From the drop-down list, choose the nominal code for Net Wages - by
default 2220.
Department If you want to analyse this transaction to a department, enter the

department number here.
Details Enter any details you require here; up to sixty characters.
Net Enter a value for the net wages.
T/C Enter the non-vatable tax code here; T9 by default.
Tax This shows the amount of tax.

This will be zero when you have selected the non-vatable tax code; T9 by
default.
3. To record your bank payments for employee wages, click Save.

You have recorded the bank payments for your wages.
To record the bank payment to HM Revenue & Customs

(or the Revenue Commissioners)
2. Use the drop-down list to choose the name of the bank you require. Select the bank name
and then click OK.
3. Check the date that you sent your contributions to HM Revenue & Customs or Revenue
Commissioners is correct. Enter the nominal code for PAYE (2210) and the amount in the
Net column. Finally, enter the non-vatable tax code; T9 by default.
316
Company Tasks
4. On the following line of the Bank Payments window enter the Bank Account name again.
Tip: Use the F6 function key to copy information from above.
5. Enter the nominal code for National Insurance/PRSI (2211), the amount of National
Insurance/PRSI and finally the non-vatable tax code; T9 by default.
Note: Users in the Republic of Ireland can change the name of this account to PRSI. For
more information, see Chapter 4, Setting Up your Chart of Accounts.
6. Choose the Save button to record your bank payments for your contributions to the
Revenue Accounts Office (or Revenue Commissioners).
7. You have recorded the bank payment sent to the Revenue & Customs (or Revenue
Commissioners).
To record the bank payment to the pension company

2. Use the drop-down list to choose the name of the bank you require. Select the bank name
and then click OK.
3. Check the date you sent your contributions is correct. Enter the Pension Fund nominal
code (2230) and the amount of contribution and the non-vatable tax code; T9 by default.
4. To post your bank payments for your contributions to your pension company, click Save.
You have now recorded the bank payment sent to the pension company.
You have now completed the process for recording your wages payments in Sage 50 Accounts.
317
Clearing the Audit Trail

Clearing the audit trail removes fully paid and reconciled transactions from your audit trail up to
a date that you choose, and stores them in your data files. This means that you have fewer 'live'
transactions to work with, which speeds up tasks such as printing reports and backing up your
data.
Note: The Clear Audit Trail process is irreversible, and means that removed transactions no
longer appear on the audit trail, transactional reports or activity windows. It is therefore essential
that you back up your data prior to clearing the audit trail, and print copies of your audit trail,
day books, activity and VAT Return reports.
When Clear Audit Trail removes transactions, Sage 50 Accounts posts journal entries to the
nominal codes that the transactions were linked to. This ensures that the balances on your
nominal ledger are the same before and after clearing the audit trail. Sage 50 Accounts uses the
Clear Audit Trail date as the date for these journals. The journals display the details Opening
Balance, and appear at the end of your audit trail when the Clear Audit Trail routine is complete.
After clearing your audit trail, you can view details of the deleted transactions using Sage 50
Accounts Cleared Audit Trail reports. To view these reports, select Company > Financial
Reports and then open the Cleared Audit Trail Reports folder.
Note: If you choose to archive your company data when you run your next year end, the archive
includes the removed transactions and clears them from the current data into the company
archive. In order to view details of cleared transactions after archiving your data, you must open
the relevant company archive and then run the audit trail report you require.
To summarise, Clear Audit Trail:
Removes all fully paid, allocated and reconciled transactions from the audit trail, provided
that they are posted on or before the date you specify. For full details of the criteria Clear
Audit Trail uses to remove transactions, refer to the following section.
Carries forward as outstanding items any unreconciled and/or unallocated transactions
that are dated before or on the date you specify.
Carries forward as outstanding items any customer and supplier transactions that are
dated after the date you specify.
Posts an opening balance journal to each nominal ledger and bank account for the value
of all removed transactions.
Does not affect any transactions that are dated after the date you specify, or that are dated
before the date you specify but are not fully paid/allocated and reconciled.
Note: It is important to stress that Clear Audit Trail is an optional task, and unless you are certain
that you no longer need transactional information up to a specific date, you should not clear
the audit trail.
For example, would you ever need to query a customer or supplier activity? If so, how far back
would this go? You should consider this before clearing the audit trail.
318
Company Tasks
Criteria for clearing transactions

Clear Audit Trail removes transactions up to and including the date you specify, providing they
meet all of the following criteria:
Transactions must be fully paid and/or allocated. These transactions display 'Y' in the Paid
column in the Financials window.
Bank transactions must be flagged as reconciled with the appropriate bank account.
These transactions display 'R' in the Bank column in the Financials window. Alternatively,
bank transactions must be flagged as not requiring reconciliation - these items display '-'
in the Bank column.
Transactions with VAT must be fully reconciled on the VAT Return. These transactions
display 'R' in the VAT column on the Financials window.
If a transaction does not meet all of the above criteria, Clear Audit Trail does not remove it.
Important Note: ALL transactions that are linked together must meet ALL of the above
criteria before Clear Audit Trail can remove any of them. That is, every transaction in a chain
must be dated on or prior to the date you specify, fully paid and/or allocated, fully bank
reconciled (where applicable) and fully VAT reconciled (where applicable). If any transaction
in a chain does not meet one or more of these criteria, then Clear Audit Trail cannot remove
any of the linked transactions.
Examples of linked transactions are a sales invoice and its corresponding sales receipt, or
two purchase invoices paid off by a purchase credit note and a purchase payment.
To clear your audit trail

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Period End > Clear Audit Trail.
The Clear Audit Trail Wizard appears.
2. To continue, click Next.
The Confirming you have printed reports window appears.
319
The wizard lists the reports you should print before proceeding to clear the audit trail.
Note: Because Clear Audit Trail removes transactions and is irreversible, you will not be
able to print these reports for cleared transactions after the process is complete. It is
important that you print these reports now:
Audit Trail
Monthly Day Books
Sales, Purchase and Nominal Activity
VAT Return reports
3. If you have not printed your reports, click Cancel to exit the wizard and print them now. You
will need to start the wizard again from step 1.
Alternatively, if you have printed your reports, to continue, click Next. The Confirming your
Clear Audit Trail date window appears.
320
Company Tasks
4. Enter the date that you want to remove fully paid and reconciled transactions up to.
Remember that this date is inclusive.
Caution: If there is any possibility that you may need any of the transactional information
in the future, choose this date with care.
Important: It is essential that you back up your data before you clear the audit trail, as the
process is permanent and irreversible.
If you do not have at least one current backup of your data, click Backup Now. The Backup
window appears. Click Yes to check your data before backing up, then select the location
and file types to back up, and click OK. When the Backup process is complete, Sage 50
Accounts returns you to the Clear Audit Trail wizard.
5. If you have already made your pre-Clear Audit Trail backups, click Next to proceed.
Note: If you enter a date prior to the current financial year end, a message appears,
prompting you to confirm this date.
The Removing the transactions confirmation window appears.
6. Confirm that the date you want to clear transactions up to and including is correct.
If the date shown is not correct, click Back to return to the previous screen and enter the
correct date. Click Next to proceed to the Removing the transactions confirmation window
and check that the date is correct.
If the date shown is correct, click Process to begin the Clear Audit Trail procedure. A
progress bar appears, showing that Clear Audit Trail is processing. When the process is
complete, the Finished window appears.
321
The Finished window displays how many transactions have been removed, and allows you
to view the details of the cleared transactions.
7. To view a list of the removed transactions when the process is complete, select the I would
like to view details of the removed transactions check box.
8. To complete the Clear Audit Trail process and close the wizard, click Finish.
If you selected the I would like to view details of the removed transactions check box, the
Audit Trail Historic List report appears, showing details of the removed transactions. You
can print or save this report is you require.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.
You have successfully cleared your audit trail.
322
Company Tasks
Clearing Stock Transactions

The Clear Stock facility can be used as part of the Month End and Year End routines. It is a way
of clearing down transactions from your Product History prior to a specified date.
For full details about how to clear your stock transactions, see Clearing your stock transactions
on page 296.
Compressing Your Data

If you have deleted your Customer, Supplier, Nominal, Bank and Product Records, use the
Compress Data facility to return the unused disk space as free space. We recommend that you
use this facility if you have deleted a large volume of data.
To compress your data files

1. Ensure you have taken at least one backup of your data.
2. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Maintenance.
3. Click Compress.
The Compress Data Files window appears.
4. To compress all data files, select the Compress All Data Files check box.
If you clear this check box, you can select the particular data files that you want to
compress.
5. To continue with the compression, click Compress. To exit without compressing, click
Close.
323
324
Chapter 7
Banking Tasks
This chapter contains information on the In this chapter:

tasks included in Sage 50 Accounts Bank
Recording a Bank Receipt ...............326
module. It discusses all the activities youll
need to perform when working with your Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card
bank accounts. Payment ..........................................331
In this chapter, we guide you through Recording a Transfer........................343
recording payments and receipts and Reconciling Your Bank Account .......345
show you how to process a transfer of
Creating and Processing Recurring
funds between accounts. Well also
Transactions ....................................353
introduce the process of reconciling your
bank accounts in Sage 50 Accounts with Viewing Bank Transaction Activity ....364
your actual bank statements. Managing Your Petty Cash...............366
Later, we discuss how to create and
process regular transactions, such as
standing orders and direct debits, using
Recurring Entries, along with viewing bank
transaction activity.
Finally, the chapter covers how to handle
petty cash transactions, such as
expenses, in Sage 50 Accounts.
This chapter assumes you have set up
your bank accounts. For information
about this see Entering Bank Account
Records on page 190.
Recording a Bank Receipt

Use Bank > New Receipt to record any money you receive that does not go to pay
invoices you have sent. For example, you can record;
Bank interest.
Dividends received.
Money received for an insurance claim.
Money received from a grant.
Tip: The Bank Receipts facility is often used by cash businesses, for example,
newsagents, bars and restaurants, where customers pay at the time of purchasing and
no invoice is raised.
You can record details of this money received in one or more of the different nominal
accounts. By allocating your income to different accounts you can see at a glance the
different sources of your money and how much you are receiving from each source. For
example, you would record money you received from an insurance claim to the nominal
code 4903 (Insurance Claims).
The window that appears for you to enter your receipts is the same, whatever the type of
bank account that you select; Cheque Account, Cash Account, or Credit Card Account.
However, each type of account records a different transaction type onto the audit trail.
Make sure when you are dealing with credit card receipts that you have selected the
correct credit card bank account.
To record money you have received

1. Select Bank > New Receipt.
The Bank Receipts window appears.
2. For each receipt, enter the following details one line at a time:
Banking Tasks
Bank Enter the bank account you require, or use the drop-down list to
choose the bank account required.
Date The program date is entered for you automatically, but you can
change this as required.
Tip: If you have several receipts to enter with the same date, why not
change the program date, see page 65.
Ref Enter a reference here for this receipt. For example, enter a cheque
number or a deposit number. You will find this very useful when you
reconcile your bank accounts.
N/C Enter a nominal account code for the income to be posted to, or use
the drop-down button to select from the list of available codes. You
can create a new account code here if necessary.
Dept Enter the department that you want this transaction to be analysed
to.
Details Describe the income transaction here for your reference.
Net If you are not concerned with VAT analysis, you can simply enter the
gross amount in this box. If you need to record VAT you will normally
enter the net amount of the receipt. However, you can enter either
the net or gross amount here, according to how you want Sage 50
Accounts to calculate VAT.
If you enter the gross amount here, you can calculate the VAT
amount and the corresponding net amount by choosing the
Calculate Net button. The net amount box is then changed to reflect
the true net amount. Each time you enter a value in the net amount
box, the analysis total is updated at the foot of the column.
T/C A tax code has already been entered for you that has been copied
from the tax code set up as your Customer's Default. If required, you
can change this to whichever VAT code is appropriate for this
payment item, for example T0 to T99.
Tax This box displays the amount of VAT automatically calculated from
the Net amount and the tax code. If you entered a zero-rated VAT
code (for example, T0) then the VAT amount will be zero.
327
3. If you calculated the batch totals manually before you started entering them in Sage 50
Accounts, check your totals against those shown on the Bank Receipts window. These
are:
Net Total This shows the total of the amounts entered in the Net column.
Tip: This box is not labelled but appears below the item lines under
the Net column.
Tax Total This shows the totals of the amounts entered in the Tax column.
Tip: This box is not labelled but appears below the item lines under
the Tax column.
Total This shows the net total added to the tax total to give the gross total.
Other boxes displayed on your window show the following information:
Bank The name of the bank account automatically appears in this box
when you enter the bank account code.
N/C Name The name of the nominal ledger account automatically appears in this
box when you enter the nominal account code.
Tax Rate This is the tax rate for the tax code that you selected.
Notes for users of Accounts Professional: If you are using Foreign Trader and have set
up foreign bank accounts, the Currency and the Exchange Rate are displayed as well as
the standard information listed in this procedure.
4. To accept your entries, click Save. The details are posted instantly to update the
appropriate nominal and bank accounts, and the Bank Receipts window clears.
If you don't want to save this batch, click Discard to clear the data and start again. The
Discard button does not however cancel any batch entries you have already saved.
5. To exit the Bank Receipts window, click Close.
328
Banking Tasks
Memorising and recalling bank receipts

If you make the same bank receipts frequently you can save the batch of receipts as a template,
which you can load each time you want to post them, for example, if you receive regular interest
payments on your savings.
You can then change the date and any receipt values or add any additional information you
need. Not only does this save you time, it also reduces the possibility of errors being made as
you enter the data.
To memorise a batch of bank receipts

1. Enter your bank receipts, as you would do normally; see Recording a Bank Receipt on
page 326.
Alternatively you can use a different method. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select
Edit > Memorise.
2. Click Memorise.
Note: You cannot memorise an empty template. If you try to memorise an empty template,
a message appears informing you that there are no transactions to memorise.
The Memorise window appears.
3. Select the directory where you want to store your bank receipt template, for example in
your INVOICES directory, and then enter a filename for your template.
4. To save the template, click Save. If you do not want to save the template, click Cancel.
If the filename already exists, you are prompted to overwrite the contents of the template.
If you want to do this click Yes. If you do not want to overwrite the existing template, click
No and enter a different filename.
You have now memorised your bank receipt template and the Bank Receipts window
reappears.
5. If you do not want to post the bank receipts, for example if you are waiting for additional
information, click Discard.
If you do want to post the batch entry, click Save.
To recall a batch of bank receipts

1. Select Bank > New Receipt.
2. From the Bank Receipts window, click Recall.
Edit > Recall.
329
Note: If you have already entered information into the batch data entry window, you are
prompted that if you continue, the information that you have already entered will be lost.
To overwrite the information, click Yes.
The Recall window appears.
3. Select the directory where your bank receipt template is stored, for example in your
INVOICES directory, and then locate the filename for your template.
4. To load the template, click Open. If you do not want to recall the template, click Cancel.
The template appears in the batch data entry window and shows the saved data.
Note: If you have tried to load a template that was not created using the option you are
currently using, a message appears informing you that you must select a different filename.
For example, you cannot load a bank payment template in the Bank Receipt window.
5. Make any changes to the bank receipts and then save the batch.
You have now recalled the bank receipts template.
330
Banking Tasks
Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card Payment

Use Bank > New Payment, to record all bank payments you make that do not involve a supplier
account. For example, you can record payments you have made from your bank, cash or credit
card accounts for petrol, donations and so on.
All you need to do to keep track of where your money goes, is select the bank, cash or credit
card account you want to pay from and enter the payments in the transaction entry window that
appears. Sage 50 Accounts takes care of the accounting procedures for you.
Each payment can be made up of many individual transactions, each one posted to a different
nominal account if required. This feature is very useful if you want to analyse where your money
is going.
Note: Credit card transactions are totally separate from other payments that you process. They
must not be confused. You should keep a separate record of these transactions by using a
different bank account, for example Company Credit Card payments.
To record bank payments

331
2. For each payment, enter the following details one line at a time.
Bank Enter the bank account you are paying from, or use the drop-down
list to choose the bank account required.
Date The program date is entered for you automatically but you can
change this as required.
Tip: If you have several payments to enter with the same date, you
can save time by changing the program date, see page 65.
Ref Enter a reference here for this payment, if required. This appears on
the audit trail next to the transaction.
N/C Enter a nominal account code for the payment to be posted to, or
use the drop-down button to select from the list of available codes.
You can create a new account code here if necessary.
Dept Enter the department code here. The transaction will be included
when analysing by department at a later date.
Project Reference If you have created projects, the payment can be assigned to a
(Accounts Plus project if required, by entering the projects reference code or
and Accounts choosing the project from the drop-down list.
Professional
Only)
Cost Code If you have selected a project reference for the payment, the relevant
(Accounts Plus cost code should be entered here.
and Accounts
Professional
only)
Details Describe the payment transaction here, for example Motor

Expenses.
Net If you are not concerned with VAT analysis, you can simply enter the
gross amount in this box. If you need to record VAT you will normally
enter the net amount of the payment.
However, you can enter either the net or gross amount here,
according to how you want Sage 50 Accounts to calculate VAT.
332
Banking Tasks
If you enter the gross amount here, you can instruct Sage 50
Accounts to calculate the VAT amount and the corresponding net
amount by clicking Calc. Net. The box is then changed to reflect the
true net amount.
Each time you enter a value in the net amount box, the batch total is
updated at the foot of the column.
T/C A tax code has already been entered for you. This has been copied
from the tax code set up as your Supplier's default. If required,
change this VAT code to one that is appropriate for this payment
item, for example T0 to T99.
Tax This box displays the amount of VAT automatically calculated from
code, for example T0, then the VAT amount will be zero.
3. If you calculated the batch totals manually before you started entering them in Sage 50
Accounts, check your totals against those shown on the Bank Payments window. These
are:
Net Total This shows the total of the amounts entered in the Net column.
Tip: This box is not labelled but appears below the item lines under the
Net column.
Tax Total This shows the totals of the amounts entered in the Tax column.
Tip: This box is not labelled but appears below the item lines under the
Tax column.
Total This shows the net total added to the tax total to give the gross total.
Other boxes displayed on your window show the following information:
Bank The name of the bank account automatically appears in this box when
you enter the bank account code.
N/C The name of the nominal ledger account automatically appears in this box
when you enter the nominal account code.
Tax Rate This is the tax rate for the tax code you selected.
333
Notes for Accounts Professional users only: If you are using Foreign Trader and have
set up foreign bank accounts, the currency and the exchange rate are displayed as well as
the standard information.
4. To accept your entries, click Save. The details are posted instantly to update the
appropriate nominal account and the bank account, and the Bank Payments window
clears.
If you do not want to save this batch, click Discard to clear the data and start again. The
Discard button does not cancel any batch entries you have already saved.
5. To exit the Bank Payments window, click Close.
Memorising and recalling bank payments

If you make the same bank payments frequently, for example, if you service your cars every
three months, you can save the batch of payments as a template which you can load each time
you want to post the set of payments.
You can then change the date and any payment values or add any additional information you
need. Not only does this save you time, but it also reduces the possibility of errors being made
as you enter the data.
To memorise a batch of bank payments

1. Enter your bank payments as you would do normally - see To record bank payments on
page 331.
2. Click Memorise.
You cannot memorise an empty template. If you try to memorise an empty template, a
message appears informing you that there are no payments to memorise. To continue,
click OK.
Alternatively, you can use a different method. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select
Edit > Memorise.
3. Select the directory where you want to store your bank payment template, for example in
your INVOICES directory, and then enter a filename for your template.
4. To save the template, click Save. If you do not want to save the template, click Cancel.
If the filename already exists, you are prompted to overwrite the contents of the template.
If you want to do this click Yes. If you do not want to overwrite the existing template, click
No and enter a different filename.
You have now memorised your bank payment template. The Bank Payments window
appears.
334
Banking Tasks
5. If you do not want to post the bank payments, for example if you are waiting for additional
information, click Discard.
If you do want to post the batch entry, click Save.
To recall batch bank payments

2. From the Bank Payment window, click Recall.
Edit > Recall.
Note: If you have already entered information into the batch data entry window, you are
prompted that if you continue any information already entered will be lost. To overwrite the
information, click Yes.
The Recall window appears.
3. Select the directory where your bank payment template is stored, for example in your
INVOICES directory and then locate the filename for your template.
4. To load the template, click Open. If you do not want to recall the template, click Cancel.
The template appears in the batch data entry window and shows the data saved when the
template was first created.
Note: If you have tried to load a template that was not created using the option you are
currently using, a message appears informing you that you must select a different filename.
For example, you cannot load a bank receipt template in the Bank Payment window.
5. Make any necessary changes, then click Save to record the Bank Payment details.
You have now recalled a bank payments template.
Producing cheques
There are two ways to prepare cheques in Sage 50 Accounts and only one way to print them.
You can prepare cheques using the Payment or Supplier buttons on the Bank Accounts
window. Once you have prepared the cheques using either of these methods, you can only print
them using the Cheque List option.
If you want to prepare a cheque to pay an invoice sent to you by a supplier, for example make
a purchase payment, you would do this using the Supplier button on the Bank Accounts
window. When you prepare a cheque in this way, Sage 50 Accounts will automatically update
your Purchase or Supplier ledger.
If you want to prepare a cheque to pay for a one-off cost, or to make a payment to a supplier
that is not set up on your system as a supplier, you would do this using the Payment button, or
335
Bank > New Payment. Doing this will not affect your Suppliers, but will record the transaction in
the relevant Bank and Nominal accounts.
Once you have prepared your cheques using either of these two methods, you have to go to
the Cheque List option, to physically print them out. This way you can prepare as many cheques
as you like and then print them off in one go, for example, some companies prepare their
cheques throughout the month and do a print run at the end of the month.
Note: When printing cheques you must set the Cheque lines per page from within your
Company Preferences settings. If you have 12" cheque layouts, set this to 13 cheque lines per
page. If you are using A4 cheque layouts, set this to 11 cheque lines per page. When you are
printing your cheques you may have to make further adjustments to the number of cheque lines
per page until your cheque layout is printed correctly.
To prepare your cheques using the Supplier option

Use this option to pay an invoice sent to you by a supplier - that is, make a purchase payment.
When you prepare a cheque in this way, Sage 50 Accounts will automatically update your
Purchase or Supplier ledger.
1. Open the Bank module, then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the Bank
Accounts view.
2. Select the bank account from where you want to pay your supplier, and then click Supplier.
The Supplier Payment window appears. This also displays the name of the selected bank
account (on the title bar of the window).
Note: The top half of the window looks like a cheque.
336
Banking Tasks
3. Enter the following details:
Payee Enter the account code of the supplier you want to pay, or use
the drop-down list to select from the list of available codes. You
can create a new supplier account here if necessary. All items
that you have been invoiced for by that supplier and which are
not fully paid, as well as payments you have made on account
and credit notes, appear automatically in the table.
Date The program date is entered for you automatically. Type in the
date you made the payment if this is different. Use the
Calendar button to enter the date.
Cheque Number Leave this box blank because Sage 50 Accounts will
automatically generate these cheque numbers.
See step 5 in To print your cheques using Cheque List on page
340.
Cheque Total You can enter the amount of the cheque in two ways.
Note: This box is not Firstly, you can enter it manually, by placing your cursor in the
labelled, but appears box and typing in the sum you want to pay. You can then click
where you would Automatic, which will then allocate the value of the cheque to
normally enter the sum the invoices in the order they are displayed. Your bank balance
of the cheque. will also be automatically reduced by the total amount on the
cheque.
Secondly, you can enter the amounts you want to pay per
invoice. This way you enter the value in each Payment box and
Sage 50 Accounts will automatically put the total in the cheque
and reduce your bank balance accordingly (see step 4).
4. Allocate the money paid to the individual invoice items displayed in the item table by
entering a value in the Payment box of each. You can part pay an invoice item or pay it off
in full, but you cannot allocate more than the full value of the item.
If you are paying an item in full, click on the item's Payment box then click Pay in Full. The
amount needed to pay the item in full is then entered for you automatically.
Continue allocating in this way until the amount in the Analysis Total box equals the amount
you are paying to your supplier.
5. If you have been given any discount against an invoice item, then enter the discount
amount, not the percentage amount, in the Discount box. For example, this may have been
offered to you for early payment. The amount shown in the Payment column is reduced by
the value of the discount entered.
337
If you have selected not to create remittance information for each supplier payment within
your Bank Defaults and you want to print a remittance advice note, click Create
Remittance. This saves the remittance information. To print your remittance advice note
and cheque, follow the instructions given in the following section.
If you have selected to create remittance information for each supplier payment within your
Bank Defaults, the Create Remittance button does not appear. To print your remittance
advice note and cheque, follow the instructions given in the following section.
6. To save your payment details, click Save.
To prepare your cheques using the Payment option

Use this option to prepare cheques for one-off payments. Using this option does not affect your
Suppliers, but will record the transaction in the relevant Bank and Nominal accounts.
1. Select the Bank module and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Bank Accounts view.
2. Select the bank account from where you want to pay, and then click Payment.
The Bank Payments window appears. This also displays the name of the selected bank
account.
.
338
Banking Tasks
Bank Enter the bank account you want to make the payment from. If the
bank account selected is not a cheque account - that is, it is a
cash or credit card, a warning appears when you click Print
Cheque. If you are entering several items, you must select the
same bank account for each item to generate the cheque, each
individual cheque needs to be entered separately.
Date The program date is entered for you automatically, but you can
change this if required.
Ref You can enter a reference here for this payment, but any values
entered in this column will be overwritten when the cheque is
printed with the automatically generated cheque number from the
cheque printing option.
N/C Enter here a nominal account code for the payment to be posted
to, or use the drop-down list to select from the list of available
codes. You can create a new account code here if necessary.
Dept Enter the department code here. The transaction will be included
when analysing by department at a later date.
Project Reference If you have created projects, the payment can be assigned to a
(Accounts Plus project if required, by entering the projects reference code or
and Accounts choosing the project from the drop-down list.
Professional Only)
Cost Code If you have selected a project reference for the payment, the
(Accounts Plus relevant cost code should be entered here.
and Accounts
Professional only)
Details Describe the payment transaction here, for example Motor

Expenses.
Net Enter the net amount for the bank payment here.
Each time you enter a value in the amount column, the batch total
is updated at the foot of the column.
T/C By default, the tax code listed in the Supplier Defaults is listed here.
If you have not changed the supplier defaults, the tax code T1 is
entered automatically. You can change this if required.
339
Tax This box displays the amount of VAT, automatically calculated from
code, for example T0, then the VAT amount will be zero.
4. To print a cheque for this bank payment, click Print Cheque.

The Cheque window appears.
5. From the Payee drop-down list, select the supplier you want to make the cheque payable
to. If you do not have a supplier record, type the name you require in the box provided, and
enter the supplier address if required.
6. To save your bank payment to enable you to print the cheque using the Cheque option,
click Save.
7. To return to the Bank Accounts window, click Close.
8. To print your cheques automatically, click Cheques and follow the instructions given in the
next section.
To print your cheques using Cheque List

After preparing your cheques, you now can print them using the Cheque List facility. Some
companies choose to prepare all their cheques as they go and print them off in one go - a print
run.
1. Open the Bank module, then from the toolbar, click Cheques.
The Print Cheques window appears, displaying all the cheques for the highlighted bank
account that have been prepared using the Payments and Suppliers options but have not
been printed before and have blank references.
Note: When printing cheques you must set the Cheque lines per page option from within
your Company Preferences settings. When you are printing your cheques you may have to
make further adjustments to the number of cheque lines per page until your cheque layout
is printed correctly.
340
Banking Tasks
Note: You can use the Print List button to print what is displayed. This can help you when
you are manually ticking off the cheques that you have printed.
2. To select a different bank account use the Bank A/C Ref drop-down list.
3. If you want to restrict the transactions that appear to a certain date range, select the Date
Range check box and enter the date range you require in the From and To boxes.
4. If you want to include cheques that have already been printed, select the Show Printed
Items check box. If you have already printed a cheque, it appears in a different colour in
the Print Cheques window and a 'Y' appears in the Printed column.
Note: If you are certain that you will not want to reprint cheques, you can completely
remove all printed and allocated cheques from the list by choosing the Purge button. Use
this button with care!
5. The starting cheque number is automatically entered for you. The first time you use this
facility, the cheque number 100001 is allocated by default. You can change this number so
it is the same number on the blank cheque that is going to be printed if you require. The
cheque number is automatically updated for you when you print your cheques.
If a cheque has already been printed and allocated a cheque number, the cheque number
appears in the Cheque column.
6. Select the transactions you want to print cheques for.
7. Click Print Cheques. If you have not selected any transactions the software warns you that
cheques will be printed for all listed transactions. To continue, click Yes, and print cheques
for all of the listed transactions, or to abandon and select the individual transactions that
you want to print cheques for, click No.
341
The Cheque Layouts window appears.

8. From the Cheque Layouts window, select the layout you require and click Run.
Layouts that conform to APACS best practice for cheque printing are provided
(SECREM12, SECREMA4 AND SECCHQDT). These layouts offer better protection against
cheque fraud than existing layouts by printing the full amount in words without spaces:
**FORTYTHREETHOUSANDFIVEHUNDREDANDFORTYPOUNDS10P**.
The remaining layouts print the values for thousands, hundreds, pounds and pence to
separate boxes on the cheques.
Note: Your cheque stationery must match the layout you choose.
Your cheques are printed and a message appears asking you to confirm that they have all
printed correctly.
9. If your cheques have printed correctly, each cheque is given a reference number, starting
with the Starting Cheque Number and incrementing by one for the next cheque. When all
of your cheques have been given a reference, the next cheque number is stored with the
bank record.
Note: If your remittance note spans over more than one page, only the final page contains
the printed cheque, cheques on previous pages of the remittance are voided using a series
of 'xxxx's.
342
Banking Tasks
Recording a Transfer
If you want to record the transfer of money from one bank account to another you can do this
either by making a journal entry (see Recording a Journal Entry on page 308), or by selecting
Bank > Record Transfer.
For example, you can use the Bank Transfer facility to record money you have taken from your
current account that you have used to top up your petty cash. Accounts Professional users
can also record transfers between non-base currency accounts (provided that you've activated
Foreign Trader). Sage 50 Accounts uses the exchange rates set up in your Currency table to
calculate the overall exchange rate for the transfer.
There's also a wizard to guide you through the procedure. To use the wizard, select Bank >
Record Transfer. From the Bank Transfer window click Wizard and follow the on-screen
instructions.
Alternatively, if you make bank transfers on a regular basis, you can set up a recurring entry. For
more information, see To enter a journal recurring entry on page 361.
To make a bank transfer

1. Select Bank > Record Transfer.
The Bank Transfer window appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transfer details:
Account from Enter the bank account code of the bank from which the money is
being transferred. Use the drop-down list to select from the bank
account list.
343
Account to Enter the bank account code of the bank you want to receive the
money. Use the drop-down list to select the bank code from the
bank account list.
Reference Type a reference to be recorded for this transaction in the audit trail.
For example, you can enter a cheque number.
Dept If you want your transaction to be analysed to a specific

department, enter the department number here.
Date Today's date is entered for you automatically but you can change
this if required.
Description Type a description of up to sixty characters for easy reference.
Payment Value Enter the value you want to transfer.
Exchange Rate If you have run the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard to use foreign
(Accounts currencies in Sage 50 Accounts, you can enter your currency
Professional exchange rate here.
only)
3. To process the transfer, click Save, to re-enter the data click Discard and/or to leave the
window click Close.
Bank transfers involving foreign currency accounts

(Accounts Professional Only)
If you have activated Foreign Trader so that you can work with accounts in difference currencies,
Sage 50 Accounts Professional allows you to enter bank transfers between base and non-base
currency accounts. You can also post transfers between two non-base currency bank
accounts.
For full details about dealing with inter-currency bank transfers, see Bank Transfers Involving
Foreign Currency Accounts (Accounts Professional Only) on page 716.
344
Banking Tasks
Reconciling Your Bank Account

Bank reconciliation is the process of matching your PC bank records with the statement from
your bank.
We recommend that you reconcile your bank accounts, when you receive your statement from
the bank. By reconciling regularly, you will not have too many transactions to check and you will
not have to make as many adjustments for possible interest charges or overdraft payments.
There are two ways to reconcile your bank accounts. You can use e-Banking see e-Banking on
page 629. Or, as described in this section, you can manually reconcile your bank accounts.
Regardless of which method you choose, bank reconciliation is a formal check of the bank
records you keep against the bank statement(s) you receive from the financial organisation(s)
you deal with.
You dont have to reconcile any of your bank accounts if you dont want to. However, it is good
practise to do so ensuring:
Your bank records are accurate and complete.
Charges and/or interest applied to your account are identified and adjustments made to
account for these.
Erroneous transactions are identified which can then be disputed with the financial
organisation you deal with.
Missing transactions can be added to your bank records to bring them up to date.
What bank reconciliation offers
You can save a history of bank reconciliations.

You can apply a reference to each bank reconciliation to correspond to the relevant
bank statement used.
You can view past reconciliations stored in the history.
You can make your matched bank transactions correspond the those in your bank
statement by repositioning transactions.
You can put a bank reconciliation on hold, save what you have done and return to finish
the job later. The next time you access bank reconciliation you can choose to:
Open the bank reconciliation as it was left. Recently recorded transactions up to
and including the date associated with the bank reconciliation are made available
for reconciliation.
Throw the bank reconciliation away and start again.
You can send the information displayed during reconciliation, matched and unmatched
transactions, to Excel for further analysis.
345
What do I need?
Latest bank statement(s) you have received.
The bank record you want to reconcile enabled for reconciliation.
To reconcile your bank statement

1. Open the Bank module, then from the toolbar, click Reconcile.
The Statement Summary window appears.
2. Select the bank you want to reconcile from the drop-down list.
3. Use the Statement Summary window to record information shown on your bank
statement. You can enter the following statement information:
Statement Reference If you want to maintain a history of bank reconciliations, enter

a statement reference. To associate the reconciliation to your
bank statement, enter the reference shown on your bank
statement.
Statement (End) Date The current system date appears. You can change this date
to the date on your bank statement so that only those
transactions up to and including the date are available for
reconciliation. The date cannot be blank.
346
Banking Tasks
Ending Balance If this is the first time the bank account is to be reconciled the
accounts opening balance is displayed, otherwise the
reconciled balance from the previous reconciliation is
displayed. Enter the balance shown on your bank statement.
If your account is overdrawn, to record a negative amount
place a minus at the beginning of the value.
Interest Earned Amount Amount: If your bank statement shows interest earned,
enter the amount. The amount is committed to the bank
account when transactions are reconciled and appears
as a bank receipt.
Date: Enter the date the interest was applied to your
account.
NC: From the drop-down list, select a nominal account
you want to post the interest to.
Account Charges Amount: If any bank charges appear on your statement,

enter an amount for charges. The amount is committed to
the bank account when reconciliation is reconciled and
appears as a bank payment.
This amount is added to the reconciliation as a fixed
amount, which cannot be split into separate charges. If
you have several charges you want to record separately,
add them using an adjustment.
Date: Enter the date the charges were applied to your
account.
NC: From the drop-down list, select a nominal account
you want to post the charge to.
4. When you have entered your statement information, click OK.

The Bank Reconciliation window appears.
347
All non-reconciled transactions, up to and including the Statement (End) Date, are listed in
the top half of the Bank Reconciliation window - the Unmatched Items section.
An opening balance appears in the lower area of the window - the Matched Against
Statement section. If this is the first time the bank account is to be reconciled the accounts
opening balance appears, otherwise the reconciled balance from the previous
reconciliation appears. It is displayed for information purposes only, it cannot be removed
or changed.
The height of the upper and lower sections can be adjusted by dragging the horizontal
splitter bar up or down, as required. The columns displayed in both panes are completely
configurable - that is, right-click on a column header cell and select the columns to be
displayed from the menu that appears.
Any account charges or interest earned that have been recorded using the Statement
Summary window appear in the lower - Matched Against Statement area of the window.
They cannot be moved into the Unmatched items area. To remove them click Edit, then
set the charge/interest amount to zero on the displayed Statement Summary window and
click OK. Confirm this action by clicking OK when prompted.
Depending on your Sage 50 Accounts settings, transactions may be grouped and
displayed as one transaction (see Entering Your Bank Defaults on page 133). Grouped
transactions are indicated by the letter 'Y' in the Grouped column. See hints and tips at the
end of this section that explain how to view this column.
348
Banking Tasks
5. Work through your bank statement one line at a time. Match a transaction on your bank
statement to a transaction in the Unmatched items area.
Select the item to be matched, then click Match.
The item is removed from the top Unmatched pane, and appears in the lower Matched
pane.
As you move transactions the Matched Balance and Difference values change
automatically.
Transactions are positioned in the lower - Matched Against Statement pane in the order in
which they are moved into the area. Any transaction within this area that is associated with
a negative bank balance appears red.
To move a transaction from the lower - Matched Against Statement pane to the
Unmatched upper pane, left-click on the transaction, then click Unmatch.
Once you become proficient in the reconciling procedure, you can speed up the process
by selecting multiple transactions to match / unmatch.
6. To add a transaction to your bank records (bank charge, interest earned, payment or
receipt) click Adjust.
Important Note: Do not use an adjustment to add transactions that affect your customer
or supplier accounts, for example, BACS receipts from customers, Direct Debit or
Standing Orders to suppliers. You must use the Customer Receipt or Supplier Payment
facilities to record such transactions. Caution: You cannot delete adjustments from the
reconciliation.
The Adjustment window appears.
Enter the following adjustment information.
Nominal Code From the drop-down list, select the nominal account code for the
adjustment transaction. The bank account you are reconciling is
automatically altered by the value you enter in this adjustment.
Date Enter the date for the adjustment transaction.
349
Reference Enter a reference for your adjustment. If no reference is entered, you

are again given the option to enter a reference when you reconcile.
Dept If required, enter a department to assign to the transaction for

reporting purposes.
Details Type a description of the adjustment, for example bank charges.
Tax Code Select the appropriate VAT code for the adjustment.
Payment If you are recording withdrawals from your bank account, enter a
payment value. For example, bank charges that you have paid to the
bank. You should enter the full amount including any VAT.
Receipt Enter a receipt value if you have received money into the bank. For
example, bank interest received. You should enter the full amount
including VAT.
7. To save the adjustment information, click Save. Alternatively to clear the window and enter
new information, click Discard.
The adjustment is displayed in the lower - Matched Against Statement area of the window.
8. To change the position of a transaction in the lower - Matched Against Statement area,
select a transaction and then click up and down arrows to reposition the transaction within
the list.
9. Once you are satisfied you have completed the reconciliation, all transactions are selected,
the 'Statement Balance' = 'Matched Balance' and the 'Difference' balance is zero, click
Reconcile.
Note: If the difference is not zero after clicking Reconcile, a warning appears with the
option to enter an adjustment, ignore the difference or cancel and return to the reconcile
window. For further information about these options, see below.
The transactions are marked as reconciled, displayed as 'R' in the audit trail, and they will
not re-appear for reconciliation again. A history of the reconciliation is stored in PDF format
if you applied a statement reference to the reconciliation.
The Reconciliation window closes.
If the end and matched balances are not equal you can choose to:
Investigate and rectify the problem. Remember, you can put the bank reconciliation
on hold and return to finish it later. Any transactions you add to Sage 50 to rectify the
problem will be made available for reconciliation provided their date does not exceed
the reconciliations Statement (End) Date. To put the bank reconciliation on hold, click
Save and then, when prompted to do so, click OK. If you put the reconciliation on
hold, when you next open the bank reconciliation window you are given the option of
using the saved statement or discarding it to start the reconciliation again.
350
Banking Tasks
Use the Nominal Activity Report to investigate the problem. This report lists all the
transactions that have been made to and from the bank, both reconciled and those
that have not been reconciled. To do this, from the Company module, select Nominal
Ledger > Reports > Nominal Activity Reports. Select the criteria for the bank account
you are reconciling.
Save the reconciliation with a known discrepancy.
The bank reconciliation is saved as usual, however the next time you reconcile the
bank account the opening balance displayed for the bank will be in doubt.
Enter an adjustment.
Hints and tips
Selecting transactions: Instead of using your mouse to select each line of your
statement, you can use the arrow keys to scroll up and down, and use the SPACEBAR
to select each line. Press Return on the keyboard to move selected transactions into
the Matched Against Statement area.
You can sort unmatched items by clicking on any of the column headings in that area.
You can hide or display columns in the Unmatched items area. The Date, Payment and
Receipts columns always appear. You can choose to hide or display the No, Type,
Details, Ref and Grouped columns. To do this right-click a column heading and then
select the columns behaviour from the displayed menu.
Swap: Use this to select or clear multiple transactions.
Clear: If you have highlighted the wrong transaction in the Unmatched items area, to
remove the selection click Clear. This will clear all highlighted transactions.
Find: Use this to search for transactions - unmatched items only. You can search for
transactions by transaction number, account reference, details, reference, date and net
amount.
Print: Use this to generate a copy of the matched and unmatched transactions
displayed during reconciliation.
History: To view a previous bank reconciliation click View History and select the
reconciliation you are interested in from the list of PDFs.
Calculators and calendars: These are found to the right of many data entry boxes and
can be used to enter information.
For more information and common questions and answers, type Bank Reconciliation in the Help
Help index and select Questions from the list.
351
Printing a bank statement report

You can print a statement for any or all of your Sage 50 Accounts bank accounts any time you
want, showing all of your reconciled payments and receipts. This means that your Sage 50
Accounts bank statements should match your actual bank statements.
Note: The Sage 50 Accounts bank statement shows the dates the transactions were given
when entered into Sage 50 Accounts, whereas your actual bank statement shows the dates the
transactions were processed at the bank. Use the Statement facility to print a report in bank
statement form.
To print a bank statement

1. Select Bank > Statement.
The Print Output window appears.
2. Choose the type of print out you require and then click Run.
The Criteria window appears.
3. Enter a date range.
This has a default of a From date of 01/01/80 and a To date which is the program date.
If you accept these defaults, all reconciled transactions up to today's date are included in
the report. You can change these dates so that only transactions within a specific date
range are included, for example, a week or a month. To change the dates, click on the
From and To boxes, and edit the date as required.
4. If required, enter a range in the Bank Ref boxes to select the banks that you want to
produce statements for.
Note: If a bank account is highlighted on the bank list, transactions for that account will be
displayed.
5. To accept the settings and print the statement, click OK. To exit without running the bank
statement, click Cancel.
352
Banking Tasks
Creating and Processing Recurring Transactions

Sage 50 Accounts lets you record the regular payments that you make every month, such as
direct debits and standing orders. These are known as recurring entries. All you need to do is
add these recurring entry details into the Recurring Entries facility, then every day, week or
month, on your command, Sage 50 Accounts is updated with these transaction details.
Explaining recurring entries

Recurring entries are those payments that you make regularly, such as direct debits and
standing orders.
Within Sage 50 Accounts you can enter recurring entries for different time periods. For example,
you can enter daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly recurring entries.
You can enter recurring entries against customer and supplier accounts. For example, you
would set this up if you were paying a supplier by instalments.
You can also enter recurring entries against nominal accounts. For example, you can enter a
recurring entry for bills that you pay on a regular basis.
You can also use the Recurring Entries facility, to set up transfers between your bank accounts
that you make on a regular basis.
The Recurring Entries window lists all of your recurring entries. From here you can add, edit and
delete these entries. You can add the following types of recurring entry:
Bank/Cash/Credit Card You would use this option to record regular payments from
Payment your bank accounts (see the next section).
Bank/Cash/Credit Card You would use this option to record the receipt of money
Receipt from someone else into your bank account, petty cash or
credit card (see the next section).
Bank/Cash/Credit Card You would use this option to transfer money between your
Transfer bank accounts (see the next section).
Customer Payment on Use this option to record the receipt of money from a
Account customer to your accounts. For more information, see To
enter a customer payment on account recurring entry on
page 357.
Supplier Payment on Use this option to record the payment of money from your
Account accounts to a supplier. For more information, see To enter a
supplier payment on account recurring entry on page 359.
353
Journal Debit You would use these options in a similar way to the previous
option, to transfer money between nominal codes. For more
Journal Credit information, see To enter a journal recurring entry on page
361.
You can also view your recurring entries before you post them so that you can make any last
minute changes.
Follow the instructions below for the type of recurring entry that you want to add.
To enter a bank/cash/credit card recurring entry

1. Select Bank > New Recurring Transaction.
The Add/Edit Recurring Entry window appears.
354
Banking Tasks
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transaction details for each recurring entry.
Transaction Type From the drop-down list select the type of transaction that
you want to post.
You can select one of three bank recurring entries from the
list of recurring entries available:
Bank/Cash/Credit Card Payment
Bank/Cash/Credit Card Receipt
Bank/Cash/Credit Card Transfer
Bank A/C If you are entering a bank payment or receipt recurring entry,
enter the bank account nominal code that you want the
recurring entry to be posted to.
If you are entering a bank transfer recurring entry, enter the
bank account nominal code of the bank you are transferring
from.
Nominal Code If you have chosen to enter a bank payment or a receipt

recurring entry, enter the nominal code of the account where
('Bank A/C To' if you are you want the recurring entry posted to.
setting up a transfer)
If you have chosen to post a bank transfer recurring entry,
enter the bank account nominal code that you want to
transfer the money to.
Transaction Ref Enter a reference for the recurring entry transaction here.
Transaction Details Enter some text to describe the transaction. This text
appears in the audit trail.
Department If you want to assign this transaction to a department for

reporting purposes, enter the department number here.
Every Enter the frequency of the recurring entry here. This can be a
number of days, weeks or months. For example, you could
enter 14 days, 5 weeks or 3 months.
355
Total Required Postings If you know the number of postings you need to make, for
example, if you are paying off a loan over 24 months, enter
the number here. This automatically updates the Finish Date.
Note: You cannot change the number shown in the Total
Required Postings box to a number that is less than the
number of postings that have already been made.
For example, if the recurring entry has already been posted
five times and you try to change the Total Required Posting to
three, a message appears informing you that you must enter
a value greater than the number of postings already made.
Click OK to continue.
Start Date Enter the date that you want to start posting the recurring
entry. The date defaults to the program date but you can
Finish Date This box updates automatically if you have entered a value in
the Total Required Postings.
If you have not entered a value in Total Required Postings, the

Finish Date is not calculated. For example, you would not
enter a total number of postings for a rent payment, as you
would expect this payment to continue into the foreseeable
future. In this case no Finish Date would be calculated and
the recurring entry would continue to be posted until you
suspend posting or delete the recurring entry.
The box is updated to read Perpetual.
Last Posted This box shows the date the recurring entry was last posted.
You cannot change this date.
Note: The box remains blank until you have saved and
processed the recurring entry for the first time.
Suspend Posting If you want to suspend the posting of a recurring entry, select
this check box. For example, if there is a dispute, you can
suspend the posting of the recurring entry until it has been
resolved.
Net Amount/Amount Enter the net amount of the transaction in the Net Amount
box.
Note: If you do not post a recurring entry for the same
amount each time, enter zero here.
356
Banking Tasks
Tax Code Enter the tax code you require here.
VAT The VAT element of the transaction appears automatically for

you. You can change this if required.
3. To save your new recurring entry, click OK. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
The Bank Accounts window appears.
4. To view a list of your recurring entries click Recurring Transaction List, then to return to the
Bank accounts window, click Close.
To enter a customer payment on account recurring entry

Transaction Type Select the Customer Payment On Account transaction type.
Bank A/C Enter the bank account nominal code that you want the
recurring entry to be posted to.
Customer A/C Enter the customer account code that you want to post your
recurring entry against.

Every Enter the frequency of the recurring entry here. For example,
you could enter 14 days, 5 weeks or 3 months.
example if your customer is paying off a debt in 12
repayments, enter the number here. This automatically
updates the Finish Date.
357
the Total Required Postings. If you have not entered a value in
Total Required Postings, the Finish Date is not calculated.
For example, you would not enter a total number of postings

for a long-term service agreement, as you would expect this
payment to continue into the foreseeable future. In this case,
no Finish Date would be calculated and the recurring entry
would continue to be posted until you suspend the posting or
delete the recurring entry.
resolved.
Net Amount'/'Amount If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, enter the gross
amount of the transaction in the Amount box.
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, enter the
net amount of the transaction in the Net Amount box.

Tax Code If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, the Tax Code box
does not appear, as the recurring entry is posted against the
non-vatable tax code set up in your Company Preferences.
Note: If you change from the Standard VAT scheme to the
VAT Cash Accounting scheme, you are prompted to make
sure that you change your customer or supplier payment on
account recurring entries to include VAT information.
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, enter the
tax code you require here.
VAT If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, the VAT box does
not appear as the recurring entry is posted against the
358
Banking Tasks
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, the VAT
element of the transaction appears automatically for you.
The Bank Accounts window appears
4. To view a list of your recurring entries click Recurring Entries List, then to return to the Bank
Accounts window, click Close.
To enter a supplier payment on account recurring entry

Transaction Type Select the Supplier Payment On Account transaction type.
Bank A/C Enter the bank account nominal code that you want the
recurring entry to be posted from.
Supplier A/C Enter the supplier account code that you want to post your
recurring entry against.

Total Required If you know the number of postings you need to make, for
Postings example if you are paying off a loan over twenty four months,
enter the number here. This automatically updates the Finish
Date.
Start Date Enter the date that you want to start posting the recurring entry.
The date defaults to the program date but you can change this
if required.
359
Finish Date is not calculated. For example, you would not enter
a total number of postings for a rent payment, as you would
expect this payment to continue into the foreseeable future. In
this case no Finish Date would be calculated and the recurring
entry would continue to be posted until you suspend posting or
delete the recurring entry.
resolved.
Net Amount/Amount If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, enter the gross
amount of the transaction in the Amount box.
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, enter the net
amount of the transaction in the Net Amount box.
Note: If you do not post a recurring entry for the same amount
each time, enter zero here.
Tax Code If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, the Tax Code box
does not appear as the recurring entry is posted against the
Note: If you change from the Standard VAT scheme to the VAT
Cash Accounting scheme at some point in the future, you are
prompted to make sure that you change your customer or
supplier payment on account recurring entries to include VAT
information.
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, enter the tax
code you require here.
360
Banking Tasks
VAT If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, the VAT box does
not appear as the recurring entry is posted against the
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, the VAT
element of the transaction appears automatically for you.
The Bank Accounts window appears.
4. To view a list of your recurring entries, click Recurring Transactions List, then to return to
the Bank Accounts window, click Close.
To enter a journal recurring entry

Note: Make sure that the total value of your credits and debits balances. If your journal
entries do not balance, Sage 50 Accounts displays an error message on processing the
recurring entries.
Transaction Type Select from the following transaction type options:

Journal Credit
Journal Debit
Nominal Code Enter the nominal account code that you want to post your
journal recurring entry to.
Transaction Details Enter some text to describe the transaction. This text appears
in the audit trail.

361
example if you are paying off a loan over twenty four months,
enter the number here. This automatically updates the Finish
Date.
Finish Date is not calculated. For example, you would not
enter a total number of postings for a rent payment, as you
would expect this payment to continue into the foreseeable
future. In this case no Finish Date would be calculated and the
recurring entry would continue to be posted until you suspend
posting or delete the recurring entry.
'Last Posted This box shows the date the recurring entry was last posted.
resolved.
Net Amount Enter the net amount of the transaction in the Net Amount
box.
Tax Code Enter the tax code you require here.
3. To save your new recurring entry, click Save. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
The Bank Accounts window appears
4. To view a list of your recurring entries click Recurring Entries List, then to return to the Bank
Accounts window click close.
362
Banking Tasks
To process your monthly recurring entries

If you have any outstanding recurring entries, you will be reminded every time you start Sage 50
Accounts. To post the transactions, click Yes. To use Sage 50 Accounts without posting them,
click No.
Note: You can turn this reminder off by selecting the No Recurring Entries at Startup check box
within your Company Preferences (Company > Settings).
2. To process recurring entries, click Process.
The Process Recurring Entries window appears.
If any recurring entries are found that are past their finish date, a message appears
informing you of this and also saying that they will not be included in the list.
3. The program date automatically appears in the 'Show Due Entries Up To box. You can
change this if you want to change the recurring entries that are shown in the Process
Recurring Entries window.
4. You can amend some of the recurring entry details, depending upon the type of
transactions. The values you can amend are shown below: Y = can edit, N = cannot edit
Transaction Type Net Amount Tax Code VAT Amount
BP/CP/VP Y Y Y
BR/CR/CR Y Y Y
JC/JD Y Y N
PA Y Standard VAT - N N
VAT Cash Accounting - Y N
SA Y Standard VAT - N N
VAT Cash Accounting - Y N
JC/JD (Bank Transfer) Y N N
363
5. To update Sage 50 Accounts with all of the recurring entries that are shown, click Post. If
you do not want to post your recurring entries, click Cancel.
Note: You cannot post a recurring entry with a zero value. A message appears informing
you if any of the recurring entries you have chosen to post have a zero value. Click OK and
edit the recurring entry to include a value or to suspend the posting for the current period.
If you try to post a recurring entry that is dated outside of the current financial year, a message
appears asking you if you want to continue. To post the recurring entry outside of the current
financial year, click Yes. If you do not want to continue, click No.
Viewing Bank Transaction Activity

You can view a detailed transaction history, or activity, for all of a banks transactions.
1. From the Bank Record window, click the Activity tab.
The activity information appears, showing the transactions that have been made to your
selected account. Each transaction is listed for the selected bank account, one line per
transaction.
2. To see the individual items that make up each line, select the transaction in the upper pane
to display its component parts in the lower pane.
For example, if a sales receipt (SR) transaction appears in the list in the upper pane, select
it to view the details of the invoices to which it is allocated in the lower pane.
selection fields:
Show
Show: drop-down list. You can choose to filter the transactions by calendar month.
Alternatively, you can show only those transactions that you have reconciled to your bank
statement, or only those you have yet to reconcile.
Finally, you can set a date range, transaction number range or select a transaction type to
view by selecting the Custom Range option from the menu and entering your selections in
the Activity Range window that appears.
Your software retains the filter you specify from this menu and applies it the next time you
view the activity. This is true for all of the Show: drop-down list settings, although the values
you enter in the Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
This read-only box displays the date range you selected using the Show drop-down list.
364
Banking Tasks
range.
Type
For example, if you chose to view only bank receipts by selecting BR - Bank Receipts on
the Activity Range window, this field shows 'BR'. The Activity window now only displays
bank receipt transactions dated within the specified range.
transaction displayed here, you must select Custom Range from the Show: drop-down list
O/S Only
If you selected Custom Range from the Show: drop-down list and selected the
Outstanding Transactions Only? check box on the Activity Range window, this check box
is selected. This indicates that the Activity window is displaying only those transactions that
are not yet paid or allocated.
Range from the Show: drop-down list and select or clear the Outstanding Transactions
Trans
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select Custom Range from the Show: drop-down list and use the
trail, this field shows '1 to 2169'.
range shown here, select Custom Range from the Show: drop-down list and enter the
5. To exit the Bank Record and return to the main Bank Accounts window, click Close.
For more information, please refer to the Bank > Record > To View a Banks Transaction Activity
topic in the main program help file (F1).
365
Managing Your Petty Cash

Most companies use petty cash for a variety of uses, from readily available cash for everyday
purchases, to travelling expenses for business trips. Setting up your petty cash account is
straightforward and is easy to maintain in Sage 50 Accounts. A petty cash account is already
set up in the bank accounts list for you to use.
When you take money out of your company's current account for your petty cash tin, you must
record it in your accounts. You can do this by making a bank transfer, using Bank > Record
Transfer. For full details on how to do this, see To make a bank transfer on page 343.
Alternatively, if you make bank transfers on a regular basis, you can set up a recurring entry, for
example, if you want to set up a recurring entry of 100 a week from your current account to
your petty cash tin. For further information about how to do this, refer to To enter a bank/cash/
credit card recurring entry on page 354.
Recording expenses
If you, or a member of staff, have been on a business trip, you will want to record your business
expenses in your accounts. You can do this by recording each receipt to the appropriate
nominal code, for example, your food bills to the Subsistence account (7406) or perhaps to the
UK Entertainment nominal code (7403) if you have been entertaining clients, and your travelling
expenses to the Travelling nominal code (7400).
Normally, you would take your expenses from your petty cash account.
An expense is recorded as a payment. For full details on how to do this, see To record bank
payments on page 331.
366
Chapter 8
Customer Tasks

tasks included in the Customers module.
Pricing and Discounts ......................368
It discusses all the activities youll need to
perform when working with your customer Customer Pricing .............................369
accounts, from creating a quotation Proformas (Accounts Plus and Accounts
through to recording your customers Professional Only) ............................400
payments.
Quotations (Accounts Plus and
In this chapter, we look at the sales order Accounts Professional Only).............400
cycle in detail, from the creation of an
Sales Order Processing (Accounts
order, through allocation of stock, to
despatch and completion. We also guide
you through invoice production, including Entering an Invoice ..........................437
how to set up recurring transactions, and Posting an Invoice ...........................470
checking the profit youll make from an
Dealing with Recurring Transactions.471
invoice as you create it.
Receiving Customer Payments ........477
Later, the chapter shows you how to enter
the payments you receive from your Entering a Credit Note .....................479
customers, dealing with deductions, helps Deductions (Accounts Plus and
you to create a credit note, along with Accounts Professional only) .............480
viewing customer transaction history,
dealing with customer refunds and Deleting Invoices and Credit Notes ..483
payments using the Pay by Card facility. Viewing a Customers Transaction
This chapter assumes you have set up Activity.............................................485
your customer records. For details on how Customer Refunds...........................487
to do this see Chapter 5, Setting Up Sage Payment Solutions Pay by Card
Records. Facility .............................................488
Pricing and Discounts

As a business, you will know the importance of setting your prices at the right level for
your customers. You can use Sage 50 Accounts to create price lists for your customers
and suppliers as well as set up a number of different types of discount.
You can set up a good customer discount. With this method of discounting, you can for
example, give discounts to customers who settle their bills before the due date.
Sage 50 Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users can also set up discounts for
bulk purchases, or for total order values. For example, you can give a customer a 5%
discount for sales over 100, and 10% off for sales over 500. You can also set up price
lists for specific groups of customers, and choose how these prices are edited and
updated. It is also possible to set up special prices for individual customers that buy
specific products.
With the variety of pricing and discount features in Sage 50 Accounts, it is important that
you decide how you want to use them. Even after you have set up your discounts and
started posting transactions you can still alter your prices, the price discounts and how
they are applied.
Both pricing and discounts are affected by Sage 50 Accounts settings, see Entering
Invoice and Order Defaults on page 147.
Note: Discounts and special pricing cannot be used with Transaction Email.
Customer Tasks
Customer Pricing
Sage 50 Accounts applies a price to each item during invoice entry or order entry. It does this
by checking an items price information held in the product record. An items price information
includes:
A sales price: The standard price an item can be sold for as recorded in the product record.
A pricing structure (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional): Used to apply an
alternative price to an item when dealing with certain customers. In a pricing structure you
can have:
A Special Customer Price if you have agreed a special price for a stock item with one
customer.
Price Lists, which are used to set a price for products or services for a group of
customers. For example, you could set up a retail price list for the majority of your
customers, and a trade price list for your business customers. Prices can be fixed, or
related to the sales or cost price of your stock items. Accounts Professional users
can set up foreign currency price lists for overseas customers.
There is also the Supplier Price List (Accounts Professional users only). This type
of list can be set up for each supplier, with the facility to import the price list from a
text file. The supplier's price list will be in the supplier's own currency.
Which price is applied to a sales invoice or sales order?
369
Using customer price lists

There may be times when you want to sell your products or services to different groups of
customers at a different price. This is done using price lists, which associate products at a given
price to a group of customers.
Price lists can be copied. Product and price information from an existing price list is copied to
the new price list. However, the associated customers are not copied, they must be added to
the new price list to complete it. This is a great way to quickly create a new price list based on
existing information.
To create a new price list

1. Select Customers > Price List.
The Price Lists window appears, showing any existing price lists.
2. Click New.
Note: You can also create a new customer price list using Products > Price Lists. Click
New from the Price Lists window.
The New Price List window appears.
3. Enter a name and description for your new price list.

Foreign Currency Users only: If you are using foreign currencies and want to set up a
price list for customers or products in a specific currency, select that currency from the
370
Customer Tasks
Currency drop-down list. Only customers and products that use the selected currency can
be added to your new Price List. If you are not using foreign currencies, the Currency box
displays the system's base currency and cannot be edited.
You are now ready to add products to your price list.
To add products to your price list

2. From the Price Lists window, highlight the price list that you want to add products to and
click Edit.
3. If it is not selected already, click the Associated Products tab.
This shows the products already attached to the selected price list. If no products have
been attached to the price list, this list will be empty.
4. Click Add.
The Add Products window appears.
5. Select the product(s) that you want to add to your price list.
371
Tip: You can select more than one product. To do this hold the CTRL key down and select
the products you require. If you want to select a range of products, hold the SHIFT key
down and select the range you require.
6. Select the Calculation Method you want to apply from the drop-down list.
The following methods are available for calculating your prices:
Fixed Price This allows you to enter a direct price for the product. The
amount entered in the Value box will be the price used in the
price list. The list price of this product will not change even if the
sales price changes on the product record.
Standard Sales Price This method uses the standard sales price from the product
record.
Decrease Sales Price This method calculates and deducts the percentage from the
by % standard sales price.
Decrease Sales Price This method deducts the value entered from the standard sales
by Value price.
Note: You cannot use this method on foreign currency price
lists or for foreign currency customers.
Mark Up % on Cost This method calculates and adds the percentage mark-up onto
Price the cost price.
Mark Up Value on This method adds the value mark-up entered to the cost price.
Cost Price As your cost price changes, the special sales price will also
change by the amount entered in the Value box.
Increase Sales Price This method increases the percentage from the standard sales
by % price.
7. In the Value box enter the fixed price, value or percentage depending upon the calculation
method you have chosen.
Note: If you have chosen to use the Standard Sales Price calculation method, this box is
not available.
The following calculation methods are available:
372
Customer Tasks
Value Enter the amount or percentage to be used to update the

selected price list items.
Rounding Direction Select how you want to round your prices from the following
options:
Round up to
Select this option to round a price up to the number of
decimal places selected in the Decimal Places drop-down list.
For example, 6.55555 rounded up to 2 decimal places is
displayed as 6.56.
Round down to
Select this option to round a price down to the number of
decimal places selected in the Decimal Places drop-down list.
For example, 6.5555 rounded down to 2 decimal places is
displayed as 6.55.
373
Nearest
Select this option to round a price up or down to the nearest
value selected in the Decimal Places drop-down list. The
following options are also available:
To..Decimal Places
Use this section of the window to specify whether you want to
use decimal places to round any values, or to use a rounding
technique to give you an actual figure.
Using the Decimal Places option will round the calculated
figure up or down to the nearest number of decimal places
that you specify.
The number of decimal places available is controlled by the
Unit D.P. setting in Settings, Product Defaults.
For example;
13.4567 rounded down to 2 decimal places = 13.45.
13.4567 rounded up to 2 decimal places = 13.46.
or
Multiples of..plus adjustment..
Instead of rounding prices by the number of decimal places,
you can select the 'Multiples of' option to round your prices to
psychologically important points, such as 9.99 instead of
10.00.
For example, you may specify the rounding amount so that

each price ends in 99 pence, so that 13.4567 rounded
down to multiples of 0.50, plus an adjustment -0.01 =
12.99.
8. To add the product and pricing details to the price list and return to the Edit Price List
window, click OK.
9. Select the method that you want to use to recalculate prices on your price lists by using
one of the following Recalculate Prices Details options:
374
Customer Tasks
Recalculate Price List Select this check box if you want prices to be automatically
prices whenever recalculated when a product sales or cost price changes. This
Product prices change will only affect prices that are based on the sales or cost price
of a product.
Foreign Currency Users only: If you are editing a price list
that has been created using a currency that is different to your
base currency, the option changes to 'Recalculate Price List
prices whenever Exchange Rate or Product prices change'.
Only recalculate Price If you want your price list prices to stay the same, regardless
List Prices on selection of changes to product cost and sales prices, select this check
of the Recalculate Prices box. This option is useful if you want to decide when to
button change your price list prices, rather than having them track
the product sales or cost price.
If your product prices change on the product records, you
must return to this window and click Recalculate Prices.
When you click Recalculate Prices, the Recalculate Prices
Preview window appears. The Recalculate Prices Preview
window displays the current and newly discounted prices for
the selected products. You should check the displayed details
to make sure they are correct, and then click Save to change
the product prices on the price lists.
10. Click Save to update your price lists with any changes that you have specified.
Alternatively, click Close to save any changes and exit from the Edit Price List window.
You have now updated the products area of your price list. You can add as many products
to the price list as you need. You are now ready to add customers to your price list.
To add customers to your price list

2. From the Price Lists window, highlight the price list that you want to add customers to and
click Edit.
3. Click the Customers tab.
4. To add a customer to your price list, click Add.
The Add Customers window appears showing all of the customer records listed in your
Sage 50 Accounts program.
375
The Add Customers list shows the customer account reference, the customer name,
whether the customer already belongs to a price list and the price list reference. If the
customer does not belong to a price list, the Price List column is left blank.
Note for Accounts Professional users only: If you have activated the Foreign Trader
facility by running the Foreign Trader Wizard, select the currency of the new price list from
the 'Currency' drop-down list. Only those customers who use the same currency as the
currency that you have selected are displayed.
5. Select the customers that you want to add to the price list and click OK.
Note: If you have selected a customer that already appears on another price list, a
message appears asking you if you want to associate the selected customer with the
selected price list. If you click 'Yes', the selected customer will be moved to the new price
list. If you click 'Yes to All', all of your customers will be moved to the new price list. If you
click 'No', the selected customer will not be moved. If you click 'No to All', none of the
selected customers will be moved. You can check which price list a customer belongs to
by viewing the Price List column in the Add Customers window.
6. Click OK to add that customer record to the Price List.
The customer record is added to the price list.
Now that you have created a price list you can add customers and products to the existing
price list, change product prices and delete price lists that you no longer require.
To copy a customer price list

2. Select the price list you want to copy and click Copy.
376
Customer Tasks
The Copy Price List window appears.
3. Enter a unique name for the price list. The description can be changed until the price list is
saved.
4. Click Save.
5. Click the Products Associated tab and amend the displayed information, where required.
Refer to the information on page 371 to help you.
6. Click Customers and add customers to the price list. Refer to the information on page 375
to help you.
7. Click Save and to return to the Price Lists window, click Close.
377
Importing product prices onto a customer price list

You can import updated product prices onto any customer price list that is set up in Sage 50
Accounts. You can also use the import process to add new products onto a customer price list,
as long as the related product records exist in Sage 50 Accounts. The details you import must
be in a comma separated value (CSV) format or in a text (TXT) file.
When you import details onto a customer price list, Sage 50 Accounts makes the following
assumptions:
The process imports the product reference and price.
Sage 50 Accounts ignores any data (on the same line) following the price.
The program treats the first line of the import file as a heading and ignores it, providing there is
only text content.
The price is in the currency held on the price list.
For example, your CSV file may look like this:
Product Ref, Price
BOARD001, 20
BOX002, 22.00, with waterproof coating
BOOKS001, 7.99, signed, limited edition
In this example, Sage 50 Accounts does not import the column headings on the first line
('Product Ref' and 'Price'), nor the additional text 'with waterproof coating' and 'signed, limited
edition'.
Note: When you import product prices onto a customer price list, Sage 50 Accounts
automatically sets the calculation method for the product price as 'Fixed Price', as it cannot
determine what calculation method has been used for the price. Sage 50 Accounts reads the
cost price and sales price from the Product Record and calculates the profit margin accordingly.
To import product prices onto a customer price list

Alternatively, you can select Products > Price Lists.
2. From the Price Lists window, select the price list you want to import details into and click
Edit.
The Edit Price List window appears, showing the Associated Products information.
Alternatively, to create a new price list to import details into, click New and enter a name
and description for your price list, for further information about this, please refer to To
create a new price list on page 370.
3. Click Import.
378
Customer Tasks
The Import Customer Price List window appears, displaying the 'Price List Name',
'Currency' and 'Description' of the price list.
Note: Sage 50 Accounts assumes that any prices you import are in the same currency as
the price list. For example, if you import a product with a price of 20.00 to a euro price list,
and your base currency is pound sterling, the price imports as 20.00, not 20.00
converted into euros. The Confirm Price List Import window shows the currency symbol
associated with the price list you are updating.
4. Enter the directory and file name of the customer price list details file that you want to
import.
If you do not know the exact location or name of the price list file, click Browse to locate
the file.
5. Click Continue to proceed with the import process.
The Confirm Price List Import window appears, displaying the following information about
the file you are importing:
Number of items in Displays the number of products that currently belong to the
current price list selected price list. You cannot amend this.
Valid items in import file Shows the number of items that Sage 50 Accounts can
successfully import from the file you select. You cannot
amend this value directly, although you can increase the
number of valid items by correcting import errors displayed in
the Warnings column. For more information, see Warnings,
later in this table.
Invalid items in import Shows the number of items that create import errors and
file cannot be imported. You cannot amend this value directly,
although you can decrease the number of invalid items by
correcting import errors displayed in the Warnings column.
For more information, see Warnings later in this table.
379
Line Shows the position of this product line within the CSV or TXT
file you are importing. You cannot change this.
Stock Code Displays the stock code held in the import file. You can
amend this if you require.
Current Price Reads the sales price currently held on the price list. If the
product does not yet appear on a price list, Sage 50
Accounts displays the sales price held on the product record.
The currency symbol shown indicates the currency of the
price list.
You cannot change the Current Price.
Proposed Price Reads the product price from the file you are importing, and
displays it in the price list's currency. You can change this if
you require.
Warnings This column displays errors and warnings about the items
you are importing. You cannot amend these.
Sage 50 Accounts displays import errors in red. Examples of
errors are:
'Product code not recognised.'
'There are two prices being imported for this product.
See Line xx.'
'Invalid price supplied for this product.'
If errors are present, then the import of those products cannot
proceed. The Invalid items in import box summarises the
number of items containing errors. You must correct the
errors in the import file before you try to import those items. If
you correct an error and the associated item imports
successfully, the Invalid items in import file value decreases,
and the 'Valid items in import file' value increases.
Sage 50 Accounts displays import warnings in black.
Examples of warnings are:
'Product code exists and the current list price of x.xx will
be overwritten.'
Warnings provide additional information but do not stop the
import process.
380
Customer Tasks
6. Select or clear the following import options as you require:

'Remove all items from the Price List prior to importing'.
If you select this option, Sage 50 Accounts removes all products currently associated
with the price list before proceeding with the import.
For example, if you have a price list containing 600 products, and you import a file
containing 150 updated prices, Sage 50 Accounts updates the prices of those 150
products and removes the remaining 450 items from the price list.
If you do not select this option, Sage 50 Accounts checks the list of products on the
price list, and if a price exists, it updates it. If the product you are importing does not
exist on the price list, Sage 50 Accounts adds it.
containing amended prices for 250 of those products, Sage 50 Accounts updates
only those 250 prices and leaves the remaining 750 unchanged. Alternatively, if you
have a price list containing 400 products, and you import a file containing 50 products
that do not currently belong to that price list, Sage 50 Accounts adds those 50
products to the list and leaves the original 400 products unchanged.
'Hide warnings, errors will still be displayed'.
Select this check box if you want the Import process to filter out any warnings and
display only errors in the 'Warnings' column.
If you do not select this check box, Sage 50 Accounts displays both errors and
warnings in the 'Warnings' column.
7. To remove a line from the list so that it is not included in the Import process, select the line
and click Delete Line.
8. To save any changes you make in the list back to the original CSV or TXT import file, click
Save. Alternatively, to save your amendments to a new import file, click Save As and
specify a file name and location for the new file.
9. To continue with the import process and apply the price changes to your data, click Apply.
Note: Items displaying errors will not import. You must correct the errors before you can
successfully import these items.
If you are importing a large volume of data, a status bar appears, showing the progress of
the import process.
Once the import is complete, the Associated Products information appears.
You have successfully imported your product price information.
381
Setting special customer prices

Sometimes you may want to give a particular customer a special price for one of your products
or services.
You can set up special prices for your customers using the Pricing Structure facility, which is
available in the Products module.
To enter a special customer price

1. Select the Products module and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Products view.
2. From the Products window, highlight the product you want to set a special customer price
for and click Record.
3. From the Product Record window, click Pricing Structure and then Add. Select 'Special
Customer Price' from the prompt.
The New Price window appears.
4. Select a customer for the special price using the A/C Reference drop-down.
5. From the 'Calculation Method' drop-down list, select the method you want to use to
calculate the special customer price.
382
Customer Tasks
The following methods are available for calculating your prices:
Fixed Price This allows you to enter a direct price for the product. The
amount entered in the 'Value' box will be the price used in the
price list. The list price of this product will not change even if the
sales price changes on the product record.
Standard Price This method uses the standard sales price from the product
record.
Decrease Sales Price This method calculates and deducts the percentage from the
by % standard sales price.
Decrease Sales Price This method deducts the value entered from the standard sales
by Value price.
Mark Up % on Cost This method calculates and adds the percentage mark-up onto
Price the cost price.
Mark Up Value on This method adds the value mark-up entered to the cost price.
Cost Price As your cost price changes, the special sales price will also
change by the amount entered in the 'Value' box.
Increase Sales Price This method increases the percentage from the standard sales
by % price.
6. In the 'Value' box enter the fixed price, value or percentage amount depending upon the
calculation method you have chosen.
Note: If you have chosen to use the 'Standard Sales Price' calculation method, this box is
not available
The following calculation methods are available:
Value Enter the amount or percentage to be used to update the

selected price list items.
Rounding Direction Select how you want to round your prices from the following
options:
383
'Round up to'
Select this option to round a price up to the number of
decimal places selected in the 'Decimal Places' drop-down
list. For example, 6.55555 rounded up to 2 decimal places is
displayed as 6.56.
'Round down to'

Select this option to round a price down to the number of
decimal places selected in the 'Decimal Places' drop-down
list. For example, 6.5555 rounded down to 2 decimal places
is displayed as 6.55.
'Nearest'
Select this option to round a price up or down to the nearest
value selected in the 'Decimal Places' drop-down list. If you
select the 'Nearest' option, the following options become
available:
'To..Decimal Places'
Use this section of the window to specify whether you want to
use decimal places to round any values, or to use a rounding
technique to give you an actual figure.
Using the 'Decimal Places' option will round the calculated
figure up or down to the nearest number of decimal places
that you specify, the number of decimal places available is
dictated by the Unit D.P. setting which can be amended in
Settings, Product Defaults. For example;
13.4567 rounded down to 2 decimal places = 13.45.
13.4567 rounded up to 2 decimal places = 13.46.
or
'Multiples of..plus adjustment..'
Instead of rounding prices by the number of decimal places,
you can select the 'Multiples of' option to round your prices to
psychologically important points, such as 9.99 instead of
10.00.
For example, you may specify the rounding amount so that

each price ends in 99 pence, so that 13.4567 rounded
down to multiples of 0.50, plus an adjustment -0.01 =
12.99.
384
Customer Tasks
The Pricing details are displayed in the 'Pricing Details' area of the window.
Foreign currency price lists only: If you are creating price lists that use foreign currencies,
the preview window will show the base currency and foreign currency figures. Due to
rounding calculations, it is possible that the Profit Margin % column may differ between
each row.
For example:
Values rounded to 2 decimal places, exchange rate at 1 = 1.559300:
Product Price List Price Profit
Currency Cost Sales Current New Value %
Euro 15.59 20.27 18.24 22.86 7.27 31.80
Pound Sterling 10.00 13.00 11.70 14.66 4.66 31.79
7. To save your special customer price, click Save.

8. To return to the Pricing Structure click Close.
You have now set up your special customer price. If you decide that you need to change
the price, you can edit it. If you no longer need the special customer price, you can remove
it.
To print a price list

2. Select the price list that you want to print and click Print.
3. Select the stock codes and specify the number of records to display in the price list report.
Note: To display all records, leave the selection criteria as they appear.
385
4. Select one of the following options:
Printer Choose 'Printer' to print the selected price list immediately.
Preview Select this option to view the price list on-screen. Use this
option to check whether it is the right report, or to view how
the price list looks before you actually print it.
File Use this option to save the price list as a file. You can then use
the file on another PC running Sage 50 Accounts, or to take a
backup of the Price List report for future reference. The Price
List is saved with a file extension .datareport.
Email Use this option if you are using Microsoft Outlook as your
email software and you want to send the Price List report
using email.
5. Click OK to generate the printed price list.

6. Click Close to close the Price List report and return to the Price Lists window.
Discounts
There are several types of discounts you can use. Most can be set up so that they are
automatically applied to an invoice to speed up invoice entry. As you create the invoice the
awarded discount can be altered if it is not quite right.
Accounts Professional users can also use and automate discounts to influence orders,
quotations and proformas.
The different discounts

'Good Customer' Discount. You can set a discount for all of your customers, this discount
is automatically added to any other discounts that you have set up.
Early Settlement Discount. If you want to offer discounts for early payment of invoices, you
can with Sage 50 Accounts. Qualifying periods (for example, 15 days) and corresponding
discounts can be set up.
Quantity Discounts. Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users can set up
progressive discounts for bulk purchases (for example, 5% off if a customer buys more
than 10 items, 10% if they buy more than 50 items).
Invoice Value Discounts. As an alternative to Quantity Discounts, Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional versions also support progressive value discounts. You can offer a
range of discounts against total order or invoice value (for example, 5% off the invoice value
if a customer spends more than 100, 10% if they spend more than 500).
386
Customer Tasks
In addition to all of these types of discount, you can apply a one-off price reduction or
manual discount, during invoice entry.
If the prices that you charge for your products and services change frequently and you
prefer greater flexibility when giving discounts, this is the simplest discounting method that
can be applied to individual invoices or sales orders.
How discount is calculated

Discounts, with the exception of early settlement, are calculated as follows:
(Unit Sales Price - Discount Amount) x Quantity
For example, a customer buys 40 units at 9.99, with a 20 percent discount. The sum is
(9.99 x 40) - 20% = 319.68
You can change the way the discount is calculated so that the discount is calculated by unit
price.
(Unit Sales Price - Discount Amount) x Quantity. The sum is (9.99 - 20%) x 40 = 319.60
This difference is due to the point at which rounding is applied to the values.
To set Sage 50 Accounts to calculate discount based on unit price see Entering Invoice
and Order Defaults on page 147.
How discounts are applied to invoices/orders

Sage 50 Accounts gives you complete control over how discounts are applied. This is done by
setting discounts on individual customer records.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional users can also use settings from product records
(see page 393) and customer defaults (see page 396) to award quantity and invoice discounts
during sales order entry and invoice entry. Invoice and order defaults can also be set to add
further control (see Entering Invoice and Order Defaults on page 147).
When you create an invoice or order, Sage 50 Accounts automatically applies the pricing and
discounting structures that you have set up. At that point the you can then change the total
discount awarded by applying a one-off discount (manual discount).
The following illustration shows an invoice awarded a 5% discount from the customers record.
387
Note: Early settlement discount is displayed in the Footer Details tab.

Only the VAT amount is affected by this discount.
Good customer discount

You may have particular customers with whom you have a good business relationship. For
example, they may buy in larger volumes or more frequently than your other customers. In this
case, you can choose to set up a good customer discount.
The good customer discount is the standard type of discount that you can apply. When it is set
up, the discount value is applied to the full net value of an invoice, or sales order if you are using
the Accounts Professional version of Sage 50 Accounts, and is added to any other discount
that is also applied.
To apply a good customer discount, you must set it up on the customer record. This discount
will be applied to all invoices that are entered for that particular customer. For example, if you
enter a 2 percent discount, every invoice that you send to the customer will be discounted by
2 percent. If other discounts are also being applied, this discount amount is added to them.
You can enter a standard discount in two ways:
388
Customer Tasks
If you give the same discount to most of your customers, you can enter a discount in your
Customer Defaults. For further information about entering customer defaults, see Entering
Customer Defaults on page 134.
If you want to assign a discount percent to each of your customers individually, you can
use the Defaults tab from the Customer Record to enter the discount. For further
information about setting up a customer record, see Entering Customer and Supplier
Records on page 195. For information on setting up a good customer discount, refer to
the following section.
To set up a good customer discount

1. Open the Customers module, then if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Customers view.
2. From the Customers window, select the customer you require, then click Record.
3. Click the Defaults tab.
4. Enter the discount rate you want to apply in the Disc % box.
A discount of this percentage rate will now be automatically applied to all invoices/orders
you generate for this customer.
Note: You can also see this discount on the item line of the invoice. To do this select an
item line on an invoice and Press F3, the Edit Item Line window appears.
389
5. Click Save.
You have now entered your good customer discount.
Early settlement discount

It is easier to manage the cash flow of a business if your customers settle their outstanding
invoices promptly. By setting up early settlement discounts, you may encourage your customers
to pay their debts earlier.
A settlement discount is calculated on the net value of a customer invoice, after all other
discounts have been applied. This net amount on the invoice, including the settlement discount,
is displayed in the Footer Details tab.
When you create an invoice for a customer who qualifies for a settlement discount, the
settlement discount is automatically applied to calculate the VAT amount shown. The net
amount is not reduced by the settlement discount at this stage. Although you have created and
sent the invoice out, you are not sure that the customer will pay before the time has expired for
the early settlement. Therefore the discount only shows on the VAT amount.
To set up a settlement discount for a customer

1. Select the Customers module and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to
the Customers view.
2. From the Customers window, select the customer that you require, then click Record.
3. Click the Credit Control tab.
390
Customer Tasks
4. In the Sett. Due Days box, enter the number of days within which payment should be made
to qualify for an early settlement discount.
5. In the Sett. Discount box, enter the percentage discount you want to apply.
6. Click Save to record the discount details.
Irish early settlement discounts

If the Regional Settings on your PC have been set up as English (Ireland), the early settlement
discount is calculated using the Irish Early Settlement Discount scheme.
When using the Irish Early Settlement Discount scheme, the tax is calculated before the
discount is deducted from an invoice. On your invoices, the full net and tax amounts are
displayed. However, you can still view the settlement discount value on the Footer tab, or when
you print the invoice.
See how the Irish settlement discount is applied in the following scenario:
Tax rate of 21%,
Early settlement discount of 10%,
Settlement period of 30 days.
391
Your invoice lists the following values:

100.00 net 21.00 tax
200.00 net 42.00 tax
Total net = 300.00
Total tax = 63.00
The invoice will also show the discount available to the customer;
Payment due within 30 days.
Early Settlement Discount of 10% available if you settle within 30 days.
With Early Settlement Discount, pay only 333.00
In this example, the discounted figure is calculated by applying the 10% discount to the net
amount (30.00). This amount is then subtracted from the original gross amount.
The invoice will also show the settlement discount being offered, and the amount that would be
payable if the invoice is paid within the settlement discount period.
When the invoice is posted, the following entries are made to your accounts system:
Debit Credit
Debtors Account 363.00
Sales Tax 63.00
Sales 300.00
Once the invoice is paid (within the discount period), the following entries are made:
Debit Credit
Debtors Account 363.00
Bank Account 333.00
Discount 30.00
392
Customer Tasks
Discounting by quantity of product sold

From the Product record it is possible to set up five different quantity discount rates to give your
customers. These are additional discounts, applied on top of all the other discounts that you
have set up. For example, you may want to set up a discount for retail customers, one for
wholesale and one for trade, so that each of these customer types pays different prices for the
same product.
Quantity discounts in Sage 50 Accounts are determined through product discount rate tables.
You can apply one of these five product discounts as the Additional Discount default for your
customers, do this within Settings, Customer Defaults. You can also allocate one of these to a
customer when you create or edit the customer record.
Note: You can amend the names shown on each of the discount tabs so that they are more
meaningful for your business. This is done using Products > Product Defaults.
The product discounts you can set up are based on quantity levels and you can enter quantities,
for up to ten levels of discount.
If you use a standard set of discounts for your products, for example, for retail customers, you
can set up Discount A on each product record to be your retail discount. You can then enter the
levels of discount on your first product's Discount A tab. Then, copy this discount structure,
using the Copy Discount button on the main Products window, to the Discount A tab of each
of your other product records. This means, that you only have to set your levels of discount
once.
Similarly, you can set up Discount B to be your wholesale discount. If you enter this structure
on one product record, you can then copy it to every other product record it applies to.
You can only copy from one product's discount tab to another product's discount tab, if the
letter of each discount tab is the same. For example, you can copy a product's Discount B to
another product's Discount B, but you cannot copy Discount B to Discount C.
Note: On copying discounts in this fashion, all discounts in columns A-E will be copied between
product records.
To set up a discount structure for your product record

1. Select the Products module and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Products view.
2. From the Products window, select the product (or products) that you want to set up
discounts for, and then click Record.
3. Click the Discount tab.
393
The discounts information appears.

You can sub-divide each of the five discounts on each individual product record to 10
different levels of discount.
If you want to copy a discount structure that you have already set up on another product
record, click Copy Matrix.
Note: If you have chosen to rename the Discount tabs A-E, the names that you have
entered appear here.
4. Choose each discount tab in turn, to set up the discount structures for Discounts A-E as
required. In the Discount table on each discount tab, enter the following discount details,
one line per level of discount, as required.
Quantity Enter the quantity of the product required for a customer to qualify for
a discount. Sage 50 Accounts only lets you enter quantities in
ascending order, with the smallest quantity as level one.
Discount % Enter the discount (as a percentage) that a customer receives for
purchasing this quantity of the product.
Value This is automatically calculated for you by Sage 50 Accounts and is

the sale price of the product, less the percentage discount you
entered.
394
Customer Tasks
5. When you have finished entering your discounts, to save your entries, click Save, or to clear
any data you entered and start again, click Discard.
7. Next, you must access the relevant Customer Record and apply the discount. To do this,
choose the Defaults tab from the Customer Record and select the discount you want to
apply from the Additional Disc drop-down list in the Pricing & Discounting section of the
window.
8. To save the changes, click Save.
395
Discounting by invoice value

This discount is set up as part of your Customer Defaults.
You can set up ten different discount rates that you can apply to different values of invoice or
order. For example, you could add 1 percent extra discount for every 1000 invoiced. So, if a
customer bought 2000 worth of goods, the customer would receive a 2 percent discount and
so on until 10,000 when the customer would receive 10 percent discount.
The discount by invoice value is calculated as follows:
(Unit Sales Price x Quantity) - Discount
The additional discount rate is applied to the full net value of the invoice, ignoring any VAT
charged and other discounts applied.
To set up discounting by invoice value

2. Click the Discount tab and enter your discount values.
Enter your discounts

in these boxes.
Note: If you want to set this discount to all of your new customer records, click the Record
tab and from the Type drop-down list, select Invoice Value. This will apply the discounts
that you set in step 2 to all your new customer records. If you do not want your discounts
applied globally, this drop-down box should read No additional.
396
Customer Tasks
3. Click OK to add these discount values as defaults. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
4. To set the discount on a customers record from the main desktop, select the Customers
module. If appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the Customers view and then
select the customer you require from the list of customer records in the Customer window.
5. Click Record.
6. Click the Defaults tab.
7. From the Additional Disc drop-down list, select Invoice Value.
8. Click Save.
Now, whenever you raise an order or an invoice for this customer, the appropriate discount
rate in your customer defaults will be applied, depending on the value of the invoice.
397
Applying a one-off discount

This is a manual discount that you can apply to individual items during invoice or sales order
entry.
You can use a manual discount to override any discounts awarded to items from your
discounting structure, such as a 'good customer' discount. This means you can increase any
discount awarded to an item when creating the invoice/sales order, or even decrease it.
To apply a manual discount

Note: To enable the Discount columns you must ensure 'Show Discount on Main
Invoice/Order Screen' is ticked in Invoice and Order Defaults > Discounts.
1. During invoice entry, on the item line, enter the discount you want to apply.
You can enter the amount you want to award as a discount in the Discount column.
Alternatively, you can enter a percentage discount in the Discount % column.
2. To copy the discount from the item line above to the one you are entering, press F6 in either
the Discount or Discount % column.
3. Alternatively, you can apply a manual discount to an item by selecting the item and then
press F3 on your keyboard.
The Edit Item Line window appears.
398
Customer Tasks
4. Enter the discount you want to offer in the Discount % box and then click OK to accept the
changes, or to exit without saving the changes, click Cancel.
399
Proformas
You will usually use a proforma for a new customer or a large order, for example, where you
want the customer to pay before they receive the goods.
You create proformas in the same way as sales orders or invoices. For further information, see
Sales Order Processing (Accounts Professional Only) on page 404 and Entering an Invoice on
page 437.
When you receive payment for a proforma, you need to convert the proforma to a sales order
or an invoice. You can then update the Customer Record and stock levels with the invoice
details.
Quotations
Many businesses submit quotations in the hope of attracting new business. When the customer
accepts the quotation, you will convert it to a sales order or an invoice.
When you create a quotation in Sage 50 Accounts it is given a status of Open. From this point
it may become:
Won - A quotation automatically becomes Won when you convert it to an order or invoice.
Lost - A quotation becomes Lost when you amend it and mark it as such. The status of a
Lost quotation can be amended to make it Open again.
Expired - A quotation automatically becomes Expired after it has been Open for a time-out
period longer than you specify. An expired quotation can become Open again, if you
amend the expiry date.
Creating a new quotation

Note: Before you start to work with quotations you need to specify whether, when converted,
a quotation will generate a sales order or an invoice. See Entering Invoice and Order Defaults
on page 147 for details.
Use Customers > New Quotation to create quotations. The Quotation window appears.
The window shown is very similar to that which you use to create invoices and credit notes or
sales orders, depending upon your Invoice and Order Defaults settings, with the following
differences:
The Type is automatically set to Quote or Quote SOP, and cannot be changed.
An Expiry box is included to enable you to set an expiry date for the quotation.
For details of how to use this window, see To create a new product invoice or credit note on
page 439 or To create a sales order on page 406.
400
Customer Tasks
Maintaining quotations
To maintain your quotations, select Customers > Quotations List. The Quotations window
appears.
Use the drop-down at the top of the list to filter the quotations shown. You can choose:
All quotes
Quotes won
Quotes lost
Open quotes
Expired quotes
Maintenance tasks may include:
Editing a quotation. For details, see To edit a quotation on page 402.
Changing the status of a quotation. For details see To change the status of a quotation on
page 402.
Allocating stock. For details, see To allocate stock to a quotation (Accounts Professional
only) on page 402.
Amend stock allocation. For details, see To convert a quotation to an invoice or sales order
on page 402.
Converting a quotation to an invoice or sales order. For details, see To convert a quotation
to an invoice or sales order on page 402.
Removing a quotation from the list. For details see To remove a quotation from the list on
page 403.
401
To edit a quotation
1. Select the quotation you want to change on the Quotations window.
2. Click New/Edit.
The Quotation window appears. For more information on this, see Creating a new
quotation on page 400.
Note: If you edit a quotation which has been won and converted to a sales order or to an
invoice, the Sales Order or Invoice window appears, as appropriate.
To change the status of a quotation

1. Select the quotation you want to change on the Quotations window.
2. Right-click, then select the Set as option you require for the new status from the menu
displayed.
Note: Alternatively, if you want to mark a selected quotation as lost, click the Lost button
on the toolbar.
You are prompted to confirm the change of status.
3. Click Yes or No, as appropriate.
Note: To reactivate an expired quotation that has a status of Invalid, you should edit the
quotation, as described in the previous section and set the Expiry date to some time in the
future.
To allocate stock to a quotation

1. On the Quotations window, select the open quotation to which you want to allocate stock.
2. Click Allocate in the Tasks List on the Navigation Bar.
From this point, the procedure is the same as allocating stock to a sales order. For more
information on this, see Allocating stock to sales orders on page 426.
Note: You are only allowed to allocate stock to a quotation if the Type column on the Quotations
window indicates that the quotation will be converted to a sales order if won. For details of how
to use the Invoice and Order Defaults window to set your conversion option, see Entering
To convert a quotation to an invoice or sales order

1. On the Quotations window, select the open quotation(s) you want to convert.
2. Click Convert.
You are prompted to confirm the conversion.
402
Customer Tasks
Note: The quotation is converted to a sales order or to an invoice, depending upon its Type.
Quotations are numbered in sequence with your sales orders or invoices, as appropriate.
To remove a quotation from the list

1. On the Quotations window, select the quotation to be removed from the list.
2. Click Delete.
You are prompted to confirm the deletion.
403
Sales Order Processing

Sales orders are requests for your goods, received from your customers. Sales Order
Processing enables you to keep track of the items your customers are ordering. Sales Order
Processing lets you:
Create the order.
Allocate stock against the order.
Record the despatch of stock.
Produce an invoice to send to a customer.
Note: In a similar way to invoicing, if you are dealing with one-off orders, you can give your sales
order special product codes. For more information, see A Note about special product codes on
page 438.
You can also use the Sales Order Processing facilities to enter your sales order proformas.
The sales order life cycle

Creating the sales order is only the first step in the order cycle. The other steps are outlined
below and explained in the following sections. Depending upon how you save your sales orders,
you might not have to complete all of the stages of the cycle as Sage 50 Accounts will do some
of it for you automatically.
1. Converting quotations and proformas into sales orders. An order may begin life as a
quotation or a proforma.
For more information on converting a quotation, see To convert a quotation to an invoice
or sales order on page 402.
2. Creating the order.
For more information, see Creating a sales order on page 405.
3. Saving the order.
For more information, see Saving your sales order on page 424.
4. Printing your sales order.
For more information, see Printing your sales order on page 425.
5. Allocating the stock.
For more information, see Allocating stock to sales orders on page 426.
6. Despatching the stock.
For more information, see Despatching sales orders on page 428.
7. Print the invoice.
For more information, see Completing the sales order cycle on page 436.
404
Customer Tasks
8. Update the ledgers.

For more information, see Posting an Invoice on page 470.
Dealing with cash sales

Orders differ in the length of time they take to complete. Some orders are completed
immediately at the point of sale, particularly when dealing with over the counter sales. The
customer picks the goods, pays immediately and takes the goods. In Sage 50 Accounts this
type of sale is dealt with as a cash sale.
Rather than record each part of the sales order process as complete, from stock allocation
through to ledger update, the whole order life cycle can be automated by choosing the Cash
Sales option when you are creating the sales order.
Note: There must be sufficient stock levels to satisfy the whole order. If you have set Sage 50
Accounts to allow negative stock the order will go though regardless of stock levels.
The order documentation produced for a cash sale can be limited to only those documents you
need. See Entering Invoice and Order Defaults on page 147. Depending on these settings you
are prompted to select the right layout for the generated documents - sales order, invoice and
goods despatched note.
To complete the order a sales receipt is generated and allocated to it. If the order contains
goods assigned to different tax codes and you use VAT Cash Accounting, Sage 50 Accounts
generates a sales receipt for each tax code used.
Note: A cash sale can only be recorded to a base currency bank account. At installation a
default cash sales bank account is created and set for use by cash sales. See Entering Invoice
and Order Defaults on page 147. Also, a cash sale cannot be recorded for a customer with an
account record set for foreign currency.
Creating a sales order

You can create a sales order using Customers > New Sales Order. This opens the Product Sales
Order window, which is made up of six tabs: Details, Order Details, Footer Details, Payment
Details, Despatched and Invoices.
Use the Details tab to enter your main sales order details, including customer account
details, items and quantities ordered. For further information about how to do this, see
Creating a sales order on page 405.
Use the Order Details tab to enter or amend the delivery address and details, which are
applicable to the sales order. For further information about how to do this, see To enter the
order details for your sales order on page 414.
Use the Footer Details tab to enter carriage charges, settlement terms and global details
to relate to the whole order. For further information about how to do this, see To enter your
sales order footer details on page 416.
405
Use the Payment Details tab to record any payments made against the order. For further
information about how to do this, see To enter your sales order payment details on page
419.
Use the Despatched tab to view, print or reprint goods despatched notes associated with
the order. For more information on how to do this, see To view despatch information for a
sales order on page 422.
Use the Invoices tab to see details about invoice details associated with the order.
To save you time when entering your sales orders, you can use the Duplicate facility to copy an
existing order. This is useful if you need to create many sales orders with the same details. For
more information about duplicating orders, please see To duplicate a sales order on page 425.
Note: If enabled, the status bar shows the number of the last sales order you created.
To create a sales order

Select Customer > New Sales Order.
The Product Sales Order window appears, showing the Details tab by default.
Note: To enable the Discount columns you must ensure Show Discount on Main
Invoice/Order Screen is ticked in Settings, Invoice and Order Defaults, Discounts.
Tip: For information about recurring sales orders, see Dealing with Recurring Transactions
on page 471.
406
Customer Tasks
To enter details of the sales order

In the boxes provided, enter the following order header details.
Type From the Type drop-down list, select the type of sales order that you
want to create. You can create an order or proforma.
Type 'Proformas' in the Help index to find out more.
Help
Order No. When you create a new sales order, <Auto Number> appears in this
box. Sales order numbers are not assigned until the order has been
saved.
If you want to edit an existing sales order, type the order number of the
sales order that you want to edit, here.
The first time you create and save a sales order, it will be assigned the
number '1'. Each time you create and save a sales order, the order
number is increased by one. If you want to start numbering your orders
at a particular number, you must change the numbering sequence in
your Invoice and Order Defaults (see Entering Invoice and Order
Defaults on page 147).
Date The current program date appears here automatically, but you can
change this if necessary. Use the Calendar to enter a different date or
type directly into the box.
Inv. Ref. When you update the sales order to match an existing invoice, the last
invoice number relating to the sales order appears.
A/C Enter the customer account reference here. If you enter an existing
account reference, the customer's name and address appear
automatically. If you enter an account code that is not already set up,
the drop-down list appears. You can then select the account you
require or click New to create a new customer record.
Note: If you have selected the Display Account Status check box in the
Company Preferences window (Company > Settings), Sage 50
Accounts gives you a warning if the customer account you have
selected has been put on hold.
If the Show warning on each change option is selected, click OK on the
warning message to continue to enter the order.
If the Stop the account option is selected, you must take the account
off hold before you can create the order. Click OK to continue.
407
Item No. This shows the number of the item that is currently highlighted. For
example, if there are ten item lines and the cursor is currently on the
second line, this box shows Item 2 of 10.
Rate You can enter your currency exchange rate here. This only appears if
you have set up Foreign Trader.
To add goods/services to the order

1. Enter the product items that you have sold, one line of the order per product, entering the
details as follows:
Product Code Enter the product code you require here. You can use the
drop-down button to search and select from your existing
product records. If you enter an unknown product code you are
given the list of existing products to select from. If necessary, you
can create a new product record and select this for inclusion in
the sales order.
In addition to the normal product codes, you can also enter
special product codes.
Note: You cannot change the product code on a sales order if the
order shows an allocated or despatched quantity for that product.
If you open an existing order that contains products with allocated
or despatched quantities, the product code is not enabled, and
you cannot change it using the drop-down list, or by overtyping.
In order to change the product code on an order if it has an
allocated quantity, you must first reverse the allocation using the
Amend option.
If a product shows a despatched quantity, you must reverse the
despatch manually, taking the customer and stock into account
where appropriate, and re-enter an order as you require.
Description The description of your product is entered here automatically and

is taken from the Product Record window, but you can change
this if required. When your cursor moves to the Description box,
an Edit button appears. Use the button or press F3 to apply
one-off product details. For more information, see To edit the
goods/services (sales order item line) on page 410.
Quantity Enter the quantity of stock that your customer has ordered.
408
Customer Tasks
Price The unit price from the product record appears here. If a special
product code, for example S1, has been entered, the value
entered in the Edit Item Line window appears here. You can
amend these values if necessary.
Discount Displays the amount the item has been reduced by as a result of
discounts that have been awarded such as a good customer
discount.
You can change the amount by keying in a new discount amount.
Alternatively, with the item line selected you can press F3 to open
the Edit Item Line where you can amend the discount.
Discount % Displays the total percentage discount that the customer

receives. The total can be made up of good customer, quantity or
invoice value discounts.
You can change the discount by keying in a new discount
percentage. Alternatively with the item line selected you can press
F3 to open the Edit Item Line where you can amend the discount.
Note: The Discount and Discount % columns only appear if Sage

50 Accounts is set to do this. See Entering Invoice and Order
Defaults on page 147.
Net The net value is calculated automatically. This value cannot be

changed.
VAT The VAT amount appears here automatically. This value cannot be
changed.
Tax Breakdown List The Tax Breakdown List box shows the tax information, grouped
by tax code, for the items entered in the order.
Totals These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of the invoice.
Carriage These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of any carriage
costs applied to the order.
Gross The total value of your order appears here.
Euro If you have entered currency details into your Sage 50 Accounts
program, the total value of the order appears here, in euro.
2. Continue to enter the remaining lines of your sales order.

To enter your order details such as delivery address see To enter the order details for your
sales order on page 414.
409
To enter any carriage or settlement details, see To enter your sales order footer details on
page 416.
To enter payment details against the sales order see To enter your sales order payment
details on page 419. These are then updated to the customer's account when the sales
order is saved.
If you do not want to add any order or footer details to this sales order save the order. See
To finish the order on page 421.
Note: If you are viewing or editing existing orders, you can highlight the relevant orders you
want to view or edit from the Sales Order Processing window (Customers > Sales Order
List). When you call up the order using the New/Edit button you can then use the Next and
Previous button to browse through your chosen orders.
To edit the goods/services (sales order item line)

Use this function to increase the detail which is included in your records. You can assign a
nominal code to your sales orders so you can increase the analysis and reporting options that
you can use on them. For example, you can see the products that are most commonly sold to
a particular customer, at a later date. You can also see what discounts have been set up for this
product.
1. Select Customers > New Sales Order.
The Product Sales Order window appears, showing the Details tab.
2. Enter your sales order details.
When your cursor moves to the 'Description' box, an Edit button appears.
3. Click the Edit button (or press F3).
Some of the boxes on the Edit Item Line window are already filled, with information taken
from the product and customer records.
410
Customer Tasks
4. In the boxes in the Details area, enter the following details:
Product Code This box automatically displays the product code you have
chosen. You cannot edit this entry.
Units This defaults to the setting within the product record. However,
you can enter your own description.
Description You can amend an existing product description, or enter your own
if none was entered previously, using up to sixty characters.
Comment 1 and These two boxes, each of up to sixty characters, can be used to
Comment 2 add additional text to the description.
5. In the boxes provided in the Values area, enter the following details:
Quantity The quantity displayed on the Sales Order Details tab appears here, but
you can override this if necessary. If you have selected the Allow
Negative Stock check box on the Company Preferences window
(Company > Settings>), Sage 50 Accounts gives you a warning if you
do not have enough stock, unless it is set as a non-stock item in the
product record.
411
Unit Price This is the sales price per unit that is taken from the product record.
You may amend it for this sales order if necessary. If you enter the gross
amount here, you can make Sage 50 Accounts calculate the VAT
amount and the corresponding net amount by clicking Calc Net.
Discount % The discount entered here is the total percentage of discount that the
customer receives, as set up on the Customer Record Defaults tab.
You can amend this if you require. To see how this discount is made up,
click Discounts. The Discount Breakdown window appears.
Discount This shows the value of the discount that the customer will receive,
based on the percentage of discount above. You can amend this if you
want.
Net This box displays the net value for the current item. It is calculated by
multiplying the quantity by the net unit price, including any discount.
You cannot amend this value.
VAT This box displays the amount of VAT calculated for this item according
to the default VAT code from the product record. If you have selected
the Override product tax code in invoicing check box on the customer
record, the customer's default tax code is used to calculate the VAT.
You can edit this value if you have selected the Item VAT Amendable
check box in the VAT tab of the Company Preferences (Company >
Settings).
6. In the boxes provided in the Posting Details area, enter the following details:
Nominal Code If you have added a product to the order, the defaults set on the
customers record, see To enter your customer and supplier records
on page 195, dictate which nominal code is suggested for use. This is
either the nominal code from the product record or from the
customers record.
If you have added a special product code, the nominal code from the
customers record appears here.
You can also change the displayed nominal code if required. The code
entered here will be used, when you generate an invoice from this
sales order.
You can enter the nominal code in one of two ways. You can either
analyse each item of the order to an appropriate nominal account, or
you can analyse the whole order to one nominal ledger account.
412
Customer Tasks
If you want to transfer individual items on the order separately to the

nominal ledger, then you need to include a nominal code entry for
every item on the order. You may amend the nominal account that is
displayed here if necessary. If you are not sure which nominal codes
are available, use the drop-down button to display a list of possible
nominal accounts from which you may select.
If you want to analyse the whole order to just one nominal code, any
code entered in this box will be overwritten by the entry you make for
Nominal Account in the Global area of the Sales Order Footer tab.
If you analyse your order to one nominal account, when you update
the ledgers with details from the product invoice that is generated
from this sales order, only one line will appear on the audit trail.
Tax Code This is the default tax code for the product. If you have selected the
Use Default Tax Code for Sales check box on the customer record,
the customer's default tax code appears here.
You can either analyse the VAT on each item of the sales order to its
appropriate VAT rate code, or you can analyse the whole order to just
one code. You can only analyse the whole order to one VAT code if
you are also analysing it to one nominal code.
If you want to analyse each item of the order separately, select the VAT
rate code you require from the drop-down list box for each item line. If
you want to analyse the whole order to just one VAT code, any code
entered in this box will be overwritten by the entry you make for Tax
Code in the Global area of the Sales Order Footer tab. If you analyse
your order to one code, when you update the ledgers with details from
the product invoice that is generated from this sales order, only one
line will appear on the audit trail.
Department This shows the default department for the product record.
Like the nominal and tax codes described above, department
numbers can be entered by line item or for the order transaction as a
whole. You can only analyse the whole order to one department if you
are also analysing it to one nominal code.
If you want to analyse the order across departments for each line item,
then each item must have its own department number. You may
amend this if necessary. If you want to analyse the entire order to one
department number, any department entered in this box will be
overwritten by the entry you make for Department in the Global area of
the Sales Order Footer tab.
413
7. View the following Item Status information:
Allocated Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the quantity of stock that is

currently allocated for this product.
Despatched Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the quantity of stock that has
been despatched.
To Deliver Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the quantity still left to deliver
here.
Intrastat Shows the number of items that have been Intrastat confirmed.
Note: This box only appears if you have enabled Intrastat reporting in
Invoice and Order Defaults. For more information, see To set up your
8. If Project Costing is enabled in Sage 50 Accounts and you enter the special product code
S3 on your sales order, an additional Project Details section appears on the Edit Item Line
window. If you want to assign this order to a project, select the project you require from the
Project Ref drop-down list.
9. If you want to view a breakdown of the discounts that have been applied to this item, click
Discounts.
10. If you want to view the different price lists or special customer prices that are available for
the selected product, click Price List.
11. To save your sales order item line entries click OK, or if you want to exit without saving click
Cancel.
To enter the order details for your sales order

1. From within the appropriate sales order, click the Order Details tab.
If you are amending an existing sales order, select the order you require from the Product
Sales Orders window and then click New/Edit.
The Order Details information appears. Some of the boxes are already filled for you, with
information taken from the customer record.
414
Customer Tasks
You can enter or amend any entries here, but the changes you make will be applicable to
this sales order only. No changes are saved to the customer record.
2. In the boxes provided in the Order Details area, enter or edit the following details:
Delivery Address The customer's default delivery address appears here. You can
edit this address directly by typing into the box. Alternatively,
you can select a different address from the list of company,
customer or supplier delivery addresses by clicking Change.
The Tax Code box displays the default tax code assigned to the
company delivery address.
Note: If there is no default delivery address, the box will be left
blank for you to enter the delivery address of your choice.
Customer Order No. Enter your customer's order number here.
Customer Tel. No. Your customer's telephone number appears here automatically.
You can change this if required.
Customer Contact The name of the person you set up as the contact on the
customer record appears here automatically. If you want, you
can change this to record the name of the person who placed
this particular sales order.
415
Order Taken By Enter the name of the person who took the order here. If you are
using the Access Rights to restrict access to Sage 50
Accounts' functionality, your Logon Name appears here.
Notes Enter up to three lines of notes here, that relates to the whole
order. For example, you could record any special delivery
requirements.
DUNS Number The DUNS Number (Data Universal Numbering System) is a

nine digit number, used to identify a business.
Use of this numbering system to identify a business is to ensure
compatibility with Zanzibar, the UK Government e-purchasing
portal.
Every e-order and e-invoice that passes through Zanzibar must
include a DUNS number.
3. The boxes in the Sales Order Status area show the following details:
Allocation When you allocate stock to this sales order, Sage 50 Accounts
automatically enters the allocation status of the order here.
Despatch This shows the status of the order when you deliver the
products.
Due If necessary, you can enter an estimated despatch date for the
sales order here. This is for reporting purposes only. Use the
Calendar button to help you select the date you require.
To enter your sales order footer details

1. From within the appropriate sales order, click the Footer Details tab.
Note: If you are amending an existing sales order, first select the order you require from the
Sales Orders window then click New/Edit and then click the Footer Details tab.
The Footer Details information appears. Some of the boxes are already filled for you, with
information taken from the Customer Record and from your Invoice and Order Defaults
settings.
416
Customer Tasks
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following carriage charges, or leave them blank if you are
not charging for carriage.
Net Enter the amount of the carriage item - that is, excluding VAT. Use the
Calculator button to help you calculate the amount to enter.
If you have chosen to enter a default net carriage charge in your Invoice
and Order Defaults, the default net carriage charge appears
automatically for you. You can edit this if required.
Tax Code From the drop-down list, select the VAT code you require for carriage.
VAT This shows the amount of VAT calculated according to the rate specified
in the Tax Code box.
You can only amend this if you have selected the Item VAT Amendable
Settings).
Gross This shows the gross amount of carriage to be paid - that is, the net
plus VAT in total.
417
N/C Enter the reference for the nominal code to which the carriage value will
be analysed. You can use the drop-down button to display a list of
nominal accounts from which to choose.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default nominal code to analyse
your carriage to in your Invoice and Order Defaults, the default nominal
code appears automatically for you. You can edit this if required.
Department If you want to analyse the carriage to a department, enter the

department you require here, or select it from the drop-down list.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default department to analyse your
carriage to in your Invoice and Order Defaults, the default department
appears automatically for you. You can edit this if required.
Consign. No You can enter a consignment number here.
Courier Select the courier you are using to despatch the order from this
drop-down list box.
3. In the boxes provided, enter the following Settlement Terms, or leave blank if not
applicable.
Days If necessary, enter the number of days during which early settlement
discount applies to this sales order. This box defaults to the number
specified in the Settlement Due Days box on the customer record.
Discount % If appropriate, enter the percentage of settlement discount that you

want to offer in this box. This box defaults to the percentage specified
as Sett. Discount on the customer record.
Amount This is the actual value of the discount given. You cannot edit this value.
Note: This value does not include the settlement discount already
applied to the VAT.
Total This is the Gross amount of the order less the settlement discount
amount.
4. In the boxes provided, enter any conditions you want to apply globally - that is, to all of the
items listed on the sales order. If you analyse your order globally, only one line will be added
to the audit trail when the product invoice that is created for this sales order is updated.
The global entries you make are only activated if you make an entry in the N/C box in the
Global area.
418
Customer Tasks
N/C If you want to analyse the entire net value of the order to just one
nominal account, enter the nominal code in this box.
Use the drop-down button to display a list of nominal accounts from
which to select.
When you enter a nominal code in this box, you activate the whole of
the global area. This means that the sales order will be analysed
automatically to whatever entries you make in the N/C, Details, Tax
Code and Department boxes in the Global area.
Details Details should be entered to accompany the posting to the nominal

ledger if the sales order is to be analysed to one nominal code only. You
can enter up to sixty characters. This text appears on your reports.
Tax Code To analyse the whole order to one VAT code, enter the code in this box
or select one from the drop-down list.
Department If you want to analyse the entire order to just one department, enter the
department you require here or select it from the drop-down list. If you
do not specify a department, the audit trail will be updated with a
department number of zero.
Note: Any entries you make in the Global area will override any you have
already set up using the Product Item Line window, provided that you
have made an entry in the Global N/C box.
To enter your sales order payment details

Note: If you are recording a cash sale there is no need to enter payment details as Sage 50
Accounts does this for you.
1. From within the appropriate sales order, click the Payment Details tab.
The Payment Details information appears. You cannot add a payment detail after you have
saved a sales order as it will not post retrospectively.
419
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following payment details:
Payment Ref Enter a reference here that relates to the payment.
Bank Account Enter the nominal code of the bank account that you want the
money to be debited to - that is, paid into.
Payment Amount Enter the payment amount to be posted to the customer account.
Use the Calculator button to help calculate the amount.
Note for VAT Cash Accounting users: If the payment exceeds the order value the tax
liability of the overpayment must be dealt with. Sage 50 Accounts records an overpayment
as a payment on account.
Before the order is saved Sage 50 Accounts prompts you to apply a tax code to the
overpayment. The default tax code from the customers record is suggested for use but
you can select another from the drop-down. Alternatively you can cancel, return to the
order and amend the payment to match the order value.
You have now completed the payment details for your sales order. The payment
information entered here is posted to the audit trail as a sales payment on account (SA)
when you save the sales order.
420
Customer Tasks
To finish the order

1. To check the profit of the order, click Profit. For an explanation of this function, type Profit
Check in the Sage 50 Accounts Help systems index and select the topic To Use the
Invoice Profit Check Option.
2. To commit the order to Sage 50 Accounts you have a number of choices depending on
how far the order is processed.
If the order has been concluded and payment received, provided it is not a foreign
currency payment, click Cash Sale.
Stock is allocated to the order, it is marked as despatched, an invoice created and
ledgers are updated automatically for you. A sales receipt is generated and allocated
to the order. The order is marked complete.
Depending on your cash sales settings, you may be prompted to select the bank
account you want the value of the sale applied to. You must select a base currency
bank account. You may also be prompted to print the generated order documents -
sales order, goods despatched note, sales invoice.
If the order has been despatched, click Complete. Stock is allocated to the order and
it is marked as despatched. An invoice is generated and ready to be printed and
updated to the customers account. Prompts to print the sales order are displayed.
If the order is pending and you want a printed copy of the order now, click Print. The
order is saved and a printed copy generated.
If the order is pending and you want to save it for later printing, allocating and
despatching, click Save.
Alternatively you can clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard. To exit
without saving the order by clicking Close.
Depending on your Sage 50 Accounts setting, the window either clears ready for you to
enter a new order or the order information remains displayed for you to edit. For more
information see Entering Invoice and Order Defaults on page 147.
Note: If you use this sales order regularly, you can save it as a skeleton sales order, so you
can recall the saved sales order quickly and easily. To do this click Memorise (you then have
to give it a file name and a description). For more information, see To create a recurring
transaction on page 471.
421
To view despatch information for a sales order

Note: The Despatched tab does not appear if your GDN Options in Invoice and Order Defaults
are set to Do not generate. For more information, see To enter your invoice and order
numbering options on page 152.
1. From within the appropriate sales order, click the Despatched tab.
The despatch information for the sales order appears.
You can view the following information:
Order Status The status of the sales order appears here automatically. This
may be Full, Part, Cancelled or blank. If the status is blank,
the order is either complete, or it has no stock allocated to it.
Despatch Status This box shows the despatch status of the order and can be
Part or Complete. If you have not yet despatched any items
for this order, this box is blank.
Invoice Status If you have raised an invoice for this sales order, a 'Y' appears
in this box. If you have not yet raised an invoice, an 'N'
appears here.
422
Customer Tasks
Complete If the order is complete, a 'Y' appears in this box. If the order
is not yet complete, an 'N' appears here.
Due Date You can enter an estimated despatch due date in this box.
Note: If the status of the sales order is Complete, you cannot
change this date.
Intrastat Displays the Intrastat declarations status of the order. This

can be blank - the order is not Intrastat confirmed, Complete -
the order has been fully Intrastat confirmed, or Part - only
some items on the order have been Intrastat confirmed.
Note: This box only appears if Intrastat reporting is enabled in
Invoice and Order Defaults. For more information, see To set
up your invoice and order defaults on page 148.
GDN. No This column shows the goods despatched note number that
Sage 50 Accounts automatically assigns to each despatch.
Customer GDN No. If you entered a customer's goods despatched note number
for reference purposes, it appears here.
Date This column displays the date that you despatched the goods
to the customer.
Printed? Displays a 'Y' if you have printed the GDN, or an 'N' if you
have not. The column is blank if you have yet to print a GDN.
2. To view individual goods despatched notes, select the note you want to view from the list
and click View. The Goods Despatched Notes window appears, showing the goods
despatched note details. You cannot change any of this information.
3. If you want to print (or reprint) individual goods despatched notes, select the note you want
to print from the list and click Print GDN.
The Preview window appears, showing the goods despatched note details. You can print,
save or email the note from this window. Click Close to return to the Despatched tab.
4. To exit and return to the Sales Order Processing window, click Close.
To view your sales order invoice details

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales order you require and then click
New/Edit.
423
3. From the Product Sales Order window, click the Invoices tab.
The invoices associated with the selected sales order are listed.
4. Select the invoice from the list and click View.
The invoice details are displayed.
Completing your sales order if it has already been despatched

If your order has already been despatched to the customer, you can choose to complete the
order. This will print your sales order, allocate stock to it and mark the order as despatched.
To complete your order

2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales order you require, then click
Complete.
You are prompted to confirm that you want to complete your order. To continue, click Yes.
If for any reason your order cannot be fully allocated or despatched, Sage 50 Accounts provides
you with a list of possible causes. You are then prompted to print your sales order. The order
will be marked as completed or part completed depending upon whether Sage 50 Accounts
has been able to completely allocate the stock or partially allocate the stock.
If your order has only been part-despatched, an invoice will be created for the stock that has
been despatched. When you have more stock available, you can simply choose to complete
the order to despatch the remaining stock.
If your order has been fully despatched, an invoice is created for all of the stock.
If your order has not been despatched, or is only part completed, follow the procedure in
Allocating stock to sales orders on page 426.
Saving your sales order

To save an order without immediately printing, allocating or despatching it, click Save.
If you want to more instructions about how to print your sales orders, see Printing your sales
order on page 425.
If you want to allocate your sales orders, see Allocating stock to sales orders on page 426.
If you want to despatch your sales orders, see Despatching sales orders on page 428.
Note: You cannot despatch your sales orders until you have allocated stock to the order.
424
Customer Tasks
Duplicating a sales order

To save you time when entering your sales orders, you can use the Duplicate facility to copy an
existing order. This is useful if you need to create many sales orders with the same details.
To duplicate a sales order

Duplicate.
The Sales Order window appears, displaying the Details information.
Note: Sage 50 Accounts makes an exact copy of the original order, regardless of whether
any prices have changed since you created the order. You should check all item prices
carefully, and make any changes manually before you save the order.
3. If you manually number your orders as you create them, type the order number you require
in the Order No. box.
If you use the Autonumber facility to automatically number your sales orders as you create
them, you cannot overtype the <Autonumber> text that appears in the Order No. box.
Sage 50 Accounts assigns the next available number to the duplicated sales order when
you save it.
4. Check that the details in each tab of the order are correct and make any amendments you
require.
5. To save the new order, click Save. To exit without saving, click Discard.
6. To close the order and return to the Sales Order Processing window, click Close.
The Sales Order Processing window appears.
The new sales order appears in the list on the Sales Order Processing window, ready to be
printed, allocated and despatched.
Printing your sales order

Use the Print facilities to print a copy of your sales order. You can print as many copies of your
sales order as you need.
To print a sales order

Print.
3. Select the layout and output you require and then click Generate Report.
425
You are now ready to allocate stock to your sales order.

Important Note for Irish Users: Special legislation exists in the Republic of Ireland regarding
VAT requirements when sending and receiving invoices and orders by email. For information,
view the notice on the Revenue website at http://www.revenue.ie/pdf/vat09-92.doc.
Alternatively, you can obtain a copy of the notice from your Revenue Office.
Note: You can choose to print your sales order in a batch- that is, to print all of the orders
in one go. Alternatively, you can select the sales orders you want to print off individually.
Allocating stock to sales orders

After you have created a sales order, you must allocate stock to it. There are three ways in which
you can allocate stock, depending on your circumstance.
If the order has been despatched and you have chosen to complete the order, the stock is
automatically allocated for you. This is explained in Completing your sales order if it has already
been despatched on page 424.
Alternatively, you can let Sage 50 Accounts allocate your stock automatically. You may want to
use this facility if you have received an order from a trusted customer and want to allocate the
relevant stock - that is, the stock has been reserved. For further information, refer to the
following section.
Allocating your stock manually gives you greater control over your stock allocation. For
example, if you only have ten stock items left in your stores and you receive two orders for ten
items each, you can manually allocate five items to each customer and tell them they will get
the remaining five items when you get them in stock. For more information, see Manually
allocating stock to your sales orders on page 427.
To allocate sales orders automatically

Sage 50 Accounts automatically allocates as much stock as possible to your orders. Sage 50
Accounts automatically makes the following adjustments for each product that you have
allocated stock for:
The free stock level decreases.
The allocated stock increases.
Note: If you only want to make a part allocation, see Manually allocating stock to your sales
orders on page 427.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales orders you require and then
click Allocate.
A confirmation message appears asking you to confirm that you want to allocate the full
quantity of stock for each order.
426
Customer Tasks
3. To allocate stock to the sales order, click Yes.

If you do not have enough stock to allocate, a message appears listing the reasons why
this might occur.
4. Click OK.
The Sales Order Processing window reappears showing an Allocated status of Full if you
had sufficient stock, or Part if you did not, for each selected order.
The next step in the order cycle is to record the despatch of the stock to your customer.
For further information about how to do this, see Despatching sales orders on page 428.
Manually allocating stock to your sales orders

You can use Sage 50 Accounts to manually allocate stock to your orders.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically makes the following adjustments for each product that you
have allocated stock for:
To allocate sales orders manually

click Amend.
3. In the Allocated column, enter the quantity of stock you want to allocate against each
product item.
4. To save your changes, click Close.
Amending the allocation of stock

If you have allocated stock to a sales order but have not yet despatched it all, you can amend
the allocation. You may want to do this to prioritise orders. To do this, select the order you
require and from the Sales Order Processing toolbar, click Amend. In the Allocated column,
amend the quantity of stock you want to allocate against each product item.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically makes the following adjustments for each product allocation
that you have increased:
Sage 50 Accounts automatically makes the following adjustments for each product allocation
that you have decreased:
The free stock level increases.
427
The allocated stock decreases.
To amend stock allocation

click Amend.
3. In the Allocated column, amend the quantity of stock you want to allocate against each
product item.
Dealing with low stock

If you have run out, or are running low on stock, you can use the Shortfall facility to automatically
generate purchase orders for the stock that you require.
For full details about using the Shortfall facility, see Stock Shortfall (Accounts Plus and Accounts
Despatching sales orders

When you have allocated your stock to your sales order you are ready to record the despatch
of the order.
If you have chosen to complete the order, the stock is automatically recorded as despatched
for you. For more information, see Completing your sales order if it has already been
despatched on page 424.
There are three other ways of recording the despatch of the goods. The method you choose
will depend on the amount of 'traceability' you require and the number of items that you
despatch. The three methods are:
Use the Goods Despatched Notes (GDN) facility to record the despatch of goods
automatically. The advantage of using the GDN facility is that it provides you with maximum
traceability, as you can view all of the goods despatched notes for an order. For further
information about how to do this, refer to the following section.
Use the Despatch facility to automatically record the complete deliveries of stock for the
sales orders you select. When you use the Despatch facility, Sage 50 Accounts assumes
that you are despatching the complete order. For further information about how to do this,
see Manually recording sales order despatches on page 435.
If you are not despatching the whole order, you can manually record the delivery of the
stock you are sending. For more information, see Manually recording sales order
despatches on page 435.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically makes the following adjustments for each product you
despatch:
The In Stock level is decreased by the quantity of the despatch.
428
Customer Tasks
The Allocated stock level is decreased by the quantity of the despatch.

A GO - Goods Out adjustment is made for the quantity of the despatch.
Recording delivery of goods using Goods Despatched Notes

The Goods Despatched Notes (GDN) facility provides a quick and easy way of recording the
despatches you make for your sales orders. You can use this facility to record despatches
against more than one sales order at the same time.
Sage 50 Accounts keeps a record of the goods despatched notes that link to each sales order,
enabling you to keep track of your despatches.
Before you start using Goods Despatched Notes

Before you start using Goods Despatched Notes, you should set up your GDN Options in
Invoice and Order Defaults. The behaviour of the GDN, Despatch and Amend facilities depends
on the settings you enter for these defaults.
Option 1: Generate for all despatches (Default)

Goods Despatched Notes window:
If you set your GDN Options to Generate for all despatches (Default), the following
message appears every time you click Save in the Goods Despatched Notes window:
Note: If you do not want to see this message each time you print a despatch note, and
you will always choose the same answer, select the Do not show this message again check
box.
Click Print Now to display the Sales Order Processing Delivery Note Printing window.
Select the layout and output you require and click Generate Report. Alternatively, to print
your goods despatched note later, click Print Later. You can print the note at any time from
the Despatched tab of the sales order.
429
Sales Order Processing window:

If you set your GDN Options to Generate for all despatches (Default), the following
message appears every time you click Despatch in the Sales Order Processing window:
If you want to produce a delivery note AND update your stock levels and order status,
click Yes. The following message appears:
Select the layout and output you require and click Generate Report. Alternatively, to
print your goods despatched note later, click Print Later. You can print the note at any
time from the Despatched tab of the sales order.
If you want to print a delivery note WITHOUT updating your stock levels and order
status, click No. The Sales Order Processing Delivery Note Printing window appears.
Select the layout and output you require and click 'Generate Report'.
Option 2: Prompt at each despatch

Goods Despatched Notes window:
If you set your GDN Options to Prompt at each despatch, the following message appears
every time you click Save in the GDN window:
430
Customer Tasks
Note: If you do not want to see this message each time you print a despatch note, and
you will always choose the same answer, select the Do not show this message again check
box.
Select the layout and output you require and click Generate Report. Alternatively, to print
your goods despatched note later, click Print Later. You can print the note at any time from
the Despatched tab of the sales order.
Sales Order Processing window:
If you set your GDN Options to Prompt at each despatch, the following message appears
every time you click Despatch in the Sales Order Processing window:
If you want to generate a goods despatched note AND update your stock levels and
order status, select the 'Generate Goods Despatch Note(s)' check box and click Yes.
The following message appears:
Select the layout and output you require and click Generate Report. Alternatively, to
print your goods despatched note later, click Print Later. You can print the note at any
time from the Despatched tab of the sales order.
If you want to update your stock levels and order status WITHOUT generating a
goods despatched note, leave the Generate Goods Despatched Note(s)? check box
clear and click Yes. Sage 50 Accounts updates your stock levels and order status and
creates an invoice for the despatched goods.
If you want to generate a goods despatched note WITHOUT updating your stock
levels or order status, click No. The Sales Order Processing Delivery Note Printing
window appears. Select the layout and output you require and click Generate Report.
Note: Printing a despatch note in this way does not store goods despatched note
details on the Despatched tab of the order.
431
Option 3: Do not generate

If you set your GDN Options to Do not generate, Sage 50 Accounts does not produce a goods
despatched note for any despatch, and the GDN option does not appear on the Sales Order
Processing toolbar.
To use Goods Despatched Notes

2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales orders you want to despatch
goods for and then click GDN.
Note: You can only use the Goods Despatched Notes option for sales orders that have
stock allocated to them. This means that the sales orders you select must show a status
of Part or Full in the Allocated column. If you select an order that has no stock allocated to
it, the following message appears:
There is no stock allocated to order(s)
3. Click OK to return to the Sales Order Processing window and allocate stock to the order
or choose an alternative order.
The Goods Despatched Notes window appears.
4. Enter the date and customer details in the boxes provided:
432
Customer Tasks
GDN No. The Goods Despatched Note number appears here

automatically. You cannot change this number.
If you want to change the number that your goods
despatched notes start from, you can do so in Invoice and
Order Defaults. For more information, see To enter your
invoice and order numbering options on page 152.
Date Despatched By default, the program date appears here. You can change
this if you require.
Customers Ref You can enter the customer's reference here. You can later
use this as a cross-reference check between the goods that
you despatch and your customer receives.
Customer A/C Ref From the drop-down list, select the customer you are sending
a delivery to. Only those customers associated with the sales
orders you select appear in the list.
Note: You cannot type directly into this box.
5. When you select the customer you are sending a delivery to, the following information
appears:
Order No. Your Sage 50 Accounts sales order number appears here.
Product Code The product code of each item on the sales order appears
here.
Part No. If the product record contains a part number for this item,
Sage 50 Accounts displays it here.
Details This shows the item description as it appears on the sales

order. If you did not enter an item description on the sales
order, this column remains blank.
Ordered This column displays the total quantity of the item that
appears on the sales order.
To Despatch Shows the number of items that still need to be delivered, that
is, the quantity of this item still outstanding on the sales order.
433
This Despatch If you want to record the complete delivery of all the items on
the goods despatched note, click Despatch All. Selecting
Despatch All enters the To Despatch value into the This
Despatch column for all items on the order. When you save
the goods despatched note, the order status changes to
Complete.
If you are delivering only part of an order, enter the quantity of
items that you are delivering here. When you save the goods
despatched note, the order status changes to Part.
Note: You cannot enter a quantity greater than the quantity
displayed in the To Despatch column. If you try to enter a This
Despatch quantity that is greater than the quantity to
despatch, Sage 50 Accounts automatically changes the value
to the figure shown in the To Despatch column.
Total Quantity This box shows the total of the This Despatch column, that is,
Despatched the number of items you are despatching.
6. To save the goods despatched note information, click Save.

7. Depending on your GDN Options settings, a prompt message may appear. Produce your
goods despatched note as you require, according to the message or options that appear.
For full details, refer to the section Before you start using Goods Despatched Notes on
page 429.
8. If you do not want to save the goods despatched note information, click Discard. The
Goods Despatched Note window clears, ready for you to re-enter the details or return to
the Sales Order Processing window.
9. To return to the Sales Order Processing window, click Close.
You have now recorded your good despatched note for the selected customer. Repeat the
procedure above for the remaining customers, to whom you have despatched goods.
The Despatched Tab

When you have recorded a delivery of goods using the GDN facility, Sage 50 Accounts updates
the Despatched tab on the sales order with information relating to the despatch. This provides
you with the ability to trace when you despatched the goods. From the Despatched tab, you
can also view or print the goods despatched notes. For more information about the Despatched
tab, see To view despatch information for a sales order on page 422.
Note: The Despatched tab is not available if your GDN Options in Invoice and Order Defaults
are set to Do not generate. For details, see To enter your invoice and order numbering options
on page 152.
434
Customer Tasks
Recording sales order despatches

Use the Despatch facility to record the complete deliveries of stock to your customers for the
sales orders you select.
To despatch sales orders

2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales orders that you want to process
and click Despatch.
3. Depending on your GDN Options settings, a message may appear. Produce your goods
despatched note as you require, according to the message or options that appear. For full
details, refer to section Before you start using Goods Despatched Notes on page 429.
For each order or part order that you despatch, Sage 50 Accounts prints a goods despatched
note (if you request one), creates a product invoice and updates the stock level for each product
on the order.
Manually recording sales order despatches

You can use the Amend facility to record complete or part despatches for your sales orders.
To record a sales order despatch manually

2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the order(s) you require and click Amend.
The Amend Allocations window appears showing the details of the first sales order you
selected.
3. When you originally allocated stock to this order, Sage 50 Accounts automatically entered
the quantity of stock outstanding for each product in the This Despatch column.
If you want to record a part despatch of the order, amend the quantity in the This Despatch
column.
4. To update the product records with the delivery details, click Despatch.
5. Depending on your GDN Options settings, a prompt message may appear. Produce your
goods despatched note as you require, according to the message or options that appear.
For full details, refer to section Before you start using Goods Despatched Notes on page
429.
6. To return to the Sales Order Processing window, click Close.
435
Completing the sales order cycle

When your sales order is complete - that is, you have allocated and despatched all stock
associated with the order, you need to print the invoice(s) created from the order and update
your ledgers with the invoice details.
Any invoices related to sales orders appear in the Invoicing window, ready for you to print and
update. For details about how to update your ledgers, see Posting an Invoice on page 470.
To print your invoice

2. From the list of invoices, select those that you want to print and then click Print.
The Invoice Printing window appears.
3. Select the layout and output that you require and then click Generate Report.
4. You have now printed the invoice. Now you must update the customer and nominal ledger
so that the customer's account balance is amended to reflect the sale of goods. Using the
update function also adds the value for the sale of goods to the Debtors Control account.
Deleting a sales order

If you want to, you can delete cancelled or completed orders. This will free up disk space on
your PC, when you compress your data.
Before you delete any orders, back up your data. For more information, see Backing up your
data on page 302.
To delete completed or cancelled orders

1. Back up your data. For details on how to back up your data, see To back up your data on
page 302.
Note: Keep this backup until your Year End.
3. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales orders that you want to delete
and click Delete.
A confirmation message appears asking you to confirm that you want to delete the
order(s).
Note: When you delete sales orders, Sage 50 Accounts also deletes any goods
despatched notes associated with the orders. You should make sure that you no longer
need the goods despatched note information before you confirm deletion of the orders.
436
Customer Tasks
4. To continue to delete the orders, click Yes.

Note: If you have deleted a large number of sales orders, we recommend that you
compress your data to free up disk space. For further information about how to do this,
refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
You have now deleted the sales order.
Entering an Invoice
Sage 50 Accounts gives you all the functions you need to produce invoices and credit notes for
your products and services.
You can enter your invoices or credit notes that you have produced manually and already sent
out to your customers. Sage 50 Accounts enables you to enter these in groups at one sitting,
known as batch invoices or credit notes. You can also produce invoices or credit notes that you
want to print out and send to your customers.
Users of Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional can also create proformas. Other invoicing
functions, like mixed product and service invoices, are only available to users of Accounts
Professional.
Invoicing in Sage 50 Accounts is directly linked to your Customer, Product, Project and Nominal
accounts, so when you produce an invoice or credit note, all of these accounts are automatically
updated.
Creating invoices
This method produces printed invoices to send to your customers, for goods or services. You
create the invoice using Customers > New Invoice. Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional
users can also create proformas.
The Invoice window appears, which is made up of four tabs: Details, Order Details, Footer
Details and Payment Details.
Use the Details tab to enter your main invoice, credit note or proforma details, including
customer account details, items and quantities. For further information about how to do
this, see To create a new product invoice or credit note on page 439.
Use the Order Details tab to enter or amend the delivery address and details which are
applicable to the invoice, credit note or proforma. For further information about how to do
this, see To enter order details for your invoice or credit note on page 455.
Use the Footer Details tab to enter carriage charges, settlement terms and global details
to relate to the whole invoice, credit note or proforma. For further information about how
to do this, see To enter your invoice or credit note footer details on page 457.
Use the Payment Details tab to record any payments made against the invoice or
proforma. For further information about how to do this, see To enter your invoice payment
details on page 460.
437
Note: When you create a credit note, it appears in red on the Invoicing window.
To save you time when entering your invoices or credit notes you can enter a series of defaults.
For example, you can set up a default to select the type of invoice you create most often and
then when you click New Invoice or New Credit the window that appears will already show the
type of invoice you want to create. For further information about how to do this, see Entering
Another time-saving feature is the facility to duplicate an existing invoice or credit note. This is
particularly useful if you need to create many invoices for the same products or services. For
more information about duplicating invoices and credit notes, see To duplicate an invoice or
credit note on page 463.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: Sage 50 Accounts lets you save the details
of any product or service invoice you create, as a skeleton invoice so that you can use it again
without having to enter all of the information again. This is very useful for those invoices that you
create regularly. When you load your skeleton, all the details that you saved appear
automatically in the boxes in the invoice window. For further information about skeleton
invoices, type Skeleton Invoice in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system's Index.
In addition to creating skeleton invoices, you can also set up recurring invoices and orders if you
bill customers for regular product or service sales, or if you place frequent orders for products
or services with the same supplier. For more information about setting up and processing
recurring invoices or orders, see Dealing with Recurring Transactions on page 471.
Note: The status bar shows the number of the last invoice or credit note you created.
When you have created your invoices and credit notes, you must decide when you want Sage
50 Accounts to update the sales and nominal ledgers with the transaction details. For details,
see Posting an Invoice on page 470.
A Note about special product codes

Normally you would set up a series of codes for your products and services that you regularly
produce invoices or credit notes for.
(See Creating a Product Record on page 201 for more information.)
However, sometimes you may need to produce invoices or credit notes for a product or service
that you have no code for, that is, a one-off. In these cases you can choose a special product
code that Sage 50 Accounts has already set up.
The following special product codes are available from the product code drop-down list when
you create an order:
M Message Lines
Use this to add additional lines of description to the product or any comments you want to add.
S1 Special Product Item Tax Chargeable
Use the S1 code for product items that use the standard VAT code (T1) where no Product
Record exists in Sage 50 Accounts.
438
Customer Tasks
S2 Special Product Item Zero-Rated

Use the S2 code for product items that are zero-rated for VAT (T0) where no Product Record
exists in Sage 50 Accounts.
S3 Special Service Item Tax Chargeable (Accounts Professional Only)
Use the S3 code for adding service items to product invoices and sales orders. It uses the
standard VAT code (T1).
Note: This code is not available in purchase order processing.
Tip: If the special product codes do not appear in the product code list, select Customers >
Invoice / Order Defaults. Select the Show special product codes in Invoicing check box.
To create a new product invoice or credit note

1. Select Customers > New Invoice.
The Invoice window appears, showing the Details tab.
2. Select the type and format you require from the relevant drop-down lists. For example, to
create a product invoice, select Invoice from the Type drop-down list and Product from the
Format drop-down list.
Note: If you are using Accounts Professional or Accounts Plus, you can also choose to
create proformas.
439

Help
3. Enter your invoice or credit note header details:
Inv. No. When you create a new invoice or credit note, <Auto Number> appears
Crd. No. in this box. Invoice or credit note numbers are not assigned until you save
the invoice or credit note. If you want to edit an existing invoice or credit
note, or create an invoice or credit note with a specific number, type the
number you require here.
The first time you create and save an invoice or credit note, Sage 50
Accounts assigns it with the number 1. Each time you create and save an
invoice or credit note, the invoice/credit note number is increased by one.
If you want to start numbering your invoices or credit notes at a particular
number, you must change the numbering sequence in your Invoice and
Order Defaults. For further information about how to do this, refer to To
set up your invoice and order defaults on page 148.
Date Enter the date of the invoice or credit note here. You can use the
Calendar button to enter your date or you can type the date directly into
this box.
Order No. You can enter your own order number here, or leave it blank. If you enter
a number in here and want to be able to see that number on the audit trail
instead of the invoice number, select Customers > Invoice / Order
Defaults and select the Update Using Order No box.
If you have Accounts Professional and have generated an invoice via
Sales Order Processing, an order number automatically appears in this
box. You can change it but we recommend you keep the number so you
can match up the sales order with the invoice. For more information, see
Despatching sales orders on page 428.
A/C Enter the customer account reference you want to assign the invoice or
credit note to. You can use the drop-down button to enter the customer
account reference or you can type directly into the box.
440
Customer Tasks
Note: If you have selected Display Account Status in Company

Preferences, a warning message appears if the customer account you
have selected is on hold.
If the Show warning on each change option is selected in Company
Preferences (Company > Settings), click OK on the warning message to
continue to enter the invoice or credit note.
If the Stop the account option is selected in Company Preferences
(Company > Settings), you must take the account off hold before you can
create the invoice or credit note. Click OK to continue.
Item No. This shows the number of the product item that is currently selected on
the invoice or credit note. For example, if there are ten item lines and the
cursor is currently on the second line, this box shows 2 of 10.
Rate This box only appears if your base currency is not the same as the
(Accounts customer's currency.
Professional
only) You can enter your currency exchange rate here.
4. Enter the product information, one line of the invoice or credit note per product.
Product Code Enter the product code of the item you are invoicing or crediting. You
can use the drop-down list to locate the product code or you can type
directly into this box.
You can also select the special product codes from the product code
list. For further information about the special product codes, see A
Note about special product codes on page 438. If you use the special
product codes the Edit Item Line window appears automatically. For
further information about what to enter here, refer to the section To
enter product item line details on page 444.
Description The items description, as it appears on the Product Record, displays

automatically when you enter the product code. You can change this if
you require.
If you want to enter any one-off product details, click the Edit button
from the Description box or press F3. For further information about
entering one-off product details, see To enter product item line details
on page 444.
441
Quantity Enter the quantity of the product that you are invoicing or crediting
here. If the item has a quantity in stock, Sage 50 Accounts enters one
unit of the product automatically. If there are no items in stock, a zero
appears. If you have already entered a quantity on the Edit Item Line
window, it appears here automatically.
If you have Accounts Professional and are editing an invoice that

was generated from a sales order, the quantity that was entered on the
sales order appears here. You can change this if you require.
If you do not have enough stock for the quantity you have entered, a
warning appears.
Price The unit price from the Product Record appears here. If you are using
a special product code, the value you enter in the Edit Item Line
window appears here. You can change these values if necessary.
discounts that have been awarded such as a good customer discount.
Alternatively with the item line selected you can press F3 to open the
Edit Item Line where you can amend the discount.
Discount % Displays the total percentage discount that the customer receives. The
total can be made up of good customer, quantity or invoice value
discounts.
You can change the discount by keying in a new discount percentage.
Note: The Discount and Discount % columns are only displayed if

Sage 50 Accounts is set to do this. See Entering Invoice and Order
Net Sage 50 Accounts calculates the net value automatically. You cannot
edit this.
VAT The VAT amount appears here automatically. You can only edit this
amount if you have selected the Item VAT Amendable check box
within the Parameters tab of Company Preferences (Company >
Settings). If this option is selected, you can edit the VAT amount within
the Edit Item Line window.
442
Customer Tasks
Tax Breakdown This list box breaks down all of the VAT on the invoice or credit note
List into the separate tax codes. As you enter a new line on the invoice or
credit note, Sage 50 Accounts automatically recalculates the values.
The list shows, for each tax code used, the code, rate, description, net
and VAT.
Total These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of the invoice or credit
note.
Carriage These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of any carriage costs
you apply to the invoice or credit note. You can enter carriage
information on the Footer Details tab.
Gross The total value of the invoice or credit note appears here.
Euro If you have entered currency details into Sage 50 Accounts, the total
value (in euro) of the invoice or credit note appears here.
5. Continue to enter your remaining product lines.

You can now enter any order details such as the delivery address. For further information
about how to do this, refer to the section To enter order details for your invoice or credit
note on page 455.
If you want to enter any carriage or settlement details, for example, if you want to charge
your customers for postal costs or provide discount for early settlement, refer to the section
To enter your invoice or credit note footer details on page 457.
You can also enter payment details for an invoice, for example, if you want to include a
payment reference or choose a bank account from which to debit. For further information
about how to do this, see To enter your invoice payment details on page 460.
If you are an Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional user, you can calculate the profit you
are making on this invoice by clicking Profit. For further information about how to do this,
see To use the invoice profit check on page 468.
6. To save the invoice, click Save. If you have chosen the Create a new Invoice/Order after
saving (Default) option in the Options tab of Invoice and Order Defaults, the window clears
ready for you to enter a new invoice or credit note. Alternatively, if you have chosen the Edit
the last Invoice/Order after saving option, the invoice or credit note information remains
displayed for you to edit.
To print the invoice or credit note straight away, click Print. Select the layout and output
you require and then choose Generate Report.
Important Note for Irish Users: Special legislation exists in the Republic of Ireland
regarding VAT requirements when sending and receiving invoices and orders by email. For
information, view the notice on the Revenue website at
443
http://www.revenue.ie/pdf/vat09-92.doc. Alternatively, you can obtain a copy of the notice

from your Revenue Office.
Alternatively, to clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard.
7. To return to the main Invoicing window, click Close.
Note: If you are viewing or editing existing invoices or credit notes, you can highlight all the
relevant invoices you want to view or edit from the Invoicing window. When you click New/Edit,
Sage 50 Accounts displays the first invoice or credit note in the selection and you can use the
Next and Previous button to browse through your selected records.
To enter product item line details

Use this function to increase the detail which is included in your records. You must assign a
nominal code to your product item lines so you can increase your analysis on them. For
example, to see the turnover for the different types of services you provide, at a later date. You
can also view or alter the discounts that have been set up for this product.
Note: Item line details are a breakdown of the item on the invoice or credit note.
1. From the Invoice or Credit Note window, click the Edit button in the Description box or
press F3.
Note: You cannot edit the item line until some detail has been entered.
2. Enter your item line details.
444
Customer Tasks
Product Code This shows the product code of the product selected on the invoice
or credit note. You cannot change this.
Units Enter the unit type here. For example, you may sell items by the
sheet or roll.
Description The product description as entered on the Product Record appears

here. You can change this if you require, but any changes you make
here do not affect the description on the Product Record.
Comment 1 and You can enter any additional comments you may have regarding the
Comment 2 product items here.
Order Reference If the invoice was generated from a sales order, the sales order
reference appears here. You cannot edit this information.
This information is used exclusively by Transaction Email.
Order Line This shows this item's position on the invoice. This number is only
Reference used by Transaction Email.
Quantity Enter the quantity of the product that you want to add to the invoice
or credit note.
Unit Price The sales price, taken from the Product Record, appears here. You
can amend this if you require. You can enter a gross amount here,
then click Calc. Net to split the gross into the net and VAT amounts.
Discount % This box shows the total discount in percent that the customer
receives. You can change this if you require.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: To see a
breakdown of how this discount is made up, click Discounts.
Discount This shows the value of the discount that the customer will receive
based on the discount percentage. You can change this if you
require.
Net This box displays the net value for the current item. Sage 50
Accounts calculates this by multiplying the quantity by the net unit
price, including any discount. You cannot amend this value.
445
VAT This box shows the amount of VAT calculated for this item
according to the default tax code held on the Product Record.
If you have selected the Override Product Tax Code in Invoicing
check box on the Customer Record, the customer's default tax
code is used to calculate the VAT.
If you have selected the Item VAT Amendable check box in the VAT
tab of Company Preferences, (Company > Settings), you can edit
this value.
Nominal Code The defaults set on the customers record dictate which nominal
code is suggested for use, see To enter your customer and supplier
records on page 195. This is either the nominal code from the
product record or from the customers record.
If you are using a special product code, the nominal code from the
customers record appears here.
You can analyse your invoices or credit notes to the nominal ledger
in two ways. You can either analyse each item of the invoice or
credit note to an appropriate nominal account, or treat the whole
invoice as one posting to the nominal ledger.
If you want individual items on the invoice or credit note to transfer

separately to the nominal ledger, then you need to include a nominal
code entry for every item on the invoice. You can amend the default
nominal code if you require. If you are not sure which nominal codes
are available, use the drop-down list to select from a list of nominal
accounts.
If you want to analyse the whole invoice or credit note to just one
nominal code, the Nominal Code you enter in the Global area of the
Footer Details tab overrides any code that appears here. If you
analyse your invoice to one nominal code, only one line will appear
on the audit trail for this invoice or credit note.
Use Default Tax Code for Sales check box on the customer record,
the customer's default tax code appears here.
Like the nominal code described above, you can either analyse
each line of the invoice or credit note to its appropriate VAT code, or
you can analyse the whole invoice or credit note to just one VAT
code. You can only analyse it to one VAT code if you are also
analysing the invoice or credit note to one nominal code.
446
Customer Tasks
If you want to analyse each line of the invoice separately, select the
VAT code you require from the drop-down list.
VAT code, any code entered in this box will be overwritten by the
entry you make for Tax Code in the Global area of the Footer Details
tab.
If you analyse your invoice to one code, only one line will appear on
the audit trail for this invoice or credit note.
Note: A global tax code will only apply if a global nominal code is
also entered.
Department This is the default department for the product.

numbers can be entered by line item or for the invoice transaction
as a whole. You can only analyse the whole invoice or credit note to
one department if you are also analysing it to one nominal code.
If you want to analyse the invoice or credit note across departments

for each line item, then each item must have its own department
number. You may amend this department number if you require.
If you want to update using the department on the customer record,
you will need to ensure the Update using Customer Department
setting, held within Invoice/Order defaults, has been selected.
department number, any department entered here will be
overwritten by the entry you make for Department in the global area
of the Footer Details tab.
Note: A global department will only apply if a global nominal code is
also entered.
Line Information Enter any additional information about the item line in this box.
If your product item is a special service item (S3), the Product Item Line window only
displays those boxes that are appropriate to that type of item.
For no-charge service items (code M) an Item Line Message window appears, enabling
you to add a description and two lines of comments.
For information about these special codes, see A Note about special product codes on
page 438.
447
3. Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: If Project Costing is enabled in Sage
50 Accounts and you enter the special product code S3 on a Product Invoice, an additional
'Project Details' section appears on the Edit Item Line window. If you want to assign this
invoice or credit note to a project, select the project you require from the Project Ref
drop-down list.
4. Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: If you want to view a breakdown of the
discounts that have been applied to an item on this invoice or credit note, click Discounts.
5. If you want to view the different price lists or special customer prices that are available for
the selected product, click Price Lists.
To save the item line and return to the Invoice or Credit Note window, click OK. To return
to the Invoice or Credit Note window without saving, click Cancel.
To create a service invoice or credit note

1. Select Customer > New Invoice.
2. Select the type and format you require from the relevant drop-down lists. For example, to
create a service invoice, select Invoice from the Type drop-down list and Service from the
Format drop-down list.
Note: If you are using Accounts Professional or Accounts Plus, you can also choose to
create proformas.
448
Customer Tasks

Help
3. Enter your invoice or credit note header details:
Inv. No. When you create a new invoice or credit note, <Auto Number>
Crd. No. appears in this box. Invoice and credit note numbers are not assigned
until you save the invoice or credit note. If you want to edit an existing
invoice or credit note, or create an invoice or credit note with a
specific number, type the number you require here.
The first time you create and save an invoice or credit note, Sage 50
Accounts assigns it with the number 1. Each time you create and
save an invoice or credit note, the invoice or credit note number is
increased by one.
If you want to start numbering your invoices and credit notes at a

particular number, you must change the numbering sequence in your
Invoice and Order Defaults. For further information about how to do
this, refer to the section To set up your invoice and order defaults on
page 148.
Date Enter the tax point date of the invoice or credit note here. You can use
the Calendar button to enter your date or you can type the date
directly into this box.
Order No You can enter a reference code of your own choice here or leave this
box blank.
A/C Enter the customer account reference you are allocating the invoice or
credit note to. You can use the drop-down button to enter the
customer account reference code or you can type directly into the
box.
Note: If you have selected Display Account Status in Company
Preferences, a warning message appears if the customer account you
have selected is on hold.
If the Show warning on each change option is selected in Company
Preferences (Company > Settings), click OK on the warning message
to continue to enter the invoice or credit note.
If the Stop the account option is selected in Company Preferences
(Company > Settings), you must take the account off hold before you
can create the invoice or credit note. Click OK to continue.
449
Item No. 'This shows the number of the service item that is currently selected
on the invoice or credit note. For example, if there are ten item lines
and the cursor is currently on the second line, this box shows 2 of 10.
Rate This box appears if your base currency is different from the currency
(Accounts on the customer record.
Professional
only) You can enter your currency exchange rate here.
4. Enter the service information, one line of the invoice or credit note per service.
Details Enter any details regarding the service you are providing here. If you
want to edit the service details press F3. For further information
about entering service details, refer to the section To enter service
item line details on page 452.
Amount Enter the unit price for the service here.
discounts that have been awarded, such as a good customer
discount.
Discount % Displays the total percentage discount that the customer receives.
The total can be made up of good customer, quantity or invoice
discounts.
You can change the discount by keying in a new discount
percentage. Alternatively with the item line selected you can press F3
to open the Edit Item Line where you can amend the discount.
Note: The Discount and Discount % columns are only displayed if

Sage 50 Accounts is set to do this. See Entering Invoice and Order
Net Sage 50 Accounts calculates the net value automatically. You cannot
edit this.
450
Customer Tasks
VAT This box shows the amount of VAT calculated for this item using the
customer's default tax code, as it appears on the Customer Record.
If you have selected the Item VAT Amendable check box in the VAT
tab of Company Preferences (Company > Settings), you can edit this
value.
Tax Breakdown This list box breaks down all of the VAT on the invoice or credit note
List into the separate tax codes. As you enter a new line on the invoice or
credit note, Sage 50 Accounts automatically recalculates the values.
The list shows, for each tax code used, the code, rate, description,
net and VAT.
Total These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of the invoice or credit
note.
applied to the invoice or credit note. You can enter carriage
information in the Footer Details tab.
Gross The total value of the invoice or credit note appears here.
Euro If you have entered currency details into your Sage 50 Accounts
program, the total value (in euro) of the invoice or credit note appears
here.
5. Continue to enter your remaining service items.

You can enter your order details such as the delivery address. For further information about
how to do this, refer to the section To enter order details for your invoice or credit note on
page 455.
If you want to enter any carriage or settlement details, see To enter your invoice or credit
note footer details on page 457.
You can enter payment details against an invoice. For further information about how to do
this, see To enter your invoice payment details on page 460.
6. To save the invoice or credit note, click Save. If you have chosen the Create a new
Invoice/Order after saving (Default) option from the Options tab of Invoice / Order Defaults,
the window clears ready for you to enter a new invoice or credit note. If you have chosen
the Edit the last Invoice/Order after saving option, the invoice or credit note information
remains displayed for you to edit.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard.
To print the invoice or credit note straight away, click Print. Select the layout and output
you require and then choose Generate Report.
451
To exit without printing the invoice or credit note, click Close.
Note: If you are viewing or editing existing invoices or credit notes, you can select all the
records you want to view or edit from the Invoicing window. When you click New/Edit,
Sage 50 Accounts opens the first invoice or credit note in the selection, and you can use
the Next and Previous buttons to browse through your chosen records.
To enter service item line details

Use this function to increase the detail which is included in your invoices and credit notes. You
must assign a nominal code to the service item line. You can select a different nominal code so
that you can increase your analysis on them. For example, to see your most frequent service or
services supplied to a particular customer, at a later date. You can also view or alter the
discounts that you have set up for this service.
1. From the Invoice or Credit Note window, click the Edit button in the Details box or press F3.
2. Enter your item line details.
Description Service Item appears here automatically. This is the first line of the
details for this service item. You can change this if you require.
Details The details that you entered in the Service Invoice or Credit Note
window appear here.
You can also enter additional text onto this item line, if you require
extra text to explain more about the item line.
If the invoice was generated from a sales order, the sales order
reference appears in the Order Reference box. You cannot edit this
information here. This information is used exclusively by
Transaction Email.
The Order Line Reference shows this item's position on the invoice.
This number is only used by Transaction Email.
Quantity/Hours Enter a quantity of service items or the number of hours worked

here.
452
Customer Tasks
Unit Price Enter the unit price for the service. If you charge by the hour, this
would be the price per hour. You can enter a gross amount here,
then click Calc. Net to split the gross into the net and VAT amounts.
Discount % This box shows the total discount in percent that the customer
receives. You can change this if you require.
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: To see a
breakdown of how this discount is made up, click Discounts.
Discount This shows the value of the discount that the customer receives
based on the discount percentage. You can change this if you
require.
Net This box displays the net value for the current service item. It is
calculated by multiplying the Quantity/Hours by the net unit price,
including any discount. You cannot amend this value.
VAT This box shows the amount of VAT calculated for this item
according to the default VAT code from the Customer Record. If
you have selected the Item VAT Amendable check box in the VAT
tab of Company Preferences (Company > Settings), you can edit
this value.
Nominal Code The nominal code from the Customer Record appears here
automatically. You can change this if you require.
You can analyse your invoice or credit note to the nominal ledger in
two ways. You can either analyse each item of the invoice or credit
note to an appropriate nominal account, or treat the whole invoice
or credit note as one posting to the nominal ledger.
If you want individual items on the invoice to transfer separately to

the nominal ledger, then you need to include a nominal code entry
for every item on the invoice or credit note.
You can amend the default nominal code if you require. If you are
not sure which nominal codes are available, open the drop-down
list to select from a list of nominal accounts.
code, the Nominal Code you enter in the Global section of the
Footer Details tab overrides any code entered in this box.
If you analyse your invoice or credit note to one nominal account,
only one line will appear on the audit trail for this invoice/credit note.
453
Tax Code This is the default tax code for the customer.
Like the nominal code described above, you can either analyse
each line of the invoice or credit note to its appropriate VAT code,
or you can analyse the whole invoice or credit note to just one VAT
code. You can only analyse it to one VAT code if you are also
analysing the invoice or credit note to one nominal code.
If you want to analyse each line of the invoice or credit note
separately, select the VAT code you require from the drop-down
list.
VAT code, the Tax Code you enter in the Global section of the
Footer Details tab overrides any code entered in this box. If you
analyse your invoice or credit note to one code, only one line will
appear on the audit trail for this invoice or credit note.
Note: A global Tax Code will only apply if you also enter a global
Nominal Code.
Department This is the default department for the customer.

numbers can be entered by line item or for the invoice or credit
transaction as a whole. You can only analyse the whole invoice or
credit note to one department if you are also analysing it to one
nominal code.
If you want to analyse the invoice or credit note across

departments for each line item, then each item must have its own
department number. You may amend this department number if
necessary.
If you want to analyse the entire invoice or credit note to one
department number, any department entered here will be
overwritten by the entry you make for Department in the global area
of the Footer Details tab.
Note: A global Department will only apply if a global nominal code
is also entered.
Line Information If you want to enter any additional information about the item, enter
it in this box.
454
Customer Tasks
Project Ref If you use Project Costing, an additional Project Details section
(Accounts Plus appears on the Edit Item Line window. If you want to assign this
and Accounts invoice or credit note to a project, select the project you require
Professional only) from the Project Ref drop-down list.
3. Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: If you want to view a breakdown of the
discounts that have been applied to items on this invoice or credit note, click Discounts.
To save the item line and return to the Invoice or Credit Note window, click OK. To return
to the Invoice or Credit Note window without saving, click Cancel.
To enter order details for your invoice or credit note

Use this function to fill in the details of your order, for example, your customers delivery address,
their telephone number, and who the order was taken by.
1. From the invoice or credit note window, click the Order Details tab.
The order details information appears. Some of the boxes are already filled in for you with
information taken from the Customer Record.
Any amendments you make in this window will only be applicable to this invoice or credit
note, the Sales Order section cannot be amended.
Note: No changes are saved to the Customer Record from here.
455
2. In the boxes provided, enter or edit the following details:

'
Delivery Address The customer's default delivery address appears here

automatically. You can edit this address directly by typing into
the box. Alternatively, you can select a different delivery or
contact address from the list of company, customer or
supplier delivery and contact addresses.
The Tax Code box displays the default tax code assigned to
the company delivery address.
Note: If there is no default delivery address, the box will be left

blank for you to enter the delivery address of your choice.
Alternatively, you can select a delivery address from the
Delivery Address window by choosing the Change button.
Customer Order No. Enter your customer's order number here.
Customer Tel. No. Your customer's telephone number appears here

automatically. You can change this if required.
Customer Contact The name of the person you set up as the contact on the
Customer Record appears automatically. If you want to
record the name of another contact for this particular invoice
or credit note, you can enter it here.
Order Taken By Enter the name of the person who took the order here. If you
are using Access Rights to restrict access to the functionality
in Sage 50 Accounts, your user name appears here.
Notes Enter up to three lines of text here, which will relate to the
invoice or credit note. For example, you can record any
special delivery requirements or record a reason why the
credit note is being issued.
DUNS Number The DUNS Number (Data Universal Numbering System) is a

nine digit number, used to identify a business.
Use of this numbering system to identify a business is to
ensure compatibility with Zanzibar, the UK Government
e-purchasing portal.
Every e-order and e-invoice that passes through Zanzibar
must include a DUNS number.
456
Customer Tasks
Order No. If this invoice was created from a sales order, the number of
(Accounts the sales order appears here. Click the yellow arrow to open
Professional only) the Sales Order record.
Date (Accounts If this invoice was created from a sales order, the date of the
Professional only) sales order appears here.
Status (Accounts The Status box shows whether the Sales Order Despatched
Professional only) status is Complete or Part.
You have now completed the order details for your invoice or credit note.
You can continue to enter any carriage or settlement details. For further information about
how to do this, see To enter your invoice or credit note footer details on page 457.
3. To save the invoice or credit note for printing in a batch at a later date, click Save. If you
have chosen to create new invoices/orders on saving from the Invoice / Order Defaults, the
window clears ready for you to enter a new invoice. If you have chosen to edit the saved
invoice from the Invoice / Order Defaults, the invoice information remains displayed for you
to edit.
To print the invoice or credit note straight away, click Print. When you click Print, you can
also choose to update the ledgers.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard. To exit the Invoice or
Credit Note window, click Close.
To enter your invoice or credit note footer details

If you want to assign the carriage costs, for example, postal or transit costs to your customers,
you will need to set up your footer details. You can set up the nominal codes where you want
the carriage charged to, and also the department.
1. From the invoice or credit note window, click the Footer Details tab.
The Footer Details window appears. Some of the boxes are already filled in for you, with
information taken from the Customer Record.
457
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following carriage charges, or leave the boxes blank if you
are not charging for carriage.
Net Enter the value of the carriage, excluding VAT. Use the Calculator
button to help you calculate the amount to enter.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default net amount for your
carriage in your Invoice and Order Defaults, the net amount appears
automatically for you. You can edit this if required.
Tax Code From the drop-down list, select the VAT code you require for your
carriage item.
VAT This shows the amount of VAT calculated according to the rate
specified in the 'T/C' box.
You can only amend this if you have selected the Item VAT
Amendable check box in the VAT tab of the Company Preferences
(Company > Settings).
Gross This shows the gross amount of carriage to be paid - the net plus
VAT amounts.
458
Customer Tasks
N/C Enter the account reference for the nominal code to which the
carriage value will be analysed. You can use the drop-down list to
display a list of nominal accounts from which to choose.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default nominal code to analyse
your carriage to in your Invoice and Order Defaults, the default
nominal code appears automatically for you. You can edit this if
required.
Department If you want to analyse the carriage to a department, enter the number
here or select one from the drop-down list.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default department to analyse
your carriage to in your Invoice and Order Defaults, the default
department appears automatically for you. You can edit this if
required.
Consign. No Enter the consignment number of your order here.
Courier If you are using a courier to deliver your order, select the courier you
are using from the drop down list. If you have Internet access, you
can use the Launch button to access your couriers website and
check on the delivery status of your order.
3. In the boxes provided, enter the following settlement terms (or leave blank if not applicable).
Days Enter the number of days during which early settlement discount
applies to this invoice/credit note, if any. This box defaults to the
number specified on the Customer Record.
Amount This is the actual value of the discount given.
Discount % If appropriate, enter the percentage of settlement discount that you

are giving to your customer in this box. This box defaults to the
percentage specified on the Customer Record.
Total This amount is the gross value of items - that is, net plus VAT,
including any carriage costs and is shown on the invoice/credit
note/order itself.
4. In the boxes provided, enter any conditions you want to apply globally - that is, to the whole
invoice or credit note.
Note: If you analyse your invoice or credit note globally, only one line will be added to the
audit trail. Carriage will always be updated to the Audit Trail on a separate line.
459
If you want to analyse your invoice or credit note per line, leave this section blank.
N/C If you want to analyse the entire net value of the invoice or credit note
to just one nominal account, enter the nominal code in this box. You
can use the drop-down list to select a nominal account.
When you enter a nominal code in this box, you activate the whole of
the global area. This means that the invoice or credit note will be
analysed automatically to whatever entries you have made in the
N/C, Details, Tax Code and Dept. boxes in the Global area.
Details Details should be entered to accompany the posting to the nominal

ledger if the invoice or credit note is to be analysed to one nominal
code only. You can enter up to sixty characters. This will appear on
your reports.
Tax Code To analyse the whole invoice or credit note to one VAT code, enter
the code in this box or select one from the drop-down list.
Department. If you want to analyse the entire invoice or credit note to just one
department, enter the department you require in this box or choose
one from the drop-down list. If no department is required, leave as
department number 0 (zero).
You have now completed the footer details for your invoice or credit note.
If you are entering an invoice, you can also enter any payment details. For further
information about how to do this, see To enter your invoice payment details on page 460.
5. To save the invoice or credit note for later printing in a batch, click Save. If you have chosen
to create new invoices/orders on saving from the Invoice and Order Defaults, the window
clears ready for you to enter a new invoice. If you have chosen to edit the saved invoice
from the Invoice and Order Defaults, the invoice information remains displayed for you to
edit.
To print the invoice or credit note straight away, click Print. When you click Print, you can
also choose to update the ledgers.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard. To exit the Invoice or
Credit Note window, click Close.
To enter your invoice payment details

Use this function to enter details, such as the bank account, where you want to record the
money going into and the payment reference, so you can find the particular receipt easily on the
audit trail. The payment reference will also go onto the customer's account.
Note: This function is not available when creating credit notes.
460
Customer Tasks
1. From the Invoice window, click the Payment Details tab.

The payment details information appears.
2. You can either allocate the payment you have received to this invoice, or you can post it to
the customer's account and allocate it to an invoice later. Select the option you require.
Post as Payment on Select this option if you want to post the payment to the
Account customer's account, and allocate it later.
If you select this option, use the Customer Receipts option to
allocate it.
Allocate Payment to Select this option to allocate the customer's payment to this
Invoice invoice. When this invoice is posted, using the Update option,
the payment will be recorded and deducted from the invoice
total.
If the amount prepaid is the full amount of the invoice, the
payment will be allocated to the invoice automatically. If the
payment is more than the invoice amount, the surplus amount
will be posted as a payment on account. If the payment is less
than the invoice amount, the invoice will be part paid.
461
3. In the boxes provided, enter the following payment details:
Payment Ref Enter a reference here that relates to the payment.
Bank Account Enter here the nominal code of the bank account that you
want the money to be debited to - that is, paid into.
Payment Amount Enter the payment amount here.
Select the option button you require:

Payment Already Received
Select this option if you wish to indicate that a deposit / part payment has already been
received.
Selecting this option will display the deposit but will not post a receipt transaction.
Post as Payment on Account
Select this option if you wish to post the payment to the customers account, and allocate
it later.
If you select this option button, use Customer > Receive Payment to allocate it.
Allocate Payment to Invoice
Select this option button to allocate the customers payment to this invoice.
When this invoice is posted, using the Update option, the payment will be recorded and
deducted from the invoice total. If the amount prepaid is the full amount of the invoice, the
payment will be allocated to the invoice automatically.
If the payment is more than the invoice amount, the surplus amount will be posted as a
payment on account. If the payment is less than the invoice amount, the invoice will be part
paid.
Accounts Professional users only: If you have updated this invoice from a sales order
that contains payment details, this window displays a note informing you that a payment
on account has already been posted for the sales order.
You can post another payment on account or allocate a payment to the invoice. For
example, if your customer paid a deposit against the sales order you could post a payment
on account against the sales order, then post a second payment on account or allocate a
payment against the invoice for the outstanding balance.
Note for VAT Cash Accounting users: If the payment exceeds the invoice value the tax
liability of the overpayment must be dealt with. Sage 50 Accounts records an overpayment
as a payment on account.
Before the invoice is saved Sage 50 Accounts prompts you to apply a tax code to the
overpayment. The default tax code from the customers record is suggested for use but
you can select another from the drop-down.
462
Customer Tasks
Alternatively you can cancel, return to the invoice and amend the payment to match the
order value.
You have now completed the payment details for your invoice.
4. You can save or print the invoice.
To save the invoice for later printing in a batch, click Save. If you have chosen to create
new invoices/orders on saving from the Invoice and Order Defaults, the window clears
ready for you to enter a new invoice. If you have chosen to edit the saved invoice from the
Invoice and Order Defaults, the invoice information remains displayed for you to edit.
To print the invoice straight away, click Print. When you click Print, you can also choose to
update the ledgers.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard. To exit the invoice
window click Close.
Duplicating invoices and credit notes

To save you time when entering your invoices and credit notes, you can use the Duplicate facility
to copy existing records. This is useful if you need to create many invoices or credit notes with
the same details.
To duplicate an invoice or credit note

2. From the Invoice window, select the invoice or credit note you require and then click
Duplicate.
The Invoice or Credit Note window appears, displaying the Details information.
Note: Sage 50 Accounts makes an exact copy of the original invoice or credit note,
regardless of whether any prices have changed since you created it. You should check all
item prices carefully, and make any changes manually before you save the invoice or credit
note.
3. If you manually number your invoices or credit notes as you create them, type the number
you require in the Inv. No. or Crd. No. box.
If you use the Autonumber facility to automatically number your invoices and credit notes
as you create them, Sage 50 Accounts assigns the next available number to the duplicated
invoice or credit note when you save it.
4. Check that the details in each tab of the invoice or credit note are correct, and make any
amendments you require.
5. To save the new invoice or credit note, click Save. To exit without saving, click Discard.
6. To close the invoice or credit note and return to the Invoicing window, click Close.
463
The new invoice or credit note appears in the list on the Invoicing window, ready to be printed
and updated.
Entering batch invoices

This method is intended for recording invoices that you have produced and sent to your
customers that do not need printed documents. The term batch means that you can enter as
many invoices you like at the same time.
If you want to record customer invoices that you have already sent out, use the Batch Invoice
option from within the Customers window. The amount of detail you enter per invoice is up to
you, but we recommend that you enter each item on your invoice as a separate line. This makes
it easier for you to identify what the invoice was for at a later date. However, you can enter the
whole invoice as one line if you want to.
When you enter several invoice items from the same invoice, we recommend you give each one
the same account code, date and reference, as these will then be grouped together and listed
as the items that make up a single invoice. For example, when you examine a customer's
activity, a single invoice will be shown as one line, however if you double-click this line, the
individual items that make up that invoice total will then be shown.
Note: If you do not include a reference, the transactions will not be grouped.
For full details about entering batch customer invoices, type batched in the Help systems Index tab
Help and select customer invoices.
464
Customer Tasks
Invoicing from telephone calls

The Communications tab from the Customer Record enables you to record details of telephone
conversations you have with your customers. If you charge for your time, you can create an
invoice directly from here to charge for the time you have spent on telephone calls.
Note: Make sure you have set up the default call charge rate before using this facility. To do this,
select Company > Settings and then click the Parameters tab. Enter the hourly rate you want
to charge in the Default Call Charge box.
Note: You cannot invoice on non-base currency accounts.
To record a telephone call and create an invoice

the Customers view.
2. Select the customer you require and click Record.
3. Click the Communication tab.
4. Click New.
The New Call window appears.
5. The following information appears for you automatically: Telephone, Spoke To, Caller and
Date.
6. When the telephone is answered by your customer, click Start.
The system begins timing the duration of your telephone call.
7. When the call ends, click Stop.
The length of the call appears in the Duration box.
8. To create an invoice, click Invoice.
The Contact - Time Biller (Invoice Details) window appears.
465
Details Enter the Details you want to appear on the invoice here.
Hours Enter the number of hours you want to charge for.
Hourly Rate Enter the hourly rate you are charging for this service, the rate initially
defaults to the rate set up in Company Preferences.
Tax Code From the drop-down list, select the VAT code you require for your
service.
Code Enter the nominal code that you want the invoice posted to.
Ref Enter a reference here. This enables you to trace the invoice you are
creating in the audit trail.
Date The program date appears automatically. You can change this if
required.
Dept If you want the invoice to be assigned to a particular department

enter it here.
10. When you have entered your invoice details, click Save.
11. Click Yes to create the invoice.
466
Customer Tasks
Creating mixed product and service invoices

You can create single invoices or orders to include both the products that you sell and for the
services that you provide. This means that you do not have to send two invoices/orders to the
same customer: one representing the products you have sold and the other representing the
service provided charges for labour.
You can also create a single order for the products that you want to buy and the services that
you want to use. For more information, see Processing Purchase Orders (Accounts
To create a mixed product and service invoice

2. Select the type and format of the invoice you require from the drop-down lists. To create a
mixed product and service invoice, select Invoice from the Type drop-down list and
Product from the Format drop-down list.
3. Enter your product invoice lines as you would do normally. For further information, see To
create a new product invoice or credit note on page 439.
4. If you want to enter a service item for a service that you provide that you have not created
a Product Record for, select S3 from the Product Code drop-down list.
5. Complete the Edit Item Line window as you would do normally for your service items. For
further information, see To enter service item line details on page 452.
6. To save your service item to the invoice, click OK. If you do not want to save the service
item to the invoice, remove the item using function key F8 and click Cancel.
You can now enter your order details such as delivery address. For further information, see
To enter order details for your invoice or credit note on page 455.
If you want to enter any carriage or settlement details, see To enter your invoice or credit
note footer details on page 457.
You can also enter payment details against the invoice. For further information, see To
enter your invoice payment details on page 460.
7. To save the invoice, click Save. If you have chosen to create new invoices/orders on saving
from the Invoice and Order Defaults, the window clears ready for you to enter a new
invoice. If you have chosen to edit the saved invoice from the Invoice and Order Defaults,
the invoice information remains displayed for you to edit.
To print the invoice straight away, click Print. Select the invoice layout and output you
require and then choose Generate Report.
467
Invoice profit check

You can now check the profit you are making as you enter your product invoices and sales
orders.
Note: The profitability is calculated using the cost price from the product record. It is not based
on the First In First Out (FIFO) method of product valuation. If you want to produce reports that
take into account the FIFO method you should use the profit reports accessed from the
Products window.
To use the invoice profit check

1. Select Customers > Invoice List (or Customers > Sales Order List for Accounts
Professional users).
2. Double click the invoice/sales order you require then click Profit. You may need to expand
the Invoice or Sales window to see the Profit button clearly.
The Sales Profit Analysis window appears.
The Sales Profit Analysis window shows the following information:

Note: The Sales Profit Analysis window does not show any information for S1, S2, S3 and
M item lines.
468
Customer Tasks
Product Code This shows the product code as entered on the invoice/sales
order.
Description This shows the description as entered on the invoice/sales order.
Sales Price This shows the total net amount as entered on the invoice/sales
order.
This column is also totalled to show the sum of all invoice/sales
order sales prices.
Cost Price This shows the total cost price for this invoice or order line. It is
equal to the cost price from the Product Record multiplied by the
quantity entered on the invoice/sales order.
This column is also totalled to show the sum of all invoice/sales
order cost prices.
Profit Value This shows the sales price minus the cost price.
This column is also totalled to show the sum of all profit values.
Profit % This is the percentage profit for the invoice/sales order item line. It
is equal to the profit divided by the sales price and then multiplied
by 100.
This column is also totalled to show the overall profit in percent
for the selected invoice/sales order. The total profit percentage is
calculated as Totalled Profit divided by the Totalled Sales Price,
multiplied by 100.
3. To return to your invoice or sales order, click Close.

To print this information, click Print.
469
Posting an Invoice
When you have created an invoice or credit note in Sage 50 Accounts, you can use the Update
facility to transfer the invoice or credit note details to the customer, nominal and product (if
appropriate) records. For example, when you update your ledgers your stock details are also
updated, therefore you will know how much free stock is available.
Accounts Professional only: If you have posted an invoice via sales order processing, your
stock levels are automatically updated when the sales order is despatched.
To update your ledgers

2. From the Invoicing window, select the invoices you want to update the ledger with.
If no records are selected, all non-posted invoices/credit notes will be updated.
3. Click Update.
The Update Ledgers window appears.
4. Select the type of output you require for your report from the option buttons available.
5. To update your ledgers, click OK.
If you selected to print the report, the Windows Print window appears. Use this to select
which pages to print and change your printer settings if required.
If you selected to preview the report, the Preview window appears showing the first page
of the report. If you are satisfied with the report, you can send it directly to the printer by
choosing the Print option from the bottom of the window.
6. If you selected to output the report to a file, the File Save As window appears. Select a
directory in which to store the file and enter the filename in the File Name box. You can also
select the type of the file you want to create. Using the Save File as Type drop-down list
box, select either Sage 50 Accounts Report Data format (.datareport), text file format
(.TXT), HTML (.HTM), Comma Separated Value (.CSV) or PDF file (.PDF).
470
Customer Tasks
Dealing with Recurring Transactions

If you bill your customers for regular product sales or services, you can use Sage 50 Accounts
Recurring Transactions feature to create these invoices automatically. Accounts Professional
users can also set up recurring entries for regular sales orders and purchase orders.
When you have created your invoices or orders using the Recurring Transactions feature, you
can then go on to process them in the usual way, for example, update your invoices to your
ledgers or allocate stock to your sales orders.
You can set up your recurring transactions for different time periods, including daily, weekly,
monthly and annually.
Note: The following procedures apply to recurring invoices, sales orders and purchase orders.
Throughout these sections, we will refer to invoices and orders as transactions.
To create a recurring transaction

1. Make one of the following selections:
Customers > New Sales Order
Customers > New Invoice
2. Enter your invoice or order details.
For more information about entering invoices, see To create a new product invoice or credit
note on page 439 or To create a service invoice or credit note on page 448.
For more information about entering orders, see To create a sales order on page 406 and
To create a purchase order on page 503.
3. Click Memorise.
4. In the Details section, enter a Reference and Description for your recurring transaction.
5. Enter the following Frequency details for your recurring transaction:
Every Enter a frequency for your recurring transaction. You can post
your recurring transactions by multiples of days, weeks,
months or years.
For example, to post a recurring transaction once each
month, type 1 in the first box, and choose Month(s) from the
drop-down list in the second box.
471
Total Required Enter the total number of recurring transactions to post. For
example, to post a monthly transaction once each month for
a year, type 12 in this box. If you want to post an indefinite
number of entries, enter 0 (zero).
Start Date Enter the date to use for the first posting of this recurring
transaction.
Finish Date The finish date shows the date on which this recurring
transaction will stop, based on the Start Date and Total
Required details you enter. You cannot edit this information.
Note: If the Total Required is set to zero, then the Finish Date
box shows Perpetual.
Last Processed The Last Processed box shows the date this recurring
transaction was last processed. For a new recurring
transaction, this box is blank. You cannot edit this
information.
Suspended? If you want to suspend the posting of the recurring

transaction, select this check box.
Note: If you suspend a recurring transaction, it does not
appear in the list when you process your recurring entries. If
you later unsuspend a transaction that has been suspended
for several processing periods, the Process Recurring Entries
window shows all of the suspended entries, and allows you
to choose which of the entries you want to post.
Note: You must make sure that the transaction you are creating shows Invoice or Order in
the Type box, and that it meets all of the following criteria:
It contains a valid customer account reference, or supplier account reference for a
purchase order
It contains at least one item
If the customer or supplier is a foreign currency account, it has an exchange rate set.
If any of these criteria are not met, then the Frequency details are not available. Instead,
the following window appears:
472
Customer Tasks
If you want to set up a recurring transaction, click Cancel on this window, and make sure
you enter all the required details in the Invoice or Order window.
Alternatively, you can memorise the transaction as a skeleton, without frequency details.
For more information on skeleton transactions, type Skeleton in the Sage 50 Accounts
Help systems Index.
6. To save your recurring transaction and return to the Invoice or Order window, click Save.
To exit without saving, click Cancel.
To process your recurring transactions

If you have any outstanding recurring transactions, you will be reminded every time you start
Sage 50 Accounts. Click Yes to post the transactions or click No to use Sage 50 Accounts
without posting them.
Note: You can turn this reminder off by selecting the No Recurring Entries at Startup check box
within the Parameters tab of Company Preferences, accessed from Company > Settings.
Customers > Sales Order List
Customers > Invoice List
Suppliers > Purchase Order List
2. Click Recurring.
3. From the Memorised Invoices, Memorised Sales Orders or Memorise Purchase Orders
window, click Process.
The Process Recurring Entries window appears.
473
4. If you do not want to process a listed recurring entry, remove the tick from the Include
check box.
Note: If you choose not to process a recurring transaction and clear the Include check box,
Sage 50 Accounts displays asking if you want to update the last post date for any excluded
transactions. If you have any transactions listed in the Process Recurring Entries windows
that do not have a tick in the Include column, and you don't want to process the
transaction at this time, click No.
The transaction will appear in the list the next time you process any recurring transactions.
You may choose to do this when, for example, you are unsure whether you should process
a transaction as the customer or supplier account is currently on hold.
5. Click Process to produce your recurring transactions. Sage 50 Accounts processes the
selected entries and then displays the message Processing Complete.
Alternatively, click Cancel to return to the Memorised Invoices, Sales Orders or Purchase
Orders window without processing any recurring transactions. Sage 50 Accounts displays
the message - Are you sure you wish to exit? No recurring transactions will be posted.
Note: Processing your recurring transactions creates the invoice, sales order or purchase
order in the relevant ledger, but does not carry out any further processing, such as
updating invoices to the ledgers or allocating stock to sales orders. You will need to
complete the processing of the transaction in the usual way.
6. Click OK to close the Processing Complete message, or click Yes to confirm that you want
to exit without processing any recurring transactions.
7. To close the Memorised Invoices, Sales Orders or Purchase Orders window, click Cancel.
474
Customer Tasks
To view or edit a recurring transactions frequency

2. Click Recurring.
3. From the Memorised Invoices, Memorised Sales Orders or Memorised Purchase Orders
window, select the entry whose frequency you want to view or edit.
4. Click Frequency.
5. You can amend the following frequency details:
Every Enter a frequency for your recurring transaction. You can post
your recurring transactions by multiples of days, weeks,
months or years. For example, to post a recurring transaction
once each month, type 1 in the first box, and choose
Month(s) from the drop-down list in the second box.
Total Required Enter the total number of recurring transactions to post. For
example, to post a monthly transactions once each month for
a year, type 12 in this box. If you want to post an indefinite
number of entries, enter 0 (zero).
Note: You cannot change the number shown in the Total
Required box to a number that is less than the number of
postings that have already been made.
Start Date Enter the date to use for the first posting of this recurring
transaction.
Note: the start date cannot be edited once the recurring
transaction has been processed.
Suspended? If you want to suspend the posting of the recurring

transaction, select this check box.
6. To save the frequency details, click Save. To close without saving, click Cancel.
7. To return to the previous window, click Cancel.
475
To delete a recurring transaction

2. Click Recurring.
3. From the Memorised Invoices, Memorised Sales Orders or Memorised Purchase Orders
window, select the entry you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
A confirmation message appears - Are you sure you wish to delete the selected recurring
entry?
5. To delete the entry, click Yes. To cancel, click No.
6. To return to the previous window, click Close.
476
Customer Tasks
Receiving Customer Payments

Use Sage 50 Accounts to record the money that you receive from customers for invoices that
you have sent them.
You can pay in full, or part pay, any or all of the invoice items and show discounts allowed. When
you receive payment of an invoice, it is good practice to record receipt of the payment as soon
as possible. This keeps you up to date on how much you are owed by your customers and
keeps your Sage 50 Accounts bank account up to date. If a payment has been received that is
greater than the outstanding invoices, you can enter a 'payment on account'. The customer can
then use this payment on account to pay future invoices.
To record a customer receipt

Note: You can also use the Customer Receipts wizard to guide you through the process of
recording your customer receipts. The Customer Receipts wizard takes you step by step
through the entire process.
1. Select Customers > Receive Payment.
The Customer Receipt window appears. The name of the selected account is also
displayed.
2. If appropriate, select the bank account you require.
477
3. In the A/C box enter the account code of the customer you require. All items that you have
invoiced the selected customer which are not fully paid, appear automatically in the item
table. If there are no outstanding transactions, no items are displayed.
4. Enter the receipt Date, Reference and Amount.
Note: Accounts Professional users who are working with a foreign currency customer will
also have a Rate If you have set up foreign currencies to use in your software, by running
the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard, this additional box will be displayed.
This box displays the current exchange rate to be used for this transaction. You can edit
this exchange rate here.
If you are using Access Rights in your software, but you do not have access rights assigned
for the foreign trading functionality, this box is read-only.
5. Allocate the money received, and entered in the Amount box, to the individual invoice items
displayed in the item table. To do this, enter a value in the Receipt box of an invoice item.
You can part pay an invoice item or pay it off in full, but you cannot allocate more than the
full value of the item. If you are paying an item in full, click on the items Receipt box then
click Pay in Full. The amount needed to pay the item in full is then entered for you
automatically. Continue allocating the money received against invoice items until the
amount in the Analysis Total box equals that which you have received.
Note: If the amount shown in the Analysis Total box is less than the amount you entered
as received in the Amount box, then the difference can be put on account. If you have
already set up a Sage Payment Solutions account, you can use the Pay by Card payment
facility by clicking the Pay by Card button.
6. To process the customer receipt, click Save. To clear the window and start again, click
Discard. To exit from the window, click Close.
You can enter the following receipt information:
Date:
The system date will be entered automatically for you but you can change this if required.
Alternatively, use the Calendar button to select a different date.
Amount:
You can specify this box in one of two ways. Enter the gross amount of the receipt in this box.
If known, the bank balance box shown at the bottom of the window will either increase or
decrease in value by the amount you enter, depending on whether it is an invoice or credit note.
Alternatively, leave the box blank and it will be updated as you select invoices that have been
paid in full. If you choose the latter, you will be unable to amend the amount box directly - only
by altering the allocations back to zero.
Note: You can access the currency calculator from this text box by pressing F5.
Reference:
Enter the cheque number or other reference for the receipt, using up to thirty characters.
478
Customer Tasks
Entering a Credit Note

Use Customers > New Credit to create your credit notes. The Invoice window appears. Select
either Product or Service from the Format drop-down list, depending on the type of credit note
you want to produce.
Use this facility to create a credit note to send to one of your customers. For example, if a
customer returns some of your products, you need to send them a credit note to the value of
those products.
The Product Credit and Service Credit windows comprise three tabs: Details, Order Details and
Footer Details. Creating a credit note follows the same rules used to create an invoice. For full
details see To create a new product invoice or credit note on page 439.
Posting your credit note

In order to update your nominal, sales and product records, if applicable, with details of the
credit notes you produce, you must use the Update facility. For example, when you update your
ledgers your stock details are updated, therefore you will know how much free stock is available.
For information about using the Update option, see Posting an Invoice on page 470.
Entering batch credit notes

This method is intended for recording credit notes that you have produced and sent to your
customers that do not need printed documents. The term batch means that you can enter as
many credit notes you like at the same time.
Enter batch credit notes follows the same rules used to enter batch invoices. For full details see
Entering batch invoices on page 464.
For full details about entering batch customer credits, type batched in the Help systems Index tab
Help and select customer credit notes.
Memorising and recalling batch invoices and credit notes

You can use the Memorise and Recall facilities to record batched invoices or credit notes that
you use regularly, or to save a batch of transactions without posting them, so that you can make
amendments later.
For more details about the Memorise and Recall facilities, see Memorising and recalling batch
invoices and credit notes (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only) on page 534.
479
Deductions
With Sage 50 Accounts, you now have the freedom to record, display and print a net value
discount or deposit, arranged with your customers, on invoices, sales orders, credit notes,
quotations or pro-formas.
Net Value Discounts
To create a net value discount on an invoice, credit note, quotation or sales

order:
1. From the module click Customers, then from the Tasks list click New Invoice, New Credit,
New Sales Order or New Quotation, as appropriate.
2. Create your Customer and Product Item lines, as described in the help topic:
Invoicing > Product Invoices > To Enter or Edit Product Item Line Details
3. In the Deduction section of the Details Tab, select Net Value Discount from the Deduction
Type drop-down list. The Edit Item Line window appears.
4. Enter a Description/Details narrative to include information related to the net value
discount.
5. Now enter a Discount value (Disc) and then click TAB. The relative percentage discount
(Discount %) is displayed automatically.
Alternatively, enter a Discount percentage and the relative discount value is displayed
automatically.
6. To close the Edit Item Line window, click OK. The item line is displayed in red in the
deduction section of the Details Tab and the invoice VAT and Gross values are recalculated.
Note: When you print an invoice or order with a net value discount, the net value discount is
printed as the final item line in the body of the invoice.
Note: When an invoice that has a net value discount applied to it is created, both the invoice
and net value discount detail, become read-only - that is, further amendments cannot be made
to the invoice.
Deposits
Create a Deposit on a Quote or Sales Order

1. Create your quotation / sales order in the normal manner, completing the Details Tab
header entries and the product item lines you are quoting for.
480
Customer Tasks
2. Focus on the Less Deposit section at the bottom of the Details Tab. To add deposit details,
click the smart link button as illustrated.
3. Now enter the Payment Details in the boxes provided. Enter the deposit from the customer
in the Payment Amount entry box of the Payment Details section.
To receive the deposit by online payment, click the Pay by Card button, adjacent to the
Payment Amount entry box. The Welcome window of the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard
appears. The payment amount shown is taken from the Payment Amount box in the
Payment Details tab.
4. In the Payment Type section select one of the available option buttons, depending on
whether or not a deposit payment has already been made.
Payment Already Received
Select this option if you wish to indicate that a deposit / part payment has already been
received.
Selecting this option will disable the Pay by Card button.
Post as Payment on Account (SA)
it later. If you select this option button, use Customer > Receive Payment to allocate it.
A deposit entered on the payments tab with a SA posted can be paid online using the Pay
by Card facility.
5. Click the Details Tab. The deposit is displayed in the footer section of the details tab and
the amount due.
6. When you have completed the quotation / sales order, click the Save button.
If you selected the Payment on Account (SA) option on the Payment Details tab, a Payment
on Account (SA) is posted, when you click Save.
Create a Deposit on an Invoice

1. Create your invoice in the normal manner (see Invoicing > Product Invoices > To Add or
Edit Product Invoice Details in the main help - F1), completing the Details Tab header
entries and the product item lines you are quoting for.
2. Focus on the Less Deposit section at the bottom of the Details Tab. To add deposit details,
click the smart link button:
481
3. Now enter the Payment Details in the boxes provided. Enter the deposit from the customer
in the Payment Amount entry box of the Payment Details section.
To receive the deposit by online payment, click the Pay by Card button, adjacent to the
Payment Amount entry box. The Welcome window of the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard
appears. The payment amount shown is taken from the Payment Amount field in the
Payment Details tab.
Note: The Pay by Card button adjacent to the Payment Amount entry box is disabled if:
The Bank Account chosen is not the nominated account for Pay by Card.
The Payment Type option chosen is Payment already received.
The Payment Type option chosen is Allocate Payment to Invoice (SR).
To enter a deposit on an invoice, three possible routines are available:
Enter a deposit on an Invoice and allocate payment as a SR

1. Create your invoice in the normal manner, completing the Details Tab header entries and
the product item lines you are invoicing.
2. Focus on the Less Deposit section at the bottom of the Details Tab. Click the Smart Link
button to switch to the Payment Details Tab.
3. Enter the deposit on the Payments tab and select the SR option button.
The deposit is then displayed in the footer section of the details tab.
The amount due - invoice gross less deposit, is also displayed.
4. When you have completed all invoice details, save the invoice. At this point, the SR
transaction is not posted.
5. When the invoice is updated a Sales Receipt (SR) is posted, and the EX Ref field of the SR
contains the Invoice number prefixed with Inv.
The SR is automatically allocated to the invoice.
Enter a deposit on an Invoice as a SA and select to create the deposit now

2. Click the Smart Link button to switch to the Payment Details Tab.
3. Enter the deposit on the Payments tab and select the SA option button.
The deposit is displayed in the footer section of the details tab, along with the outstanding
amount due - invoice gross less deposit.
482
Customer Tasks
4. Now save the invoice. A message appears, requiring you to either create a payment on
account now or later, when the invoice is updated.
5. Select the Create the payment on account now option.
A Payment on Account (SA) is posted, the EX Ref field of the SA will contain the Invoice
number prefixed with Inv.
Later, when the invoice is updated to the ledgers, no further payment transactions will be
created.
Enter a deposit on an Invoice and choose whether to create the deposit now or later.
2. Click the Smart Link button to switch to the Payment Details Tab.
3. Enter the deposit on the Payments tab and select the SA option button.
The deposit is displayed in the footer section of the details tab, along with the outstanding
amount due - invoice gross less deposit.
4. Now save the invoice. A message appears, requiring you to either create a payment on
account now or later, when the invoice is updated.
5. Select the On Update option.
The payment transaction is not created at this time.
6. Later, the user selects to update the invoice. A Payment on Account (SA) is posted, and
the EX Ref field of the SA contains the Invoice number prefixed with Inv.
Deleting Invoices and Credit Notes

You may delete invoice or credit note records from the list displayed in the Invoicing window.
However, if an invoice or credit note has already been posted to the ledgers, deleting the record
will not reverse the postings made.
To delete an invoice or credit note

1. Select Customer > Invoice List.
2. From the Invoicing window, select the record(s) you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
A message appears requesting confirmation that you want to delete the chosen invoice or
credit note record(s).
4. If you are sure you wish to delete the selected records, click Yes. Sage 50 Accounts
removes the records from the list.
483
Alternatively, to cancel deletion, click No. The records remain selected in the list.
After you have deleted invoice or credit note records from the Invoicing window, you should
use the Compress Files option in order to remove the deleted records from the data files
and conserve disk space. For further information, see Compressing Your Data on page
323.
484
Customer Tasks
Viewing a Customers Transaction Activity

You can view a detailed transaction history, or 'activity', for any customer.
1. From the Customers window select the customer(s), whose activity you want to view and
click Activity.
Alternatively, you can open the Customer Record and click the Activity tab to display the
customer's transaction activity.
The Activity window appears showing the transactions associated with the first customer
you selected.
transaction. For example, if you select an invoice that has been paid, this pane shows
both the individual items that make up the invoice and the associated sales receipt
details.
The total amount you are owed by the selected customer is also shown, grouped by
age, in the boxes at the bottom of the window. For example, if you use period ageing
and your first ageing period is 30 - 59 days, the customer's debt that is less than 30
days old is shown in the Current total box.
selection fields:
Show
Show drop-down list. You can choose to filter the transactions by your ageing periods,
such as 30, 60 and 90 days, or display only those transactions that fall within the current
financial year.
Alternatively, you can set a date range, transaction number range or select a transaction
type to view by selecting the Custom Range option from the list and entering your
selections in the Activity Range window that appears.
Your software retains the filter you specify from this list and applies it the next time you view
the activity. This is true for all of the Show: drop-down list settings, although the values you
enter in the Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
range.
485
Type
For example, if you chose to view only sales invoices by selecting SI - Sales Invoices on
the Activity Range window, this field shows SI. The Activity window now only displays sales
invoice transactions within the specified date range.
O/S Only
paid or allocated.
Trans
You cannot change the range shown in this box directly. To change the transaction number
4. If you selected more than one customer, use the Previous and Next buttons to move
between the selected customer records.
5. To view another customers transactions, enter that customers reference in the A/C box or
use the drop-down selector to find the account.
Note: This only applies if you used the Activity option from the Customers toolbar to view
the Activity window, as described in step 1.
486
Customer Tasks
For further information, please refer to Customers > Record > To View a Customers Transaction
Activity in the main program help (F1).
Customer Refunds
Use the Customer Refund option to record money you have paid out to your customers.
Examples of when you might need to do this include times when you have refunded money to
a customer, or when a cheque has been returned.
The Customer Refund option generates an SP transaction, which you can allocate to sales
credits (SC) or sales payments on account (SA) using Customers > Receive Payment, or in
Bank > Customers.
To Post a Customer Refund

1. Open the Customers module, then click Customer Refund.
The Customer Refund window appears.
2. Enter the details for your customer refund in the boxes provided.
3. To print a cheque for the payment, click Print Cheque.
The Cheque window appears.
4. Enter the payee - that is, the customer, information for the cheque and click Save. This
stores the details of the cheque, ready to be printed from the Cheque List option in Bank.
5. If you use departments to analyse your transactions and want to assign a department to
this transaction, click the Dept. button and select the department you want to use.
6. If you make a mistake and want to clear the details you have entered and start again, to
clear the window, click Discard.
7. To save the Customer Refund details and post the transaction, click Save.
8. To close the Customer Refund window and return to the Customers window, click Close.
For more information, please refer to the Customers > Customer Refunds > To Post a Customer
Refund topic in the main program help file (F1).
487
Sage Payment Solutions Pay by Card Facility

Where you wish to receive card payments from your customers or refunds from your suppliers,
you can now interact directly, staying within the Sage 50 Accounts environment, and receive
telephone payment/card details, for real-time authorisation and posting.
Sage Payment Solutions provides you with a Pay by Card facility on various quotation, invoice,
sales order and supplier refund transaction windows.
To Set your Payment Solutions

To enable the facility in Sage 50 Accounts of receiving pay by card payments from your
customers or refunds from your suppliers, over the telephone, you need to sign up for a Sage
Payment Solutions Account.
1. To access this preference window, click Settings Menu > Company Preferences, then click
the Payment Solutions tab.
The Company Preferences > Payment Solutions tab appears.
2. Click the Sign up now! button and complete the Online Application Form.
488
Customer Tasks
Full help and support is available to you from within the online application form, if you run
into any difficulties.
3. When completing the online application form, if you wish to have the facility of payment
card AVS/CV2 verification, make sure that you set AVS/CV2 verification to ON.
4. Once your account is set up, select the Enable Sage Payment Solutions check box at the
top of the Payment Solutions tab.
5. In the Sage Payment Solutions Credentials section of the Payment Solutions tab, type your
account Vendor ID, defined during account creation, and also your email address.
6. From the A/C Ref drop-down list in the Bank section of the tab, choose the receiving bank
account reference. All pay by card payments will be directed to this nominated account.
Tip: Select this bank account carefully. You may find it worthwhile to set up a dedicated
bank account for your Sage Payment Solutions transactions.
On a daily basis, you may have many Sage Payment Solutions transactions, which will later
be transferred as a single amount from your Sage Payment Solutions account to your
general bank account. Using a dedicated Sage Payment Solutions account will assist with
subsequent bank reconciliation.
7. Select the Enable AVS & CV2 Validation check box, if required.
8. To save your settings, click OK.
With the completion of these steps, you will now have the facility in the Customer Receipts,
Bank Receipts, Supplier Refund, and Sales Order/Invoice task windows to access the Sage
Payment Solutions Pay by Card facility for card payment over the telephone.
Customer Receipts - Receive Payment using Pay by Card

1. Open the Bank or Customers module, then from the Tasks pane, click Receive Payment.
The Customer Receipt window appears.
Tip: If you have already set up a Sage Payment Solutions Account, the Pay by Card button
is visible in the lower left corner of the Customer Receipt window.
2. From the Bank drop-down list, choose the required bank account.
Note: To enable the Pay by Card facility, the account selected must be the same as that
nominated, when you set up your Payment Solutions Preferences. A Sage 50 Accounts
Information Message will advise you if this is not the case.
3. From the Customer Details Account drop-down list, select a customer account.
4. Select the transaction number and enter an amount to be paid in the Receipt column.
You have numerous payment receipt options available including Pay by Card.
5. Click the Pay by Card button.
489
The Welcome window of the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard appears. The payment
amount shown is taken from the Amount field in the Customer Receipt Window.
6. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.
Bank Receipts - Enter Money using Pay by Card

1. Open the Bank module, then from the Tasks pane, click New Receipt.
The Bank Receipts window appears.
is visible in the lower left corner of the Bank Receipts window.
2. From the Bank drop-down list, choose the required bank account.
Information Message will advise you if this is not the case, when you click Pay by Card.
3. Select the N/C Nominal Ledger account code, the Fund, Project Ref and Details
information and Net, T/C and Tax details, as required.
4. Repeat Step 3 for any other Bank Receipt entry lines. The sum of all the entries is displayed
below the Receipts table.
5. Click the Pay by Card button. The Welcome window of the Sage Payment Solutions
Wizard appears. The payment amount shown is taken from the sum field in the Bank
Receipt Window.
Invoicing - Receive a Pay by Card Deposit Against a Quotation

The Pay Deposit by Card payment facility can be used for deposits, paid against a quotation.
1. Open the Customers module, then from the Links pane, click Quotations List. Now click
New/Edit on the Quotations toolbar. The Product Quote SOP window is displayed.
is visible in the lower left corner of the window.
2. From the A/C drop-down list, choose a customer account, then select a a product code
and quantity.
3. Click the Payment Details tab. Select the appropriate Bank Account Code from the Bank
Account drop-down list.
490
Customer Tasks
Note: To enable the Pay Deposit by Card facility, the account selected must be the same
as that nominated, when you set up your Payment Solutions Preferences. A Sage 50
4. Enter the deposit amount to be paid in the Payment Amount entry box.
5. Do not make any option selection in the Payment Type section of the Payment Details tab.
Leave the selection as Post as Payment on Account (SA).
it later. If you select this option button, use Customer > Receive Payment to allocate it.
6. Click the Pay Deposit by Card button, adjacent to the Payment Amount entry box.
amount shown is taken from the Payment Amount field in the Payment Details tab.
Invoicing - Receive Pay by Card Payment on Product/Service Invoices

The Pay by Card / Pay Deposit by Card payment facility can be used for full payment or
deposits, paid against a product or service invoice.
To Receive a Full Payment Against a Product/Service Invoice

1. Open the Customers module, then from the Links pane, click Invoice List or create a new
invoice. Double click on a specific non-posted invoice from the list displayed. The
Product/Service Invoice window appears.
2. Click the Payment Details tab.
3. Click the Pay by Card button at the bottom of the Payment Details tab. The Welcome
window of the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard appears. The payment amount shown is
taken from the Amount Due field in the Payment Details tab of the Product/Service Invoice
Window.
To Receive a Pay Deposit by Card Against a Product/Service Invoice

1. Open the Customers module, then from the Links pane, click Invoice List. Double-click on
a specific non-posted invoice from the list displayed. The Product/Service Invoice window
appears.
491
2. Click the Payment Details tab. From the Bank Account drop-down list choose the
appropriate Bank Account Code.
amount shown is taken from the Payment Amount field in the Payment Details tab of the
Product/Service Invoice Window.
Sales Orders - Receive Pay by Card Payment

The Pay by Card / Pay Deposit by Card payment facility can be used for full payments and
deposits, paid against a sales order.
To Receive a Full Pay by Card Payment Against a Sales Order

1. Open the Customers module, then from Links pane, click Sales Order List. Double-click
on the specific order from the list displayed. The Product Sales Order window is displayed.
2. Click the Cash Sales button at the bottom of the Payment Details tab. The software
requests that you confirm that you wish to complete the order as a cash sale. Click Yes.
3. The software now prompts you to choose online or offline cash sales payment. To choose
online payment, click Yes. The Welcome window of the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard
appears.
To Receive a Pay by Card Deposit Against a Sales Order

1. Open the Customers module, then from Links pane, click Sales Order List. Double-click
on the specific order from the list displayed. The Product Sales Order window is displayed.
2. Select the Payment Details tab and from the Bank Account drop-down list, choose the
appropriate Bank Account Code.
Note: To enable the Pay by Card payment facility, the account selected must be the same
as that nominated, when you set up your Payment Solutions Preferences. A Sage 50
Accounts Information Message will advise you if this is not the case.
492
Customer Tasks
amount shown is taken from the Payment Amount field in the Payment Details tab of the
Product Quote SOP Window.
The Sage Payment Solutions Wizard

Window 1 - Welcome
This first window provides a summary of the payment transaction to be completed, including
customer/supplier reference, customer/supplier name, amount to pay, and an editable payment
description.
7. Enter a Payment Description or accept the default description suggested.
Note: Pay by Card transactions are subject to a payment limit of 100,000.
8. If all details are satisfactory, to continue, click Next.
Window 2 - Card Holder Details
This window only appears if you enabled AVS/CV2 validation in your Payment Solutions
Settings in Company Preferences.
1. Enter and confirm all details of the customer billing address.
2. If you are satisfied that all details are correct, to continue, click Next.
Window 3 - Card Details
The card details window requires all card front details to be recorded, along with the CV2
number, located on the back of the card.
1. Choose the Card Type from the Card Type drop-down list.
2. Enter the Card Holder's Name, as it appears on the front of the card.
3. Enter the full Card Number, located on the front of the card, into the Card Number edit
boxes. Ensure that you type the number without spaces or other separators.
4. Enter the Expiry Date, located on the front of the card, in the entry box provided. Type in
MMYY format.
5. Enter the CV2 Number, located on the back of the card. This typically consists of the extra
three security digits on the card signature strip. In the case of American Express cards,
there are four digits required.
493
6. For specific card types, additional card details may need to be entered. These include:
Enter the Start Date in MMYY format. The Issue Number must be typed exactly as it
appears on the card. For example, some cards will have Issue Number 4, while others will
show Issue Number 04.
Note: For some Solo/Switch cards, the Issue Number does not appear on the card.
7. Once all details have been entered and you are satisfied that all details are correct, to
continue, click Next.
8. The software prompts you to confirm that you wish to receive the payment amount, click
Yes to proceed.
Window 4 - Finish
If the payment is successfully received, the Finish window signifies this with a green tick.
The payment is assigned a specific reference code.

When the payment is not received successfully, a red cross is displayed, signifying
failure.
A reference code and a Transaction information line may also be displayed, detailing reason for
failure.
Click Finish to close the Sage Payment Solutions wizard.
How to Deal with Sage Payment Solutions Charges

There are two administration charges associated with the Sage Payment Solutions facility:
A monthly fee for using your Sage Payment Solutions Account
An administration transaction charge for the total period (daily) Pay by Card transactions
It is recommended that you deal with the monthly account fee as a recurring bank payment.
At the end of a daily transaction period, your total Pay by Card transactions for that day will have
an administration charge subtracted from that total.
It is recommended that you reconcile this administration charge as a bank charge, related to
your specified Pay by Card bank account.
494
Chapter 9
Supplier Tasks

tasks contained within the Suppliers
Supplier Price Lists (Accounts
module. It discusses all the activities youll
need to perform when working with your
supplier accounts, from creating a supplier Processing Purchase Orders (Accounts
record to making a payment to a supplier. Professional Only) ............................502
In this chapter, well look at the purchase Entering an Invoice from a Supplier ..533
order cycle in full, from creating a new Supplier Payment Control ................536
order, through placing stock on order, to
Supplier Reports..............................543
delivery and completion.
Recording a Suppliers Credit Note ..543
Well also show you how to enter the
invoices and credit notes you receive from Viewing Supplier Transaction Activity543
your suppliers, guide you through the Supplier Refunds .............................545
process of recording the payments you
make, view a suppliers transaction activity
and deal with supplier refunds.
This chapter assumes you have created
your supplier records. For full details see
Entering Customer and Supplier Records
on page 195.
Supplier Price Lists

You can create and maintain a list of prices for the products that you buy from a single
supplier. If you buy the same product from a number of different suppliers, you can
compare supplier prices. You can then use the price lists to buy at the most competitive
price. If you buy products from a supplier who uses a different currency, you can maintain
prices for those products in the supplier's own currency.
When you create a purchase order, the price of each product is taken from the supplier's
price list.
If the selected supplier is using a currency other than your base currency, the price list also
shows the exchange rate and price in the base currency.
You can copy price lists. With the exception of the supplier all the information from an
existing price list is copied to the new price list. As you copy the list you can then choose
which supplier you want to associate the list with. This is a great way to quickly create a
new price list based on existing information.
To add or edit a supplier price list

Note: You can import a price list from a file provided by your supplier. For more information
about importing supplier price lists, see Importing supplier price lists (Accounts
Professional users only) on page 498.
1. Open the Suppliers module.
2. If necessary, switch to the Suppliers View.
3. Choose a supplier from the list, then click Price List.
Note: You cannot select more than one supplier at a time. You must set up each
price list individually.
The Supplier Price List window appears. The window displays the supplier name,
description, currency and the date the list was last updated, taken from the supplier
record.
If you have run the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard so that you can use foreign
currencies, the Supplier Price List window also displays the exchange rate.
4. Click Add Items.
The Add Products window appears. This window displays all products that are listed
in your Sage 50 Accounts system.
5. Select the products that you want to add to the selected supplier's price list.
6. To add the highlighted products to the price list, click OK.
The Add Products window closes and returns you to the Supplier Price List window.
The products you selected appear in the window. You now need to enter the
products purchase price.
Supplier Tasks
7. Select the Purchase Price column for the first product in the list.
8. Enter the product purchase price. You can either enter the price manually, or click the
calculator button to the right of the column and use the pop-up calculator to enter the
value.
9. To save the price list details and return to the Supplier window, click Close.
Alternatively, to print a copy of the supplier price list, click Print.
To import a supplier price list from a file, click Import. For more information, see To import
a saved supplier price list on page 498.
To export the price list details into Microsoft Excel, click Send To.
To remove the selected product from the Supplier Price List window, click Delete.
To copy a supplier price list

Note: You can only copy a supplier price list from the Products module, not the Suppliers
module.
1. Select Products > Price Lists.
2. Select the supplier price list you want to copy, then click Copy.
The Supplier Price List window appears.
3. Select a supplier for the price list using the Name drop-down list.
The name of the supplier is applied to the price list description. It cannot be changed.
497
4. Click Save.
5. Amend the displayed information, where required. Refer to the information on page 496 to
help you.
6. Click Save, then to close the Supplier Price List window, click Close.
Importing supplier price lists

(Accounts Professional users only)
You can import any supplier price list that you have saved previously, or that your supplier may
have sent to you. These supplier price lists must have been saved in a comma separated value
(CSV) or text (TXT) format.
When you import a supplier price list file, the following assumptions are made:
The Product Reference and Purchase Price are imported.
Any data on the same line, following the price is ignored.
The first line of the import file will be treated as a heading and will be ignored.
The purchase price is in the currency recorded on the supplier record.
For example, your CSV file may look like this:
Product Ref, Price
BOARD001, 20
BOX002, 22.00, with waterproof coating
BOOKS001, 7.99, signed, limited edition
In this example, the column headings on the first line- Product Ref, Price, and the additional text,
with waterproof coating and signed, limited edition, will not be imported.
To import a saved supplier price list

1. Select Suppliers > Supplier List.
2. Select a supplier from the list, then click Price List.
Note: You cannot select more than one supplier at a time.
The Supplier Price List window appears, displaying the supplier account reference, name
and base currency.
If you are using foreign currencies, and the Supplier Price List that is due to be imported is
using a currency other than your base currency, the exchange rate is also displayed.
3. Click Import.
The Import Supplier Price List window appears.
If you have not previously saved a price list for this supplier, a message appears advising
you that you must save the price list before adding any products. Click Yes to save or No
to close back to the Supplier Price List window.
498
Supplier Tasks
4. Enter the directory and file name of the supplier price list details file that you want to import.
If you do not know the exact location or name of the price list file, click Browse to locate
the file.
5. To proceed with the import process, click Continue.
The Confirm Supplier Price List Import window appears, displaying information about the
file you are importing:
Number of items in Displays the number of products that currently belong to the
current price list selected price list. You cannot amend this.
Valid items in import file Shows the number of items that Sage 50 Accounts can
successfully import from the file you select. You cannot
amend this value directly, although you can increase the
number of valid items by correcting import errors displayed in
the Warnings column. For more information, see Warnings
later in this table.
Invalid items in import Shows the number of items that create import errors and
file cannot be imported. You cannot amend this value directly,
although you can decrease the number of invalid items by
correcting import errors displayed in the Warnings column.
For more information, see Warnings later in this table.
Line Shows the position of this product line within the CSV or TXT
file you are importing. You cannot change this.
Stock Code Displays the stock code held in the import file. You can
amend this if you require.
Current Price Reads the purchase price currently held on the price list. If the
product does not yet appear on a price list, Sage 50
Accounts displays the purchase price held on the product
record. The currency symbol shown indicates the currency of
the price list.
You cannot change the Current Price.
Proposed Price Reads the product price from the file you are importing, and
displays it in the price list's currency. You can change this if
you require.
499
Warnings This column displays errors and warnings about the items
you are importing. You cannot amend these.
Sage 50 Accounts displays import errors in red. Examples of
errors are:
Product code not recognised.
There are two prices being imported for this product.
Invalid price supplied for this product.
If errors are present, then the import of those products
cannot proceed. The Invalid items in import box
summarises the number of items containing errors. You
must correct the errors in the import file before you try to
import those items. If you correct an error and the
associated item imports successfully, the Invalid items in
import file value decreases, and the Valid items in import
file value increases.
Sage 50 Accounts displays import warnings in black.
Examples of warnings are:
Product code exists and the current list price of x.xx will
be overwritten.
Warnings provide additional information but do not stop the
import process.
6. Select or clear the following import options as you require:

Remove all items from the Price List prior to importing.
If you select this option, Sage 50 Accounts removes all products currently associated with
the price list before proceeding with the import.
For example, if you have a price list containing six hundred products, and you import a file
containing one hundred and fifty updated prices, Sage 50 Accounts updates the prices of
those one hundred and fifty products and removes the remaining four hundred and fifty
items from the price list.
If you do not select this option, Sage 50 Accounts checks the list of products on the price
list, and if a price exists, it updates it. If the product you are importing does not exist on the
price list, Sage 50 Accounts adds it.
containing amended prices for 250 of those products, Sage 50 Accounts updates only
those 250 prices and leaves the remaining 750 unchanged. Alternatively, if you have a price
list containing 400 products, and you import a file containing 50 products that do not
500
Supplier Tasks
currently belong to that price list, Sage 50 Accounts adds those 50 products to the list and
leaves the original 400 products unchanged.
Hide warnings, errors will still be displayed.
Select this check box if you want the Import process to filter out any warnings and
display only errors in the Warnings column.
If you do not select this check box, Sage 50 Accounts displays both errors and
warnings in the Warnings column.
7. To remove a line from the list so that it is not included in the Import process, select the line
then click Delete Line.
8. To save any changes you make in the list back to the original CSV or TXT import file, click
Save. Alternatively, to save your amendments to a new import file, click Save As and
specify a file name and location for the new file.
To return to the Supplier Price List window without importing any supplier price list details,
click Cancel.
9. To continue with the import process and apply the prices to your data, click Apply.
Note: Items displaying errors will not import. You must correct the errors before you can
successfully import these items.
If you are importing a large volume of data, a status bar appears, showing the progress of
the import process.
Once the import is complete, the Supplier Price List window and the price list information
appear.
501
Processing Purchase Orders

Purchase orders are the orders that you place with your suppliers. The Purchase Order
Processing facility lets you keep track of all of the products that you buy. Sage 50 Accounts lets
you create and print orders to send to your suppliers.
The Purchase Order Processing facility is directly linked to your product records so the orders
you produce automatically update your records with the order details.
Purchase Order Processing also integrates with projects. An order can be placed for a single
project or several projects at the same time. When goods or services are ordered for a project
the project reference can be applied to the order to link the goods on order with the project. This
automates the allocation of stock and application of costs to the project at each stage of the
purchase order life cycle.
To successfully complete each stage, the status of the linked project must accept postings,
otherwise Sage 50 Accounts regards the project as closed. For more information see Using
project statuses on page 577.
The purchase order life cycle

Creating the purchase order.
For further information about this, refer to the following section.
Saving your purchase order.
For further information about this, see Saving your purchase order on page 522.
Printing your purchase order.
For further information about this, see Printing your purchase order on page 522.
Placing the goods 'on order'.
For further information about this, see Putting purchase orders 'on order' on page 523.
Recording the delivery of the goods.
For further information about this, see Recording delivery of goods on page 523.
Creating an invoice from the order.
For further information about this, see Creating purchase invoices from your purchase
orders (Accounts Professional Only) on page 533.
Deleting the order.
For further information about this, see Deleting a purchase order on page 532.
502
Supplier Tasks
Creating a new purchase order

You can create a purchase order using Suppliers > New Purchase Order. This opens the
Product Purchase Order window, which consists of four tabs: Details, Order Details, Footer
Details and Deliveries.
Use the Details tab to enter your main purchase order details, including supplier account
details, items and quantities ordered. For further information about how to do this, please
refer to the following section.
Use the Order Details tab to enter or amend the delivery address and other details which
apply to the purchase order. For further information about how to do this, see To enter the
order details for your purchase order on page 514.
Use the Footer Details tab to enter carriage charges and settlement terms. For further
information about how to do this, see To enter your purchase order footer details on page
516.
Use the Deliveries tab to view, print or reprint goods received notes associated with the
order. For more information on how to do this, see To view delivery information for a
purchase order on page 519.
You can also produce purchase orders from within the Check BOM facility (see step 3 of To
check a component's availability on page 559).
You can also create a new purchase order from within the Products module. For details about
how to do this, refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
To save you time when entering purchase orders, you can use the Duplicate facility to copy an
existing order. This is useful if you need to create many purchase orders with the same details.
For more information about duplicating orders, see To duplicate a purchase order on page 521.
Note: The status bar shows the number of the last purchase order you created.
To create a purchase order

1. Select Suppliers > New Purchase Order.
The Product Purchase Order window appears, showing the Details tab.
503
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following details for your purchase order.
Order No. When you create a new purchase order, <Auto Number> appears in
this box. Order numbers are not assigned until the purchase order has
been saved. If you want to edit an existing order, type the order
number of the purchase order that you want to edit here.
The first time you create and save an order, it will be assigned the
number 1. Each time you create and save an order, the order number
is increased by one.
If you want to start numbering your orders at a particular number, you

must change the numbering sequence in your Invoice and Order
Defaults. For further information about how to do this, see To set up
your invoice and order defaults on page 148.
Date The current program date appears here automatically but you can
change this as required. Use the Calendar button to enter a different
date or type the date you require directly into the box.
Ref You can enter an additional reference here if required.
504
Supplier Tasks
A/C Enter the supplier account reference here. If you enter an existing
account reference, or use the drop-down button to select one from the
pop-up list, the supplier's name and address appear.
If you enter an account code that is not already set up, the drop-down
list appears. You can then either select another account or create a
new one using the New button.
If you have selected the Display Account Status check box in
Company Preferences, Sage 50 Accounts gives you a warning if the
supplier account you have selected has been put on hold on the
supplier record.
If the Show warning on each change option is selected, to continue to
enter the order, click OK on the warning message.
If the Stop the account option is selected, you must take the account
off hold before you can create the order. To continue, click OK.
Item No. This shows the number of the item that is currently highlighted. For
example, if there are ten item lines and the cursor is currently on the
second line, this box shows 'Item 2 of 10'.
Project Ref Displayed if project costing is switched on. If the order is for a project
you can enter the project reference here to link the order with the
project. The reference is automatically applied to each order line,
where it can then be changed (see, To enter purchase order item line
details on page 509). If the order is for several projects you may find it
quicker to leave this box blank.
If you cannot remember the project reference, use the drop-down list
to search and select from the project records; you have the option to
view the records by project structures or a simple project list. If you
enter an unknown project code you are given the list of existing
projects to select from. It is possible to create a new project from here
by clicking New from the list of projects displayed.
Note: To successfully create the order, the project status must allow
postings. See Using project statuses on page 577
505
Cost Code Displayed if project costing is switched on. If the order is for a project,
enter the cost code to be used to apply the value of the goods. The
cost code is automatically applied to each order line, where it can then
be changed (see To enter purchase order item line details on page
509). If the order uses several cost codes you may find it quicker to
leave this box blank.
If you cannot remember the cost code, use the drop-down list to
search and select from the cost codes. If you enter an unknown cost
code you are given the list of existing cost codes to select from.
Note: If you change the project reference or cost code after adding
order lines, you can choose to apply the change to each order line.
Sage 50 Accounts will prompt you.
Rate This only shows if you have set up the foreign currency functionality by
running the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard, and you have selected a
foreign supplier account. You can enter your currency exchange rate
here.
3. Enter the product items you want to purchase, one line of the purchase order per product.
When dealing with an order for several projects, record the goods/services for each project
on a separate order line. Projects that require the same product must have there own
separate order line.
506
Supplier Tasks
Product Code Enter the product code you require. If you cannot remember the
code number, use the drop-down button to search and select from
the product records. If you enter an unknown product code you are
given the list of existing products to select from. If necessary, you
can create a new product record to add the product to the
purchase order.
When you enter an existing product code, and then press TAB to
go to the next box, Sage 50 Accounts automatically fills in the
details for the rest of the purchase order based on the re-order
quantity and cost price as set up on the product record. You can
change these if necessary.
Note: You cannot change the product code on a purchase order if
the order shows an on-order or delivered quantity for that product.
If you open an existing order that contains products with on-order
or delivered quantities, the product code is not enabled, and you
cannot change it using the drop-down list, or by overtyping. In
order to change the product code on an order if it has an on-order
quantity, you must first reverse the on-order status using the
Amend option. If a product shows a delivered quantity, you must
reverse the delivery manually, taking the supplier and stock into
account where appropriate, and re-enter an order as you require.
In order to use these special codes they must first be enabled. To
do this, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings, then
Invoice and Order defaults. Ensure that the check box for Show
Special Product Codes in Invoicing/SOP/POP has been selected.
In addition to the normal product codes you can also enter special
product codes, where:
S1 = Special product item, tax chargeable.
S2 = Special product item, tax zero-rated.
S3 = Special Service Item, tax chargeable.

M = Non-product item with additional message but no price or VAT
amount.
Use the message box - that is, the M product code, to add any text
into the main body of the purchase order.
507
Description The description of your product is entered here automatically from

the product record, but you can change this if required.
When your cursor moves to the Description box, an Edit button
appears. Use this button or press F3 to apply one-off product
details. For further information about how to do this, refer to the
procedure To enter purchase order item line details on page 509.
Quantity Enter the quantity of stock you want to order. Sage 50 Accounts
automatically displays the Re-Order Quantity, as set up in the
product record. You can change this if necessary.
Price The last cost price from the product record appears here. If a
special product code has been entered, the value entered in the
Edit Item Line window appears here. You can amend these values if
necessary.
Net The net value is calculated automatically and cannot be edited.
VAT The VAT amount appears here automatically and cannot be edited.
Totals These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of the order.
applied to the order.
Gross The total value of the order appears here.
Euro If you have entered currency details, the total value (in euros) of the
order appears here.
4. Continue to enter all the lines of product items on the purchase order that you require.
You can now enter your order details, such as where you want the goods to be delivered.
For more information, see To enter the order details for your purchase order on page 514.
If you want to enter any carriage charges or settlement details, see To enter your purchase
order footer details on page 516.
5. When you are ready to save your purchase order, you have three choices. These are
explained briefly in this step. If you need more information, refer to the following section.
To save the order for later printing, putting on order and recording delivery in a batch, click
Save.
If you have chosen to create new invoices/orders on saving from the Invoice and Order
Defaults, the window clears ready for you to enter a new order.
If you have chosen to edit the saved order from the Invoice and Order Defaults, the order
information remains displayed for you to edit.
508
Supplier Tasks
To print the purchase order straight away, click Print.

If you have already received the products for this purchase order, click Complete.
If you use this purchase order regularly, you can save it as a skeleton purchase order, so
you can recall and reuse the purchase order, to do this click the Memorise button. For more
information, see To create a recurring transaction on page 471.
6. To exit the Product Purchase Order window click Close.
Note: If you are viewing or editing existing orders, you can highlight all the relevant orders
you want to view or edit from the Invoicing window, then when you call up the order using
the New/Edit button you can use the Next and Previous button to browse through your
chosen orders.
To enter purchase order item line details

Use this function to increase the detail which is included in your records. You can assign a
nominal code to your purchase orders so that you can analyse your purchase orders at a later
date. For example, to see which products you buy most often. You can also see what discounts
have been set up for this product.
1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
2. From the Purchase Order Processing toolbar, click New/Edit.
The Product Purchase Order window appears, showing the Details tab.
3. Enter your purchase order details. When your cursor moves to the Description box, an Edit
button appears.
4. Click the Edit button, or press F3.
509
Some of the boxes on the Product Edit Item Line window are already filled for you, with
information taken from the product and supplier records.
5. In the boxes provided in the Product Details area, enter or view the following details:
Product Code This box automatically displays the product code you have
chosen. You cannot edit this entry.
Units Enter the unit type here. For example, you may sell items by
sheet or roll.
Description You can amend an existing product description, or enter your

own.
Comment 1 and These two boxes, each of up to sixty characters, can be used to
Comment 2 add additional text to the description.
510
Supplier Tasks
6. In the boxes provided in the Values area, enter the following details:
Quantity The quantity entered on the Details tab appears here, but you may
change this if necessary. The value you enter here appears
automatically in the Quantity box on the Details tab.
Unit Price This is the cost price per unit that is taken from the product record.
You can change it for this purchase order. If you enter the gross
amount here, you can instruct Sage 50 Accounts to calculate the VAT
amount and the corresponding net amount by clicking Calc. Net.
Discount % The discount entered here is the total percentage of discount that the
supplier gives you, as set up on the Supplier Record Defaults tab.
Discount This shows the value of the discount that the supplier will give, based
on the percentage of discount above. You can change this if
required.
Net This box displays the net value for the current item. It is calculated by
multiplying the quantity by the net unit price, including any discount.
You cannot change this value.
VAT This box displays the amount of VAT calculated for this item
according to the default VAT code from the Product Record. If you
have selected the Override Product Tax Code In Purchases check
box on the Supplier Record, the supplier's default tax code is used to
calculate the VAT.
You can change this value if you have selected the Item VAT
Amendable check box in the VAT tab of Company Preferences
(Company > Settings).
511
7. In the boxes provided in the 'Posting Details' area, enter the following details:
Nominal Code The defaults set on the suppliers record (see To enter your
customer and supplier records on page 195) dictate which nominal
code is suggested for use. This is either the nominal code from the
product record or from the suppliers record.
If you are using a special product code, the nominal code from the
suppliers record appears here.
You can also change the displayed nominal code if required.
The nominal code entered here will be used when you generate a
purchase invoice for the purchase order.
Use Default Tax Code for Purchases check box on the supplier
record, the supplier's default tax code appears here.
Department This shows the default department for the product record.
8. If you want to give your purchase orders a reference to link them to a particular job for
analysis purposes, you can enter a reference in the Additional Information area of the
window.
9. Project Information is displayed if project costing is enabled. If you are recording an order
for a project enter the following details:
Project Ref If a project reference has been entered on the orders Details tab
then the reference is displayed here. If this is a new order it can be
changed. You can use the drop-down list to search and select from
the project records.
If you enter an unknown product reference, you are given the list of
existing projects to select from. It is possible to create a new project
from here by clicking New from the list of projects displayed. The
project status must allow postings. See Using project statuses on
page 577.
If you are dealing with an existing order, the project reference can
only be changed if the total quantity on the order line is outstanding.
If you change the project reference the committed costs of the
projects involved are adjusted.
512
Supplier Tasks
Cost Code If a cost code has been entered on the orders Details tab then it is
displayed here. If this is a new order it can be changed. You can use
the drop-down list to search and select from the cost codes. If you
enter an unknown cost code you are given the list of existing
products to select from.
If you are dealing with an existing order, the cost code can only be
changed if the total quantity on the order line is outstanding. If you
change the cost code the committed costs of the cost codes
involved are adjusted.
10. View the following item status information:
On-Order Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the quantity ordered here.
Delivered Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the quantity of this product

that has been delivered to-date here.
To Deliver Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the quantity still left to deliver
here.
Intrastat Shows the number of items that have been Intrastat confirmed.
Note: This box only appears if you have selected the Generate
Intrastat entries for Purchase Orders check box in Invoice and Order
Defaults. For more information, see To set up your Intrastat defaults
on page 158.
11. To save your Purchase Order Item Line entries click OK, or if you want to exit without saving
click Cancel.
513
To enter the order details for your purchase order

1. From the Product Purchase Order window, click the Order Details tab.
If you are amending an existing purchase order, access the order. To do this select
Suppliers > Purchase Order List. From the Purchase Order Processing window highlight
the order you wish to amend and then click the New/Edit button.
The Order Details information appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter or amend the following details:
Delivery Address The default company delivery address appears here

automatically. You can edit this address directly by typing into the
box. Alternatively, click Change to select a different address from
the list of company delivery address, customer delivery address
or supplier delivery address.
514
Supplier Tasks
You may use an address other than your main company address,
if your main address is an office, but you have a warehouse
elsewhere. Then your purchases could be delivered directly to
your warehouse.
Note: You can change the delivery address that appears by
default, to be either the default company, customer or supplier
delivery address. To do this, select Customers > Invoice / Orders
Defaults. Select the type of delivery address you want to appear
by default on your purchase orders from the Purchase Order
Delivery Address drop-down list.
Supplier Order No. You can enter your supplier's order number or order reference
here, using up to thirty characters.
Supplier Tel. No. Your supplier's telephone number as set up on the Supplier
Record appears here automatically. You can change this if you
require.
Supplier Contact The name of the person you set up as the contact on the
supplier's record appears here. If you want to record the name of
another contact for this particular purchase order, you can enter it
here.
Order Taken By Enter here the name of the person who placed the order. If you
are using Access Rights to restrict access to Sage 50 Accounts
functionality, your Logon Name appears here.
Notes Enter up to three lines of notes here, which will relate to the whole
order, for example, to record any special delivery requirements.
You have now completed the order details for your purchase order.
If you want to enter any carriage or settlement details, refer to the following section. If this
is an order for a project and you want to charge the delivery costs to the project, do not
record carriage charges on the Footer Details of the order as the charge cannot be split
across multiple projects or cost codes. Alternatively, for each project you want to charge,
add the charge or charges to the order using an order line with a S1 code.
If you want to enter any delivery information or view any goods received notes, see To view
delivery information for a purchase order on page 519.
3. If you do not want to add any footer details to this purchase order, you have the choice of
sending it directly to a printer, recording the delivery of it straight away or saving it for later
printing, putting on order and recording delivery.
To save the order for later printing, putting on order and recording delivery in a batch, click
Save. If you have chosen to create new invoices/orders on saving from the Invoice / Order
515
Defaults, the window clears ready for you to enter a new order. If you have chosen to edit
the saved order from the Invoice / Order Defaults, the order information remains displayed
for you to edit.
To print the purchase order straight away, click Print.
4. To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard.
5. To exit the Product Purchase Order window click Close.
To enter your purchase order footer details

1. From the Product Purchase Order window, click the Footer Details tab.
If you are amending an existing purchase order, access the order. To do this select
Suppliers > Purchase Order List. From the Purchase Order Processing window highlight
the order you wish to amend, then click the New/Edit button.
The Footer Details information appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following carriage charges, or leave blank if you are not
being charged for carriage.
516
Supplier Tasks
Net Enter the amount of the carriage item, i.e. excluding VAT. Use the
Calculator button to help you calculate the amount to enter.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a net carriage amount in the Invoice /
Order Defaults, the default net amount appears automatically for you. You
can edit this if required.
Tax Code From the drop-down list, select the VAT code you require for carriage.
VAT This shows the amount of VAT calculated according to the rate specified
in the Tax Code box. Use the Calculator button to help you calculate the
amount to enter.
You can only amend this if you have selected the Item VAT Amendable
Settings > Company Preferences > VAT).
Gross This shows the gross amount of carriage to be paid - that is, the net plus
VAT in total, and cannot be amended.
N/C Enter the reference for the nominal code to which the carriage value will
be analysed. You can use the drop-down list to select a nominal account.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default nominal code to analyse your
carriage to in the Invoice and Order Defaults, the default nominal code
appears automatically for you. You can edit this if required.
Department If you want to analyse the carriage to a department, enter the department
you require here or select it from the drop-down list.
Note: If you have chosen to enter a default department to analyse your

carriage to in your Invoice and Order Defaults, the default department
appears automatically for you. You can edit this if necessary.
Consign No. You can enter a consignment number here.
Courier Select the Courier you are using to despatch the order from this
drop-down list.
Note: Courier information is held in Company > Settings > Company
Preferences > Parameters.
3. In the boxes provided, enter the following settlement terms, or leave blank if not applicable.
517
Days Enter the number of days during which early settlement discount applies
to this order, if any. This box defaults to the number specified on the
supplier record.
Discount % Enter the percentage of settlement discount that you have been offered
for this purchase order here. This box defaults to the percentage specified
on the Supplier record.
Amount This is the actual value of the discount given.

Note: This value does not include the settlement discount already applied
to the VAT
Total This is the Gross amount of the order less the settlement discount
amount.
You have now completed the footer details for your purchase order.
If you want to enter any delivery information or view any goods received notes, refer to the
following section.
4. You can save or print your purchase order.
You have the choice of sending your order directly to a printer, recording the delivery of it
straight away, or saving it for later, putting on order and recording delivery.
To save the purchase order for later printing, putting on order and recording delivery in a
batch, click Save.
If you have chosen to create new invoices/orders on saving from the Invoice and Order
Defaults, the window clears ready for you to enter a new order.
If you have chosen to edit the saved order from the Invoice and Order Defaults, the order
information remains displayed for you to edit.
To save and print the purchase order straight away, click Print.
5. To exit without saving, click Close.
518
Supplier Tasks
To view delivery information for a purchase order

Note: The only information that can be entered via this window is the Due Date.
2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, highlight the required orders and click the
New/Edit button.
3. Click the Deliveries tab.
Note: The Deliveries tab does not appear if your GRN Options in Invoice and Order
Defaults are set to Do not generate. For more information, see To enter your invoice and
order numbering options on page 152.
The delivery information for the selected order appears.
519
4. View your deliveries information:
Order Status The status of the order appears automatically. The status can be
On-Order, Cancelled or the status can be left blank if the order has
been completed or if it has not yet been placed on order.
Delivery Status This shows the delivery status of the order and can be Part,
Complete or if no items have been delivered, this box will be left
blank.
Invoice Status If an invoice has been raised, a 'Y' appears in this box. If an invoice
has not been raised, an 'N' appears in this box.
Complete If the order has been completed a 'Y' appears in this box. If the order
has not been completed, an 'N' appears.
Due Date You can enter an estimated delivery due date. This cannot be
changed after the order has been completed.
Intrastat Displays the Intrastat declarations status of the order. This can be
blank - the order is not Intrastat confirmed, Complete - the order has
been fully Intrastat confirmed, or Part - only some items on the order
have been Intrastat confirmed.
Note: This box only appears if you have enabled Intrastat reporting in
Invoice and Order Defaults. For more information, see To set up your
GRN. No This column shows the goods received note number that has been
assigned within Sage 50 Accounts.
Supplier GRN. If you have entered a supplier goods received note, when you
No recorded the delivery of the goods, the goods received note number
appears here.
Date This shows the date the goods were delivered.
5. If you want to view individual goods received notes, select the note you want to view from
the list and click View. The Goods Received Note window appears showing the goods
received note details. You cannot change any of this information.
6. If you want to print individual goods received notes, select the note you want to print from
the list and click Print GRN. You will see a preview of GRN with options to print, save or
email. To return to the Deliveries tab, click Close.
7. To exit and return to the Purchase Order Processing window, click Close.
520
Supplier Tasks
Duplicating a purchase order

To save you time when entering your purchase orders, you can use the Duplicate facility to copy
an existing order. This is useful if you need to create several orders with the same details.
To duplicate a purchase order

2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, select the order you want to copy.
3. Click Duplicate.
The Purchase Order window appears, displaying the Details information.
Note: Sage 50 Accounts makes an exact copy of the original order, regardless of whether
any prices have changed since you created the order. You should check all item prices
carefully, and make any changes manually before you save the order.
4. If you manually number your orders as you create them, type the order number you require
in the Order No. box.
If you use the Autonumber facility to automatically number your purchase orders as you
create them and you have selected to lock the Autonumber for SOP/POP in Settings>
Invoice and Order Defaults, you cannot overtype the <Autonumber> text that appears in
the Order No. box. Sage 50 Accounts assigns the next available number to the duplicated
purchase order when you save it.
5. Check that the details in each tab of the order are correct, and make any amendments you
require.
6. To save the new order, click Save. To exit without saving, click Discard.
7. To close the order and return to the Purchase Order Processing window, click Close.
The Purchase Order Processing window appears.
The new purchase order appears in the list on the Purchase Order Processing window, ready
to be printed and delivered.
Completing your purchase order if it has already been delivered

If your order has already been delivered, you can choose to complete the order.
To complete your purchase order

2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, select the order you want to complete, click
the New/Edit button.
The Purchase Order Window appears.
521
3. Click Complete.
Sage 50 Accounts saves the purchase order, completes the order and then records the delivery
of the stock for it immediately. When the order is linked to a project, the goods - Stock Item, are
automatically allocated to the project and the costs applied. Actual costs are applied at different
stages depending on the type of item ordered:
Stock item: Actual cost are applied when stock items are issued to the project.
Non-stock and Service items: Actual costs are applied when an invoice is recorded for the
purchase order.
If your order has not been delivered, but you want to put it on order, follow the steps in Putting
purchase orders 'on order' on page 523.
Saving your purchase order

To save your purchase order, from within the Product Purchase Order window, click Save.
When you are ready to print your purchase order, see Printing your purchase order on page
522.
If you want to place your goods on order, see Putting purchase orders 'on order' on page
523.
If you want to record the delivery of the order, see Recording delivery of goods on page
523.
Printing your purchase order

Use this facility to print a copy of one or more saved purchase orders.
You can print a batch of purchase orders at once, or you can print the purchase orders one at
a time by selecting only those you want to print.
To print your purchase order

2. Select the purchase order(s) you want to print from the Purchase Order Processing
window.
3. Click Print.
The Purchase Order Printing window appears.
4. Select the layout you require for your purchase order(s).
5. Indicate the output you require by selecting one of the options provided: Printer, Preview,
File or Email.
522
Supplier Tasks
information, view the notice on the Revenue website at http://www.revenue.ie/pdf/

vat09-92.doc. Alternatively, you can obtain a copy of the notice from your Revenue Office.
6. To print your purchase orders, click Generate Report.
Putting purchase orders 'on order'

After you have created a purchase order you must put it on order, before you can record any
deliveries for it. This updates the on order levels for each of the appropriate product records. If
the order has been placed for a project, then the cost of the goods or services is calculated and
applied to the project as committed costs.
If you have already received the order, you can choose to complete the order. For further
information, see Completing your purchase order if it has already been delivered on page 521.
If you want to put your batched orders on order, use the Order button. For further information
about how to do this, refer to the following section.
Alternatively, you can use the Amend facility to manually put your purchase orders on order. This
updates the on order levels for each of the appropriate product records. To put your order on
order manually, select the order you require, click Amend and then Order.
When you have placed your purchase orders on order you are then ready to record the delivery
of the goods. For more information, see Recording delivery of goods on page 523.
To put purchase orders 'on order'

2. Select the purchase order or orders you require from the Purchase Order Processing
window, then click Order.
The Confirm window appears displaying the message, Do you want to print the purchase
order for the selected items?
3. To print the purchase order, click Yes. To continue without printing, click No.
The Confirm window appears again, prompting you to confirm that you want to put the
selected orders on order.
4. To put the orders on order, click Yes.
The Purchase Order Processing window reappears showing each selected purchase order
with a status of On Order.
Recording delivery of goods

When you have placed your purchase order on order you are ready to record the delivery of the
order.
523
If the order has been placed for a project, goods (stock items) recorded as received, are
automatically allocated the project. Although the goods are recorded into stock they are
excluded from free stock quantity for the stock item. This has no effect on committed costs.
If you have chosen to complete the order, the stock is automatically recorded as delivered. For
further information about how to do this, refer to the section Completing your purchase order if
it has already been delivered on page 521.
There are three other ways of recording the delivery of your goods. The method you choose will
depend on the amount of traceability you require and the number of items that have been
delivered. The three methods are:
Use the Goods Received Notes facility to record the delivery of goods automatically. The
advantage of using the Goods Received Notes facility is that it provides you with maximum
traceability as you can view all of the Goods Received Notes for an order. For further
information about how to do this, refer to the following section.
Use the Deliver facility to automatically record the complete deliveries of stock for the
purchase orders you have selected. When you use the Deliver facility, Sage 50 Accounts
assumes that you have received the complete order. For further information about how to
do this, see Recording purchase order deliveries on page 531.
If you have not received your whole order, you can manually record the delivery of the stock
you have received. For more information, see Manually recording purchase order deliveries
on page 531.
Type Goods Received Notes in the Help index to find out more.
Help
Recording delivery of goods using Goods Received Notes

The Goods Received Notes (GRN) facility provides a quick and easy way of recording the
deliveries you have received. You can also record deliveries against more than one purchase
order at the same time.
Sage 50 Accounts keeps a record of the goods received notes that are raised against each
purchase order, enabling you to see when the items were delivered.
Before You Start Using Goods Received Notes

Before you start using Goods Received Notes, you should set up your GRN Options in Settings
> Invoice and Order Defaults (see Entering Invoice and Order Defaults on page 147 for more
details). The behaviour of the GRN, Deliver and Amend options depends on the settings you
enter for these defaults.
524
Supplier Tasks
Option 1: Generate for all received (Default)

Goods Received Notes window:
If you set your GRN Options to Generate for all received (Default), the following message
appears every time you click Save in the Goods Received Notes window:
Note: If you do not want to see this message each time you print a goods received note,
and you will always choose the same answer, select the Do not show this message again
check box.
Click Print Now to generate the goods received note and display it, ready for printing, in
the Preview window. Alternatively, to print your goods received note later, click Print Later.
You can print the note at any time from the Deliveries tab of the purchase order.
Amend and Purchase Order Processing windows:
If you set your GRN Options to Generate for all received (Default), the following message
appears every time you click Deliver in the Amend window or the main Purchase Order
Processing window:
If you want to produce a goods received note AND update your stock levels and order
status, click Yes. The following message appears:
To generate the goods received note and display it, ready for printing, in the Preview
window, click Print Now. Alternatively, to print your goods received note later, click
525
Print Later. You can print the note at any time from the Deliveries tab of the purchase
order.
If you do not want to produce a goods received note or update your stock levels and
order status, click No.
Option 2: Prompt at each received

Goods Received Notes window:
If you set your GRN Options to Prompt at each received, the following message appears
every time you click Save in the Goods Received Notes window:
Note: If you do not want to see this message each time you print a goods received note,
and you will always choose the same answer, select the Do not show this message again
check box.
window, click Print Now. Alternatively, to print your goods received note later, click Print
Later. You can print the note at any time from the Deliveries tab of the purchase order.
Amend and Purchase Order Processing windows:
If you set your GRN Options to Prompt at each received, the following message appears
every time you click Deliver in the Amend window or the main Purchase Order Processing
window:
If you want to generate a goods received note AND update your stock levels and order
status, select the Generate Goods Received Note(s) check box and click Yes. The
following message appears:
526
Supplier Tasks
window, click 'Print Now. Alternatively, to print your goods received note later, click
Print Later. You can print the note at any time from the Deliveries tab of the purchase
order.
If you want to update your stock levels and order status WITHOUT generating a
goods received note, leave the Generate Goods Received Note(s)? check box clear
and click Yes. Sage 50 Accounts updates your stock levels and order status with the
details of the delivery.
If you do not want to generate a goods received note or update your stock levels and
order status, click No.
Option 3: Do not generate

If you set your GRN Options to Do not Generate, Sage 50 Accounts does not produce a goods
received note for any delivery, and the Delivery Tab does not appear on the Purchase Order
Processing window.
To use Goods Received Notes

2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, select the orders you have received goods
for.
3. From the Purchase Order Processing toolbar, click GRN.
Note: You can only use the Goods Received Notes facility for purchase orders that have a
status of On-Order. If you select an order that does not have a status of On-Order, a
warning message appears. Click OK to return to the Purchase Order Processing window
and place the goods on order or choose an alternative order.
The Goods Received Notes window appears.
527
4. Enter the date and use the drop-down lists to display the outstanding order you want to
work with.
GRN No. The Goods Received Notes number appears here automatically.
You cannot change this number.
Date Received The program date appears here automatically. You can change this
if required.
Supplier GRN No. You can enter the supplier's goods received note or delivery note
number here as a reference.
Supplier A/C Ref From the drop-down list, select the supplier you have received a
delivery from. Only those suppliers associated with the purchase
orders you have selected are shown in this list.
Note: You cannot type directly into this box.
Project Reference From the drop-down list, select the project you have received a
delivery for. Outstanding purchase orders for the project are
displayed in the list.
528
Supplier Tasks
5. The following information appears for filtered outstanding order. Where an order contains
several order lines, the individual order lines appear.
Order No. The Sage 50 Accounts purchase order number appears here.
Product Code The product code appears here.
Part No. If you have entered a supplier part number for this product in the
Product Record, it appears here.
Details This shows the item description as entered on the purchase order.
If you have not entered an item description on the order, this
column remains blank.
Project Ref The project reference from the order is displayed, this indicates the
project the goods will be allocated to. You can assign the goods to
a different project by changing the project reference, provided the
order line has not been part delivered.
Changing the project reference updates the order line and the
committed costs of the projects involved.
Cost Code The cost code from the order is displayed, this is the cost code
used to apply the committed costs of the goods when the order
was placed. The cost code can be change provided the order line
has not been part delivered.
Changing the cost code updates the order line and the committed
costs of the cost codes involved.
Ordered This shows the total quantity ordered on the purchase order.
To Deliver This column shows the number of items that still have to be
delivered, that is, the outstanding items from the purchase order.
Received If you want to record the complete delivery of all the items on the
goods received note, click Receive All. This enters the To Deliver
value into the Received column for all items. The order status will
be changed to Complete when you save the goods received note.
If you have received part of an order, enter the quantity of items that
have been delivered here. The order status will be changed to Part
when you save the goods received note.
529
Note: You cannot enter a quantity greater than the quantity

displayed in the To Deliver column. If you try to enter a received
quantity that is greater than the quantity to deliver, the figure will
automatically be changed to the figure shown in the To Deliver
column.
Total Quantity This shows the total of all items received.

Received
6. To save the goods received note, click Save.

Depending on your GRN Options settings, a message may appear. Produce your goods
received note as you require, according to the message or options that appear. For full
details, refer to section Before You Start Using Goods Received Notes on page 524.
7. If you do not want to save the goods received note information, click Discard. The Goods
Received Notes window clears, ready for you to re-enter the details or return to the
Purchase Order Processing window.
8. To return to the Purchase Order Processing window, click Close.
You have now recorded your goods received note for the selected supplier. Repeat the
procedure above for the remaining suppliers that you have received a delivery from.
The Deliveries Tab

When you have recorded the receipt of goods using the GRN facility, Sage 50 Accounts
updates the Deliveries tab (on the purchase order) with GRN information. This provides you with
the ability to trace when the goods were received and also the other items that arrived with
them. It also shows whether the goods or services relate to a project and the cost codes used
to apply the order value to the project involved. From the Deliveries tab, you can also view or
print the goods received notes. See To view delivery information for a purchase order on page
519 for more details.
Note: The Deliveries tab is not available if your GRN Options in Invoice and Order Defaults are
set to Do not generate. For more information, see To enter your invoice and order numbering
options on page 152.
530
Supplier Tasks
Recording purchase order deliveries

Use the Deliver facility to record the complete deliveries of stock to your business, for the
purchase orders you select.
To record purchase order deliveries

2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, select the purchase orders that you want to
process, and click Deliver.
3. Depending on your GRN Options settings, a message may appear. Produce your goods
The Purchase Order Processing window reappears showing a Delivered status of
Complete for each delivered purchase order.
Manually recording purchase order deliveries

You can use the Amend facility to record complete or part deliveries for your purchase orders.
To record a purchase order delivery manually

2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, select the order you want to record a
delivery for and click Amend.
The Amend Deliveries window appears showing the details of the first purchase order you
have selected.
3. When you originally put this order On-Order, Sage 50 Accounts automatically entered the
quantity of stock outstanding for each product in the This Delivery column.
If you want to record a part delivery, amend the quantity in the This Delivery column.
4. To update the product records with delivery details, click Deliver.
5. Depending on your GRN Options settings, a message may appear. Produce your goods
6. To return to the Purchase Order Processing window, click Close.
The Purchase Order Processing window appears, displaying the updated On-Order and
Delivered statuses.
531
Deleting a purchase order

If you want to, you can delete cancelled or completed orders. This will free up disk space on
your PC, when you compress your data.
Before you delete any orders, back up your data.
For more information, see Backing up your data on page 67.
For information on how to delete completed or cancelled orders, see To delete completed or
cancelled orders on page 436, substituting Sales Order Processing with Purchase Order
Processing, and sales orders with purchase orders throughout.
532
Supplier Tasks
Entering an Invoice from a Supplier

Depending on the version of Sage 50 Accounts you have, you can enter invoices you receive
from your suppliers into Sage 50 Accounts in two ways.
Accounts Professional user: If you receive an invoice as a result of a purchase order you have
processed in Sage 50 Accounts, you can update the details of the purchase order directly to
your ledgers, using the Update button, to show the invoice transaction on your supplier and
nominal accounts.
Alternatively, if you receive an invoice from a supplier that is not connected to a purchase order
in Sage 50 Accounts, you can enter it as a batch transaction through Suppliers. This method
also enables you to enter several invoice transactions in one go.
Creating purchase invoices from your purchase orders

You can use the Update facility to create purchase invoices directly from your purchase orders.
This saves you time as you do not have to re-enter the details of your purchase order.
It is possible to change the purchase order update information. However, when dealing with
orders for stock items (goods) that are linked to a project, the project reference and cost code
of the original order are not displayed during update and therefore cannot be changed. In this
instance the value of the goods have already been applied to the project as committed costs.
The committed costs are converted to actual costs for the project when the stock items are
issued to the project. However, the project reference and cost code of a project order for
Non-Stock and Service Items are displayed and can be changed before update. Changes will
affect the committed costs and actual costs of the projects involved.
Note: You can update part delivered orders. If an order has been part delivered, an invoice will
be created for the part of the order that has been delivered. When the complete order has been
delivered, you can update again and another invoice will be created for the remaining items.
Your supplier ledger is also updated.
To find out more, type Purchase Invoices in the Index tab of the Sage 50 Accounts Help system, then
Help select creating (using POP) from the list of topics.
Recording an invoice from a supplier

Use Suppliers > Batch Invoice to record any invoices you have received from your suppliers.
Note: No printed document is produced. The amount of detail you enter per invoice is up to
you, but we recommend that you enter each item on your invoice as a separate line. This makes
it easier for you to identify what the invoice was for at a later date. However, you can enter the
whole invoice as one line if you want to.
533
When you enter several invoice items from the same invoice, we recommend you give each one
the same account code, date and reference, as these will then be grouped together and listed
as the items that make up a single invoice. For example, when you examine a suppliers activity,
a single invoice will be shown as one line, however if you double-click this line, the individual
items that make up that invoice total will then be shown.
Note: If you do not include a reference, the transactions will not be grouped.
For further information about batch supplier invoices, press F1 to launch the context-sensitive Help
Help when you have the Batch Supplier Invoice window open.
Memorising and recalling batch invoices and credit notes

You can use the memorise and recall facilities in two ways:
To record batched invoices that you use regularly, to save you from having to re-enter
information. For example, if you regularly purchase the same product or service from a
supplier, you can use the memorise and recall function to save you time.
To save a batch of invoices or credit notes without posting, so that you can make
amendments later. For example, if you are part way through entering a batch of invoices
but you need to check some information, you can save the batch without posting and then
come back to it later when you have all of the information.
To memorise a batch of invoices/credit notes, from within the Batch Invoices/Credit Notes
window, click Memorise, add a filename for the invoices/credit notes, and click Save.
534
Supplier Tasks
To recall a batch of invoices/credit notes, from within the Batch Invoices/Credit Notes window,
click Recall, select the file to be recalled and click Open.
Use the Memorise or Recall buttons from within the Invoice/

Credit facility in the Suppliers (or Customers) window.
535
Supplier Payment Control

Sage 50 Accounts provides a number of options when dealing with payments to your suppliers.
You can choose to make payments to several suppliers at the same time or just make the one
supplier payment.
Sage 50 Accounts can suggest the payments you should make to your priority suppliers. There
are also several reports that work out the money you owe to your suppliers.
Making a payment to a supplier

Use Suppliers > Make Payment, to record the money that you pay to your suppliers against
invoices that you have received. You can pay in full, or part pay, any or all of the invoice items
and show discounts received. You can also allocate credit notes that you have received from
your suppliers, against the invoice items and enter payments that you have made on account.
When you pay an invoice, it is good practice to record the payment as soon as possible. This
keeps you up to date on how much you owe your suppliers, it keeps your Sage 50 Accounts
bank account up to date, and means you are not likely to pay the same invoice twice.
You can pay your suppliers' invoices from any of your bank accounts.
To record a supplier payment

1. Select Suppliers > Make Payment.
The Supplier Payment window appears.
Note: The top half of the window looks like a cheque.
536
Supplier Tasks
Bank A/C Ref Choose the Bank Account from which you would like to pay
your supplier.
Payee Enter the account code of the supplier you want to pay, or use
the drop-down list to select the supplier. You can create a new
supplier account here if necessary. All items that you have been
invoiced for by that supplier and which are not fully paid, as well
as payments you have made on account and credit notes,
appear automatically in the table.
Date The program date is entered for you automatically. Type in the
date you made the payment if this is different. Use the Calendar
button to enter the date.
Cheque. No If you have already paid by cheque, type the cheque number
here. This will be a very useful identifier when you come to
reconcile your bank accounts.
Note: If you have chosen to use online payments with the
selected supplier, the Cheque. No box shows a reference of
(BACS).
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only: If you want
to use the Cheques facility to generate your cheques
automatically, leave this reference blank.
Rate (Foreign Trader If you are using Foreign Trader, you can enter your currency
users only) exchange rate here.
This box is only displayed if you have selected a supplier who
uses a non-base currency.
Cheque Total You can enter the amount of the cheque in two ways.
Note: This box is not Firstly, you can enter it manually, by placing your cursor in the
labelled, but appears box and typing in the sum you want to pay. You can then click
where you would Automatic, which allocates the value of the cheque to the
normally enter the invoices in the order they are displayed. Your bank balance is
sum of the cheque. automatically reduced by the total amount on the cheque.
Secondly, you can enter the amounts you want to pay per
invoice. This way, you enter the value in each Payment box and
Sage 50 Accounts automatically puts the total in the cheque
and reduce your bank balance accordingly.
537
3. Allocate the money paid to the individual invoice items displayed in the item table by
entering a value in the Payment box of each. You can part pay an invoice item or pay it off
in full, but you cannot allocate more than the full value of the item.
If you are paying an item in full, click the item's Payment box then click Pay in Full. The
amount needed to pay the item in full is then entered for you automatically.
Continue allocating in this way until the amount in the Analysis Total box equals the amount
you are paying to your supplier.
4. If you have been given any discount against an invoice item, then enter the discount
amount, not the percentage amount, in the Discount box. For example, this may have been
offered to you for early payment. The amount shown in the Payment column is reduced by
the value of the discount entered.
If you have selected not to always create remittance information for each supplier payment
within your Bank Defaults and you want to print a remittance advice note, click Create
Remittance. This creates the remittance information. To print your remittance advice note,
follow the instructions given in the following section.
If you have selected to always save remittance information for each supplier payment
within your Bank Defaults, the Create Remittance button does not appear. To print your
remittance advice note, follow the instructions given in the following section.
5. To save your payment details, click Save.
To print a supplier remittance advice note

Use this facility to print out a remittance note that you want to send to a supplier. This is a list of
all the invoices that you are paying with the money - that is, the cheque, you are sending.
1. Select the Bank module, then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the Bank
Accounts view.
2. Select the bank account you require from the list and then click Remittance.
The Print Bank Remittances window appears listing the remittance information including
remittance index number, date, bank account reference, supplier code, name, amount,
cheque number and whether the remittance has been printed and the number of items
paid for by the supplier payment.
538
Supplier Tasks
3. To restrict the list of transactions that appear, select the Date Range check box and enter
the dates you require in the From and To boxes.
4. If you want to include remittances that have already been printed, select the Show Printed
Items check box. If you have already printed a remittance, a 'Y' appears in the Printed
column.
Note: If you are certain that you will not want to reprint remittances, you can completely
remove all printed remittances from the list by clicking Purge. Use this button with care!
5. Select the remittance that you want to print and click Print.
Note: If no remittances have been selected, you are prompted to print all remittances. If
you want to print all remittances, click Yes. If you do not want to print all remittances, click
No and select the remittances you require from the list.
The Remittance Advice Printing window appears.
6. From the Layout list box, select the remittance layout and the output type you require and
click Run.
Your remittances are now printed.
539
Suggested payments
Sage 50 Accounts Suggested Payments feature helps you to keep track of your creditors and
decide which of your supplier debts you should pay first.
When you use Suggested Payments, a prioritised list of the suppliers that you should pay
appears. The accounts of those suppliers set as Priority Suppliers are placed first in the list with
the highest outstanding balance first. The accounts of the remaining suppliers follow, placed in
order of the amount outstanding.
When you click Suggest, Sage 50 Accounts suggests a value for you to pay each supplier,
starting at the top of the list. If you re-sort the list before you click Suggest, for example to
display the outstanding amounts in date order, Sage 50 Accounts still suggests payments for
your suppliers in the order that they appear.
When you choose to make a payment from the Suggested Payments list, Sage 50 Accounts
displays the Supplier Payments window. The supplier's account, invoice and payment
information appears in the window automatically, ready for you to check and save the payment.
If you require, you can modify the suggested payment amount for any supplier. You can also
print the list of suggested payments using the Print List button.
When you make a payment to a supplier using Suggested Payments, Sage 50 Accounts resets
the supplier's credit position to Good, and reduces any promised payments by the amount you
pay.
For further details on the Suggested Payments feature, please refer to the accompanying Sage
50 Accounts Credit Control PDF document, accessible from the Help menu.
Batch supplier payments

Use the Batch facility from the Bank Accounts window to list all outstanding transactions across
all supplier accounts. You can choose to pay all transactions in full, individual transactions in full
or even part pay transactions and allocate discounts received. If you have made a lot of
payments on the same day, you can use this facility to enter the data as quickly as possible,
without having to open each individual supplier account.
To record a batch supplier payment

Bank Accounts view.
2. Select the bank account you want to make the payments from.
3. From the Bank Accounts toolbar, click Batch.
The Batch Purchase Payments window appears listing all outstanding transactions across
all supplier accounts.
540
Supplier Tasks
Foreign Trader users: Only those supplier accounts using the same base currency as the
selected bank account are listed.
If any transactions are in dispute, a warning message appears and they are marked with a
'd' in the Batch Purchase Payments window.
Note: You can use the Print List button to print what is displayed. This can help you when
you are manually ticking off the purchase payments that you have paid.
4. There are three ways of making the batch purchase payment:

To pay all outstanding transactions from your selected bank account, click Pay All.
To pay individual transactions, select each transaction in turn and then click Pay in
Full.
To part-pay a transaction, enter the amount you want to pay in the Payment column.
Note: You can access the currency calculator from this box by pressing F5.
The total of all payments made appears in the Total box.
5. If you need to apply any additional discount to any of the payments you have entered, type
the value into the Discount column.
6. If you want to assign your payments to a particular department, click Dept. In the
Transaction Department window that appears, enter the department number you want to
use, or select a department from the drop-down list.
541
7. If you want to save your batch purchase payments click Save, otherwise you can clear the
payments and start again by clicking Discard, or to return to the Bank Accounts window,
click Close.
542
Supplier Tasks
Supplier Reports
A series of supplier reports are provided to help you to keep track of the money your company
owes, including:
Aged Creditors Analysis

There are several variations of this report ranging from a summary reports to detailed reports.
You can use these reports to see how long you have held debts with your supplier and to decide
which supplier you need to pay first.
Supplier Invoices Within Settlement Terms

This report looks at the settlement due days and the early settlement discount percentage as
set on the Supplier Record's Credit Control tab. The report shows the date you must pay your
supplier by in order to qualify for the discount and also how much money can be saved by
paying early.
Recording a Suppliers Credit Note

Use Suppliers > Batch Credit to log any credit notes you have received from your suppliers.
Note: No printed document is produced. The amount of detail you enter per credit note is up
to you, but we recommend you enter every item of the credit note as a separate line. You can,
however, simply enter one line per credit note if you want.
For further information about batch supplier credits, press F1 from within the Batch Supplier Credits
Help window to launch the context-sensitive Help.
Viewing Supplier Transaction Activity

1. From the Suppliers window select the suppliers, whose activity you want to view and click
Activity.
Alternatively, you can open the Supplier Record and click the Activity tab to display the
supplier's transaction activity.
The Activity window appears showing the transactions associated with the first supplier
you selected.
transaction. For example, if you select an invoice that has been paid, the pane shows
543
both the individual items that make up the invoice and the associated purchase
payment details.
The total amount the selected supplier owes you is also shown, grouped by age, in
the boxes at the bottom of the window. For example, if you use ageing periods of 30,
60 and 90 days, the total debt to your supplier that is less than 30 days old appears
in the Current total box.
selection fields:
Show
Show drop-down list.
You can choose to filter the transactions by your ageing periods, such as 30, 60 and 90
days, or display only those transactions that fall within the current financial year.
Alternatively, you can set a date range, transaction number range or select a transaction
type to view by selecting the Custom Range option from the menu and entering your
selections in the Activity Range window that appears.
view the activity. This is true for all of the Show drop-down list options, although the values
you enter in the Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
range.
Type
For example, if you chose to view only purchase invoices by selecting PI - Purchase
Invoices on the Activity Range window, this field shows 'PI'. The Activity window now only
displays purchase invoice transactions within the specified date range.
O/S Only
paid or allocated.
544
Supplier Tasks
Trans
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
4. If you selected more than one supplier, use the Previous and Next buttons to move
between the selected supplier records.
5. To view another suppliers transactions, enter that suppliers reference in the A/C box or
use the drop-down selector to find the account.
Note: This only applies if you used the Activity option from the Suppliers toolbar to view
the Activity window, as described in step 1.
For further information, please refer to the Suppliers > Record> To View a Suppliers Transaction
Activity
Supplier Refunds
Use the Supplier Refund option to record money you have received from a supplier. Examples
of when you might use this option include refunds received, a cheque that has been returned,
or a returned deposit.
The Supplier Refund option generates a PR transaction, which you can allocate to purchase
credits (PC) or purchase payments on account (PA) using Suppliers > Make Payment, or in Bank
> Suppliers.
To Post a Supplier Refund

1. Open the Suppliers module, then from the Tasks pane, click Supplier Refund.
The Supplier Refund window appears.
545
2. Enter the details for your supplier refund in the boxes provided.
3. If you use departments to analyse your transactions and want to assign a department to
this transaction, click Dept. and select the department you want to use.
4. If you make a mistake and want to clear the details you have entered and start again, to
clear the window, click Discard.
5. To save the Supplier Refund details and post the transaction, click Save.
6. To close the Supplier Refund window and return to the Suppliers window, click Close.
For more information please refer to the Suppliers > Supplier Refunds > To Post a Supplier
Refund topic in the main software help file (F1).
Receive a Supplier Refund by Card

1. Open the Suppliers module, then from the Tasks pane, click Supplier Refund. Enter the
details for your supplier refund in the boxes provided.
2. From the Bank A/C Ref drop-down list, choose the relevant bank account.
3. To receive the Supplier Refund using card payment over the telephone, click Pay by Card.
The payment amount shown in the first window of the wizard is taken from the Amount
field in the Supplier Refund Window.
Note: The Pay by Card button will only be available if you have already set up a Sage
Payment Solutions Account.
The Sage Payment Solutions Wizard then guides you through the receipt of the Pay by
Card supplier refund.
546
Chapter 10
This chapter describes Sage 50 Accounts In this chapter:

advanced stock features.
A Note on Product Valuation in Sage 50
Read this chapter to find out about Accounts .........................................548
running a stock take, how to carry out
Recording a Stock Take ...................549
stock transfers, how to adjust your stock
also view the product activity. Adjusting Stock Levels by Recording an
Adjustment In or Out........................551
This chapter assumes that you have
already created your product records. For Stock Shortfall (Accounts Plus and
full details about how to set up records for Accounts Professional Only).............551
all the products and/or services you sell, Viewing Product Activity...................554
see Creating a Product Record on page
Bill of Materials (Accounts Plus and
201.
Recording Stock Returns (Accounts Plus
and Accounts Professional Only)......563
Allocating Stock (Accounts Plus and
Issuing Allocated Stock (Accounts Plus
A Note on Product Valuation in Sage 50 Accounts

For the purposes of the selling of stock, Sage 50 Accounts uses a First In First Out (FIFO)
method of product valuation.
For example:
12th January - buy 10 items at 15.00 each.
20th January - buy 20 items at 16.50 each.
29th January - sell 13 items.
When you value the stock using the FIFO method you have 17 items remaining at a cost
price of 16.50 each. The 10 items purchased on the 12th January have been sold along
with 3 of the items purchased on the 20th January.
Recording a Stock Take

You can use the Stock Take facility to make adjustments to your stock levels after you have
completed a stock take. All you need to do is enter the current stock levels for your products
and Sage 50 Accounts makes all of the necessary adjustments for you.
You can also save your stock take details to a file that you can open at a later date, to continue
with the stock take, or to view the adjustments that you previously made.
We recommend that you enter all of your stock take details before you process any transactions
that alter your stock levels. This is because your stock details may change between the date
that the last stock date was saved and the next time it is re-opened.
To run a stock take

1. Open the Products module.
2. Select the products that you are recording a stock take for.
Tip: If you are recording a stock take for all of your products, use the Swap button to select
all products.
3. From the Tasks pane, click Record Stock Take.
Alternatively, click Stk Take from the Products toolbar.
The Stock Take window appears.
549
Note: You can use the Print List button to print what is displayed. This is useful if you want
to manually tick off products on the list.
The Stock Take window displays the following information:
Product Code The product code of the selected item appears in this box.
Do not enter non stock or service items here, as these do not have
any stock levels.
Details The description of the product code you have selected appears
here automatically.
Date The program date appears here for you automatically, but can be
amended.
Ref The reference STK TAKE appears automatically for you. You can
change this to suit your own requirements if necessary.
Actual Enter the actual number of the selected product item you currently
have in stock here.
Note: If you post your stock levels with an actual value of zero,
Sage 50 Accounts assumes you have zero quantity in stock and
makes the necessary adjustments. It is therefore important to make
sure that you do not enter zero or leave the Actual box blank by
mistake, when you post your stock details.
Cost Price The cost price appears here automatically.
In stock The amount of the product item Sage 50 Accounts currently has
recorded as in stock, appears here.
Adjustment The adjustment figure is the difference between the In stock and the
Actual figure. If you currently have more items in stock than was
previously recorded in Sage 50 Accounts, this appears as a positive
value. If you have fewer items, the adjustment figure appears as a
negative value.
4. To post the new stock levels to your product records, click Save. If you do not want to
record your entries, click Discard.
If you have Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional, you can save your stock take
record without posting the amendments to the product records. To do this, click Memorise,
enter a filename, and click Save. To open the file, click Recall from the Stock Take window,
select the stock take file you require, and click Open.
550
Adjusting Stock Levels by Recording an Adjustment In or

Out
From the Products module, select Record Adjustment In to record product adjustments to
increase the available stock level for movements for which you have not raised either a purchase
order (if you have Accounts Professional) or a credit note.
For example, you may use Record Adjustment In to amend your In Stock quantities if items have
been returned into stock without a credit note being issued for them.
Use Record Adjustment Out to record adjustments to decrease your In Stock balance, for
movements for which you have not raised either a sales order, if you have Accounts
Professional, or a product invoice.
For example, you may use this facility to amend your In Stock quantity if items have been issued
from stock but without invoices being raised by you for them.
Type Adjustments In in the Help index to find out more about adding to your stock levels.
Help Type Adjustments Out in the Help index to find out more about reducing your stock levels.
Stock Shortfall
You can use the Stock Shortfall facility to see if your stock levels have fallen below the re-order
level that you have set.
Accounts Professional users only: If there is a shortfall on any of the items, you can
automatically create purchase orders for the items that are running low.
We recommend that you use the Shortfall facility in the following way:
1. Run the Shortfall facility for the required products.
2. From the Product Shortfall Generator window, print the information shown in the window
by clicking Print List.
3. Check with your suppliers to make sure that they can meet your delivery requirements -
that is, quantity, price and time. Make a note against each product code on the Product
Shortfall report of the supplier who will be providing the product and also make a note of
the price.
4. Accounts Professional users only: From within the Shortfall window, select the products
that you order from the same supplier and create an order, for each supplier in turn.
551
To use the stock shortfall facility

1. Select Products.
2. Select the products that you want to check on.
3. From the Tasks pane, click Check For Shortfall.
Note: If you want to check the stock levels for all of your products, use the Swap button
to select all products from the main Product window.
The Product ShortFall Generator window appears showing any of the selected products
that have a Free/On Order quantity that is less than or equal to the re-order level on the
Product record.
4. The following information appears:
Product Code This shows the product code as saved on the product record.
Description This shows the product description.

Note: If you have not entered a description for your product, this
column remains blank.
Supplier If the product has a default supplier associated with it on the

product record, the supplier code appears here.
552
BOM This column shows whether the product has a bill of materials
(i.e. is made up of sub-assemblies). If the product has a bill of
materials, a 'Yes' appears in this column.
You cannot use the Shortfall facility to create a purchase order
that breaks down the bill of materials into its individual
components. If the product has a bill of materials, you have two
choices:
You can use the Shortfall facility to generate an order for the
finished goods. This means that instead of purchasing the
individual items needed to make up the bill of materials, you will
purchase the completed items.
You can use the Check BOM facility to check to see if you have
enough stock to make up the required bill of materials items.
If you have got enough stock, you can use the Stock Transfer
facility to increase the stock levels of your product assembly.
Free/On Order This shows the free stock for the product. This is calculated as
the In Stock quantity plus On Order quantity less the Allocated
quantity.
Reorder Level This is the re-order level, taken from the Product Record.
ShortFall This shows the shortfall quantity of the item. This is the Re-order
level minus the Free/On-Order quantity.
Qty to Order This shows the quantity to be ordered for this product.
If you have set a re-order quantity for the product and this
quantity is higher than the shortfall, the re-order quantity appears
here. If the re-order quantity is less than the shortfall, the shortfall
quantity appears.
For example, if you have a shortfall of fifty bottles of lemonade,
but you have a re-order quantity of one hundred, the re-order
quantity appears in the Qty to Order column. If you have a
shortfall of fifty bottles of lemonade, but you have a re-order
quantity of twenty five, the Shortfall quantity appears in the Qty to
Order column.
5. If you want to print this information, click Print List. The Criteria window appears. Set your
required criteria and click OK to print.
553
6. Accounts Professional users only: If you want to create a purchase order, select the
products you want to include on the order, and click Create Order.
The Product Purchase Order window appears showing the products and quantities from
the Product Shortfall Generator window.
7. Accounts Professional users only: If the selected products have the same default
supplier, the supplier reference appears in the A/C Ref box. If they do not have the same
default supplier, the A/C Ref box will be left blank and you should enter the supplier you
want to use.
8. Accounts Professional users only: If you want to save your purchase order, click Save.
Note: If you have selected the Place Order Shortfalls on Order Automatically check box
from the Invoice and Order Defaults window, your orders will be placed on order.
You are returned to the Product ShortFall Generator window. The window now shows
recalculated shortfalls based on the products you have placed on order.
If you do not want to save the order, click Discard and the Product Purchase Order window
clears for you to enter your own purchase order details.
Note: You can also choose to Print or Complete the order while you are in the Product
Purchase Order window. Once you have printed or completed the purchase order, Sage
50 Accounts returns you to the Product ShortFall Generator.
9. To exit the Product ShortFall Generator, click Close.
Viewing Product Activity

You can view a detailed transaction history, or activity, for any product. Use the Activity option
on the Products window to view the individual transactions you have posted for your product
records. You can see adjustments, goods in and out and stock transfers, as well as the current
quantities in stock, on order and allocated.
Alternatively you can choose the Activity tab from the Product Record window to view your
product transactions.
You can open a transaction's associated invoice or order document from the Activity window,
provided that one exists in your software. For example, to view the invoice that is linked to a GO
(Goods Out) transaction, select the transaction and click the grey arrow symbol in the Ref.
column to display the original invoice on screen.
You can restrict the transactions displayed on the Activity window using various selection boxes
that appear at the top of the window. For example, you can display only those transactions
dated within a certain month, or specify a date range to view. The software remembers what
you select. The next time you view the Activity window the same filter is applied, except for the
date.
1. From the Products window, select the product(s) you want to view and click Activity.
Alternatively, open the Product Record and click the Activity tab.
554
The Product Activity window appears, showing the activity of the first product you
selected.
selection boxes:
Show
To filter the transactions by a specific calendar month, select the month you want to display
from the Show drop-down list.
Alternatively, you can set a date range, or select a transaction type to view by selecting the
Custom Range option from the drop-down list and entering your selections in the Activity
Range window that appears.
view the activity. This is true for all of the Show drop-down list options, although the values
you enter on the Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
range.
Type
For example, if you chose to view only adjustment in transactions by selecting
AI - Adjustments In on the Activity Range window, this field shows 'AI'. The Activity window
now only displays adjustment in transactions that are dated within the specified date
range.
You cannot change the transaction type shown in this box directly - to change the type of
4. If you selected more than one product, use the Previous and Next buttons to move
between the selected records.
5. To view another product's transactions, enter the product's reference in the Product Code
box or use the drop-down selector to find the record.
Note: This only applies if you used the Activity option from the Products toolbar to view the
Activity window, as described in step 1.
555
For more information, please refer to the Products > Activity > To View a Products Activity topic
in the main program help file (F1).
556
Bill of Materials
Whenever a product is made up of other products you hold in stock, it is said to have a Bill of
Materials or BOM. This is a list of the other products or components that are needed to make
up the product or product assembly.
For example, a toolkit is a product assembly which consists of the following components - a
tool box, a spanner set and a screwdriver.
Toolkit (Product Assembly)
Tool box (Component)
Spanner Set (Component)
Screwdriver (Component)
In this toolkit example, the spanner set could itself consist of two different spanners. It would be
called a sub-assembly of the main assembly.
Toolkit (Product Assembly)
Spanner Set (Sub-Assembly)
Spanner A (Component)
Spanner B (Component)
In Sage 50 Accounts each product assembly, sub-assembly and component should be set up
as a separate product record.
Before creating a Bill of Materials you should:
Create the individual component product records.
Plan the bill of materials on paper first, working from the lowest level of the assembly.
To set up a bill of materials for a product

2. From the Products window, select the product you want to set up a bill of materials for -
that is, for the product assembly, then click Record.
3. From the Product Record window, click the BOM tab.
The bill of materials information appears.
557
4. In the BOM table, enter the following bill of material details, one line per component. Sage
50 Accounts lets you enter a maximum of ten components per product assembly.
Product Code Enter a product code for the component.

Note: You must enter a different code to that of the assembly
code.
Assembly Level This shows how many levels of components and sub-assemblies
there are below this particular component.
Note: You cannot edit the displayed information.
Link Level This is the number of assemblies or sub-assemblies to which this

component belongs. Each product can be a component for more
than one assembly or sub-assembly. Sage 50 Accounts automat-
ically creates a link count for each component on the Bill of Mate-
rials, which shows the number of assemblies it belongs to.
Description This shows the description of the product component, as set up

on its product record.
558
Quantity Enter the quantity of this component required for this product
assembly.
The following information is shown on the bottom left of the window, but cannot be edited.
Note: This read only information relates to the product record and is different to the
column descriptions explained in the previous step that relate to the component.
Assembly Level This is the number of levels of components and sub-assemblies

below the product assembly.
For example, if a product assembly consists of two components
and one sub-assembly and that sub assembly itself consists of
three components, the level for the product assembly is two.
Link Level This is the number of assemblies or sub-assemblies to which this

product assembly belongs.
5. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data you entered and start again, click
Discard.
To calculate how many of these product assemblies you can currently make up, taking into
account the stock levels of each component, click Refresh on the BOM tab of the product
assembly record.
The number you can make up appears in the Available to Makeup box. If the product
assembly consists of many different components, the process of calculation may be slow
as Sage 50 Accounts has to search through each individual product record.
Checking a Bill of Materials

Use the Check BOM facility to see if you have enough stock available to make up a quantity of
an assembly you have set up on the BOM tab. If you do not have enough, the name of the
component and the number you require appears.
To check a component's availability

1. Select Products > Check BOM.
The Check Stock Makeup window appears.
559
2. From the Product drop-down list, select the code of the assembly you want to check the
availability of.
Note: If the selected product does not contain a sub-assembly, a message appears
informing you of this fact. Select a new product to check for that component's availability.
The description of this assembly appears in the description box. You cannot edit this.
3. In the Qty Req box, enter the number of assemblies you want to make and click Check.
If you do not have enough of a component to make up the required number of assemblies,
a message box appears confirming the quantities available. Click OK and the names of the
components and the number you are short of appear automatically.
Accounts Professional users only: From here, you can create a purchase order for the
products you are short of, or for any of the products shown in the Check Stock Makeup
window. Click the items you want to order and click Create Order. The Product Purchase
Order window appears, showing your chosen products. From here, the steps are the same
as creating a purchase order. For more information on this, see Creating a new purchase
order on page 503.
If you have enough to make up the required quantity, a message box appears to tell you
that you have enough components in stock. To return to the Check Stock Makeup window,
click OK.
4. If you want to print out the component availability report, click Print and click OK.
5. To exit from the Check Stock Makeup window, click Close.
560
Recording a stock transfer

Use the Transfer facility when you want to increase the In Stock quantity of product assemblies
using components which are currently in stock. The product assemblies are set up using the
BOM facility.
When you use the Product Transfers facility, Sage 50 Accounts automatically calculates the cost
price of each product assembly for you, by adding the cost price for each of the components.
To make a stock transfer

2. From the Products window, select the products that you are entering transfers for.
3. Click Transfer.
The Stock Transfers window appears.
561
4. In the boxes provided, enter the following details for each transfer, one line per transfer:
Product Code Enter the code for the product assembly - that is, the finished
product item. You can only enter a code for a product which you
have already set up to be a product assembly using the BOM
facility.
Details The name of the product code appears here automatically, but you
can change it if necessary.
Date Today's date appears here automatically, but you can change this if
required.
Ref. Enter a reference for the transfer here.
Quantity Enter the quantity of the finished product to be added to the In

stock balance.
The following values appear but cannot be edited:
In stock This value shows the current In stock quantity of this product.
On order If you have placed a purchase order on order for this product,
(Accounts the quantity ordered appears here.
Professional only)
Allocated This shows the quantity of the stock which is currently

(Accounts Plus and allocated to projects, or manually allocated for general use.
Accounts
Professional only)
5. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data you entered and start again, click
Discard.
Sage 50 Accounts informs you if you do not have sufficient stock to make your transfer
and advises you to run Check BOM. To clear the message, click OK.
6. To exit and return to the Products window, click Close.
562
Recording Stock Returns

Use the Stock Returns facility to record damaged or faulty goods that have been returned to
you, or that you are returning to your supplier.
There are three stock transaction types:
(DI) Damages In - These represent goods being returned to you as damaged or faulty. Because
the goods are faulty or damaged, the Quantity in Stock, Sales Value or Sales Quantity Figures
are not updated when you post stock returns.
(DO) Damages Out - These represent goods that you are returning to your supplier for repair,
replacement etc. Because the goods are being returned for repair or replacement, the Quantity
in Stock, Sales Value or Sales Quantity figures are not updated when you post stock returns.
(WO) Write Off - This transaction type can be used for transactions being written off. This type
of transaction makes an adjustment to the stock levels. This is the equivalent of an adjustment
out.
Note: If you have selected a product code to be a non-stock or service item, you cannot use
the Stock Returns facility for these items.
To record a stock return

1. Select Products.
2. From the Products window, select the products that you are recording a stock return for.
3. Click Returns.
The Stock Returns window appears.
563
Code From the drop-down list, select the product code of the item that
is being returned.
Description The description of the product appears here. This is the

description that appears on the product record. You cannot
change this description.
Type From this drop-down list, select the type of return you are making.
There are three stock transaction types:
(DI) Damages In
(DO) Damages Out
(WO) Write Off
Ref Enter a reference for this stock return.
Date The program date appears here for you automatically. You can
Reason Enter a description of the reason why the goods have been
returned. For example, you could enter Scratched or Product
Recall.
Quantity Enter the quantity of goods that have been returned here.
564
5. To post the stock returns, click Save. If you do not want to record your entries, click
Discard.
If you have Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional, you can save your stock returns record
without posting the amendments. To do this, click Memorise, enter a filename and click Save.
You can then post the amendments the next time you open the file. To open this file, from the
Stock Returns window, click Recall, select the file, and click Open.
565
Allocating Stock
You can choose to manually allocate stock items. You cannot allocate non-stock or service
items for general use or project use.
Stock can also be allocated to a project by means of a purchase order. Both manual and
purchase order stock allocations affect the committed costs applied to the project. For more
information about purchase orders, see Working with Purchase Orders (Accounts Professional
only) on page 595.
Manufacturing users can also allocate stock to a works order.
When recording a stock allocation the amount of stock available is displayed as Free Stock.
The amount you allocate cannot exceed the free stock quantity, unless you have Sage 50
Accounts set to allow negative stock. As allocated stock items are excluded from free stock,
they cannot be used by other processes, such as sales order allocation.
Manual and purchase order stock allocations are maintained on a stock allocation list. This list
does not include sales order allocations. You can use the list to view current stock allocations
and make changes. There are a few points to consider:
You can only amend the quantity of an allocation - you cannot amend any other details.
A manual allocation quantity can be increased provided that the new quantity does not
exceed the amount of free stock, unless you have Sage 50 Accounts set to allow negative
stock. However, an allocation resulting from a purchase order cannot be increased.
An allocation can be removed or its quantity reduced. This results in an increase in free
stock. If the allocation is associated with a project, the committed costs for the project are
reduced accordingly.
Normally, stock allocations are settled when they are issued. See Issuing Allocated Stock
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only) on page 570.
566
To allocate stock
1. Open the Products module, then from the Tasks pane, click Make Allocations.
The Allocations window appears.
2. Select Allocate stock and click OK.

3. The Stock Allocation window appears.
567
4. Enter the stock allocation details:
Product Code Enter the product you want to allocate. You can use the
drop-down list to search for and select a product record.
Note: You cannot allocate non-stock or service items.
Details The products description appears here automatically. You can

change this if you require.
Date The current program date appears here automatically, but you
can change this if necessary.
Ref. Enter a reference you want to apply to the stock allocation

here.
Project Ref To allocate the stock to a project, enter the project reference
here. You can use the drop-down list to search for and select
a project record.
Cost Code If you are allocating the stock to a project, enter the cost code
you want the value of the stock applied to when it is issued.
You can use the drop-down list to search for and select a cost
code.
Qty To Allocate Enter the quantity of stock you want to allocate. Unless you
have Sage 50 Accounts set to allow negative stock, the
quantity to allocate cannot exceed the free stock amount.
Free Stock This shows the amount of stock available for allocation and is
calculated as actual stock minus allocated stock. This
read-only column is for information purposes only.
On Order This shows the quantity of stock you are waiting to receive
from outstanding purchase orders. This read-only information
is for information purposes only.
5. To print a copy of the stock information you have entered, click Print List.
6. To save the stock allocation click Save. If you want to clear the allocation and start again
click Discard, or to exit without saving the stock allocation click Close.
568
To view, amend or remove a stock allocation

1. Select Products > Make Allocations.
2. Select View/Amend Allocations, then click OK.
The Amend Allocations window appears showing all stock allocations.
3. To filter the displayed allocations use the Product Code and Project Reference drop-down
lists at the top of the window.
4. To change an allocation quantity, enter the revised quantity in the Quantity Allocated
column.
For a manual allocation the quantity cannot exceed Free Stock unless Sage 50 Accounts
is set to allow negative stock. For a purchase order allocation, the quantity cannot be
increased.
Note: You can only change the quantity of a stock allocation. If any of the details are
incorrect, such as a wrong project reference or cost code, remove the allocation by
entering a quantity of zero, then create a new stock allocation with the correct details.
5. To remove a stock allocation, enter zero in the quantity allocated column.
6. To generate a copy of the stock allocation information you have entered, click Print List.
7. To save the stock allocation click Save. If you want to clear the allocation and start again
click Discard, or to exit without saving the stock allocation, click Close.
569
Issuing Allocated Stock

Whether the stock has been allocated manually or through a purchase order, to conclude the
stock allocation it must be issued.
Issuing stock updates your stock records and stock allocation records. When issuing an
allocation associated with a project, the value of the issued stock is applied as a cost to the
project; this is an actual cost. The committed costs for the project are reduced accordingly.
Note: The First In First Out (FIFO) method is used to calculate the value of stock issued. This
means the cost price of the oldest stock is used to calculate the cost of stock. Stock valuations
and stock activity are also use the FIFO costing method.
A stock allocation can be issued in full or part. For any stock that is issued Sage 50 Accounts
generates an Adjustment Out. This type of transaction is displayed as an 'AO' on the project
record, product record and their related audit trails.
There are some rules you need to follow when issuing allocated stock:
You can only issue stock to a project provided the status of the project permits postings.
For more information see Using project statuses on page 577.
You cannot change the details of a stock allocation, such as the project reference or cost
codes, during a stock issue.
A stock issue cannot exceed the allocation amount, regardless of the negative stock
setting.
To issue allocated stock to a project

1. Select Products > Make Allocations.
2. Select Issue Allocations, and click OK.
The Issue Allocation window appears showing all stock allocations.
570
3. To filter the displayed allocations use the Product Code and Project Reference drop-down
lists at the top of the window.
4. Record the issue date. The current program date is displayed automatically, but you can
change this if necessary.
5. Enter the amount you want to release for a stock item in its Quantity to Issue column.
Alternatively, to issue all stock allocations, click Issue All.
6. To generate a copy of the stock allocation information you have entered, click Print List.
7. To issue the stock, click Save. If you want to clear the information and start again click
Discard, or to exit without saving the stock issue, click Close.
571
572
Chapter 11
Project Tasks
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional
Only)
Sage 50 Accounts Project Costing In this chapter:

provides the features you need to maintain
An Introduction to Project Costing ...574
accurate details about projects and helps
you to track and evaluate costs. Who Can Use Project Costing? .......574
Understanding the costs and their The Life Cycle of a Project ...............575
breakdown helps you to manage projects
The Project Life Cycle in Sage 50
more efficiently and make them more
Accounts .........................................575
cost-effective.
Setting Up Project Costing...............577
In this chapter you will learn how to use
Project Costing to create and manage Starting Up a Project........................581
projects and their associated costs, and Applying Project Costs.....................588
how to bill customers for work carried out.
Viewing Project Activity ....................592
You can also find out how to view project
activity and analyse your cost information. Working with Purchase Orders
(Accounts Professional only) ............595
Project Enquiries, Analysis and
Reporting.........................................597
Billing Your Customer for a Project...601
Completing Your Project ..................606
An Introduction to Project Costing

The overall objectives of a project costing process are to manage your projects, and to
give you total control and a thorough understanding of your project costs. With a good
understanding and better control of your costs, you can potentially reduce costs and so
increase your revenue and profit and improve the productivity of your business.
Using Project Costing, you can enter and monitor all of the costs associated with each
project. This means you know exactly how much it costs your business to complete a
project, and how much to charge your customer to ensure that your business makes a
profit. You can also avoid costly overruns by tracking expenditure.
Ultimately, Project Costing helps you to manage your projects more efficiently, to estimate
for future projects more accurately and to determine your most profitable types of project.
Who Can Use Project Costing?

During the 1930s large companies in the USA developed job costing as a business
practice. It did not become widely used by British companies until the 1950s. Nowadays,
it is a fundamental part of any successful business.
Whether you are a sole trader or a large organisation, a good costing process gives you
the ability to focus on your profitability by enabling you to monitor and evaluate your
business costs.
All types of businesses use project costing, from tradesmen such as plumbers and
electricians operating their own businesses, to larger companies engaged in construction
or manufacturing. You do not have to be a large business to use a project costing system
- you just have to be a business that wants to increase profitability by developing a true
understanding of your business costs.
You can also use project costing to track non-profitable or in-house projects.
Project Tasks (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
The Life Cycle of a Project

In the real business world, the project costing cycle begins when you receive an enquiry
regarding a job or project.
If you do not know the cost or sales value of the project, you need to estimate it. You can then
produce an estimate for the project by calculating, for example, the value of materials, labour,
machine time and other expenses required to complete the project.
When you have decided upon an estimate, you can send a quotation to your customer. If the
customer accepts the quotation, they place an order and you can begin work on the project.
As the job starts, your business incurs costs in the form of purchase invoices, payments and
stock issues.
You may then begin to bill your customer as you carry out work on the project, or when the
project is complete.
As the project progresses or when it is complete, you might need to analyse your costs to date,
compare the amount you budgeted for the project against your actual costs or respond to a
customer enquiry.
When you finish work on the project, it reaches the end of the life cycle.
The next section explains how Sage 50 Accounts Project Costing handles each stage of this life
cycle.
The Project Life Cycle in Sage 50 Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts Project Costing begins at the point in the project cycle where your customer
has accepted the quotation or estimate you gave them, and placed an order for the project or
confirmed that they want to go ahead with it. The following diagram shows how Sage 50
Accounts Project Costing follows the life cycle of the project.
Some activities in the life cycle may be irrelevant to the way you work. If this is the case, simply
skip that section in the cycle.
575
Project Life Cycle Project Costing Task
When your customer accepts your quotation and places

an order, or you start a new internal project, create a
Start Up Project Project Record. See To create a project record on page
208.
Record the costs that the project incurs:

To record timesheets information for work carried
out, or to make an adjustment, create a Project
Charge. See To record a project only cost on page
Apply Costs 588.
To record stock usage, post a Stock Issue or Stock
Return. See To record a stock issue or return to a
project on page 590.
To record goods/services that have been paid for
and affect your supplier or bank accounts, make a
Cost Posting. See Recording the cost of goods
purchased from a supplier on page 591.
To record goods/services ordered for the project,
create a Purchase Order. See Processing Purchase
Orders (Accounts Professional Only) on page 502.
As the project progresses and you want to analyse cost

Enquiries & Analysis and revenue information or require a progress update,
view the project's Activity or print a Report.
See, Project Enquiries, Analysis and Reporting on page
597.
You need to send an invoice to your customer for part or

Bill Project all of the project. View the project's Billing analysis
information and raise an Invoice. See Billing Your
Customer for a Project on page 601.
When you finish the project, mark the project record as

Complete.
Project Completion
For more information, see To mark a project as completed
on page 606.
576
Setting Up Project Costing

When you first install Sage 50 Accounts, Project Costing is enabled. The elements needed to
build and work with projects are made available and screens display the boxes and icons
specifically for project costing.
If you cannot see the icons and boxes in the windows that appear, then it is likely that your
Project Costing has been switched off. You must switch it back on to use Project Costing.
Project Costing is enabled within Company Preferences on the Parameters tab. For more
information see Entering Your Company Preferences on page 109.
Project Costing offers a number of support features that will be beneficial when setting up and
running projects.
Project status: Used to track progress. The project status also sets rules to control whether
the project at a given status can accept charges or whether it can be deleted.
Cost types and code: Used to track project costs including spend against budget.
Project custom fields: The labels that appear on a project record against a set of three
analysis fields that can be used to categorise projects. For example, you could categorise
a project by its manager, type or geographical area, then generate reports for these
categories. To set up custom fields see To set up or amend a project status, cost type,
cost code or custom field on page 106.
Resources: Used to apply costs to a project, primarily used to record labour costs.
Using project statuses

The project status helps track progress. By default, Sage 50 Accounts offers a set of five project
statuses, which are detailed in the following table:
Status Code Definition Make Postings? Delete Record?
ACTIVE Active Yes No
SNAG Completed, open Yes No
COMPLETED Completed, closed No Yes
SUSPEND Suspended No No
INITIAL Pre-acceptance Yes No
You can amend or add to these project statuses to suit your business. For each status, you can
enter a short code and description and specify whether the status allows you to make cost
postings to the project and whether you can delete the project record.
577
When you create a new project record, Sage 50 Accounts automatically assigns the status that
is set as the default in the Configuration Editor. When you first use Project Costing, the default
status is ACTIVE, but you can change this if you require.
To find out how to create and amend a project status, see To set up or amend a project status,
cost type, cost code or custom field on page 106.
As a project advances, you can change its status to reflect the project's stage in the life cycle.
For example, when a project is in progress, you need to make cost and billing postings to it,
but don't want to delete it. At this stage, the status should be ACTIVE, or a similar status that
allows postings and prevents deletion. When the project is complete, however, you don't need
to make any further postings to it but may want to delete the record, so you can change the
status to COMPLETE. For details about how to change a record's status, see To change a
project's status on page 587.
Using cost types and codes to monitor project costs

A cost type categorises and labels an activity or resource, such as labour or materials. A cost
code breaks down the costs of the activity further, for example plumbing or bricklaying.
On its own a cost type is worthless. For it to be of use it must be linked to a cost code. A cost
type can be linked to many cost codes, however a cost code can only link to the one cost type.
For example the cost type Labour can be linked to cost codes for bricklaying, plumbing and
plastering.
When Sage 50 Accounts is first installed it creates the cost type Other. It also creates four cost
codes: LAB (Labour Charges), MAT (Material Charges), OHD (Overheads) and MIX (Mixed). The
'Other' cost type is automatically linked to these cost codes. If you are an existing user the
'Other' cost type is automatically linked to the cost codes you have set up.
Sage 50 Accounts applies every cost code and associated cost type to a project record as it
is created. Budgets can then be set up for the project against each cost code. For more
information about using project records, see Starting Up a Project on page 581.
When costs are applied to the project it is the cost code that is recorded for the charge, not
the cost type. As the project progresses you can analyse the costs applied to the project for
each cost type - project activity. See Project Enquiries, Analysis and Reporting on page 597.
The level of detail you use for your cost types and codes is entirely up to you, and depends on
the degree of cost analysis you want to achieve.
To find out how to create and amend cost types and codes, see To set up or amend a project
status, cost type, cost code or custom field on page 106.
578
Resources
Carrying out work on a project requires people, such as your company's staff or outside
contractors, the use of materials, machines and other means to complete the project or job.
Each of these components, including the people, contributes to the progress of the project and
incurs costs.
Project Costing uses the term resources to denote any entity whose costs can be allocated to
a project. When you apply a project charge - see page 588, you can specify what resources the
project uses. For example, you may primarily apply a project charge to record timesheets
information for labour costs incurred. In this case, the resource is the contractor or member of
staff who carried out the work.
Before you can use a resource to apply a project charge, you must set up your resources list.
You can create as many resources as you require. Each resource must have a unique reference.
Other details include a name, unit of measure, cost rate, and cost code, all of which are optional.
When you record a project charge you can then select the resource you want to use. The
resource information is used to calculate a total cost for the charge but this can be overridden
as you record the charge.
To create or amend a resource

1. Open the Projects module, then from the Tasks pane, click Manage Resources.
The Resources window appears.
2. To add a new resource to the list, click Add. The Add Resource window appears.
Alternatively, to amend an existing resource, select the resource in the list and click Edit.
The Edit Resource window appears.
3. If you are adding a new resource, enter a unique reference and a name to describe it.
If you are amending an existing resource, you can change its name but not its reference.
4. Enter or amend the Unit of measure for the resource (optional).
5. Enter or amend the Cost Rate for the resource (optional).
6. Use the drop-down list to select the cost code you want the resource charge applied to
(optional).
7. To save your changes, click OK. To discard your changes and exit without saving, click
Cancel.
8. To close the Resources window, click Close.
You have successfully created or amended a resource.
579
To delete a resource
1. Select Projects > Manage Resources.
The Resources window appears.
2. From the list of resources, select the resource you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. To confirm the deletion, click Yes. Sage 50 Accounts deletes the resource.
Alternatively, to cancel the deletion, click No.
5. To close the Resources window, click Close.
You have successfully deleted a resource.
580
Starting Up a Project
To manage a project in Sage 50 Accounts you start by creating a project record (see Setting Up
Project Records (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only) on page 207). The project
record is used to set the price quoted for the job and the budget that has been assigned to it.
Project costs are then applied to the project record as the project progresses.
Projects can link to customer records. When there is a link, the Project tab on the customers
record displays the details of associated projects.
A project can consist of a single project record with costs managed at one level. Alternatively a
project can consist of several project records that can be managed at multiple levels. In this
case each level can represent a phase or activity within the overall project. By splitting the
project down, you can manage the costs associated with each phase or activity against the
allocated budget as well as manage costs for the project as a whole.
To create a multi-level project you need to link project records together to form a project
structure. An example of a project structure is illustrated in To build and maintain a multi-level
project on page 584.
There are some rules to consider when managing a multi-level project:
All project records in the structure must be linked to the same customer, or not have a
customer assigned to any.
A customer linked to the project can be changed on the project record at the top of the
project structure.
A project record can only be associated with one project structure, that is one overall
project.
A project record can be placed at any level within the structure.
There is a maximum of ten levels within a project structure.
A project record can be moved to a different level within the structure. Any associated
sub-project records are also moved.
A project record may be moved to another project structure. Any costs are moved from
the original project to the new project structure.
Project costs are applied to the relevant project record (level).
If you change the status of a project record you have the option to apply the same status
its sub-projects.
A project record can be deleted from a structure, provided the status of the record and of
its sub-project records allows deletion. Any associated sub-project records are also
deleted.
The following sections explain how to use the project records to view information, manage
budgets and multi-level projects.
581
To view a project's activity

Projects view.
2. Select the project you require and click Record.
3. From the Project Record window, click the Activity tab.
Alternatively, from the Projects window, select the project, whose activity you want to view
and click Activity.
4. Enter the transaction range or date range you want to view the transaction activity for in
the Activity Date Range window, and click OK.
The transaction information for the first project you selected appears.
582
The Activity window displays the transactions you have posted against this project. You
can see the following transaction types, one line per transaction:
CC Costing Credit These transactions display Project Only Cost postings.

CD Costing Debit
AI Adjustment In Your project activity displays these types of transaction when

AO Adjustment Out you post Stock Postings to the project.
PI Purchase Invoice When you make a Cost Posting to the project, these appear
PC Purchase Credit on the activity as PI, PC or BP transaction types.
BP Bank Payment
SI Sales Invoice These transaction types represent Billing transactions

SC Sales Credit created when you enter and update an invoice or credit note
for the project.
Stock allocations are not displayed as a project activity. For information about stock
allocations, see Chapter 10, Allocating Stock (Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional
Only).
5. To see the costs for a multi-level project select the Include Rolled Up Transactions check
box.
The costs for any sub-projects are displayed indicating the project record they have been
applied to.
6. To select another range of transactions to view, click the Range button and enter the new
details in the Activity Date Range window.
7. If you selected more than one project record before opening the Activity, you can move
between the activity information for each of the project records using the Previous and Next
buttons.
8. To print the transaction information, click Print List.
9. To exit the Project Record or Activity window, click Close.
You have now viewed your project's Activity details.
583
To assign a project budget

Projects view.
2. Select the project(s) you require and click Record.
3. Click the Budgets tab.
The budget information displays all cost codes set up in Sage 50 Accounts.
4. Select the Budget column for each cost code and enter the budget value.
You have successfully applied budgets to your project record.
To build and maintain a multi-level project

Projects view.
2. Select the project record you require and click Record.
584
3. Click the Structure tab.

The project record and any sub-projects are displayed. Note: Project records at a higher
level in the structure are not shown.
4. Use the following to establish the project structure:
Add Existing Adds an existing project record to the project structure.

All projects that are not part of the open structure are
displayed. Select the project record you want to add then
click OK.
Messages are displayed if you select a project record that is
part of another project structure or linked to a different
customer.
Note: Use the View Type drop-down list to choose how
projects are displayed. You can select a structure view that
shows the projects by name or by reference, or a simple list
view. Sage 50 Accounts remembers the view type you
choose and continues to display projects in this view until you
change it.
585
Add New Quickly builds project records and adds them to the structure.
Click New, then enter a unique project reference and a
description, and click OK.
The new project record is added as a sub-project to the
source project record. The status, start and end dates are
copied from the source record. The project record is
associated to the a customer's record, if an association was
present in the project record.
Arrows (graphic) Change the position of a project record within the structure.
Select the project record and then click the arrow to move the
record within the structure.
Note: There are a maximum of ten levels to a project
structure.
View Type The structure view can be displayed leading with the project
name or alternatively the project reference.
Use the drop-down list to select the view you prefer.
Expand All Displays all sub-project records associated with the structure.
Collapse All Rolls up all project records so that sub-projects are no longer
visible.
Remove Removes a project record, its costs and sub-projects from the
structure. The project records are only removed from the
structure, they are not deleted from Sage 50 Accounts.
Analysis for Displays a summary of the costs for the project record.
To see the effect of costs from sub-projects select the Rolled
up totals check box.
Note: You can resize the columns displayed in the grid. You can also choose to display or
hide the Start Date and End Date columns. To do this, select the column heading and
right-click, then choose the settings you want to use from the displayed menu.
5. To save the information click Save, or to clear any data and start again click Discard.
You have successfully established a multi-level project structure.
586
To add memo information to a project record

Projects view.
2. Select the project(s) you require and click Record.
3. Click the Memo tab.
The memo information appears, displaying the Attachments and Memo panes.
4. In the upper Attachments pane, use the Document Manager functionality to add, view or
delete shortcuts to electronic documents, or enter filing system references. For more
information, see Working with Attachments using Document Manager on page 650.
5. Enter or edit text in the memo pad as you require. The text automatically wraps around
onto the next line as you type.
You have successfully entered memo information onto your project record.
To change a project's status

Note: If the project record is part of a multi-level project and you change its status, you have
the option to apply the same status to any sub-projects linked to the project record.
1. Select the Projects module then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Projects view.
2. Select the project(s) you want to amend and click Record.
3. From the Status drop-down list, select the status you require.
4. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data and start again, click Discard.
You have successfully changed the project's status.
587
Applying Project Costs

Projects can incur a variety of costs by drawing on physical items such as materials or
non-physical items such as labour.
There are a number of ways to apply costs to a project. You can record:
A project charge to cover labour costs, or make adjustments to the costs of a project. See
Recording project charges on page 588.
A stock issue to account for the goods you have taken out of stock for use on the project.
See Recording the cost of a stock issue on page 590.
You can also set aside stock for a project. See Allocating Stock (Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional Only) on page 566.
A supplier invoice to account for goods you have bought for the project, which you do not
hold in stock. See Recording the cost of goods purchased from a supplier on page 591.
A purchase order to link the goods or services required to the project. This automates the
allocation of stock and application of costs from the order to the project. See Working with
Purchase Orders (Accounts Professional only) on page 595.
Note: To be able to apply costs to a project, the project must be set up with a status that allows
postings. For more information see To set up or amend a project status, cost type, cost code
or custom field on page 106.
Recording project charges

Project charges can be used to record a number of costs.
Labour costs, using the number of hours' work and the hourly rate shown on timesheets
submitted by a contractor.
Costs that do not affect your accounts or stock, such as costs involving non-stock or
service items.
Adjustments or corrections to other costs for the project.
Project charges appear on the project activity as CD transactions, and do not update your
financial audit trail or stock history.
If you need to reverse a project charge, for example if you post an invoice to the wrong project
but do not need to reverse the invoice to correct your accounts, use the New Credits facility.
These reversals appear as CC transactions on the project activity, and do not affect your audit
trail or stock.
To record a project only cost

Note: These instructions explain how to post a cost to your project. If you want to post a credit
transaction, replace New Charges with New Credits.
588
Projects view.
2. Select the project(s) you want to post a project only cost for.
3. Select New Charges.
The Project Charges window appears, displaying the reference of the project(s) you
selected.
4. Enter the details of the cost in the boxes provided, one line per cost.
Notes: You must enter a Cost Code for the cost. If you do not enter a Cost Code, Sage
50 Accounts displays an error message when you try to save the cost.
When you select a Resource for the cost, Sage 50 Accounts automatically fills in the default
Rate as it is set up in the Resources List. When you then enter a Quantity, Sage 50
Accounts calculates the cost and displays it in the Total Cost column. You can change the
Cost Code and default Rate for the resource, if you require.
5. To save your entries click Save, or to clear the data without saving click Discard.
6. To return to the Projects window, click Close.
589
Recording the cost of a stock issue

Stock postings enable you to record stock issued to your projects, or to put returned or unused
products from a project back into stock. These postings display on the project's activity as an
AI or AO transaction type.
Note: If you use the Clear Stock option as part of your Month End or Year End routine, Sage 50
Accounts removes transactions from the Product Activity, up to and including the date you
specify. However, if stock transactions link to a project that is still active, Clear Stock does not
remove these transactions from your data completely. Instead, the details of these transactions
remain on your project's activity so that the history for that project is complete.
When using stock for a project, you should remember that Sage 50 Accounts uses the FIFO
(first in, first out) method of stock control. When you issue stock to a project, Sage 50 Accounts
uses the oldest stock first. This means that if you purchase stock specifically for a project, for
example at a special price, Sage 50 Accounts will only use this stock if it is the oldest for that
product, otherwise it will use whatever stock already existed on the product record. If you want
to use the stock purchased especially for the project, you must record a project charge to adjust
the difference between the standard stock price and the project's stock price.
Remember! In Project Costing, stock issues are a COST to your project. This differs to
transactions that issue stock in other areas of Sage 50 Accounts, such as Invoicing, which result
in income for your company.
To record a stock issue or return to a project

1. Select Products.
2. From the Products window, select the products you want to enter adjustments for.
Note: You can only post stock issues or returns for products that are set up as Stock items.
For Non-Stock and Service items, you should post a project charge. For more information,
see Recording project charges on page 588.
3. If you want to post a stock issue, click Record Adjustment Out. If you want to post a stock
return, click Record Adjustment In.
The Stock Adjustments Out or Stock Adjustments In window appears.
4. In the boxes provided, enter the adjustment details, one line per adjustment.
Note: To ensure that the adjustment shows as a stock issue or return on the project
activity, you must enter the reference of the project record in the Project Ref column. In
addition, the project that you select must be set up with a status that allows postings.
5. To print a record of these product adjustments, click Print List.
6. To save your entries, click Save. To clear any data you entered and start again, click
Discard.
7. To exit and return to the Products window, click Close.
590
Recording the cost of goods purchased from a supplier

Cost postings allow you to post transactions that affect both your project activity and your
accounts. For example, if you purchase stock for a project and your supplier invoices you for
the goods, you need to post a purchase invoice that shows both on the supplier activity and on
the project record.
You can post purchase invoices, purchase credits and bank payments to a project. Cost
postings show on the project's activity as a PI, PC or BP transaction type.
Note: You cannot make a Cost Posting for a specific quantity, as there is no Quantity column
available on the Supplier Invoice, Supplier Credit or Bank Payment window. This means that if
you post a purchase invoice or credit or a bank payment using a project reference to link the
transaction to a particular project, the transaction does not display a quantity on the project's
activity. If you need a transaction involving a quantity to affect both your project and your
accounts, you should post your purchase invoice or credit, or your bank payment, without a
project reference. You then need to create a Project Only Cost to post the cost to the project,
including the quantity.
To apply a supplier invoice or credit the project

1. Select Suppliers and then use the view selector to switch to the Supplier List view.
2. From the Suppliers window, select the supplier account(s) that you want to record the
invoice or credit against.
3. Click Invoice or Credit.
The Batch Supplier Invoices or Batch Supplier Credits window appears.
4. For each invoice or credit, enter the details one line at a time.
5. To allocate the invoice or credit to a project as a cost posting, enter the project's reference
in the Project Ref column.
6. Enter a valid cost code for the invoice or credit in the Cost Code column.
7. To accept your entries click Save. The details are posted instantly to update the Nominal
Ledger, the relevant supplier's details and the project you specify.
If you do not want to save this batch, then click Discard to clear the data and start again.
8. To exit the Batch Supplier Invoices or Batch Supplier Credits window and return to the
Suppliers window, click Close.
For full details about the data you can enter on the Batch Supplier Invoices or Batch Supplier
Credits window, see Entering an Invoice from a Supplier on page 533 or Recording a Suppliers
Credit Note on page 543.
591
To apply a bank payment to a project

2. Enter the details for each payment, one line at a time.
3. To allocate the bank payment against a project as a cost posting, enter the project's
reference in the Project Ref column.
4. Enter a valid cost code for the payment into the Cost Code column.
5. To accept your entries, click Save. Sage 50 Accounts posts the details to update the
nominal ledger, the bank account and the project you specify.
If you do not want to save this batch, click Discard to clear the data and start again.
6. To exit the Bank Payments window, click Close.
For full details about the data you can enter on the Bank Payments window, see Recording a
Bank, Cash or Credit Card Payment on page 331.
Viewing Project Activity

You can view a detailed transaction history, or activity, for any project.
Note: Stock allocations are not displayed as part of the project activity.
1. From the Project Record window, click the Activity tab.
Alternatively, from the Projects window, select the projects, whose activity you want to
view, then click Activity.
The transaction information for the first project you selected appears, displaying the
transactions you have posted against this project.
2. To see the costs for a multi-level project, choose the Include Rolled Up Transactions check
box.
The costs for any sub-projects are displayed indicating the project record, to which they
have been applied.
selection fields:
Show
To filter the transactions by a specific calendar month, select the month you want to display
from the Show drop-down list.
Alternatively, you can specify a date range, transaction number range or transaction type
to display by selecting Custom Range from this list and completing the relevant fields on
the Activity Range window that appears.
592
view the activity.
This is true for all of the Show drop-down list options, although any values you enter on the
Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
range.
Type
For example, if you chose to view only adjustment in transactions by selecting
AI - Adjustments In on the Activity Range window, this box shows 'AI'.
The Activity window now only displays adjustment in transactions that are dated within the
specified date range.
O/S Only
paid or allocated.
Trans.
numbers from your project audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your
project audit trail, this field shows 1 to 2169.
593
4. If you selected more than one project record before opening the Activity, you can move
between the activity information for each of the project records using the Previous and Next
buttons.
5. To print the transaction information, click Print List.
6. To exit the Project Record or Activity window, click Close.
For more information, please refer to the Projects > Activity > To View a Projects Activity topic
in the main software help file (F1).
594
Working with Purchase Orders

Purchase Order Processing integrates with Project Costing to link orders with projects. On
completion of each stage of the purchase order life cycle, updates are automatically made.
Create Order
Committed costs
applied to project
= On-Order
Goods Received
non-stock or
stock item
service item
Stock Allocation
(automated)
Actual costs Actual costs
=
applied to project
=
applied to project Stock Issued
Committed costs (allocation record Invoice Committed costs
for the project reduced) for the project
reduced reduced
Order Complete
Stock allocation: The ordered goods (stock items) are set aside for the project, when they
are recorded as received. The free stock quantity for stock items excludes the allocated
stock. This improves stock control and reduces the potential of stock shortages. Stock
allocated to a project can be viewed. See Allocating Stock (Accounts Plus and Accounts
Professional Only) on page 566. Goods received is not performed for orders requiring
non-stock or service items.
Committed costs: The value of the ordered goods or service being applied to the project
when the order is placed on-order. Committed costs are generated for all item types -
stock, non-stock, service item, and refers to the value of goods or services that have been
requested but not yet charged to the project. Generating and tracking committed costs
gives an accurate evaluation of all costs when comparing project spend to budget.
595
Actual Costs: The value of the goods or service being applied to the project. This is where
the committed costs are converted to actual costs. This occurs at different at times for the
various types of stock - that is, stock item, non-stock, service item.
Stock items: The committed costs are converted and applied as an actual cost to the
project when the allocated stock is issued.
Non-stock and service items: The committed costs are converted and applied to the
project when the invoice for the order is generated.
The value of both committed and actual costs of a project can be viewed. For more
information, see To view project costs and compare to budget on page 598.
596
Project Enquiries, Analysis and Reporting

Project Costing has several features that help you to track projects, analyse costs and revenue,
and respond to customer enquiries about the progress of a project. You can:
View individual project costs - transactions.
There are two ways to do this. You can view the transactions for a specific project record,
see To view a project's activity on page 582. Alternatively you can search for transactions
by date range or transaction type. To do this, use Activity from the Projects window.
As well as the analysis features available within Project Costing, there is a tab on the
Customer Record that displays details of every project associated with a customer. This
tab allows you to see each project's summary information at a glance and links directly
back to the Project Record. See, To view a customer's project history on page 597.
View project costs and compare to budget.
This can be done for a single project managed using the one project record or for a
multi-level project that uses several project records.
A variance is displayed that can indicate either an overspend or surplus on budget. You
can drill-down project costs to view the costs specifically by cost type, cost code and
finally down to individual transactions. You can choose to include committed costs when
comparing costs to budgets.
Generate reports
In addition to the Project Activity, Project Costing includes a Reports option that provides
many useful analysis reports. For example, you can run a report to analyse costs by project
or by cost code. Other reports enable you to view revenue information, look at a list of
projects by status, or check profitability. For a complete list of the reports available, refer to
the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
To view a customer's project history

1. Select Customers and then use the view selector to switch to the Customer List view.
2. From the Customers window, select the customer(s) whose project information you want
to view.
3. Click Record.
The Customer Record window appears, showing the Details information.
4. Click the Projects tab.
The Projects information appears.
597
The Projects tab displays a summary for every project currently linked to this customer, one
line per project. For each project, you can view the status, price quoted, cost to date, billed
to date and outstanding to bill details. You cannot change any of this information here.
5. To create a new project for this customer, click New Project. Enter the details of the project
in the Project Record window and click Save.
6. To exit the Customer Record window, click Close.
The Customers window appears.
To view project costs and compare to budget

1. Select Projects > Project Enquiry.
The Project Enquiry window appears.
2. Select the project record you want from the Project Reference drop-down list.
The projects cost and budgetary information appears.
Alternatively, from the Projects window select the project record, click the record's Analysis
tab and then click the arrow to the right of Actual cost.
598
3. Use the following to display information when the project record is part of a project
structure.
View Type The structure view can be displayed leading with the project
name or alternatively the project reference. Use the
drop-down list to select the view you prefer.
Include committed costs Select this check box to see the effect of committed costs on
in variances your budget variances.
Print List Generates a printed copy of the displayed information.
Expand All Displays the sub-project records associated with the

structure. Alternatively, click the plus sign to the right of the
project name.
Collapse All Rolls up all project records so that the sub-projects are no
longer visible.
4. To see a breakdown of the projects costs from cost types to cost codes, down to
transaction level, first double-click the project name. The costs and budgets for the cost
types appear.
599
To see a further breakdown, select a cost type and then double-click. The costs and
budgets for the cost codes associated with the cost type are displayed. Use the Cost Type
drop-down list to view costs and budgets at cost code level for another cost type.
To enquire down to transaction level, select the cost code and then double-click. Use the
Cost Code drop-down list to view transactions for other cost codes.
To include committed costs in the variance calculation, select the Include committed costs
in variances option.
Note: Selecting information from a drop-down list always displays rolled up figures for the
project.
5. To generate a copy of the displayed information, click Print List.
6. Click Close to exit.
600
Billing Your Customer for a Project

As your project progresses, you may want to start sending invoices to your customer for the
work carried out so far. Alternatively, you may prefer to wait until the project is complete and
then bill your customer for the total amount on a single invoice.
Project Costing does not automatically bill your customers for projects. However, the Analysis
tab of the Project Record displays information that helps you to calculate how much you should
bill your customer. You can also use Project Costing's reports to assist you.
When you know how much you need to bill you can:
Create a service invoice, or a product invoice containing the special product code S3, to
send to your customer. If you need to credit your customer, for example if they return
goods, you can raise a service credit note, or a product credit note containing the special
product code S3 that you can allocate to the project.
When you post the invoice or credit note to your ledgers, Sage 50 Accounts updates the
project's activity and Analysis tab. Billing transactions display on the project's activity as SI
or SC transaction types.
Record the amount you want to bill your customers without producing an invoice. This
method uses customer batch invoice entry, where many invoices can be recorded at the
same time. When you save the batch invoice, Sage 50 Accounts immediately applies the
values to the project, customer and nominal records.
Note for Accounts Professional users: If you create project records directly from Sales Order
Processing, from an order containing the special product code S3, enter the project's reference
into the S3 item line so that Sage 50 Accounts can transfer it to the invoice, when you complete
the order. This means that when you update the invoice to the ledgers, the SI transaction links
to the project automatically. This is particularly useful where you need to invoice your customer
exactly the amount of the initial order.
Calculating how much to invoice your customer using Fixed Price

Billing
Use the following information from the Billing Totals and Revenue Totals areas of the project
record's Analysis tab to work out how much you need to invoice your customer:
Price quoted - the price you originally estimated for the project or job. You may have agreed
this with your customer as a quote, or simply entered it into the record as a guideline for
your own reference.
Total billed - the total value of invoices entered and updated so far for this project.
Outstanding to bill - Sage 50 Accounts calculates this as the price quoted less the total
billed to date.
Compare the price quoted and the total billed values with the outstanding to bill amount, to see
how much you should raise an invoice for.
601
For example:
Price quoted = 1000.00
Total billed = 700.00
Outstanding to bill = 300.00
You can see that, to date, you have invoiced your customer 700.00. Using the quoted price of
1000.00, this means that there is still 300.00 to bill for the project. You can now enter your
final invoice for the project for the value of 300.00.
If the actual costs for a project exceed your original estimated costs, you may want to increase
the price quoted. If you agreed a price for the project with a customer before commencing work,
then changing your quote will be difficult or impossible. However, if you only use the price
quoted information for your own reference, you can increase this value to cover your increased
costs. Sage 50 Accounts can then recalculate the amount outstanding to bill accordingly.
Important Note: If you use customer discounts

If you have a good business relationship with a customer, you may offer them a standard
discount, which applies to all goods or services they purchase from you, irrespective of the
quantity of goods or value of the invoice. This discount appears on the Defaults tab of the
Customer Record as a percentage amount.
When you create an invoice for a customer with a good customer discount set up on their
record, Sage 50 Accounts applies the discount and reduces the invoice total. This means that
when you raise an invoice to bill this type of customer for a project, the final value of the invoice
does not match the amount you intended to bill.
For example:
The Analysis tab of the project shows that there is 100.00 outstanding to bill. You decide to
enter a service invoice for 100.00, the full amount outstanding.
The Defaults tab of the Customer Record displays a 10% discount for the customer you are
billing. So, when you create an invoice for 100.00, Sage 50 Accounts applies the 10%
discount and the invoice total becomes 90.00.
If you update this invoice, the project record shows that you have billed an additional 90.00,
and that 10.00 remains outstanding to bill.
If you continue by invoicing the remaining 10.00, Sage 50 Accounts again applies the 10%
discount so that the total invoice amount reduces to 9.00. When you update the invoice, the
Analysis tab of the project shows that there is still 1.00 to bill.
You can see that with the customer discount in place, the amount outstanding to bill never
reaches 0.00, but simply reduces further each time you update an invoice.
To prevent this situation from occurring, you must remove the discount from the invoice when
you create it, BEFORE you update it. To do this, edit each item line of the invoice and remove
any discount shown in the Disc % box. Make sure that the Disc % and Discount boxes both
602
display 0.00 and click OK. When you update the invoice, Sage 50 Accounts updates the project
with the full amount that you intended to bill.
For details about editing the item line of an invoice, see To enter service item line details on page
452.
Calculating how much to invoice your customer using Time and

Materials Billing
Project Costing includes a suite of reports that you can use to help you to calculate how much
you should bill your customer if you use Time and Materials billing. However, you must work out
your invoice amounts manually, as Sage 50 Accounts does not deal with this type of billing
automatically.
To help you to calculate your billing amounts, we recommend that you keep your own records
of invoices and costs to date throughout the duration of each project.
To create an invoice or credit note for a project

Note: If you create your projects from Sales Order Processing and bill your customer for the
exact amount of the original order, you do not need to create the invoice manually. The project
reference transfers to the invoice when you complete the sales order, and the invoice posts to
your project, when you update it to your ledgers.
The Invoice window appears, showing the Details information.
2. Select the type and format you require from the relevant drop-down lists. You can create a
service invoice or credit note for your project, or you can set up a product invoice or credit
note using the special product code S3.
3. Enter your invoice or credit note header details, such as the date and customer reference,
in the boxes provided.
4. Enter the details of the service item or the S3 product code onto the first line of the invoice
or credit note, and press F3 on your keyboard to open the Edit Item Line window.
5. Enter the item line details.
To ensure that the invoice or credit note affects the project when you update it to your
ledgers, enter the project's reference into the box provided in the Project Details section of
the window.
Note: If you select a project that is set up with a status that does not allow postings, the
The status of this project does not allow postings
603
Check that the project reference is the one you require, and that the status on its record is
correct. You can change the project status to one that allows postings if necessary - for
more information see To change a project's status on page 587.
6. To accept the item line details, click OK.
7. Continue to enter any further items to the invoice or credit note, one line per item.
8. To save the invoice or credit note, click Save, or to clear the entries and start again, click
Discard.
9. To return to the Customer Process window, click Close.
For full details about creating invoices and credit notes, see Entering an Invoice on page 437
and Entering a Credit Note on page 479.
Now that you have created the invoice or credit note for your customer, you need to update it
so that its details transfer to the customer, nominal and project records. See the next section
for details on how to do this.
To update the invoice or credit note to the project record

2. From the Invoicing window, select the invoice(s) or credit note(s) you want to update.
3. Click Update.
The Update Ledgers window appears.
4. Select the output you require for your report from the option buttons available.
5. To update your ledgers and project record, click OK.
Note: When you update invoices or credit notes, Sage 50 Accounts updates your
customer and nominal ledgers as well as the project record.
6. Print, view or save your Update Ledgers report, depending on which option you selected
in step 3.
The updated invoice(s) or credit note(s) display Yes in the Posted column.
The project activity displays an SI or SC transaction for the amount you billed or credited.
In addition, Sage 50 Accounts updates the Billing Totals section of the project record's
Analysis tab with the date and value of the invoice or credit note you updated.
For full details about updating invoices and credit notes to your ledgers, see Posting an Invoice
on page 470.
To enter batch customer invoices or credit notes

1. Select Customers > Batch Invoice.
The Batch Customer Invoices window appears.
604
2. Enter the item line details such as the customers account reference, the invoice date and
the project you want to update.
Note: If you select a project that is set up with a status that does not allow postings a
warning is displayed. Check that the project reference is the one you require, and that the
status on its record is correct. You can change the project status to one that allows
postings if necessary - for more information see To change a project's status on page 587.
3. Continue to enter any further items to the invoice, one line per item.
4. To save the invoice click Save, or to clear the entries and start again, click Discard.
5. To return to the Customer Process window, click Close.
For more details about batch invoice entry see, Memorising and recalling batch invoices and
credit notes on page 479.
605
Completing Your Project

The final stage in the life cycle is the completion of a project.
When you have finished work on a project and signed it off, you no longer need to make cost
or revenue postings to it. To ensure that you do not make any further postings to the project,
and to indicate that it is complete, you need to change the record's status. The project then
shows as complete on your reports and on the customer's record.
If after a time you no longer require analysis information from a completed project, you may want
to delete its record. Changing the project status to Completed allows you to delete the record.
To mark a project as completed

Projects view.
2. Select the project you want to mark as complete.
3. Click Record.
The Project Record window appears.
4. In the Project Details area of the window, select Completed from the Status drop-down list.
5. To save your changes, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Discard.
You have now completed your project.
606
Chapter 12
Support Tools
The tasks and tools explained in this In this chapter:

chapter are designed to save time, so you
Accountant Link...............................608
spend less time entering data and more
time running your business. e-Banking ........................................629
The chapter explains how to use Audit Assistant.................................638
Accountant Link, a powerful feature that Working with Attachments using
allows you to send your data to your Document Manager .........................650
accountant and continue working on it
Exporting to Microsoft Word, Excel and
while your accountant reviews it and
Outlook............................................656
makes adjustments. The chapter also
introduces e-Banking, a tool that enables Importing into Sage 50 Accounts.....664
you to pay suppliers online and reconcile Event Logging..................................672
your bank statements electronically.
Working With Internet Resources.....676
Well also show you how to prepare your
News Feeds ....................................676
accounts for audit using the Audit
Assistant.
Later, youll learn how to attach files to
your records using Document Manager.
The chapter then introduces other useful
tools such as the ability to export and
import information, log important events in
your data, set up prepayments and
accruals, work with Internet resources and
News Feeds.
Accountant Link
Whether you are new to Sage 50 Accounts or an experienced user, the likelihood is that
you use a professional accountant at certain times during your financial year. For example,
you may require assistance at year end, or when you need to produce a VAT return.
If you are an accountant in practice, working with your clients can mean time-consuming
site visits, or taking a backup of your client's data, thus restricting their use of Sage 50
Accounts until you have completed your adjustments.
Developed with both business users and accountants in mind, Sage 50 Accounts
Accountant Link makes the process of exchanging data much more efficient and secure.
Both types of user can use the wizard-led feature, and, as a business user, you can
continue to work on your own accounts, whichever stage of the process you are at.
This section explains how Accountant Link works, looks at how it can benefit your
company, and takes you through setting up and using the feature.
What is Accountant Link?

The majority of Sage 50 Accounts users are small to medium-sized companies, who use
Sage 50 Accounts to manage their day-to-day accounts. Most of these users, however,
retain the services of an external accountant to assist at times such as the end of a
financial year, or to help when they need to produce legal documents such as the VAT
Return.
Even if both the accountant and the company are using Sage 50 Accounts, the process
of exchanging and amending data can be difficult and time-consuming. Using Sage 50
Accounts v10 and earlier versions, the user needs to back up their data to send to the
accountant, and may then be unable to process within Sage 50 Accounts for weeks, or
perhaps months, until the accountant returns the finalised data. Alternatively, the
accountant must visit their client in person to carry out the required tasks. Both of these
options can be costly and inconvenient, particularly to the users whose business may be
adversely affected when they cannot use Sage 50 Accounts.
Sage 50 Accounts incorporates the Accountant Link feature, which permits companies
and accountants to exchange data more quickly, securely and cost-effectively, and
enables the accountant to make the necessary amendments to the data while their client
continues to process in their own copy of Sage 50 Accounts. The accountant can then
send any adjustments back to their client for them to apply to their data. Accountant Link
includes a built-in mechanism that logs the changes the user makes to their data while
the accountant processes the accounts, keeping both users informed of any significant
changes that might affect the reconciliation of the adjustments.
Accountant Link takes the form of a wizard, which guides both the company and the
accountant through the relevant stages of the process. The diagram on the following page
illustrates the different stages of the Accountant Link, and shows that there are two
distinct parts to the process; the company side and the accountant side:
Support Tools
To correspond with the two sides of the process, the Accountant Link Wizard exists in two
forms:
The company side, present in Accounts, Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional
variants of Sage 50 Accounts, enables the business user to export data, send it to their
accountant, record material changes and import the accountant's adjustments.
The wizard contains the functions you need to exchange data with your accountant. See
Using Accountant Link with Sage 50 Accounts, Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional
on page 610 for information.
The accountant side, available in the Client Manager variant of Sage 50 Accounts, allows
the accountant to import the user's data, record adjustments, export the adjustments to
file and send it back to their client, ready for the user to apply the changes.
If you are an accountant using Sage 50 Client Manager, the wizard guides you through the
processes you need to exchange data with your clients. For more information, see Using
Accountant Link with Sage 50 Client Manager on page 621.
609
Using Accountant Link with Sage 50 Accounts, Accounts Plus or

At times throughout your financial year, you are likely to need your accountant to help you with
certain processes, such as your month or year end, or preparing your VAT Return. Alternatively,
your accountant may ask to see your data to check your books and make any necessary
changes.
Accountant Link enables you to export your data to a secure file, send it to your accountant
using email or post, and continue to work in Sage 50 Accounts while your accountant checks
and amends your data. Because you do not need to stop processing while you wait for your
accountant's adjustments, there is little disruption to your business and so you save time and
money.
After you export your data and send it to your accountant, Sage 50 Accounts records any
changes you make to your data that might affect the reconciliation of your accountant's
adjustments. These changes are called material changes, and you can view or print a list of
them at any time, and add comments if you require. Your accountant may ask for a copy of the
material changes before they send you their adjustments.
Your accountant then exports the adjustments made to your data to a secure file, and sends it
back for you to import. Accountant Link helps you to apply the accountant's adjustments to
your data to bring it up to date. At this point, Sage 50 Accounts stops recording material
changes.
The Accountant Link Wizard has two options:
Export Accounts Data To A File
This section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears when you choose to export your
accounts data to a file from the Exchange Data With Your Accountant window. Use this
section to guide you through the process of exporting your data to a secure,
password-protected file. At this stage, Sage 50 Accounts starts to record the material
changes you make to your data.
The Export Accounts Data To A File section of the wizard also enables you to email your
exported data to your accountant.
To find out how to use the Export Accounts Data To A File section of the wizard, see
Exporting your accounts data to file to send to your accountant on page 611. For more
information about material changes, see Recording material changes to your data on page
614.
610
Support Tools
Import Adjustments and Narratives From A File

This section of the Accountant Link Wizard shows you how to import the adjustments file
that your accountant sends you. This part of the wizard then guides you through the
process of applying the adjustments to your data, using the Comments and Adjustments
window.
For more details about importing and applying your accountant's adjustments, see
Importing and applying your accountant's adjustments on page 616.
Note: Before you begin using Accountant Link, you should set up your Accountant Link
defaults. For details about how to do this, see To set up your Accountant Link defaults on page
119.
Exporting your accounts data to file to send to your accountant

Exporting your data using Accountant Link produces an encrypted file to which you can apply
your own password for added security. Sage 50 Accounts compresses the file, reducing the
size of the data so that you can send it to your accountant by email. This means that your
accountant can receive and start working on your data almost immediately.
The Accountant Link Wizard connects the export and send procedures together, providing a
logical way of performing the two related tasks.
When you export your data to file, Sage 50 Accounts begins to record material changes that
you make to your data. For more information, see Recording material changes to your data on
page 614.
To export your accounts data to file and send to your accountant

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards.
2. From the Wizards menu, select Accountant Link.
The Exchange Data With Your Accountant section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears,
displaying the What Would You Like To Do? window.
611
3. Select the Export accounts data to a file for my accountant option, then to continue, click
Next.
The Export Accounts Data To A File section of the wizard appears.
If you have already exported data to a file to send to your accountant, but have not
yet imported your accountant's adjustments, the wizard displays the Accounts Data
Previously Exported window:
612
Support Tools
If you are sure that you want to proceed with the export, click Next.
Note: If you proceed with the export, you will not be able to import any adjustments
that your accountant makes to your original export file. If you are unsure, we
recommend that you cancel the export and consult your accountant.
To cancel the export, click Cancel.
If you have not previously exported data to file, or if you have completed your prior
exchange with your accountant by importing the adjustments file, the wizard displays
the Create Export File window:
Enter the file name, password and comment you want to use for the export file.
Note: Your password must contain at least eight characters.
4. To proceed, click Export.
The Exporting to File window appears, displaying the progress of the export process.
When the process is complete, the Accounts Data Exported Successfully window
appears.
From this window of the wizard, you can continue to the next stage of the Accountant Link
process and send your exported accounts data file to your accountant by email.
5. To email your exported accounts data file to your accountant now, click Next.
If you have more than one profile set up in Microsoft Outlook, the Choose Profile window
appears. Select the Microsoft Outlook profile you want to use and click OK.
A Microsoft Outlook email message appears. Sage 50 Accounts inserts the export file
into the message as an attachment and sets the subject of the message to your company
name, followed by Sage Accounts Data.
613
6. Enter the email address you want to send the file to, make any amendments you require
to the email message, then click Send.
7. The Accountant Link Wizard closes and your Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.
You have successfully exported your accounts data and sent the exported file to your
accountant as an email attachment.
Recording material changes to your data

Accountant Link allows you to continue to work on your accounts after you send exported data
to your accountant. This can mean that you make changes to your data that make it difficult to
reconcile any adjustments that your accountant sends back to you. For example, you might
delete nominal codes, post transactions into the period covered by the exported data or reverse
posted transactions. Sage 50 Accounts calls these material changes.
When you successfully create an export file containing your accounts data, Sage 50 Accounts
generates a new file to record your material changes. During the time between creating your
export file and importing your accountant's adjustments, Sage 50 Accounts uses this file to
record what it considers to be material changes to the data. To show that it is recording material
changes, Sage 50 Accounts displays Recording in the status bar:
Before you import your accountant's adjustments, you can view and print the material changes
record to use as a guide when you perform the reconciliation, or to send to your accountant.
For more information, see To view the material changes record on page 615.
Posting a material change

When you try to save a material change, Sage 50 Accounts displays a confirmation message:
If you want to commit all material changes to your data and do not want the prompt to appear
each time, select the Don't ask me this again while I'm working in this dataset check box, and
614
Support Tools
to save the material change, click Yes. Every time you make a material change, Sage 50
Accounts records the change automatically, without prompting you.
Alternatively, to cancel without recording the material change, click No.
The Material Changes record

Sage 50 Accounts stores all your material changes in a file, allowing you to view a record of the
changes at any time.
The Material Changes window is split into two tabs, Comments and Material. The Comments
tab allows you to enter explanatory comments about the material changes you make to your
data, which you can then print and send to your accountant. The Material tab (see below)
displays a summary of the significant changes you make to your data following the export. You
can enter comments for individual changes in the Change Details section of the Material tab.
Again, you can print this list and send it to your accountant.
To view the material changes record

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select View > Material Changes.
Note: Material Changes is only available if you have exported data to send to your
accountant, but not yet imported and applied the accountant's adjustments.
The Material Changes window appears, open at the Comments tab.
615
2. To add comments to the Material Changes record, click into the text box on the Comments
tab and type the information you require.
3. To view a summary of your material changes, click the Material tab.
4. To print the Comments or Material information, click Print List at the bottom of the relevant
tab.
5. To stop recording material changes to your data, click Cancel.
A confirmation message appears, advising you that you should inform your accountant if
you want to stop recording your material changes. If you are certain that you want to stop
recording the changes you make to your data, click Yes to confirm and close the Material
Changes window. Alternatively, click No or Cancel to return to the Material Changes
window and continue to record material changes.
6. To exit from the Material Changes window, click Close.
Importing and applying your accountant's adjustments

When your accountant has completed their adjustments and sent a corrections file back to you,
you must import it into Sage 50 Accounts and apply the adjustments to bring your data up to
date.
Adjustments fall into two major groups:
Adjustments
When you import the adjustments file, you can apply these alterations to the accounts
automatically from the Comments and Adjustments window. Examples of automatic
adjustments include journals and journal reversals.
Narratives
Your accountant records narratives in the form of instructions for you to make changes that
Sage 50 Accounts cannot apply automatically. When you import the adjustments file, the
Comments and Adjustments window displays these narratives, and you must follow the
instructions to apply the changes manually. Examples include running the month end or
year end process.
The Import Adjustments and Narratives From A File section of the Accountant Link Wizard
guides you through the Import process, and links directly into the Comments and Adjustments
window, ready for you to apply the adjustments and narratives to your data.
Refer to the following sections to learn about the Comments and Adjustments window, and to
see how to apply the changes.
Note: Depending on the number and type of adjustments and narratives, the import process
could require significant time and attention. We strongly recommended that you set aside
616
Support Tools
sufficient time to complete the entire import process in one single uninterrupted session, rather
than staging the process over several sessions.
The Comments and Adjustments Window

When you import your accountant's adjustments and narratives file, Sage 50 Accounts displays
all the adjustments in the Comments and Adjustments window, ready for you to apply the
changes.
The Comments tab allows you to view and print any text your accountant entered for the
adjustments and narratives, for example explanatory information that you need to read before
you start to apply the changes.
The Adjustments tab displays a summary of the adjustments and narratives you need to apply
to your data, including a brief description and the type of adjustment, and shows any comments
your accountant entered for individual adjustments in the Adjustment Details section of the
window:
Use this window to apply the adjustments and narratives to your data. The adjustments and
narratives appear in the order in which you must apply them to your data.
The following sections describe how to import your accountant's adjustments and narratives
file, and how to use the Comments and Adjustments window to apply the changes.
617
To import the adjustments and narratives file from your accountant

2. From the Wizards menu, choose Accountant Link.
The Exchange Data With Your Accountant section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears,
3. Select the Import adjustments and narratives from a file from my accountant option and
click Next.
The Import Adjustments and Narratives From a File section of the wizard appears,
displaying the Select File to Import window.
4. In the Import box, type the location and name of the adjustments and narratives file you
want to import. Alternatively, click Browse to find the file you require.
5. Enter the password associated with the file, then click Next to continue.
Note: The wizard checks the file you are importing against the company data that is
currently open in Sage 50 Accounts. If the companies differ, an information message
appears:
The accountants adjustments file you have chosen to import does not match the company
that is currently open. Please open the correct company or choose another file.
To return to the wizard, and ensure that you are importing the correct file, click OK. If the
file is the one you require, to exit the wizard, click Cancel, open the correct Sage 50
Accounts company data, and restart the import procedure from step 1.
618
Support Tools
If the file you are importing matches the company data that is currently open, the import
proceeds and the Comments and Adjustments window appears.
You have now imported your accountant's adjustments and narratives file. For details about
how to apply the adjustments to your data, refer to the following section.
To apply your accountant's adjustments and narratives to your data

Note: This section assumes that you have already followed the instructions in the preceding
section, To import the adjustments and narratives file from your accountant on page 618, using
the Exchange Data with your Accountant section of the Accountant Link wizard. If you have not
yet done this, go back to the previous section and ensure that you import your accountant's
adjustment and narratives file so that you can access the Comments and Adjustments window
used in this section.
1. From the Comments tab of the Comments and Adjustments window, read any comments
your accountant recorded about the adjustments you need to make.
If you require, you can print the list of comments by clicking Print List at the bottom of the
window.
2. Click the Adjustments tab.
The Adjustments information appears, displaying a list of adjustments and narratives.
3. To print the list of adjustments and narratives, click Print List at the bottom of the window.
4. To start applying the adjustments and narratives to your data, click Begin.
Sage 50 Accounts selects the first adjustment in the list.
If the adjustment is an automatic one, Sage 50 Accounts applies the adjustment to
your data and selects the Applied check box.
If the adjustment is a manual one, you must apply the adjustment to the data yourself.
When you have made the change, select the I have completed this task check box in
the Adjustment Details section of the window.
5. Click Next to continue to the next adjustment in the list. As before, if the next adjustment
is automatic, Sage 50 Accounts applies the change to your data and selects the Applied
check box. If the next adjustment is manual, you must apply the change and select the I
have completed this task check box before continuing.
Alternatively, if the next item is the first in a group of automatic adjustments, click Continue
to apply all of them. Sage 50 Accounts applies all of the automatic adjustments in the
group, selects their Applied check boxes, and selects the next manual adjustment in the
list.
619
For example, the following adjustments appear in the list:
No Summary Type Applied
1 Create Customer Manual No
2 Nominal Journal Automatic No
3 Nominal Reversal Automatic No
4 Batch Invoice Manual No
If you start by clicking Next, Sage 50 Accounts selects adjustment number 1. Because it
is a manual adjustment, you must apply it manually and select the I have completed this
task check box before continuing. If you click Next to continue, Sage 50 Accounts applies
adjustment number 2 and selects the Applied check box, as this is an automatic
adjustment. Sage 50 Accounts then selects adjustment number 3, and waits for you to
click Next or Continue before applying the change.
If you start by clicking Continue, Sage 50 Accounts selects adjustment number 1, and you
must apply the manual change and select the I have completed this task check box. If you
then proceed by clicking Continue, Sage 50 Accounts applies adjustments number 2 and
3 and selects the Applied check box, as these are automatic adjustments. Sage 50
Accounts then selects adjustment number 4 and waits for you to apply the adjustment.
6. Continue to apply the adjustments and narratives until the Applied check box displays a
tick for every item.
7. To exit from the Comments and Adjustments window, click Close.
You have successfully applied your accountant's adjustments and narratives to your data.
620
Support Tools
Using Accountant Link with Sage 50 Client Manager

In order to check and finalise a client's data, or to assist with processing, for example at year
end, you often need to visit the client's business personally to obtain the data files, or
alternatively ask the client to send a backup copy to you.
Working on a backup of your client's data may mean that they have to stop processing in Sage
50 Accounts until you return the amended data to them. This can cause considerable disruption
to their business, as the client may be unable to process any accounts data for weeks at a time.
In addition, exchanging data via backup is not ideal as there is the risk of the files becoming lost
or damaged.
The Accountant Link feature enables you to exchange data with your clients more quickly and
securely, and lessens the restrictions on your clients by allowing them to continue processing
while you work on your copy of their data. Accountant Link can reduce the need for personal
visits to your clients, saving you time and potentially reducing your costs.
When you need to work on the accounts data, your client uses Accountant Link to export it to
a compressed, password-protected file and email it to you. Accountant Link in Sage 50 Client
Manager enables you to import this file, and then records the adjustments you make to the data,
together with any explanatory text you enter.
As your client continues to process, their copy of Sage 50 Accounts keeps a record of any
changes that might affect the reconciliation of your adjustments. At any time, you can ask your
client to print a copy of the material changes record and send it to you. When you complete
your adjustments, use Accountant Link to export the data to a file and send it back to your
client, ready for them to apply your adjustments.
The Accountant Link Wizard consists of three sections. Each section guides you through a
specific part of the Accountant Link process. The three sections of the wizard are:
Exchange Data With Your Clients
This is the first section of the Accountant Link Wizard, and it appears when you open the
wizard from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar (Modules > Wizards > Accountant Link). This
window allows you to choose whether you want to import your client's data from a file, or
export your adjustments and comments to send to your client.
Import Accounts Data From A File
Use this section of the Accountant Link Wizard to import the data file that your client sends
to you for adjustment. At this stage, Sage 50 Client Manager starts to record the
adjustments you make to the data.
Export Adjustments and Narratives To A File
This section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears when you choose to export your
adjustments to a file from the Exchange Data With Your Clients window. Use this section
to guide you through the process of exporting your adjustments to a secure,
password-protected file. At this stage, Sage 50 Client Manager stops recording the
adjustments you make to the data.
621
The Export Adjustments and Narratives To A File section of the wizard also enables you to
send your exported adjustments file to your client.
To find out how to use the Export Adjustments and Narratives To A File section of the
wizard, see Exporting your adjustments and narratives to file on page 626. For more
information about adjustments, see Recording adjustments on page 624.
Note: Before you begin using Accountant Link, you should set up your Accountant Link
defaults. For details about how to do this, see To set up your Accountant Link defaults using
Sage 50 Client Manager on page 120.
Importing your client's accounts data from a file

When your clients send data to you for amendment or finalisation, you must import it into Sage
50 Client Manager before you can start to make the necessary adjustments. The Import
Accounts Data From A File section of the Accountant Link Wizard guides you through the Import
process.
When you import accounts data from a file, Sage 50 Client Manager begins to record
adjustments that you make to the data. For more information, see Recording adjustments on
page 624.
To import your client's accounts data

The Exchange Data With Your Clients section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears,
622
Support Tools
3. Select the Import accounts data from a file from my client option and click Next.
The Import Accounts Data From A File section of the wizard appears, displaying the Select
File to Import window.
4. In the Import box, type the location and name of the accounts file you want to import.
Alternatively, click Browse to find the file you require.
5. Enter the password associated with the file and click Import to proceed.
If you are using a single company installation of Sage 50 Client Manager, the wizard
displays the following message:
This is a single company version of Sage 50 Accounts. Importing a dataset will
overwrite the existing company dataset. Do you still wish to proceed to overwrite the
company dataset?
To confirm that you want to proceed with the import, click OK.
Alternatively, to cancel the import, for example if you want to return to the Sage 50
Client Manager desktop and back up the current data, click Cancel, then to exit to the
desktop, click Cancel on the wizard.
If you have previously imported this company's data but have not yet exported your
adjustments and narratives to file to send to your client, Sage 50 Client Manager
displays a confirmation message advising you that if you import the data again, you
will lose any adjustments you have made so far.
If you are sure that you want to import the data again, to proceed, click Yes. Sage 50
Client Manager clears the adjustments record and continues with the import.
Alternatively, to cancel, click No. Sage 50 Client Manager cancels the import process
and returns you to the wizard. To exit the wizard and return to the desktop.
623
When the import is complete, the Accountant Link Wizard closes and the Sage 50 Client
Manager desktop appears, click Cancel.
You are now ready to start recording adjustments on the imported data. Refer to the following
section for more information.
Recording adjustments
After you import your client's data, Accountant Link allows you to make adjustments to the
accounts. You can also enter text that indicates to your client that they may need to apply
certain changes manually, or to explain why you have made an alteration.
Adjustments fall into two main groups: adjustments, which Sage 50 Accounts applies to your
client's data automatically, and narratives, which are changes that the user must apply manually.
For example, if you post or reverse a journal entry, Sage 50 Client Manager records the change
as an adjustment that your client can apply to their data automatically. If you process a financial
year end, this appears as a narrative that your client must replicate manually.
When you successfully import a file containing your client's accounts data, Sage 50 Client
Manager generates a new file to record your adjustments and narratives. During the time
between importing the file and exporting your adjustments and narratives, Sage 50 Client
Manager uses this file to record the changes you make to the data. To show that it is recording
adjustments, Sage 50 Accounts displays Recording in the status bar:
Before you export your amendments, you can view and print the adjustments and narratives
record at any time. See To view the comments and adjustments record on page 626.
Posting an adjustment
When you try to save an adjustment, Sage 50 Client Manager displays a confirmation message:
624
Support Tools
If you want to commit all adjustments to this set of data and do not want the prompt to appear
each time, select the Don't ask me this again while I'm working in this dataset check box and
click Yes to save the adjustment. Every time you make an adjustment to this set of data, Sage
50 Client Manager records the change automatically without prompting you.
Alternatively, to cancel without recording the adjustment, click No.
The Comments and Adjustments record

Sage 50 Client Manager stores all your adjustments and narratives in a file, allowing you to view
a record of the changes at any time.
The Comments tab allows you to enter explanatory comments about the adjustments you make
to the data, which you or your client can print for reference.
The Adjustments tab displays a summary of the adjustments and narratives you make in your
client's data following the import. If you want to add comments to individual adjustments, use
the Adjustment Details section of the Adjustments tab:
Again, you can print this list if you require.
625
To view the comments and adjustments record

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, click View and select Comments and Adjustments.
The Comments and Adjustments window appears, open at the Comments tab.
2. To add comments to the Comments and Adjustments record, click into the text box on the
Comments tab and type the information you require.
3. To view a summary of your adjustments and narratives, click the Adjustments tab.
4. To print the Comments or Adjustments information, click Print List at the bottom of the
relevant tab.
5. To exit from the Comments and Adjustments window, click Close.
Exporting your adjustments and narratives to file

When you have completed your adjustments and you are satisfied with the accounts, you need
to export the amended data to file so that you can send it back to your client.
Exporting data using Accountant Link produces a compressed file to which you can apply your
own password for added security, and send to your client by email. This means that your client
can receive your adjustments electronically, and import and apply the changes at a time that is
convenient to their business.
The Accountant Link Wizard connects the export and send procedures together, providing a
logical way of performing the two related tasks.
When you export your adjustments and narratives to file, Sage 50 Client Manager stops
recording adjustments and reverts to standard behaviour.
To export your adjustments and narratives to file and send to your client
The Exchange Data With Your Clients section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears,
3. Select the Export adjustments and narratives to a file for my client option, then to continue,
click Next.
The Export Adjustments and Narratives To A File section of the wizard appears, displaying
the Create Export File window.
626
Support Tools
4. Enter the file name, password and comment you want to use for the export file.
Note: Your password must contain at least eight characters.
5. To proceed, click Export.
The Exporting to File window appears, displaying the progress of the export process.
When the process is complete, the Adjustments and Narratives Exported Successfully
window appears.
627
From this window, you can continue to the next stage of the Accountant Link process and
send your exported adjustments file to your client by email.
6. To email your exported adjustments file to your client now, click Next.
If you have more than one profile set up in Microsoft Outlook, the Choose Profile window
appears. Select the Microsoft Outlook profile you want to use and click OK.
A Microsoft Outlook email message appears, automatically displaying the company's
email address as it appears in Company Preferences. Sage 50 Accounts inserts the export
file into the message as an attachment, and sets the subject of the message to Sage
Adjustments and Narratives Export.
7. Make any amendments you require to the email message and click Send.
The Accountant Link Wizard closes and the Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.
You have successfully exported your adjustments and narratives and sent the exported file to
your client as an email attachment.
Accountant Link and Sage Payment Solutions

When an accountant imports customers data via client manager, where the customer has
activated Sage Payment Solutions, the Pay by Card and Pay Deposit by Card buttons will be
disabled throughout the software.
If an accountant is using the software, the Sage Payment solutions will be available. The Pay by
Card and Pay Deposit by Card button disabling is only implemented, when data is imported
using the Client Manager wizard.
628
Support Tools
e-Banking
If you have access to electronic banking facilities with your bank, you can use Sage 50 Accounts
e-Banking facility to make electronic payments and to reconcile your bank accounts online.
For more information about e-Banking, visit the Sage website at http://www.sage.co.uk.
Contacting Sage
As a new Sage 50 Accounts user, you are entitled to a free 30 day trial of both the e-Banking
and Transaction Email functions. You can find the trial serial numbers and activation keys for
these features on the Important Information sticker sheet that is included in your Sage 50
Accounts software box.
If you want to continue using Transaction Email after your 30 day trial period expires, contact
Customer Care to receive a full activation key. You can then continue to use the Transaction
Email feature.
If you find the e-Banking features useful and would like to continue to use them after your 30
day trial period expires, contact Customer Care to register and receive a full activation key. If you
have a valid SageCover agreement, registration is free of charge. If you do not have current
SageCover, you can still register and use e-Banking, for an annual charge.
The telephone numbers for Customer Care are as follows:
UK mainland 0845 111 66 66
Northern Ireland 0845 245 0280
Republic of Ireland 01 642 0800
Introduction to e-Banking
Sage 50 Accounts e-Banking facility allows you to:
Make e-payments so that you can pay your suppliers directly from your actual bank
account.
Check your online bank statement against the bank statement generated by your Sage 50
Accounts software.
Import transactions sent by your bank, so that you can reconcile your bank transactions
with your Sage 50 Accounts records.
Note: Before you can start using the e-Banking function, you must first contact your bank. They
will provide you with their software, which will enable you to use the Sage e-Banking function.
Most major banks have software that is compatible with your Sage accounting product.
Once you have contacted your bank and installed their banking software, you must set up Sage
50 Accounts to enable the e-Banking facility.
629
To enable e-Banking
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Bank Defaults.
The Bank Defaults window appears.
2. To enable e-Banking, select the Enable e-Banking check box and click OK.
You have now enabled your e-Banking facility.
3. Select the Bank module.
You are prompted to enter your e-Banking Serial Number and Activation Key. You can find
these on the sticker sheet entitled Important Information, that is included within your
software packaging.
4. Enter your e-Banking Serial Number and Activation Key in the boxes provided and click
OK.
You are now ready to enter banking details and configure your Sage 50 Accounts software.
Configuring your e-Banking facility

To configure the e-Banking facility you must first make sure that your bank details match those
required by your banking software.
To add bank details and configure your bank account

Bank Accounts view.
2. Select the bank account that you want to make e-payments from and/or reconcile using
the e-Reconcile facility, then click Record.
3. From the Bank Record window, click the Bank Details tab.
4. Enter your bank details.
Note: The sort code and account number must match those on the file to be imported
from your bank.
5. Select the online bank service that you use from the Bank Type drop-down list.
6. Click Configure.
The Sage e-Banking Configuration window for the selected bank type appears. The
information required to configure this facility depends on the bank type you have selected.
Note: Some options may not be available depending on the banking software you are
using and whether you have selected the Override Common Directory check box.
630
Support Tools
Common Directory This is the directory where the electronic payment and statement
data is stored. The default directory (C:\) appears automatically.
If you do not want to use the common directory, select the
Override Common Directory check box. If the check box is
selected, all of the Statement Reconciliation Service and Payment
File Option boxes must be completed.
Statement This is the directory where the statement files from your banking
Reconciliation software are stored. Sage 50 Accounts will use these files in order
Service to compare your online bank accounts with the bank accounts in
your Sage 50 Accounts software. The default file directory appears
automatically. You can change this if required.
Payment File This is the directory, file name and extension of the file that is used
Options by the e-Payments facility for your online banking software. The
default directory appears automatically. You can change this if
required. You can also change the file extension and file identifier.
8. Click OK to save the changes you have made.

After clicking OK the Bank Details window appears. Click Save to close the Bank record
and save the changes to the record.
The e-Banking facilities are now available from the Bank Accounts window. For further
information about using the e-Payments option, refer to the next section. For further information
about using e-Reconcile, refer to Using the e-Reconcile facility on page 633.
Using the e-Payments facility

The e-Payments facility works by creating a file that your bank's online banking software can
use to pay your suppliers directly from your actual bank account.
Before you can begin using the e-Payments facility, you must do the following:
1. Enable the e-Banking software. For further information about how to do this, refer to the
section, e-Banking on page 629.
2. Make sure that you have entered your bank account details. For further information about
how to do this refer to Configuring your e-Banking facility on page 630.
3. Edit the supplier records that you want to pay using e-Payments, so that they can accept
online payments. For further information about how to do this, refer to Entering supplier
bank details on page 632.
631
Entering supplier bank details

If you want to use the e-Payments facility to pay your suppliers, you must edit your supplier
records so that they can accept electronic payments. For further information about how to do
this, refer to the next section.
To edit your supplier's bank details

1. Open the Suppliers module.
2. Switch to the suppliers View.
3. Select the suppliers that you want to pay using the e-Payments facility and then click
Record.
The first selected supplier's record appears.
4. Click the Bank tab.
5. Enter the Account Name, Sort Code, Account Number and BACS Ref, as required by your
banking software. You must ensure this information is entered correctly, otherwise your
e-Payments will not be posted.
6. Select the Online Payments check box.
7. To save your changes and clear the supplier record information, click Save.
8. Repeat steps 4 to 7 for each of your selected suppliers.
You can now use the e-Payments option to pay your suppliers.
To enter a purchase payment using e-Banking

Note: To update the e-Payments window and send payments via e-Banking, you need to
enter your purchase payments in the Banks Supplier Payments option. If the Online
Payments check box is selected in the suppliers record, the reference BACS appears
automatically in the Cheque No. box when you make a payment to that supplier. When you
save the payment, Sage 50 Accounts transfers it to the e-Payments window.
For more information about setting up your supplier records to accept online payments,
see To edit your supplier's bank details on page 632.
For details about how to post a purchase payment in Sage 50 Accounts, see To record a
supplier payment on page 536.
To transfer payments using the e-Payments option

Bank Accounts view.
2. From the Bank Accounts window, select the bank account you have configured for making
payments to your suppliers, and then click e-Payments.
632
Support Tools
The Send Payments window appears, displaying all outstanding payments for the selected
bank account, for suppliers who are set up to use online payments.
3. If you want to restrict the transactions that appear, to a certain date range, select the Date
Range check box and enter the date range you require in the From and To boxes.
4. Select the transactions that you want to send to your bank from the Send Payments
window.
5. Click Send.
The transfer of information between Sage 50 Accounts and your bank account begins. A
confirmation window appears showing you the number and value of the payments. For
further details about the transactions, click Show Details.
6. To continue with the payments, click OK. To keep a record of this e-Payment, click Print to
open the e-Payment details in Microsoft Notepad. Select the File menu and select the
Print option.
The information is transferred to a file which you can then use with your banking software.
The file is saved to the directory you selected when you configured your bank account.
Note: If there are any problems with transferring your e-payments, you are prompted to
view an error log. The error log lists reasons why your e-payments transfer has not been
successful. We recommend that you read the error log and make any corrections that are
necessary.
Using the e-Reconcile facility

Sage 50 Accounts uses a file created by your banking software which allows you to check your
online statement against your Sage 50 Accounts statement.
Before you can reconcile your accounts you need to:
1. Enable the e-Banking software. For further information about how to do this, refer to
e-Banking on page 629.
2. Prepare your bank accounts for online reconciliation by completing the details on the Bank
Details tab (on the Bank Record). For further information about how to do this, refer to
Configuring your e-Banking facility on page 630.
3. Import your bank transactions. For further information about how to do this, refer to the
next section.
Importing e-Banking transactions

Before you can reconcile your bank transactions, you must import your bank data. Your banking
software saves this data into a file on your PC. You must import this file so that you can compare
the transactions from your banking software with those on Sage 50 Accounts.
633
To import e-Banking transactions

Bank Accounts view.
2. From the Bank Accounts window, select the bank account you require and click
e-Reconcile.
The Amend Bank Statement Details window appears.
3. Enter the Statement End Date and Statement End Balance and then click OK.
The Reconciliation window appears.
4. Open the File menu and choose Import Bank Transactions.
The Open window for the selected bank appears. The left side of the window displays the
files on your PC and the right side displays the bank statement files.
5. From the left panel, open the folder where your bank data is saved.
The bank files for the selected bank account are displayed in the right-hand panel.
6. From the right panel, select the bank file you want to import and click Open.
The Reconciliation window appears showing your imported transactions. The total number
of transactions that you have imported appears at the bottom of the window. You are now
ready to reconcile your bank account.
Reconciling your bank account

There are two ways of reconciling your online bank statement against your Sage 50 Accounts
statement: using the automatic options or by reconciling manually.
We recommend that you use both. You should use the automatic options to match the majority
of the transactions and then use the manual option to complete the reconciliation.
There are three stages to reconciling transactions:
Matching This will match the two transactions together, similar to allocating
transactions.
Confirm It is necessary to confirm your agreement with the matches that have taken
place.
Reconcile This will mark the transactions as reconciled.
634
Support Tools
As you match transactions, they are highlighted as follows:
Yellow Transactions are not matched or confirmed.
Blue This is the last selected transaction and is not matched or confirmed.
Green Transactions are matched but not confirmed.
Grey Transactions are matched and confirmed.
To automatically reconcile your bank statement using the

e-Reconcile option
1. Import your e-Banking transactions. For more information about how to do this, refer to
the previous procedure.
Bank Accounts view.
3. From the Bank Accounts window, select the bank account you require and click
e-Reconcile.
4. Enter the following information in the boxes provided:
Statement End Date Enter the date that you want to reconcile up to.
Statement End Sage 50 Accounts automatically enters the closing balance

Balance from your last reconciliation here. You should now enter the
closing balance of your actual bank statement.
5. Click OK.
The Reconciliation window appears displaying the imported bank transactions in the top
panel and the Sage 50 Accounts transactions in the bottom panel.
6. The Reconciliation window now shows the following information:
Bank Transactions Select a date in the Bank Transactions To and Sage Transactions
To /Sage To boxes to restrict the transactions that appear.
Transactions To
Note: The Bank Transaction To box shows the date you entered
as the Statement End Date, but you can change it here if required.
635
No /Tran No The No column, in the top half of the window, displays the
transaction number in your bank account. The Tran No column, in
the bottom half of the window, displays the transaction number in
your Sage 50 Accounts software.
Ref This displays the transaction reference code that has been
entered for both your bank and Sage 50 Accounts transactions.
Type In the list of Sage 50 Accounts transactions there is an additional

list labelled Type. This displays the type of transaction. For
example, BP represents a Bank Payment, SR represents a Sales
Receipt and JC represents a Journal Credit.
Date This shows the date that the transactions were entered onto the
system.
Details This displays any additional details that were entered when the
transaction was created.
Payments If the transaction is a payment, the amount appears here.
Receipts If the transaction is a receipt, the amount appears here.
Match With When a transaction has been matched, this shows the number of
transaction(s) that were matched against it.
Conf? This shows if the match has been confirmed. Initially set to N,
once the match has been confirmed it will change to Y.
Rec Amount This shows the amount matched against the transaction.
Opening Balance This is the statement balance brought forward from the last
reconciliation. It should reflect the opening balance on the
statement.
Book Balance at This is the balance of the Sage 50 Accounts bank account up to
Date the date entered on the Amend Bank Statement Details window.
It represents the balance of reconciled and unreconciled items up
to this date.
Difference Displays the difference between the transactions you have

selected to reconcile and the Statement End Balance. When you
have selected all of your transactions this should be zero unless
you have to make adjustments for transactions not yet entered on
your Sage 50 Accounts software, for example, bank charges.
636
Support Tools
Uncleared Items This is the value of transactions not yet matched for reconciliation,
up to the date entered on the bank reconciliation window.
Reconciled Balance Shows the value of the reconciled transactions in your Sage 50
Accounts program.
Statement End Shows the balance from your bank statement, as entered in the
Balance Amend Bank Statement Details window in step 4.
7. Click Match Full, to match any transactions that have the same reference and amount, and
then click Confirm.
8. Click Match Amounts to match transactions that have the same amounts. Once you are
happy with the matches that have been highlighted, click Confirm.
9. Click Match Refs to match transactions that share the same reference. When you are
happy with the matches that have been highlighted, click Confirm.
10. To begin the automatic reconciliation process, click Reconcile.
11. To confirm that you want to reconcile the transactions, click Yes.
If you still have transactions to reconcile, follow the instructions below.
To manually reconcile your bank statement using the e-Reconcile option

1. From either the Sage 50 Accounts transactions or the bank transaction list, select the
transaction that you want to reconcile.
2. From the opposite list, select the transaction or transactions that you want to reconcile
against the transaction selected in step 1.
3. Click Match Manual.
Continue manually matching transactions as required.
Note: If you want to automatically confirm the matches when you use the Match Manual
option, from the menu bar select Tools > Options. Select the Automatically Confirm Manual
Matches check box.
4. If you have not chosen to automatically confirm matches, click Confirm.
5. When you are happy that you have completed the matching, click Reconcile.
6. To confirm that you want to reconcile the transactions, click Yes.
You have now completed your reconciliation.
637
Audit Assistant
Use the Audit Assistant feature to help you to accurately assess and prepare for any
forthcoming audits of your accounts and ensure that you are following best accounting practice.
The Audit Assistant allows you to check for a number of common errors in your accounts data.
Any transactions that may cause problems in an audit will be displayed on-screen.
The Audit Assistant also includes a suite of VAT audit reports that have been approved by HM
Revenue & Customs.
To verify your Sage 50 Accounts program for VAT discrepancies

1. Select Company > Prepare for Audit.
The Verify System window appears. This allows you to run one of four different audit
checks on your Sage 50 Accounts transactions.
2. Select one of the following options:
Check Accounts System for potential Audit queries, for example possible duplicate
transactions.
Select this option to check your sales and purchase transactions for possible errors.
This option allows you to specify the tax code that you use as the standard rate of tax
for your sales and purchase transactions. Once you run this option, any transactions
within a specified date range that could be queried are displayed along with the
reason that they are listed.
For more information about running this feature, see the topic To check your accounts
system for potential audit queries on page 639.
For more information about the Accounts System Check window that appears after
running this option, see The Accounts System Check Window on page 642.
Run VAT Audit Check on Accounts System for possible tax queries, for example high
VAT-rated transactions.
This option allows you to check the tax thresholds and tax rates of your sales and
purchase transactions. Once you have chosen this option, you can then set up the
VAT check to analyse the VAT amounts and rate of tax for transactions posted within
a specified date range. This allows you to set up your own checks, so whether you
are a small company, or an established company with a number of offices, you can
set up the thresholds to reflect your company's sales and purchases.
For more information about running this feature, see the topic To run the VAT audit
check on page 643.
Show All Accounts Verification and VAT Audit Reports - to report on individual areas.
Select this option to run any of the Account Verification and VAT Audit reports. These
reports display audit information about any of the transactions recorded in Sage 50
Accounts.
638
Support Tools
For more information about running this feature, see the topic To view the Account
Verification and VAT Audit reports on page 647.
Check VAT Values on Transactions for possible errors.
Use this option to check the VAT amounts on transactions posted within a specified
date range. Running this option checks and reports on any transactions where the tax
amount entered on the transaction is not equal to the expected tax amount.
The expected tax amount is calculated from the tax code list. If the VAT amount has
been altered manually, the transaction will be displayed on the Check VAT Values list.
Note: The expected VAT amount takes into account any settlement discounts and
any specified rounding tolerances that have been previously specified.
For more information about running this feature, see the topic To check your VAT
values on page 648.
To check your accounts system for potential audit queries

1. Open the Company module, then from the Tasks pane, click Prepare for Audit.
The Verify System window appears.
2. Select the Check Accounts System for Potential Audit Queries option, and click OK.
The Accounts Verification Settings window appears.
3. Select the settings that you want to apply in the Accounts Verification Settings window.
Identify possible Select this check box to list duplicate transactions on your
duplicate transactions Sage 50 Accounts system. If this option is selected, Sage 50
Accounts compares transaction types, dates, values and
account references. If any transactions are found with the
same details, the transactions appear with the transaction
with the earliest audit trail number being listed first.
Note: When transactions are displayed after running this
check, you should check that the listed invoices have been
issued against matching credit notes. If they do match you
can write these two transactions off. These will not be
displayed the next time you run the Accounts System Check.
Identify Invoices not Select this check box to highlight any invoices that have not
updated and / or printed been updated or printed, fourteen days after the date that
within 14 days appears on the invoice in Sage 50 Accounts.
639
Identify Sales and Sales receipts on account and purchase payments on

Purchase Payments on account are usually posted using the non-vatable tax code -
Account not using tax code T9 if you are using the default tax codes. Select the
non-vatable Tax Code check box to identify any sales receipt on account or
purchase payment on account that has been posted using a
different tax code.
Note: You should only select this check box if you are using
the Standard VAT Accounting scheme.
Identify Sales and Sales and purchase invoices are usually posted using the
Purchase Transactions standard rate of tax - code T1 if you are using the default tax
not using Standard codes. Select the check box to identify any sales or purchase
Rated Tax Code transactions that have been posted using a different tax code.
Identify EC Sales Select this check box to highlight any EC sales transactions
Transactions posted to posted to customer accounts with no VAT Registration
Customer Accounts number.
with no VAT Registration
Number Note: For more information about tax codes, you should
check the following HMRC publication notices:
Notice 700 - The VAT Guide. This is the main VAT reference
guide.
Notice 725 - The single market. This notice explains the way
that VAT is charged and accounted for on the movement of
goods within the EC single market.
For copies of Notice 700 and Notice 725, you should refer to
the HMRC website, www.hmrc.gov.uk. You can access this
website from your Sage accounts software, by opening the
WebLinks menu and selecting HM Revenue and Customs.
640
Support Tools
Identify EC Purchase Select this check box to highlight any EC purchase

Transactions posted to transactions posted to supplier accounts with no VAT
Supplier Accounts with Registration number.
no VAT Registration
Number Note: For more information about EC tax codes, you should
check the following HMRC publication notices:
Notice 700 - The VAT Guide. This is the main VAT reference
guide.
Notice 725 - The single market. This notice explains the way
that VAT is charged and accounted for on the movement of
goods within the EC single market.
For copies of Notice 700 and Notice 725, you should refer to
the HMRC website, www.hmrc.gov.uk. You can access this
website from your Sage accounts program, by opening the
WebLinks menu and choosing HM Revenue and Customs.
Identify Purchase Orders Select this check box to highlight any purchase order that has
that have been delivered been delivered but not invoiced. This allows you to account
but not invoiced for payments or invoices that you pay in arrears.
4. To continue, click OK.

The Date Range window appears.
5. Enter the date range you want to run the check for.
The Accounts System Check window appears, showing all transactions that have been
flagged for further investigation. For more information about running this feature, see the
topic The Accounts System Check Window on page 642.
From here you can also print the contents of the window by clicking Print. Alternatively, you
can export the details to Microsoft Excel by clicking Send To.
641
The Accounts System Check Window

The Accounts System Check window appears after you have run the Accounts Verification
Settings window. This window displays any transactions identified using the criteria you specify
on the Accounts Verification Settings window.
The window displays the following information:
Date Range From: Shows the From date you entered in the Date Range window. You
can change this here if you require.
To: Shows the To date you entered in the Date Range window. You
Refresh Click this button to update the transaction information in the

Accounts System Check window if you change the dates in the
Date Range From and/or To boxes.
No Displays the Audit Trail number that was assigned to the

transaction when it was first posted.
Inv/Ord No. Displays the invoice or order number of any invoices, sales orders
or purchase orders found.
Type Displays the type of transaction, for example, SI = Sales Invoice

and PA = Purchase Payment On Account.
Ref Displays the reference that was entered when the transaction was
created for audit trail transactions and shows the customer or
supplier account reference for invoices and orders.
Account Displays the customer or supplier account code assigned to the

transaction for sales and purchase transactions, or the nominal
code for journal entries. For invoices and orders, this column
shows the customer or supplier account name.
Net Displays the net amount of the transaction.
Tax Displays the tax amount of the transaction.
T/C Displays the tax code assigned to the transaction.
Comment Displays the reason why the transaction was listed in the Accounts
System Check window.
642
Support Tools
To run the VAT audit check

2. Select the Run VAT Audit Check on Accounts System for Possible Tax Queries option and
click OK.
The VAT Audit Check Settings window appears.
From this window, you can set the options to filter out any transactions that do not meet
your tax criteria. You can select any, or all, of the following options from three tabs: Sales
Analysis, Purchase Analysis and Financials Analysis.
3. Select the check boxes for the audits that you want to run, and enter any VAT thresholds
in the relevant boxes.
Sales Analysis tab:
Identify Sales Invoices and Receipts where the tax code is non-vatable or not in use.
Select this check box to view all sales invoices and receipts that have a non-vatable
tax code, or a tax code that is not flagged as In Use in your accounts. Sales invoices
and receipts normally have a tax code that appears on your VAT Return associated
with them, so this check will ensure that any sales invoices or receipts that have been
raised with a non-vatable tax code have been done so on purpose.
Identify Sales Invoices and Receipts where VAT Rate is less than XX% and Tax amount
is not equal to zero, and sales credits where VAT Rate is more than XX% and Tax
amount is not equal to zero.
Select this check box to check your sales invoices, sales receipts and sales credits
with a specified VAT Rate with a tax amount that is not equal to zero.
Identify Sales Credits where Net Amount equals zero and VAT amount is over XXXX.
643
Select this check box if you want the VAT Audit to identify any Sales Credits with a net
amount of zero and a tax amount above a given threshold. Then, specify the amount
of tax that the transaction must have before it is listed in the checking process in the
relevant box.
Identify EC Sales transactions to Customer accounts with no VAT Registration
Number.
Select this check box if you want the VAT Audit to identify any transactions for sales
within the EC, that have been posted to any customer accounts that do not have a
VAT Registration number. You may choose to exclude this option, if you do not sell to
customers outside of the UK.
Identify EC Sales transactions to non-EU and UK Customers.
Select this check box if you want the VAT Audit to check for any sales transactions
using your EC Sales tax code that are posted to customers whose Country Code
relates to a non-EU country, or to UK customers.
For a list of EU members, refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
Purchase Analysis tab:
Identify Purchase transactions where VAT amount is over XXXX.
Select this check box if you want the VAT Audit to include any purchase transactions
where the VAT amount is over a specified amount. Specify this amount in the relevant
box. If any transactions meet the settings that you specified they will be listed in the
VAT Audit Check window.
Identify Purchase Invoices and Payments where VAT Rate in more than XX% and
Purchase Credits where VAT Rate is less than XX% and VAT Amount is over XXXX.
Select this check box to search for purchase invoices, bank payments and purchase
credits that have VAT Rate over or under an amount that you specify, and a VAT
amount over a specified amount. Enter the VAT Rates and VAT amount in the relevant
boxes. If any transactions meet the settings that you specify, they are listed in the VAT
Audit Check window.
Identify Purchase Credits where VAT amount equals zero and Net amount is over
XXXX.
Select this check box if you want the VAT Audit to include purchase credit transactions
where the VAT amount equals zero, but the net amount is over a specified value. Enter
the net VAT amount in the relevant box. If any transactions meet the settings that you
specify, they are listed in the VAT Audit Check window.
Identify EC Purchase transactions from non-EU and UK Suppliers.
Select this check box if you want the VAT Audit to check for any purchase
transactions using your EC Purchases tax codes that are posted to suppliers whose
Country Code relates to a non-EU country, or to UK suppliers.
For a list of EU members, refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
644
Support Tools
Financials Analysis tab:

Identify Journal Transactions posted to VAT Accounts.
Select this check box if you want to search for any journal transactions posted to your
VAT accounts. Enter your VAT Liability nominal code in the relevant box.
Identify Forward Posted Taxable Transactions.
Select this check box if you want to search for transactions posted with a vatable tax
code where the transaction date is ahead of the actual posting date.
Identify Journal Transactions where Tax Code is not non vatable.
Select this check box if you want to search for journal transactions posted with a
vatable tax code.
The VAT Audit Check window appears showing any transactions that fall into the
categories that you set in step 3. For more information about this window, see The VAT
Audit Check Window on page 646.
645
The VAT Audit Check Window

If you select the Run VAT Audit Check on Accounts System option, the VAT Audit Check
window appears.
The window displays the following information:
Date Range From: Shows the From date you entered in the Date Range window. You
To: Shows the To date you entered in the Date Range window. You
Refresh Click this button to update the transaction information in the VAT
Audit Check window if you change the dates in the Date Range
From and/or To boxes.
No Displays the Audit Trail number that was assigned to the

transaction when it was first posted.
Type Displays the type of transaction, for example, SI = sales invoice

and PA = purchase payment on account.
Account Displays the customer or supplier account code assigned to the

transaction.
Ref Displays the reference the transaction was posted with.
Nominal Displays the nominal code to which the transaction is posted.
Details Displays the details the transaction was posted with.
Date Posted Displays the date on which the transaction was posted into the
Sage 50 Accounts software.
Net Displays the net amount of the transaction.
Tax Displays the tax amount of the transaction.
T/C Displays the tax code assigned to the transaction.
Comment Displays the reason why the transaction is listed in the VAT Audit
Check window. For more information about the comments that
may appear, please refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
646
Support Tools
To view the Account Verification and VAT Audit reports

2. Select the Show all Accounts verification and VAT audit reports option and click OK.
The Accounts Verification Reports window appears.
This window lists all of the reports that can be used to check and trace transactions and
their VAT amounts.
3. Select the required report from the list and choose the output you require from the
drop-down list.
4. Click Generate Report.
647
To check your VAT values

2. Select the Check VAT Values on Transactions for Possible Errors option, and click OK.
4. Click OK to continue.
The Check VAT Values window appears. This window displays any transaction on your
accounting system where the tax amount is not equal to the expected tax amount.
The Check VAT Values list shows the following details:
VAT Rounding Enter a percentage figure here.

Tolerance %
Depending on the different decimal placings that you use throughout
your Sage 50 Accounts system, the VAT values on your transactions
may differ slightly. These transactions will be picked up by the VAT
Audit Check.
By setting a percentage tolerance value you can account for these
rounding differences.
Date Range Shows the From date you entered in the Date Range window. You
From: can change this here if you require.
To: Shows the To date you entered in the Date Range window. You can
change this here if you require.
Refresh Click this button to update the information in the Check VAT Values
window if you change the VAT Rounding Tolerance, Date Range
From and/or To boxes.
No. This column displays the transaction number as listed on the Audit
Trail.
Type This shows the transaction type code, for example, SC = Sales
Credit and PI = Purchase Invoice.
Account This column displays the account reference for the transaction.
Nominal This column displays the nominal code that the transaction has
been posted to.
Details This displays the details that were entered onto the transaction
when it was first created.
648
Support Tools
Date This column shows the date that was entered onto the transaction.
Ref This column shows the reference that was used to identify this
transaction.
Net This shows the net amount for the transaction.
Tax This shows the VAT amount for the transaction.
Estimated Tax This column shows the tax amount that is expected by Sage 50
Accounts, calculated from the transactions net amount and the tax
code. This allows you to see transactions where the actual tax and
estimated tax amounts differ.
T/C This column displays the tax code that was entered onto this
transaction.
5. Click Recalculate to re-check your accounts for any new transactions posted since you ran
the Check VAT Values for possible errors option, for example, if you are working on a
multi-user version of Sage 50 Accounts.
To export the information from the Check VAT Value window into Microsoft Excel, click
Send To.
To print a list of the transactions that are displayed on the Check VAT Values window, click
Print.
6. Click Close to return to the main Financials window.
649
Working with Attachments using Document Manager

When you deal with your customers, suppliers and bank in everyday business, it is likely that
you communicate in a number of different ways. It is likely that in the course of a day, you will
deal with letters, statements, telephone calls, emails and faxes, and any number of other types
of documents.
Sage 50 Accounts Document Manager enables you to organise the contact and document
information for all your accounts by allowing you to link electronic and paper documents to their
associated records. The feature uses Windows Explorer functionality that you may already be
familiar with, so you can start using it straight away.
Using the Memo tab in the record window, you can manage your documents by attaching
shortcuts and filing system references to the 'Attachments' section. You can also add free text
to the record using the 'Memo' section of the window, allowing you to record important notes
or contact information for each record.
You can even add copies of the statements and letters you produce from Sage 50 Accounts to
the records they relate to.
The Memo Tab

The Memo tab appears on Customer, Supplier, Nominal, Bank, Product and Project records.
To access the Memo tab, open the appropriate record and click Memo. The Memo tab appears,
displaying two panes containing the attachments and memo information.
650
Support Tools
The upper Attachments pane contains the attachment shortcuts and filing system references.
For further information about using the Attachments pane, refer to the following sections.
The lower Memo pane lets you enter notes about the record or its attachments as free text, and
also displays information from the record's existing Memo file, if one is present, for example if
you are upgrading from an earlier version of Sage 50 Accounts or Instant Accounts. There is no
limit to the amount of text you can enter into the Memo pane.
Note: If you do not have existing Memo files, for example if you are installing Sage 50 Accounts
for the first time or if you have not used Memos before, then each record has a blank Memo file
ready for you to use.
In addition to the two panes, three buttons appear along the bottom of the Memo pane. These
are New Attachment, Delete Attachment and Properties. For details about using the New
Attachment and Delete Attachment buttons, see the following sections.
The Properties button only appears active if you select one or more attachments. Clicking
Properties displays the properties for the selected attachment, allowing you to change
attributes such as the shortcut name, target path or associated program for the file. You can
also view, but not amend, other details such as the file size and location of the shortcut's target.
Note: You can also access an attachment's properties by right-clicking the attachment and
choosing Properties from the drop-down menu.
Working with the Attachments Pane

The Attachments pane at the top of the Memo tab utilises much of the standard Windows
functionality. This allows you to work with attachments in a way that you may already be familiar
with, enabling you to:
Change the appearance of the window, by viewing the Attachments pane as Large Icons,
Small Icons, List, Details or Thumbnails. The first time you access the Memo tab, your
Windows Explorer settings determine the default view of the Attachments pane. To change
the view in use, make sure that no items are selected and right-click the Attachments pane.
Choose View, then select the view you want to use.
Resize, sort, re-order and hide columns, as you can in Windows Explorer. To hide or view
columns, right-click a column heading and select the names of the columns you want to
view from the drop-down menu.
Double-click the shortcut attachments to open them using the program associated with
each file type in Windows. For example, double-clicking the shortcut to a .doc file opens
the document in Microsoft Word.
View the Attachments pane in the Windows web view format, displaying a summary of a
selected attachment's details in the left hand side of the Attachments pane. The web view
is enabled by default, but you can switch it off in Windows Explorer's Folder Options.
Use Windows Shortcut menus, accessed by right-clicking the Attachments pane or by
right-clicking an attachment shortcut. The menus give you quick access to various
651
standard Windows functionality, such as the ability to arrange icons or create a new folder,
shortcut or document, or to open, print or copy an attachment.
Drag and drop items from Windows Explorer into the Attachments pane, or from the
Attachments pane into Windows Explorer. Dragging an item into the Attachments pane
moves the item into Sage 50 Accounts data folder so that it is no longer available from its
original location.
Cut, copy and paste items into or from the Attachments pane. The functionality works here
as it does in Windows - copying and pasting a file into the Attachments pane leaves the
file in its present location, but cutting and pasting the file removes it from its original folder.
For further information on any of the Windows functionality used in the Memo tab, refer to your
Microsoft Windows user documentation.
To add a shortcut to a record using Document Manager

1. From the appropriate record window, click the Memo tab.
The Memo information appears, displaying the Attachments and Memo panes.
2. Click Add Attachment.
The Add New Attachment window appears.
3. Select Electronic attachment and click OK.
The New Shortcut window appears.
4. In the File Location section of the window, enter the location of the file you want to create
an attachment for. If you are not sure of the path to the file, click Browse to locate the file.
5. In the Attachment Type section of the window, select the attachment method you want to
use from the following:
652
Support Tools
Leave the file in its This option is selected by default. If you choose this option,
current location Sage 50 Accounts creates a shortcut to the file you select.
The file is not affected in any way and remains in its present
location.
Copy the file into the If you choose this option, the program makes a copy of the
Sage 50 Accounts data original file into the Sage 50 Accounts data folder. The file is
folder not affected and remains in its present location.
Move the file into the If you choose this option, the program takes the file from its
Sage 50 Accounts data present location and moves it into the Sage 50 Accounts data
folder folder. The file no longer exists in its original location.
Note: If you choose to move the file into the Sage 50
Accounts data folder, and later delete the attachment from the
record's Memo tab, Sage 50 Accounts deletes the file from its
data folder. This means that the file no longer exists on your
PC.
6. To save your changes and attach the document to the record, click OK.
To discard your changes and exit without attaching the document to the record, click
Cancel.
The Memo window appears.
Note: You can also add a new shortcut to a record's Memo tab by right-clicking in the
Attachments pane (make sure that no attachment is selected) and selecting New -
Shortcut. Follow the steps in the Create Shortcut wizard to create your shortcut.
To add a filing system reference to a record using Document Manager

1. From the appropriate record window, click Memo.
The Memo information appears, displaying the Attachments and Memo details.
2. Click Add Attachment.
The Add New Attachment window appears.
3. Select Filing System Reference and click OK.
The Create New Filing System Reference window appears.
653
4. In the Filing System Reference Location section of the window, enter the location where
your paper document is stored, for example your filing cabinet. The location you enter here
appears in the Comment column when you return to the Memo tab, for your reference.
5. In the Filing System Reference Name section of the window, enter the name that you want
to show in the Memo tab for this attachment.
6. To save your changes and attach the filing system reference to the record, click OK.
To discard your changes and exit without attaching the filing system reference to the
record, click Cancel.
The Memo window appears.
Note: You can also add a new filing system reference to a record's Memo tab by
right-clicking in the Attachments pane - make sure that no attachment is selected, and
selecting New - Filing System Reference. The Create New Filing System Reference window
appears ready for you to complete as detailed in steps 4 to 6 above.
To delete an attachment from a record using Document Manager

1. From the appropriate record window, click the Memo tab.
The Memo information appears, displaying the Attachments and Memo details.
2. In the Attachments pane, select the attachment(s) you want to delete from the record.
3. Click Delete Attachment.
A confirmation message appears: Are you sure you want to send (file name) to the Recycle
Bin?
Note: If you moved files into your Sage 50 Accounts data directory when you created
electronic attachments, then deleting the attachment removes the file from the data folder
and it no longer exists on your PC.
654
Support Tools
4. To confirm that you want to delete the attachment(s), click OK. Sage 50 Accounts deletes
the attachment(s) and returns you to the Memo window.
5. Alternatively, to cancel and return to the Memo window without deleting the attachment(s),
click Cancel.
655
Exporting to Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook

You can export a range of information from Sage 50 Accounts to Microsoft Word, Excel and
Outlook. You can find out what you can export and how, in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system
by typing Word, Excel or Outlook into the Helps index.
In this version of Sage 50 Accounts, the Microsoft Office integration has been brought
together under a single menu command:
Sending your customer and supplier contacts to Microsoft Outlook

You can send your customer and supplier contact information stored in your Sage 50 Accounts
software to Microsoft Outlook. This saves you time, as you do not have to enter your contacts
in two places.
Your Diary module data is fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook, enabling you to:
export Diary events to Microsoft Outlook
import Microsoft Outlook appointments into your Diary
export your Diary contacts to Microsoft Outlook
Diary - import / export contacts and appointments

1. Open the Diary module.
The Credit Control Diary appears.
2. To import / export Appointments and Contacts using Microsoft Outlook, from the file
menu choose Office Integration > Microsoft Outlook Import / Export Wizard.
The Welcome window of the Sage 50 Calendar Import / Export Wizard appears.
656
Support Tools
Window 1 - Welcome
Option 1 - Import Outlook Diary Events

1. Choose Import Outlook Appointments to update your Credit Control Diary with your
Microsoft Outlook appointments.
Note: Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later must be installed in order to complete the wizard
successfully.
The Options window appears.
657
3. Use the From and To Date Calendar drop-down buttons to choose a date range for your
Microsoft Outlook import action.
The Finish window appears.
This final window displays a summary of the defined import action and the date range.
5. To close the wizard and proceed with your import / export action, click Finish.
Your software proceeds with the import / export of your appointments / contacts, as
defined in the wizard, the wizard closes and you are returned to the Diary window.
Note: Any imported Microsoft Outlook appointments appear in your Diary view with an
event label of None. Similarly, any exported Diary events from Sage 50 Accounts, appear
in Microsoft Outlook, again with an appointment/event label of None.
Option 2: Export Diary Events to Outlook

1. Choose Export Diary Events to Outlook to update your Microsoft Outlook Calendar with
those events already defined in your Credit Control Diary.
successfully.
658
Support Tools
3. Use the From and To Date Calendar drop-down buttons to choose a date range for your
Copy Diary Events action.
This final window displays a summary of the defined export action and the date range.
659
5. To close the wizard and proceed with your Export Diary Events action, click Finish.
Your software exports your selected Diary Events and you are returned to the Diary
window.
Note: Any exported Credit Control Diary Events appear in Microsoft Outlook with an
event label of None.
Option 3: Export Contacts to Outlook

1. Choose Export Contacts to Outlook to update your Microsoft Outlook Contacts with
your Sage 50 Accounts Customers and Suppliers Contacts list.
successfully.
3. Select the Customers and / or Suppliers Ledgers check boxes to define those Contacts
folders that you wish to export into the Microsoft Outlook Contacts directory.
4. If appropriate, click the Change Folder button to change your Outlook folder settings.
660
Support Tools
This final window displays a summary of the defined Contacts export action.
To close the wizard and proceed with your Contacts Export, click Finish.
Your software proceeds with the export of your contacts, as defined in the wizard, the
wizard closes and you are returned to the Diary window.
Note: If problems are encountered during the export, the software returns you to the
Options Window 2. Click Change Folder to load the Outlook folders and modify the folder
structure.
Sending an eMail message using Microsoft Outlook

You can send an email message to a recipient directly from the Sage 50 Accounts desktop
without having to minimise or close your software to access Microsoft Outlook.
To send a message to an email recipient, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File >
Send and then select Message to Mail Recipient. Select the Microsoft Outlook profile you
want to use, if requested, and a new, blank email message appears, ready for you to enter your
recipient details and message text. Click Send to send the message and return to your Sage
50 Accounts desktop.
661
Sending data to Microsoft Word

You can send data from certain windows and lists within Sage 50 Accounts to Microsoft
Word. You can then edit and format the data to create reports to suit your own individual
business requirements. You can choose to send your data to a new document or send the data
to a Word document that is already open, or you can choose to send the information as a mail
merge.
To do this, use the Office Integration > Contents to Microsoft Word command path, from the
File Menu.
662
Support Tools
Sending data to Microsoft Excel

You can send data from certain windows and lists within Sage 50 Accounts to Microsoft
Excel. You can then edit and format the data to create reports to suit your own individual
business requirements. As the data within Excel will not affect your Sage 50 Accounts data, you
can customise your reports and experiment with different scenarios. To do this, from within the
window you want to send to Excel, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Office
Integration > Contents to Microsoft Excel.
Type 'Word', 'Excel' or 'Outlook' in the Help index to find out more.
Help
Note: If you encounter problems sending large amounts of data from Sage 50 Accounts to
Microsoft Excel, you should try reducing the amount of data you send. To do this, use the
Search facility to act as a filter on the list. For more information about applying searches to your
data, refer to Working with Attachments using Document Manager on page 650.
Excel integrated reporting for Sage 50 Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts automatically installs an Excel database driver and a set of Sage Functions,
Data Ranges and Workbooks for use within Excel. Together, these components form the
powerful Excel Integrated Reporting for Sage 50 Accounts feature.
Excel Integrated Reporting for Sage 50 Accounts enables you to access and manipulate Sage
accounts data in Microsoft Excel to suit your needs. It can save you time when generating
reports, spreadsheets, graphs or whatever analysis format you need.
Anyone who is familiar with Microsoft Excel will soon feel at home using Excel Integrated
Reporting for Sage 50 Accounts. For full details about the features and benefits of Excel
Integrated Reporting, see the separate guide Getting Started with Excel Integrated Reporting
for Sage 50 Accounts that is supplied as a PDF file with your Sage 50 Accounts application. To
access the guide, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Help > Getting Started with
Excel Integrated Reporting.
663
Importing into Sage 50 Accounts

This section is aimed at a business that stores information in another application such as such
as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access.
It is about making the most of the information you already have and using it to get up and
running with Sage 50 Accounts as quickly as possible.
What information can I transfer?

You may be able to transfer the information you have stored for your:
Customer Records
Supplier Records
Nominal Ledger Records
Audit Trail Transactions
Stock records
Stock Transactions
Project records
It is also possible to transfer information that is used to create transactions for your audit trail
and product transactions. This would normally be done by your accountant to correct errors.
The same method is used to create records or transactions.
Note: If you are using Import to overwrite or update existing data, take a backup of your existing
data before you proceed.
What do I need to do?

You need to prepare the information you want to transfer and then import it to Sage 50
Accounts. This means creating an import file in a:
Structure that Sage 50 Accounts recognises.
Format that Sage 50 Accounts accepts.
What file structure does Sage 50 Accounts recognise?

When you transfer information into Sage 50 Accounts, the software does not recognise what
the information relates to - it simply takes each chunk of information, in the order it is placed in
the file, and puts it in the next available slot until it has finished.
To get the information to go into the right slots it must be laid out precisely in a set pattern. In
the right pattern the information will fit like a glove. If anything is out of place it would be the
same as putting your left glove on your right hand. It may be close but it will not be right.
664
Support Tools
Type Import into the Help systems Search tab to find the correct layout for the CSV file structure.
Help
Compare how your information is laid out to the layout expected by Sage 50 Accounts. Plan
what you need to change so that your information is in the right order.
Don't worry if you do not need to use all of the fields Sage 50 Accounts is expecting. You can
leave these boxes blank if you do not need them, as long as they are not compulsory fields. For
example, the A/C Ref box is compulsory and must contain data before you attempt to import
the file.
What file format does Sage 50 Accounts accept?

The only file format that Sage 50 Accounts accepts for import is Comma Separated Value
(CSV). These files are used to collect and exchange information between applications.
In a CSV file, chunks of information are placed between commas and a whole transaction or
record is contained by a return line.
For example:
Sage0001,Sage UK Ltd,Sage House,Great Park,Newcastle upon Tyne,Tyne and
Wear,NE13 9AA,Jess Telford
Sage0002,Sage Ireland,3096 Lake Drive,Citywest Business Park,Dublin,,Dublin 24,Holly
Parker
Sage0003,Sage Peachtree,1505 Pavilion Place,,Norcross,Georgia,30093,Helen Baker
It is effectively a table of information: each line is a row for the table and each piece of information
followed by a comma is a column. Therefore the information shown in the example above would
look like this:
Sage0001 Sage UK Ltd Sage House Great Park Newcastle upon Tyne and NE13 9AA Jess
Tyne Wear Telford
Sage0002 Sage Ireland 3096 Lake Drive Citywest Dublin Dublin 24 Holly
Business Park Parker
Sage0003 Sage 1505 Pavilion Norcross Georgia 30093 Helen

Peachtree Place Baker
Some applications have the facility to convert information to CSV for you; others may need a bit
of work to get the desired result.
Before creating a CSV file for import there are also some rules you need to understand and
follow when working with the information you want to import.
Note: The layout for the CSV file structure, available in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system, lists
each piece of information for a record under the heading of 'Field'. The information required for
each field is now referred to as a data unit.
665
Maximum length Each data unit has a maximum length, which is indicated in the
layout for the CSV file structure.
Data that exceeds the maximum length is not imported. For
example, if there are ten characters in an eight character field, then
the data is simply shortened to the required length; an error is not
reported during import.
The maximum length allowed for any data unit is 255 characters.
Data exceeding this figure causes an error to be reported.
The maximum length for a complete record is 1775 characters.
Data types accepted Text: For example ABcd234

Integer: For example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Decimal number: For example 23.58, 132.05, 0.23
Date: For example 31/12/05
Each data unit uses one of these four data types. The required
data type for each data unit is indicated in the layout for the CSV
file structure.
Sage 50 Accounts validates the incoming data during import. If it
finds discrepancies with data types, it aborts the import and
displays an error message. For example, if the import file holds a
decimal number for a data unit that requires an integer then the
import fails.
Two consecutive This signifies a blank, or a zero length unit of data.

commas
Importing a blank unit of data does not overwrite data, leaving
existing information intact. This can be used to change selected
data in a record, for example the telephone number in a Customer
Record. In this case, the import data might read: A0003,,,,,,,,0191
1234567
Note: If a blank field is encountered that corresponds to a date
field, the system (PC) date is used.
Space between two The corresponding data in an existing record is erased. For
consecutive commas example, A0003, , , , , , , ,0191 1234567 would replace the
telephone number, but would also overwrite the existing data
fields.
666
Support Tools
Spaces Text data type: Spaces at the start or end of a data unit are
ignored, whereas spaces within a data unit are included. For
example ,Ilford Road, is imported as Ilford Road.
Note: Spaces found in the data unit of an account reference
are automatically removed during import.
Decimal number, integer and date data type: Spaces are not
allowed.
Quotes Enclosing a unit of data in quotes results in commas contained

within the data unit to be read as part of the data, not as a
separator of data. For example ,"10, Acacia Avenue", is accepted
as a single unit.
Note: Import interprets double quotes as a field separator. Do not
include them as part of a field, even though they are valid
characters for most account text fields.
Account Reference data This data unit is converted to upper-case lettering during import
unit and any spaces are removed. For example Sage UK Limited
converts to SAGEUKLI. The text is cropped to the maximum
length of eight, the characters are in upper-case and the spaces
are removed.
Control characters The special non printing characters such as tab marks are ignored
during import with the exception of carriage returns.
How do I prepare an import file?

You need to decide what will be the quickest and easiest way for you to prepare the CSV file
with the applications you have.
Microsoft Excel and Access
These applications use data columns which makes moving whole sections of information
easier to do.
In these applications each row of information represents a record or transaction and each
column represents piece of information that will be placed into a record field.
Once the information is in the correct sequence you can then save it as a CSV file. The
application then adds the commas and line breaks needed. The results of this can be
viewed in a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad.
Microsoft Word
Word cannot convert the information to CSV for you. This means you must add commas
and line returns to set out the information correctly.
667
Although it is possible to prepare information in Word it may take some time to do. If you
do have Excel or Access you may find it easier to transfer the information to one of these
applications and modify it there.
The following explains how to prepare a CSV file using some popular applications.
Microsoft Access
Take a copy of the file containing the information you want to transfer.
Move, delete and add columns so that the file matches the required CSV file
structure.
Check the information conforms to the rules required for each data unit. For
example, ensure that the character limit for each field in the layout has not been
exceeded. For a list of these rules see What file format does Sage 50 Accounts
accept? on page 665.
Save the file as a CSV file. To do this:
From the File menu, choose Export and select Text Files (*.txt, *.csv, *.tab,
*.asc).
As prompted by Access Export Text Wizard, choose the delimited option and
click Next.
Choose the Comma option and click Next.
Change the file extension from txt to CSV in the Export to File box and click
Finish.
668
Support Tools
Microsoft Excel
If you have several worksheets you will need to save each one separately.
Alternatively, you could create a new worksheet and copy the information to this
sheet.
Move, delete and add columns so that the file matches the required CSV file
structure.
Remove any text headings or graphs.
Note: Sums are converted to a numeric value when you save the CSV file.
From the File menu, select Save As. In the Save as Type box, select CSV
(Comma delimited) (*.csv) from the drop-down list.
Click Yes on any prompts that Excel displays.
669
Microsoft Word
Remove any labels you have used such as name, address, telephone.
Separate each record as a single line of information.
Insert a comma between each piece of information on the record line so that it
matches the layout expected by Sage 50 Accounts.
From the File menu, choose Save As and select Text Only (*.txt) from the
Save as Type box.
Click Save.
The file is saved as a text file, so you need to change the file type to CSV. To
do this:
Open Windows Explorer and locate the file you have just saved.
Select the file, right-click, then select Rename from the drop-down menu that
appears.
Change the file extension from .txt to .csv. For example test1.txt becomes
test1.csv.
Press Enter on your keyboard and then click Yes on the prompt that appears
to accept the change.
To import information
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Import.
The File Import window appears.
2. From the Import Type option box, select the record or transaction type you want to import.
3. To proceed with the import, click Run. Alternatively, if you want to exit from the import
procedure, click Close.
4. When you click Run the Open window appears for you to indicate the source of the data.
Files for import must have the file extension .CSV. Select the file containing the information
that you want to import, and click Open.
670
Support Tools
The import procedure is completed in two stages. Firstly, Sage 50 Accounts checks the
source file to ensure that the data is in the correct format. Secondly, if no errors are
discovered, Sage 50 Accounts imports the data and posts it into the appropriate data files.
If the import procedure was successful, the File Import Success window appears. This
window reports on all the data that was imported and records the data reference; the
account/customer/supplier/product code and the narrative details of the data.
If there were problems that meant the import was unsuccessful, the File Import Errors
window appears. The window reports the errors in the data that caused the import to
abort. The line in the data file where the error occurred is recorded, along with the field and
the nature of the error. For example, if you received the error message:
Error in line 4, field 1: Invalid data for Sales Ledger Account Reference field
This message indicates that in line 4, field 1 of the particular file you attempted to import,
there was not a valid sales ledger (customer) account code.
Note: Once you have successfully completed the import we recommend you check your
data files. For more information, see Checking your data on page 66.
Something is not right!
Problem Possible explanation
The import appears to Ensure that the CSV file you are importing is not currently
be suspended open on your PC.
Error messages are There are several reasons why you are encountering
displayed problems. For a list of possible solutions type CSV File
Format Errors in the index tab of the Sage 50 Accounts Help
system.
5. To exit the File Import Success window click Close. Click Close again to close the File
Import Window and return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop.
671
Event Logging
Event Logging enables you to keep a record of important events that occur within your data.
For example, when a user performs a Year End or reconciles transactions for VAT, Sage 50
Accounts makes important and often irreversible changes to your data files. Storing the details
of these types of events in a log allows you to see who made the change, on what machine,
and when.
When you activate Event Logging, Sage 50 Accounts records many different types of events.
As well as the Year End and VAT Reconciliation processes mentioned above, the log also stores
details of events such as the backing up and restoring of data and data file errors, period end
changes, through to changing tax codes on records or exporting data using Accountant Link.
For a full list of the incidents Event Logging records, type 'Event Logging' in the Help index and select
Help the 'What Events Does Sage 50 Accounts Log?' topic.
As well as viewing the Event Log, you can print the list of events if you require. You can increase
or decrease the size of the log file any time you choose, perhaps to reduce the size if disk space
becomes limited on your PC. You can also delete individual items from the log.
Note: When you install Sage 50 Accounts, Event Logging is enabled by default, and is set up
to record critical events only.
To enable Event Logging

Note: To enable or switch off Event Logging, you must log into Sage 50 Accounts with the
MANAGER user name and password. This facility is not available to any other users.
1. Select Settings > Company Preferences.
2. Click the Parameters tab.
The Parameters information appears.
3. To activate Event Logging, select the Log Events check box in the Others section of the
window.
Alternatively, if you want to switch off Event Logging, clear the Log Events check box.
Note: When you install Sage 50 Accounts, Event Logging is activated by default.
672
Support Tools
To view or configure the Event Log

Note: To view or configure the Event Log, you must log into Sage 50 Accounts with the
MANAGER user name and password. This facility is not available to any other users. If you are
logged into Sage 50 Accounts with the MANAGER details and cannot access the Event
Logging option in File Maintenance, check that the 'Log Events' check box is selected in
Settings > Company Preferences.
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Tools > Event Log.
The Event Log window appears.
The Event Log displays one line of information for each event stored in the file. The details
shown include the type of event, the date and time that the event occurred, and the details
of the user name and machine that performed the action.
2. To print the list of events, click Print List.
3. To delete an event, select the event in the list and click Delete.
Note: You can select multiple events to delete, if you require. You should make sure that
you want to delete all the events you select before you click Delete.
A confirmation message appears. Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the selected
event(s), or click No to cancel.
4. To change the configuration of your Event Log file, click Settings.
The Settings window appears.
673
Use the Settings window to view the following settings:
Log File Size Use this section of the Settings window to view the current
size of your Events Log file and to amend the maximum file
size if you require. For example, if you are running out of disk
space on your PC, you can reduce the size of the Events Log
file.
Note: If you enter a Maximum Log File Size that is smaller
than the Current Log File Size, Sage 50 Accounts displays a
warning message advising that some of your oldest events
will be deleted from the file. To continue, click Yes, or to
cancel, click No and enter a different Maximum File Size.
Logging Level Control Use this section of the window to specify the type of events
you want to log by selecting the relevant check boxes. You
can choose from 0 - Critical Events, 1 - Errors, 2 - Warnings
and 3 - Information.
For example, procedures such as fixing data errors or
rebuilding data files are Critical Events. If you only want the
Events Log to store details of this type of action, select only
the 0 - Critical Events check box.
674
Support Tools
5. To save your changes to the Settings window, click OK. Alternatively, to exit without saving,
click Cancel.
6. To exit from the Events Log window, click Close.
The File Maintenance window appears.
7. To return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click Close.
8. You have now viewed your Events Log.
675
Working With Internet Resources

If your business regularly uses couriers to deliver goods or if you use credit checking bureaus
to assess customer credit risks and you are connected to the Internet, you can enter their
website details using Internet Resources. To do this, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar,
select Settings > Internet Resources. Once you have entered their details, you can link to the
courier or credit bureau web sites directly from Sage 50 Accounts.
More information about Internet Resources can be found in the Sage 50 Accounts Help system
by pressing F1 on you keyboard.
News Feeds
The Sage RSS News Feeds facility allows you to keep in touch with updates on the Sage
ripostes.
RSS is a family of web feed format, used to publish frequently updated content such as blog
entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is termed a feed, web feed or
channel, contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text.
RSS initials are used to refer to various feed formats, notably Really Simple Syndication (RSS
2.0), RDF Site Summary (RSS1 1.0 and 0.90) and Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91), and a typical
RSS news update message contains article headlines, links and descriptions that are
automatically updated as the website is updated.
How do I register for RSS Feeds from Sage?

The Confirm News Feeds Registration screen is displayed automatically the first time you start
the program. This shows a list of the RSS feeds currently available from Sage.
By default, you are registered to obtain updates from all of the available feed sources. If you do
not want to receive news updates from a particular source, simply clear the corresponding
check box.
676
Support Tools
How am I informed of an RSS news update?

When a news update is received from one of your selected RSS feed sources, a pop-up alert
message is displayed briefly in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
After a few seconds the message fades out, but an orange RSS update image remains on the
status bar. The colour of this image changes to grey once you have read all of the outstanding
news updates.
You can also define how long the pop-up alert message is displayed when an update is
received.
Viewing RSS News Updates - The News Feeds Window

Each time an RSS news update is received, a pop-up alert message is displayed, for a short
time, in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. If you click on the title of the pop-up alert,
this automatically opens the News Feeds screen and displays the corresponding message text.
If the pop-up message fades out before you get a chance to click on it, you can view any of the
news updates you have received by following the steps described below.
1. From the News Feeds menu, click View Feeds. Alternatively, you can click on the RSS
updates image on the status bar.
The News Feeds window appears.
2. From the Select a news feed to display messages from drop-down list, choose the feed
source you want to look at. Any feed sources with unread messages are shown in bold in
this list; any feed sources that you are not currently registered with are shown in grey.
A list of the messages received from your selected feed source is displayed, with the most
recent messages at the top of the list and those which you have not yet read shown in bold.
3. To view a particular message, select it in the list.
The message text is shown in the lower part of the screen.
Each message will typically provide a summary of the website update. The message will
also contain a Read More link, which you can click on to go to the website and view full
details of the update.
Configuring News Feeds

The News Feed Settings allow you to define how often a particular feed source will be checked
for updates. It also allows you to enable and disable updates from individual feed sources.
To configure your news feeds:

1. From the News Feeds menu click View Feeds.
677
2. Select the feed source you want to work on, using the Select a news feed to display
messages from drop-down list.
Note: Any feed sources that you are not registered with or which you have disabled are
shown in grey. You can select any of these to enable them; see below for details.
3. Click Configure Feed.
The Feed Configuration window appears.
4. Specify the settings you require for the selected feed source.
Update Frequency
This is how often, in minutes, the specified feed source should be checked for news
updates.
Enabled
This indicates whether or not you are currently registered to receive news from the
selected feed source.
To register with the feed source, check this box. To stop receiving updates, clear this
box.
Set as Default
Use this button to have the currently selected feed source shown automatically when
the News Feeds window is displayed.
Defining News Feed Settings

The News Feed Settings allow you to define:
How long the pop-up alert is displayed when a new update message is received.
Whether to display a pop-up alert.
To define your news feeds settings:

1. From the News Feeds menu choose View Feeds.
2. Click Settings.
The News Feeds Settings window is displayed.
3. Specify your required settings for pop-up alerts.
Display a popup alert ...
If you do not want a pop-up alert message to be displayed when a new update
message is received, clear this check box.
678
Support Tools
Automatically hide the alert after

The length of time pop-up alert messages will be displayed, in seconds. After this
time, the message fades out.
Note: If you switch off alert pop-ups, by clearing the Display a popup alert ... box, you
will not be able to make an entry in this box.
If you need to specify proxy settings:

1. From the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
The Internet Options window appears.
By default, the software will use your browser settings, and this is the recommended
option.
2. If you wish to modify these settings, after consulting your network administrator, click the
Use proxy server option.
3. Enter your Proxy Server details and, if required, enter your Domain, username and
password details.
4. To save your proxy settings, click OK.
679
680
Chapter 13
Reporting
Sage 50 Accounts provides you with a In this chapter:

range of reports which you can print at any
An Introduction to Reports...............682
time. You can select specific ranges of
transactions to be included on each report Running the Audit Trail Report..........683
and you can see the report on-screen, Running the Trial Balance Report .....684
print it out, save it to a file or email it to
Running the Profit and Loss Report .685
someone.
Running the Balance Sheet Report ..686
This chapter explains in more detail some
of the reports you might be asked to print Running the Quick Ratio Report
out in other chapters of this guide. (Accounts Plus and Accounts
Running the Budget Report .............688
Running the Prior Year Report..........689
Running the Transactional-Based
Management Reports (Accounts Plus
Column-Based Financial Reports.....692
Batch Reporting ..............................694
An Introduction to Reports
Reports are a very important area of the Sage 50 Accounts software. There are a number
of places where you can access the reports. Each module has its own set of reports. So,
if you wanted to see your Customer Activity report, you can go into Customers, then click
Reports and choose the appropriate one. Likewise, the Company module has your
Balance Sheet Report and Profit and Loss reports. There are numerous reports available
for each module. To view the reports for each module, from the module main toolbar, click
Reports.
You can change the layouts of the reports to suit your own needs, and save them so you
can use them again. You can do this using the Report Designer.
You can change the layouts of the reports to suit your own needs, and save them so you
can use them again. You can do this using the Report Designer, accessed from Tools
menu > Report Designer. Also, refer to the Report Designer help file, available on your
software disk as ReportDesigner2008help.chm.
Note: If you change the reports, you must save them under a different filename. For
example, Customer Activity (Detailed) is called CSTACTD.report, so if you want to change
the layout or personalise the report, in Report Designer, you must call it something else,
for example, CUSACDET.report.
When you click Reports within a module, you will see all the reports available in that
module in a tree view.
Reporting
Running the Audit Trail Report

Every time you enter a transaction into Sage 50 Accounts the details are stored in a list called
an audit trail. This is a complete record of your transaction activities and is often requested by
auditors during their investigations.
Click the Audit button in the Financials window to examine the audit trail in more detail and to
output the information to either the printer, preview screen, file or an email. You can print a brief,
summary or detailed Audit Trail report that shows varying degrees of detail. You can also print
a report showing deleted transactions.
You should use this to regularly print out a listing of the audit trail for reference purposes. We
recommend that you print a copy of your audit trail on a monthly basis.
Note: This is just a snapshot of the beginning of the report. The report continues beyond the
limits of this screen shot.
To access the Audit Trail report

1. Select Company > Financials.
The Financials window appears.
2. Click Audit.
3. Choose the Audit Trail Type and the Output you require and click Run.
683
4. Enter the criteria you want to use for the report, and click OK.
Running the Trial Balance Report

This report shows the current debit or credit balance for all nominal accounts that have a
balance. Unused nominal accounts are not listed. Use the Trial button in the Financials window
to give you a Trial Balance report showing a simple listing of balances held in all of your nominal
ledger accounts. You can run this report for any month.
To access the Trial Balance report

2. Click Trial.
3. Select the output you require and click Run.
4. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.
684
Reporting
Running the Profit and Loss Report

Your Profit and Loss report shows you whether or not your company is trading profitably. You
can produce a Profit and Loss report for the current month or for any range of consecutive
months within your current financial year.
The standard Profit and Loss report shows the balances of each of your income and
expenditure nominal ledger accounts grouped into categories. These are sub-totalled to show
sales, purchases, direct expenses and overheads. The amount of gross profit and net profit
made is also shown.
To access the Profit and Loss report

2. Click P and L.
685
Running the Balance Sheet Report

A Balance Sheet shows what your company owns - your assets, and what it owes - your
liabilities. For example, motor vehicles or property, bank accounts, debtors, creditors, or cash
accounts. The difference between the assets and the liabilities is often known as a company's
net assets - that is, net worth.
These net assets take the form of capital which is made up of the funds that are financing the
company's operations. Capital can be made up of several sources of funds such as the capital
that has been introduced by the owner, share capital, directors' loans and retained funds from
each year's profit or loss after tax.
To access the Balance Sheet report

2. Click Balance.
3. Select the output you require and click OK.
686
Reporting
Running the Quick Ratio Report

The Quick Ratio report shows you the current liquidity of your company, based upon the data
available. By comparing the debit and credit balances, the software will show the net balance.
You can edit the Quick Ratio report to include the nominal accounts you want to compare.
.
To access the Quick Ratio report

2. Click Ratio.
The Quick Ratio window appears.
3. To remove a nominal account that you do not want included in the comparison, select it in
the list, and click Delete. A confirmation message appears; click Yes to confirm the
deletion, or click No to cancel.
Repeat for all nominal codes you want to remove. If you want to save the changes to the
list for each time you run the Quick Ratio report, click Save. Alternatively, click Print to
produce the report without saving the changes to the list and click No when prompted to
save the changes.
4. Select the output you want to use and click Run.
687
Running the Budget Report

This report shows the current values in your sales, purchases, direct expenses and overhead
accounts for both the month you specify and the year-to-date in the order and groupings that
have been set up in the chart of accounts.
The monthly budget values that you entered on the Nominal Ledger Record of each account
are also shown, and the actual and budget values are compared to show the amount of
difference between the two.
In addition, each category heading is also calculated as a percentage of the total sales figure,
as a ratio.
.
To access the Budget report

2. Click Variance.
688
Reporting
Running the Prior Year Report

This report shows the current values in your sales, purchases, direct expenses and overhead
account codes in the order and groupings that have been set up in your chart of accounts. The
report details your trading activities for both the current month, or alternatively the period
specified, and the year-to-date.
The previous year's balances for the specified month and year-to-date are shown and
compared with the actuals to show the amount of difference - that is, variance, between the
two. In addition, each group total is calculated as a percentage of the total sales figure, as a
ratio.
To access the Prior Year report

2. Click Prior Yr.
689
Running the Transactional-Based Management Reports

The transactional-based management reports enable you to produce reports to give you the
exact information you need to monitor your business performance. For example, you can run
reports for specific departments to see how they are performing. You can also monitor trading
progress for any accounting period, even by day or by week. This added flexibility gives you
much greater control over the information you produce, making it easier for you to make
decisions that are vital to your business.
The following transactional-based management reports are available for you to run:
Transactional Balance Sheet.
Transactional Profit and Loss.
Transactional Trial Balance.
Note: If you have run the Clear Audit Trail procedure, you cannot run any transaction-based
management reports for the period you have cleared.
How the transactional-based management reports generate

information
The transactional-based management reports look similar to existing period based
management reports. The difference is in the way that the figures are calculated.
The existing versions use a monthly range to generate reports. For example, when running the
existing profit and loss report, if you choose to run for the month range 4 to 7, the following
figures are obtained:
The current period contains totals from months 4 to 7.
The year-to-date figure contains the totals up to month 7.
If you choose to run the existing balance sheet report for the month range 4 to 7 the following
figures are obtained:
The current period contains totals from months 4 to 7.
The year-to-date figures contain the totals up to month 7 plus the brought forward figures.
The profit and loss summary shows the total from the Profit and Loss report. This does not
include any brought forward figures.
The Previous Year Adjustment shows the brought forward figures.
690
Reporting
The transactional-based reports can be built for any date range. The figures are generated from
the audit trail. The reports still need to group transactions into the following areas:
Brought Forward Figures.
Current Period Figures.
Year To Date Figures.
There are two ways of obtaining these figures:
You can use the date. The system uses the start of the financial year to determine if an item
is brought forward.
Alternatively, you can use the transaction number. By entering the first transaction number
of the financial year, the system can determine if an item is brought forward.
If you want to use the date to determine your figures, you must set the following criteria when
running your report:
Clear the Group by Tran Number check box, for the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet
reports only.
Enter the date range you require in the Transaction Date From and To boxes.
If you want to use the transaction number to determine your figures, you must set the following
criteria when running your report:
Select the Group by Tran Number check box, for the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet
reports only.
Enter your first transaction number of the current financial year in the First Transaction of
the Year box. Any transaction numbers lower than this value are treated as brought forward
figures.
Enter the transaction numbers for the current range in the Transaction Number From and
To boxes. From the values you enter here, the current period and year-to-date figures can
be generated.
Note: If you have selected the Group by Tran Number check box, any date ranges you
enter have no effect on the figures that are generated for your report. Only the transaction
numbers determine the figures that are generated.
To run the Transactional Balance Sheet report

2. Click Reports.
3. Open the appropriate reports folder, in this case, Balance Sheet Reports.
4. Select the Transactional Balance Sheet report from the list of reports.
5. From the drop-down list at the bottom of the Reports list, select the option you require.
6. Click Generate Report.
691

7. Set the following criteria as required:
Chart of Accounts From this drop-down list, select the chart of accounts layout
that you want to use to produce this report.
Group by Tran Number Select this check box to run your report for a transaction
range. If you want to run the report for a date range, you must
ensure that this check box is cleared.
Transaction Date If you have not selected the Group by Tran Number check
box, enter the transaction date range you want to run the
report for in the From and To range boxes.
First Transaction of the If you have selected the Group by Tran Number check box,
Year enter the transaction number of the first transaction posted in
your current financial year.
Transaction Number If you have selected the Group by Tran Number check box,
enter the transaction range in the From and To boxes.
Department You can run your transactional reports for specific

departments. If you want to produce your reports for specific
departments, enter the range in the From and To boxes
provided.
Note: If you have selected the Group by Tran Number check
box, any date ranges you enter have no effect on the figures
that are generated for your report. Only the transaction
numbers determine the figures that are generated.
8. When you have set the criteria you want to apply, to run the report, click OK.
You have now generated your Transactional Balance Sheet report.
You can also generate a Transactional Profit and Loss report and a Transactional Trial
Balance.
Column-Based Financial Reports

With this version of Sage 50 Accounts, column based reports are available to you, which are
designed to provide you with improved financial reporting.
The reports contain a drill functionality, allowing you to drill from a summary report to a detailed
report containing transactions details.
692
Reporting
Several Profit and Loss reports and one new Balance Sheet report are available with the drill
down functionality:
These are most easily accessed using the Company > Financials > Reports > Management
Analysis Reports navigation route.
1. When you double-click any of these reports the report preview window appears.
2. As you move your pointer over the preview period totals, the available drill-down
functionality is signified by a change in the pointer shape.
3. When you see this pointer shape, click to display the Drill Down details window with the
selected totals breakdown displayed.
693
Batch Reporting
In this release of Sage 50 Accounts, a batch reporting feature has been provided, whereby the
user can create new batch reports, to include reports from any area of the software.
Creating a Batch Report

1. To access the Batch Report Design window, use the File menu > Batch Report command
path.
The Batch Report Design window appears.
2. In the Name and Description entry boxes, enter a name and general description for your
Batch Report.
3. Expand and browse the report folders in the Available Reports pane, on the left-hand side
of the window, to locate the reports that you wish to include in the batch report.
694
Reporting
4. Choose a report to include in your Batch Report.
The name of the report appears in the bottom pane of the window, along with a Last Run
Date.
5. To include the chosen report in the Batch Report, click Add.

Your chosen report now appears in the Selected Reports pane on the right-hand side of
the window.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5, until you have included all reports required.

7. To save your batch report, click Save. To save your batch report under a different filename,
click Save As.
The Save As window appears.
8. Enter a file name for your batch report, then click Save.
Your new batch report is saved in .batchreport format.
9. To return to your Sage 50 Accounts work area, close the Batch Report Design window.
695
Running a Batch Report

1. To access the Batch Reports window, use the Tools menu > Batch Reporting command
path.
The Batch Reports window appears.
696
Reporting
2. Select a batch report from the list shown.

3. Specify the output you require by selecting one of the drop-down options: Preview, Printer,
File or Email.
4. To print the batch report, click Generate Report. Select any criteria you require, then click
OK.
If you selected to print the batch report, the Windows Print window appears. Use this to
select which pages to print and change your printer settings if required.
If you selected to preview the batch report, the Preview window appears showing the first
page of reports in the batch.
5. If you are satisfied that the batch report is correct, click Print to send them directly to the
printer.
6. To exit and close the Batch Reports window, click Close.
697
698
Chapter 14
Working with Foreign Currencies
and Accounts
This chapter contains information on how In this chapter:

to handle foreign currency accounts and
The Euro and Other Currencies........700
transactions in Sage 50 Accounts.
The Countries Table .........................703
In this chapter, the process of how to set
up currencies and exchange rates is The Foreign Trader (Accounts
described. The Foreign Trader feature is Professional Only) ............................704
introduced, and you are guided through Processing in Sage 50 Accounts Using
setting it up for the first time. The the Foreign Trader (Accounts
procedure is then described for Professional Only) ............................709
processing foreign currency transactions
in Sage 50 Accounts, including producing
(Accounts Professional Only)............713
invoices and orders, recording payments
and receipts and setting up foreign Viewing and Changing Revaluations
currency price lists. (Accounts Professional Only)............714
Later, the chapter discusses how to use Bank Transfers Involving Foreign
foreign bank accounts and explores the Currency Accounts (Accounts
implications of multiple currencies on bank Professional Only) ............................716
transfers. Well also help you to use the How Foreign Trader Affects Sage 50
Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard. Accounts .........................................724
The Euro and Other Currencies

Sage 50 Accounts makes it easy for your business to record payments and receipts in
other currencies, including the euro. To do this you must first set up the exchange rates
for the foreign currencies that you trade in. After you have done this, you can enter the
foreign currency amounts.
For example, while entering a supplier invoice, press F5 when you are entering the net
amount (or click the calculator button in the net column) and click CC.
This will bring up the currency calculator, which will convert your foreign currency values
into your base currency.
Note: Your base currency is fixed as a result of your choice in the ActiveSetup Wizard (or
if you upgraded, your new Sage 50 Accounts detected your original base currency from
your records).
For more information

EXAMPLE about working
HELP INFORMATION: with
USE foreign
THIS FORcurrencies,
CHAPTERtype2nd Currencies
PAGE in the Help
Help system index.
If you accept payment in more than one currency, you have to set up your defaults to
handle the conversions. The three examples below set out common scenarios.
Note: Because the exchange rate fluctuates, you will have to agree a rate set a time, for
example open or close of the day's trading, with your customers to enter an up-to-date
exchange rate. For up-to-date exchange rates, we recommend looking in the Business
and Trade section of www.hmrc.gov.uk.
To enter foreign currency exchange rates

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Currencies.
The Currencies window appears.
2. Select the appropriate currency and enter the exchange rate.
Note: Because the exchange rate fluctuates, you will have to agree a rate or set a
time, for example, open or close of the day's trading, with your customers to enter
an up-to-date exchange rate. For up-to-date exchange rates, we recommend
looking in the Business and Trade section of the HMRC website www.hmrc.gov.uk.
You have now fixed the exchange rate between the currency of your choice and your
base rate.
Repeat this process for all the currencies that you deal with.
A UK business accepting payments in Pound Sterling and in euro

2. Select euro and enter the exchange rate for euro into Pound Sterling in the Exchange rate
box.
3. To save and close, click Close.
You have now fixed the exchange rate between euro and Pound Sterling.
A Republic of Ireland business accepting payment in euro and Pound

Sterling
If you are a business in the Republic of Ireland, working in euros, you should have chosen euro
in the ActiveSetup Wizard as your base currency. If you also accept payment in Pound Sterling
(or any other currency), follow these instructions.
2. Select Pound Sterling and enter the exchange rate for Pound Sterling into euro.
You have now fixed the exchange rate between euro and Pound Sterling.
701
A UK business accepting payment in South African Rand and US Dollars

2. Choose US Dollar from the list and enter the exchange rate for US Dollars into Pound
Sterling.
3. Repeat step 2 for the South African Rand.
You have now fixed the exchange rate for South African Rand and US Dollars.
Once you have set up your currency defaults, you can calculate your base currency value
from the foreign currency by using the currency calculator. To do this press F5, whenever
you are in any box that requires a currency value, for example net or price boxes.
702
The Countries Table

The Countries table lists all countries, together with their respective country codes. Sage 50
Accounts uses this information for Intrastat reporting purposes.
If a country joins or leaves the EU, the Countries table allows you to amend the current EU
Members list so that you can keep your country list up to date.
You can add a further 14 countries to the list. Unlike countries that are installed with Sage 50
Accounts, you can change the names of added countries. However, regardless of whether a
country has been supplied with Sage 50 Accounts or has been added at a later date, it cannot
be deleted.
Note for users upgrading from Sage 50 Accounts v9 or v10: The Sage 50 Accounts Help
system contains important information about the Countries table. To see this information, type
Countries in the Help Index tab and select Countries: Information for Users Upgrading from
Sage 50 Accounts v9 and v10.
To set up your Countries information

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Countries.
The Countries table appears.
The table shows three columns, containing the country name, country code and a check
box which indicates whether or not the country is an EU member.
2. To set up a country as an EU member, for example if a new country joins the EU and needs
to be taken into account for Intrastat reporting, select the check box in the EU Member
column alongside the country you require.
3. To remove a country from the list of EU members, for example if a country leaves the EU
and should no longer be taken into account for Intrastat reporting, clear the check box in
the EU Member column alongside the country you require.
4. To add a country to the list, click Add. The Add/Edit Country Details window is displayed.
Enter a unique name for the country. If the country is a member of the EU, select the EU
Member check box.
The country code is automatically generated for you. Countries added to the list are
identified by their two character code, which always begins 'Q'.
5. To save your changes and return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click OK. Alternatively,
to close the Countries table without saving your changes, click Cancel.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop reappears.
You have now set up your Countries information.
703
The Foreign Trader

Note: You cannot use this facility if you are using VAT Cash Accounting Scheme.
The Foreign Trader facility within Sage 50 Accounts lets you:
Keep a record of foreign currency bank accounts.
Keep customer and supplier records in a foreign currency.
Record invoices, credit notes, orders, proformas and quotations in a foreign currency.
Record customer receipts and supplier payments in different currencies.
The section on the next page explains the steps you have to take to set up your Foreign Trader
facility.
Select Foreign Trade from the Accounts and Bookkeeping area of the Help system to find out more.
Help
Setting up the Foreign Trader

The following points outline the tasks you need to complete in order to set up Sage 50 Accounts
to work with foreign currencies:
Run the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard.
Enter your foreign exchange rates for all currencies that you deal with on the Currencies
window.
Set up any new bank accounts that will accept payments in a foreign currency.
Note: If you use your high street bank to make payments in pound sterling, euro and US
dollars, you must set up three separate bank accounts in your Sage 50 Accounts software
to accept each currency.
Set up any new customer accounts.
Note: As with the bank accounts in the previous step, if you deal with a customer who pays
in a number of different currencies, you must set up a separate customer account for each
currency that the customer deals in.
Set up any new supplier accounts.
Note: As with the bank accounts in the earlier step, if you deal with a supplier who pays
you in a number of different currencies, you must set up a separate supplier account for
each currency that this supplier deals in.
The following sections explain how to complete each of these steps.
704
To activate the Foreign Trader

Caution: You cannot turn off Foreign Trader once you have set it up using the Foreign Trader
Setup Wizard.
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards > Foreign Trader Setup
Wizard.
Note: If you have already run the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard for the current company or
if you are on the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, this menu option is not available. If you
have a multi-company licence you can run this Wizard with each new company you set up.
2. Click Next on the Welcome window.
The Currency Revaluation information window appears.
Enter a Currency Revaluation nominal code. For an explanation of nominal codes, see
Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained on page 174. This is the nominal code that will be
used to record the value of currency fluctuations, which are a factor when dealing with
foreign currencies.
For example, as a result of dealing with foreign currency you may receive under or
overpayments from your customers, or underpay or overpay your suppliers. These under
or overpayments will be posted to the Currency Revaluation nominal code.
Note: If you already have a 7906 code in use for something else - that is, if you are an
existing user of Sage 50 Accounts, you must enter a different account number.
705
Note: Your Currency Revaluation code must be in the Overheads section of the chart of
accounts. For an explanation of chart of accounts sections, see Nominal Ledger Accounts
Explained on page 174.
For examples of currency fluctuations and what they mean to you, for example, if you gain
or lose money, type exchange rates in the Index tab of the Sage 50 Accounts Help system
(F1), and choose revaluations.
3. After you have chosen your Currency Revaluation nominal code, click Next.
The Exchange Rate Update Method window opens.
.
The options on this window help you to update your currency records with the up-to-date
exchange rates. If you want Sage 50 Accounts to automatically update your currency
records each time you use a new exchange rate, choose the option Automatically save any
exchange rate changes to currency record.
If you want to be prompted before any exchange rates are saved to the currency record,
choose the option Always prompt to save exchange rate changes.
If you never want to save exchange rate changes to the currency record, choose the option
Never save any exchange rate changes.
Note: You can change your exchange rate update method later, if you require. To do this,
select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults, and select the method you want to use from
the section at the bottom of the window.
4. Click Next. The final window appears. Click Finish to complete the Wizard, or click Back to
change any of your options.
You have now successfully set up your Foreign Trader facility.
706
Checking or amending your invoice and order defaults

Before you start using the Foreign Trader, you must ensure that your Invoice and Order Defaults
are set up to update your currency exchange rates as you require. You initially choose this
setting on the Exchange Rate Update Method window of the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard, but
you may want to check or change this at a later date.
To check or amend your invoice and order defaults

2. From the Currency Exchange Rates drop-down list, select the setting you require from the
following options. The setting you choose affects how, and if, the exchange rate in the
Currencies window is updated if you change the rate on an individual transaction:
Always prompt to save If you select this option, Sage 50 Accounts displays a warning
exchange rate changes message each time you change an exchange rate in an
invoice or order, asking if you would like to save the amended
exchange rate to the Currency record. This is the default
setting.
Unless you have a specific reason to choose a different
update method, we recommend that you select this option.
Automatically save any If you select this option, Sage 50 Accounts automatically
exchange rate changes saves any changes you make to an exchange rate back to the
to currency record Currency record, without displaying a confirmation message.
Never save any Select this option if you do not want Sage 50 Accounts to
exchange rate changes save any exchange rate changes you make back to the
Currency record. If you select this option and you want to
make changes to the exchange rate for a currency, you must
do it manually in the Currency record.
3. To save your changes, click OK, or to exit without saving click Cancel.
You have now checked or amended your Invoice and Order Defaults settings.
707
Setting up or checking your currency settings

Once you have activated the Foreign Trader, you must check or set up your Currencies. You
must set up exchange rates for each of the foreign currencies you trade in.
Note: If you have upgraded your data from Sage 50 Accounts v5.01 and below, your base
currency will be set to Pound Sterling (or euro if your PCs Regional Options are set to England
(Ireland)). This is because Sage 50 Accounts v5.01 and below did not include the Currency
facility.
To set up or amend your currency settings, follow the instructions in The Euro and Other
Currencies on page 700.
Setting up foreign currency bank accounts

When you set up a foreign bank account, Sage 50 Accounts shows you how much money you
have in the foreign currency and also how much that represents in your base currency.
You must set up as many foreign currency bank accounts as you have foreign currencies. For
example, if you trade in euro, pound Sterling and Yen you need to create three accounts.
Note: Once you have entered transactions into a bank account, you cannot delete the record,
nor can you change its currency.
Once you have set up your new foreign currency bank accounts, you can then work with them
as you would any other bank accounts.
Note: If there are transactions on an existing bank record, you cannot change its currency.
To change an existing record into a non-base currency account, you must create a new account
and set its currency as you require. If there is a balance on the existing account that you want
to carry over on the new account, you will need to transfer the balance to the new foreign
currency account. For more information, see Bank Transfers Involving Foreign Currency
Accounts (Accounts Professional Only) on page 716
Setting up foreign currency customers and suppliers

Before you start using the Foreign Trader, you must check or amend the currencies applied to
your Customer and Supplier Records.
Note: If you have upgraded to Sage 50 Accounts from a version in which you did not use
Foreign Trader and you had customer or supplier records set up in a foreign currency, the
upgrade process sets the currency on these accounts to your base currency.
We recommend that you complete all the transactions on these accounts in base currency and
then close them off. You can then open a new customer or supplier account in the foreign
currency of your choice and use this to produce all of your foreign currency invoices, orders and
reports.
For more information about creating and editing customer and supplier records, see Chapter 5,
Setting Up Records.
708
Processing in Sage 50 Accounts Using the Foreign Trader

Now that youve set up the Foreign Trader, you can use Sage 50 Accounts to process customer,
supplier, bank and bank transfers in foreign currencies.
The following sections explain how to process using Foreign Trader.
Producing invoices, credit notes and orders for a foreign currency

account
Once you have activated the Foreign Trader, Sage 50 Accounts allows you to create invoices,
credit notes and orders for your customers and suppliers in the currency stored on their record.
For example, if you have created a record for a customer account that trades with you in Yen,
you can now create an invoice for that customer in their own currency, Yen.
You produce invoices, credit notes and orders for foreign currency accounts in the usual way
and enter the header details you require, such as the Type, Format and Date. When you select
a customer or supplier account that has a foreign currency associated with it, a Rate box
appears beneath the customers or suppliers address details. This box displays the symbol of
the currency associated with the selected record, and shows the exchange rate for that
currency as it appears in your Currencies list. You can change the exchange rate here if you
require.
In addition to the Rate box, all values on the invoice, credit note or order now display in the
customers or suppliers currency. This applies to the individual item lines, the Total Net and Total
VAT amounts, and the Carriage and Gross values. Finally, the invoice, credit note or order
displays the overall total in your base currency.
For full details about creating invoices, credit notes and orders, refer to Chapter 8, Customer
Tasks and Chapter 9, Supplier Tasks.
Entering batch invoices and credit notes for foreign currency accounts
You can record batch invoices and credit notes for your customers and suppliers in the currency
that appears on their record. For example, if a supplier based in France sends you an invoice in
euro, you can enter the invoice directly into Sage 50 Accounts for the actual euro values shown
on the invoice, providing you have set up a record using euro for this supplier.
You enter a batch invoice or credit note for a foreign currency customer or supplier as usual.
When you select a foreign currency account from the A/C drop-down list, the Exchange Rate
box at the top of the window becomes active. The appropriate currency symbol and exchange
rate, as set up in your Currencies list, are displayed. You can change the exchange rate here if
you require.
In addition to the Exchange Rate box, the Net, VAT and Total values on the window now display
in the customers or suppliers currency.
709
For full details about entering batch invoices and credit notes, see Chapter 8, Customer Tasks
and Chapter 9, Supplier Tasks.
Recording bank receipts and payments for a foreign currency bank

account
If you make a payment from or lodge a receipt into one of your foreign currency bank accounts,
Sage 50 Accounts allows you to record this directly onto the account in the actual currency the
transaction took place in.
To make a payment or receipt from or to a foreign currency bank account, select Bank > New
Payment or Bank > New Receipt.
The Bank Payments or Bank Receipts window appears.
Select the account you require from the drop-down list, and click OK.
The Bank Payments or Bank Receipts window includes an Exchange Rate box. This displays
the exchange rate currently set up in your Currencies list for the currency associated with the
selected bank account. You can change this here if you want to use a different exchange rate
for this transaction.
In addition to the Exchange Rate box, the Net, Tax and Total values also display in the selected
bank accounts currency.
For full details about entering bank payments and receipts, see Recording a Bank Receipt on
page 326 and Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card Payment on page 331.
Recording customer receipts and supplier payments for foreign

currency accounts
When you process sales invoices and orders in the customers own currency, you are likely to
receive payment from them in the same currency. Similarly, if a supplier sends you an invoice in
a foreign currency, you might want to pay them in the same currency.
Sage 50 Accounts allows you to enter customer receipts and supplier payments in the
accounts own currency. For example, if a customer pays an invoice in US Dollars, you can
record the US Dollar amount directly into the corresponding dollar bank account.
Note: The bank account you use to record the receipt or payment must use the same currency
as the customer or supplier record.
To enter a foreign currency customer receipt or supplier payment, select the bank you want to
use to record the transaction from the accounts listed in the Bank Accounts window and click
Customer or Supplier, depending on the type of transaction you want to record. From the A/C
drop-down list, select the account reference of the customer or supplier.
When you select the account you want to use, the exchange rate set up for the currency
associated with the customer or supplier appears in the Rate box. You can change the rate
shown here if you require.
710
In addition to the exchange rate, the Customer Receipt or Supplier Payment window now
displays the Amount, Receipt (or Payment), Discount and Analysis Total values in the currency
associated with the customer or supplier.
For full details about entering customer receipts, see Receiving Customer Payments on page
477. For information about entering supplier payments, refer to Making a payment to a supplier
on page 536.
Foreign currency price lists

Once you have activated the Foreign Trader, you are able to set up Customer and Supplier Price
Lists in the customers or suppliers associated currency.
When creating a price list for a customer, you can select the currency you want to use for the
price list from the Currency drop-down list in the New Customer Price List window. When you
select a currency, only those customers who use that currency are available for you to select on
the Customers tab.
As you add products to the price list, Sage 50 Accounts converts the Sales Price and Cost Price
held on the product record from your base currency using the exchange rate set up in your
Currencies list, and displays them in the customers currency. The List Price also displays in the
customers own currency.
For a supplier price list, select the supplier you want to set up a price list for and click Price List.
The currency assigned to the selected supplier appears automatically in the Currency box, and
you cannot change this. As you add products to the price list, enter the Purchase Prices in the
suppliers own currency. Sage 50 Accounts automatically converts the value you enter into your
base currency and displays it as the Base Equivalent value.
For full details about working with Price Lists, see Customer Pricing on page 369 and Supplier
Price Lists (Accounts Professional Only) on page 496
Automatic revaluation postings

If you are using Sage 50 Accounts to record transactions in a foreign currency, these
transactions may be affected by changes in the currency exchange rates.
For example, you send an invoice to a customer for 200.00. At the time you raise the invoice,
the exchange rate is 1.60798, giving a base currency equivalent value of 124.38. The
customer then pays the invoice in two parts: the first payment, for 150.00, is subject to an
exchange rate of 1.72945, giving a base currency equivalent of 86.73; the second payment of
50.00 is subject to an exchange rate of 1.62433, giving a base currency equivalent of 30.78.
In this example, the total amount you receive from the customer is 117.51 - a difference of
6.87 from the original invoice value. In other words, you have been underpaid by 6.87 due to
exchange rate fluctuations.
711
When this occurs, Sage 50 Accounts makes automatic corrective postings to ensure that your
accounts are in order. In the example above, Sage 50 Accounts automatically posts a Sales
Credit (SC) for the underpayment amount, using your default Exchange Rate Variance nominal
code and the reference REVAL.
Examples of where automatic revaluation postings might occur due to exchange rate
fluctuations are:
Under - or overpayment of a sales invoice entered in a foreign currency.
Under - or overpayment of a purchase invoice entered in a foreign currency.
Differences in the balance on foreign bank accounts following the use of the Foreign Bank
Revaluation Wizard. The wizard and its associated revaluation postings are explained in
more detail in the following section.
For examples of the automatic revaluation postings Sage 50 Accounts makes, type Automatic
Help Currency Revaluations in the Help systems Search tab.
712

Use the Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard during the Month End or Year End procedure to
ensure that there are no discrepancies in your accounts due to exchange rate fluctuations.
For example, a balance of 5000 at an exchange rate of 1.653450 = 3023.98. However at
your Month End the exchange rate may have risen to 1.752908. In this case the 5000 is now
only worth 2852.40 (a difference of 171.58).
If these discrepancies are not corrected, your Financial Reports will display incorrect figures.
Note: You cannot run this wizard if you have not already run the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard.
To run the Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards > Foreign Bank
Revaluation Wizard.
The Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard appears, displaying the Welcome window.
The next window allows you to specify the currency and accounts to be revalued.
3. Use the drop-down list to select which of the foreign currencies you use is to be revalued.
From the list of available accounts, select the account(s) you want to revalue, then to
continue, click Next.
The next window allows you to set the revaluation date.
4. Select the revaluation date required, then to continue, click Next.
Note: The revaluation date cannot be in the future.
The next window shows the details of each account you selected.
5. Complete the revaluation details by entering the new exchange rate you want to apply to
each of the accounts listed and, optionally, specifying the department.
The next window shows details of the revaluations to be performed.
7. Check that the details are correct, then to continue, click Next.
8. To complete the revaluation, click Finish.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically corrects any differences caused by fluctuations in the
exchange rate by posting revaluation journals to the relevant accounts. For more
information about the revaluation journals, refer to the following section.
713
If the exchange rate you used for the revaluation does not match the current exchange rate
set for the currency, a warning message appears and Sage 50 Accounts offers you the
opportunity to update the currency exchange rate. Click Yes.
You have now completed the Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard.
For examples of the automatic revaluation postings Sage 50 Accounts makes, type Automatic
Help Currency Revaluations in the Help systems Search tab.
Tip: Use the Day Books: Foreign Bank Revaluations report to print a list of revaluation journals.
From the Company module, select Nominal Ledger > Reports > Day Book Reports > Day
books: Foreign Bank Revaluations.
Viewing and Changing Revaluations

The Revaluations tab on the Bank Record window provides you with a listing of the past
revaluations that have been carried out on an account. You can also make changes to these
revaluations.
Although the Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard requires you to confirm the revaluation details
entered before Sage 50 Accounts makes any changes to your accounts, there may be times
when you need to make subsequent manual changes to revaluations that you have carried out
using the wizard.
These manual changes may include:
Adjusting the exchange rate used in a revaluation. See To adjust a revaluation on page
714.
Reversing a revaluation made in error. See To reverse a revaluation on page 715.
To adjust a revaluation
Bank Accounts view.
2. Select the foreign currency bank account you require.
3. Click Record.
4. Click the Revaluations tab.
A list of existing revaluation dates and exchange rates appears.
Note: This tab only appears for foreign currency bank accounts.
5. Click Show Balances.
714
The information shown for each revaluation is updated to include the account balance in
the foreign currency and the balance values, before and after the revaluation in the base
currency.
The other buttons on the tab are also activated.
6. Select the revaluation you want to adjust, then click Edit.
7. Make the changes required to the rate.
8. To complete the adjustment, click OK.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically adjusts the revaluation details, and creates and posts the
appropriate journals to the relevant accounts.
To reverse a revaluation
Bank Accounts view.
2. Select the foreign currency bank account you require.
3. Click Record.
4. Click the Revaluations tab.
A list of existing revaluation dates and exchange rates appears.
Note: This tab only appears for foreign currency bank accounts.
5. Click Show Balances.
The information shown for each revaluation is updated to include the account balance in
the foreign currency and the balance values before and after the revaluation in the base
currency.
The other buttons on the tab are also activated.
6. Select the revaluation you want to reverse, then click Reverse.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically reverses the revaluation, and creates and posts the
appropriate journals to the relevant accounts.
715
Bank Transfers Involving Foreign Currency Accounts

The Bank Transfer facility allows you to record the transfer of funds from one bank account to
another.
In Accounts Professional you can use the Transfer facility to record transfers between base and
non-base currency accounts, or even between two non-base currency accounts. Sage 50
Accounts uses the exchange rates set up in your Currencies table to calculate the overall
exchange rate for the transfer.
The following sections explain how to make a transfer involving one or more foreign currency
bank accounts, and the effects of changing the values on the Transfer window, once Sage 50
Accounts has calculated the exchange rate and amounts required.
To make a bank transfer between base and non-base currency accounts

Account from This box shows the account code and name of the bank currently
selected on the Bank Account window, if any. If you want to change
this, enter an alternative code or use the drop-down button to select
from the bank account list.
Account to Enter the bank account code of the bank you want to receive the
money. Use the drop-down button to select the bank code from the
bank account list.
Reference Type a reference to be recorded for this transaction in the audit trail.
For example, you can enter a cheque number.
Dept If you want your transaction to be analysed to a specific department,

enter the department number here.
Date The program date is entered for you automatically but you can
Description Type a description of up to sixty characters for easy reference.
Payment Value Enter the value you want to transfer.
Exchange Rate If Foreign Trader is enabled, this box displays the exchange rate
between the currencies of the Account From and Account To.
716
3. To process the transfer, click Save, to re-enter the data click Discard and/or to leave the
window click Close.
To make a bank transfer between non-base currency accounts

Account from This box shows the account code and name of the bank currently
selected on the Bank Account window, if any. If you want to change
this, enter an alternative code or use the drop-down button to select
from the bank account list.
Account to Enter the account reference of the non-base currency account you
want to transfer money to. You can use the drop-down list to
choose the account you want to use.
Reference Type a reference to record in the audit trail for this transaction. For
example, you can enter a cheque or BACS number.
Department If you use departmental analysis, enter the department for the
transaction here.
Date The program date is entered here for you automatically, but you can
change this if you require.
Description Type a description of up to sixty characters for your reference.
Payment Value Enter the value of the money you want to transfer from the Account
from bank account. Sage 50 Accounts displays this value in that
bank account's currency.
717
Receipt Value In this box, Sage 50 Accounts calculates the value of the money you
are transferring into the Account to bank account. To calculate this
value, Sage 50 Accounts uses the Payment Value figure, together
with the exchange rate it calculates from the rates set in your
Currency table for the two currencies involved.
For example, say your base currency is set to pound sterling, and
you want to transfer money from a US dollar account to a euro bank
account.
In your Currency table, the following exchange rates are set up:
US dollar to pound sterling = 1.600000
Euro to pound sterling = 1.520000
Sage 50 Accounts calculates the US dollar to euro exchange rate as
follows:
1.520000
---------------------- = 0.950000
1.600000
This value, 0.950000, appears in the Exchange Rate box.

Continuing the example, say you want to transfer USD $1000.00 to
the euro account. Using the exchange rate calculated above:
$1000.00 x 0.950000 = 950.00
So 950.00 appears in the 'Receipt Value' box.
Note: If you subsequently change the value in the Exchange Rate
box, the Receipt Value changes accordingly. For more information,
see Changing the values on the Bank Transfer Window on page
720.
718
Exchange Rate Here, Sage 50 Accounts shows the exchange rate it calculates for
this transfer using the rates set in the Currency table for the two
currencies involved. You can amend the exchange rate if you
require, for example if you have agreed a fixed exchange rate for the
transfer.
See the previous example for details about how Sage 50 Accounts
calculates the exchange rate for the transfer.
Notes: If no values appear in the Currency table, Sage 50 Accounts
cannot calculate the exchange rate for the transfer and so it appears
as zero. If you try to save a transfer with a zero exchange rate, the
No Exchange Rate has been entered. You must enter a value for the
Exchange Rate before attempting to post transactions.
To continue with the transfer, click OK and enter an exchange rate.
Changing the exchange rate may result in differences between the
base rate journal entries for the transfer. For more information on
how Sage 50 Accounts deals with such changes, see Changing the
values on the Bank Transfer Window on page 720.
Note: If you need to change any of the details on the Bank Transfer window at this stage,
Sage 50 Accounts may need to recalculate the values and/or make adjustment postings
when you save the transaction. For more information on this, see Changing the values on
the Bank Transfer Window on page 720.
3. To process the transfer, click Save. To re-enter the data click Discard and/or to leave the
719
Changing the values on the Bank Transfer Window

When you first enter the details for your non-base currency bank transfer, Sage 50 Accounts
performs a number of calculations to work out the value of the transfer transactions. For
example, if you enter details of the bank accounts you are transferring money from and to and
enter a Payment Value to show how much money you are transferring from the first account,
Sage 50 Accounts uses this information to calculate the exchange rate and receipt value for the
transfer.
If you then change any of the details, Sage 50 Accounts must recalculate some of the transfer
values. The program makes these changes according to the order in which you make changes
to the data. In some cases, these changes mean that Sage 50 Accounts needs to post
adjusting transactions along with the transfer journals, to make sure that the entries balance.
The information that follows shows how the changes you make affect your transfer, and what
information messages Sage 50 Accounts displays on the Bank Transfer window in each
scenario.
Scenario 1
You enter the Account From and Account To.
Sage 50 Accounts calculates the exchange rate using the values in the Currency table for the
two currencies involved. The figures in the Payment Value and Receipt Value boxes remain at
0.00.
For your information, the note on the Bank Transfer window reads: The exchange rate for this
transfer has been calculated using the rates in the Currency table. Your bank may use a different
rate for the transfer. You may also incur bank charges for this transaction.
Scenario 2
You enter the Account From, Account To and Payment Value.
two currencies involved. It then uses this exchange rate and the Payment Value you entered to
calculate the Receipt Value.
transfer has been calculated using the rates in the currency table. Your bank may use a different
Scenario 3
You enter the Account From, Account To and Receipt Value.
two currencies involved. It then uses this exchange rate and the Receipt Value you entered to
calculate the Payment Value.
720
Scenario 4
You enter the Account From, Account To and Payment Value. You then change the exchange
rate manually.
Initially, Sage 50 Accounts calculates the exchange rate using the values in the Currency table
for the two currencies involved. It then uses this exchange rate and the Payment Value you
entered to calculate the Receipt Value.
When you manually change the exchange rate, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the Receipt
Value using the new rate.
For your information, the note on the Bank Transfer window reads: You have changed the
exchange rate for this transfer. Please check that the payment and receipt amounts are correct
before continuing with this transfer. Your bank may use a different rate for the transfer. You may
also incur bank charges for this transaction.
If the new exchange rate means that the base currency values of the journal entries for the
transfer do not match, Sage 50 Accounts automatically posts a balancing journal entry for the
difference to your Revaluation account.
For example:
Say your base currency is pound sterling and you want to transfer money from a US dollar
account to a euro account.
The exchange rates set up in your Currency table are as follows:
Sage 50 Accounts calculates the US dollar to euro exchange rate as follows:
1.000000 x 1.520000 = 0.950000
1.600000
Continuing the example, say you want to transfer USD $100.00 to the euro account. Using the
exchange rate calculated above:
$100.00 x 0.950000 = 95.00
So 95.00 appears in the Receipt Value box.
The value of the journal entries posted to your audit trail is 62.50 for both entries ($100.00 =
62.50 and 95.00 = 62.50, using the exchange rates set up in your Currency table).
You then change the exchange rate to 0.970000. Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the Receipt
Value as 97.00. Using the exchange rate set up in your Currency table, this equates to 63.82.
This means that your journal credit (62.50) does not equal the journal debit (63.82) by an
amount of 1.32. Sage 50 Accounts posts this difference to the Revaluation account as a
journal credit, using the details Foreign Bank Transfer Revaluation Journal for Transaction xxxx
, for your reference.
721
Scenario 5
You enter the Account From, Account To and Receipt Value. You then change the exchange
rate manually.
for the two currencies involved. It then uses this exchange rate and the Receipt Value you
entered to calculate the Payment Value.
When you manually change the exchange rate, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the Payment
Value using the new rate.
For your information, the note on the Bank Transfer window reads: You have changed the
exchange rate for this transfer. Please check that the payment and receipt amounts are correct
before continuing with this transfer. Your bank may use a different rate for the transfer. You may
also incur bank charges for this transaction.
If the new exchange rate means that the values of the base rate journal entries for the transfer
do not match, Sage 50 Accounts automatically posts a balancing journal entry for the difference
to your Revaluation account. For more details, see the example in Scenario 4 above.
Scenario 6
You enter the Account From, Account To and Payment Value. You then change the Payment
Value.
for the two currencies involved. It then uses is exchange rate and the Payment Value you
If you then change the Payment Value, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange rate from
the new Payment Value and the calculated Receipt Value.
transfer has been calculated using the payment and receipt amounts. Your bank may use a
different rate for the transfer. You may also incur bank charges for this transaction.
Scenario 7
You enter the Account From, Account To and Payment Value. You then change the Receipt
Value.
If you then change the Receipt Value, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange rate using
the Payment Value and the new Receipt Value.
transfer has been calculated using the payment and receipt amount. Your bank may use a
different exchange rate for the transfer. You may also incur bank charges for this transaction.
722
If the new exchange rate means that the values of the base rate journal entries for the transfer
do not match, Sage 50 Accounts automatically posts a balancing journal entry for the difference
to your Revaluation account.
For example:
Say your base currency is pound sterling and you want to transfer money from a US dollar
account to a euro account.
The exchange rates set up in your Currency table are as follows:
Sage 50 Accounts calculates the US dollar to euro exchange rate as follows:
1.000000 x 1.520000 = 0.950000
1.600000
Continuing the example, say you want to transfer USD $100.00 into the euro account. Using
the exchange rate calculated above:
$100.00 x 0.950000 = 95.00
So 95.00 appears in the Receipt Value box.
The value of the journal entries posted to your audit trail is 62.50 for both entries ($100.00 =
62.50 and 95.00 = 62.50, using the exchange rates set up in your Currency table).
You then change the Receipt Value to 90.00. Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange
rate as 0.900000.
Using the exchange rate set up in your Currency table, 90.00 equates to 59.21. This means
that your journal credit (62.50) does not equal the journal debit (59.21) by an amount of
3.29. Sage 50 Accounts posts this difference to the Revaluation account as a journal debit,
using the details Foreign Bank Transfer Revaluation Journal for Transaction xxxx for your
reference.
Scenario 8
You enter the Account From, Account To and Payment Value. You then change the Account
From details.
Initially, Sage 50 Accounts calculates the exchange rate from the values in the Currency table
If you then change the Account From details, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange rate
from the Currency table, and calculates the new Payment Value from the existing Receipt Value
and the new exchange rate.
723
Scenario 9
You enter the Account From, Account To and Payment Value. You then change the Account To
details.
Initially, Sage 50 Accounts calculates the exchange rate from the values in the Currency table
If you then change the Account To details, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange rate
from the Currency table, and calculates the new Receipt Value from the existing Payment Value
and the new exchange rate.
How Foreign Trader Affects Sage 50 Accounts

Note: Once you activate the Foreign Trader option, it cannot be switched off.
Changes to the Customer and Supplier Records and New Wizards
If you create a new customer or supplier record, the default currency and credit limit is
taken from the Customer or Supplier Defaults. To edit the defaults, click Customers >
Customer Defaults or Suppliers > Supplier Defaults.
The Balance field on the customer records and supplier records, located on Details tab,
displays the account balance using that account's currency. The appropriate currency
code and symbol is used.
If you create a new Customer or Supplier record using a currency other than the base
currency, you must enter an exchange rate, when you enter the opening balances.
Changes to the Bank Accounts and New Wizard
The Bank Record displays the balance in the selected bank's currency. This is calculated
from the foreign currency values that you entered on the transaction record. The balance
also appears separately in the base currency.
The Bank Accounts window displays the bank balance using both the base currency and
the bank account's foreign currency.
You can choose to display the date a foreign bank account was last revalued in the Bank
Accounts list. To do this, right click any of the column headings in the Bank Accounts
window and select Last Revalued from the menu that is displayed.
If you create a new bank account using a currency other than the base currency, you must
enter an exchange rate when you enter the opening balances.
Credit Charge Wizard
You can only use the base currency when you use Credit Charge Wizard.
724
To post a Credit Charge to a Customer account, you must raise a Batch Invoice.
Write Off, Refund, Returns Wizard
You cannot use this wizard to process refunds, returns or write offs for customer or supplier
accounts that do not use the base currency. You must process manual refunds, returns or
write offs, for any accounts that are not using the base currency.
Customer Contacts
You cannot use the Invoice options from within the Contacts tab on the customer record
if the customer record has a non-base currency assigned to it.
If you want to raise a Contact invoice, it must be created as a Service Invoice though the
Invoicing option.
Bank Transfers
If you process a bank transfer while using the Foreign Trader functionality, the following changes
take place:
The currency assigned to the Bank Account From and Bank Account To fields are read only
- that is, you cannot change the information in these fields.
The Amount field displays the amount of the transfer in the currency of the bank that is
listed in the Bank Account From field.
The Exchange Rate box is disabled if both of the selected banks are set to use the base
currency.
If either of the banks are using a different currency to your base currency, the Bank Transfer
option defaults to the exchange rate entered in the Currencies list. This can be edited if
required.
The postings made by a Bank Transfer are:
Base Currency Bank - Either a Journal Credit or a Journal Debit is posted to the Base
Currency Bank Account, with the Base Currency value.
Non Base Currency Bank Account - Either a Journal Credit or a Journal Debit is posted to
the non Base Currency Bank Account with the Base Currency value.
Bank Recurring Entries
You cannot set up a recurring entry for a bank account that uses a currency, other than the
base currency. Recurring entries for these accounts must be posted manually.
Bank Reconciliation
The Bank Reconciliation window displays the transaction details for the selected bank
account using the currency in the relevant currency.
If you process using the Adjustment option, you can specify the current exchange rate.
Nominal Journal Entry
If you are using the Foreign Trader option, you cannot post a journal entry to a non-base
currency bank account.
725
If you need to reverse a journal that has been posted automatically by your software, such
as a bank transfer, you must use the Nominal Reversal option.
Global Changes Wizard
You can only use a base currency on the Global Changes Wizard for customer or supplier
accounts. Any changes to these accounts using a currency, other than the base currency,
must be made manually.
Contra Entries
You are unable to post Contra Entries against non-base currency accounts.
Any Contra Entries for non-base currency accounts must be posted manually.
File Import
You can import foreign currency sales invoices, sales credits, purchase invoices and
purchase credits.
Fixed Asset Disposal Wizard
You cannot use the Fixed Asset Disposal wizard for bank accounts that do not use the
base currency.
Corrections
When you amend a non Base currency transaction, you can only amend the following
non-critical fields:
Details, Reference, Bank Rec., Date, Bank Rec Flag, Dept, Ex.Ref.
This is to avoid possible discrepancies on the customer or supplier accounts, caused by
amending critical fields.
726
Chapter 15
If you are a new user of Sage 50 In this chapter:

Accounts, and are not upgrading from a
Transferring Figures from a Previous
previous version, you will need to enter a
System to Sage 50 Accounts ..........728
series of opening balances.
Gathering your Opening Figures.......730
These opening balances are very
important to your bookkeeping activities Entering your Opening Balances into
and you must get them right. Sage 50 Accounts ...........................736
If you do not enter them correctly then Checking the Opening Figures You Have
your books will be wrong, although you Recorded.........................................753
can make adjustments to correct them.
Entering your opening balances is not a
straightforward process, as certain
conditions, such as your nominal codes,
must be in place before some opening
balances are entered.
This chapter takes you through the
process of entering your opening
balances, from gathering a list of your
opening figures to entering the opening
balances on your nominal, bank,
customer, supplier and product records.
Transferring Figures from a Previous System to Sage 50

Accounts
This explains how to take the values that make up how much your business is worth (what
the business owns including the amount in the bank and what it owes) and entering them
into Sage 50 Accounts. This may mean you are transferring values from your previous
system of bookkeeping or if you are a new company, recording the initial start up of your
business.
The values you need to add to Sage 50 Accounts are referred to as opening balances.
You enter these into:
The individual records set up to manage your business dealings with other
companies such as your bank. You may also need to add opening balances to
customer, supplier and product records, but this depends on how you intend to use
Sage 50 Accounts. You can find more details later in this chapter.
The Nominal Ledger, which brings together all the values that make up your
business.
If you start to use Sage 50 Accounts without entering these figures you will not a get a
true picture of your business finances. For instance:
Although you will be able to print a Profit and Loss statement using Sage 50
Accounts, it can only calculate the results on values entered.
The bank balance displayed by Sage 50 Accounts when recording money in and out
of the business will not be accurate.
If you are going to track customers, the amount of money they owe you, displayed
when you record a sale, will not be accurate.
If you are going to track suppliers, the amount of money you owe them, displayed
when you record a purchase, will not be accurate.
The Balance Sheet, which is a snapshot of the net worth of your business, will not
be accurate.
If you are VAT registered, the record of VAT you owe or is owed to you by H.M.
Revenue and Customs, or Revenue Commissioners, will not be accurate.
When do I need to do this?

Entering your opening balances is a one off task that should be done as soon as you start
to use Sage 50 Accounts, although it can be done at a later date. It is more
straightforward, when done at the start of a new accounting period. Use the following
guidelines to decide on the best time to do this:
Not VAT registered: choose the beginning of a new accounting period, such as the
beginning of a month, quarter or half year.
VAT registered: choose the start of a new VAT quarter.
Additional information for VAT registered users

Existing business
There are two VAT schemes (Standard and Cash Accounting). Each scheme handles
VAT differently. The VAT scheme you use will determine whether unsettled invoices are
entered with or without a VAT amount.
Note: If you use the Standard VAT Accounting scheme and you decide to start using
Sage 50 Accounts during a tax quarter, your first VAT Return will be a mix of VAT
figures within Sage 50 Accounts and those in your previous bookkeeping system.
New business
If you are setting up for the first time you may be able to claim back the VAT you have
paid on goods and services you have bought to start up your business. To find out
what you may be able to claim contact your local tax office.
Any start up expense with VAT that can be reclaimed is added as a regular purchase
transaction to Sage 50 Accounts. This means you enter both the net amount and the
VAT amount for the expense. This ensures Sage 50 Accounts generates your first VAT
Return to include the value of such items.
What do I do?
There are a number of tasks to be
done when adding your opening
figures to Sage 50 Accounts.
It may be that you don't need to do

all these tasks. This will depend on
whether you want to use Sage 50
Accounts to keep records of your
customers, suppliers and the
products you sell.
As a minimum you must gather your opening figures, add them to Sage 50 Accounts, check
they are OK and then save a copy by taking a backup.
729
Gathering your Opening Figures

Your opening figures are what the business owns (assets) and what it owes (liabilities). These
figures are spread across the nominal accounts you have decided to use to track your business.
All businesses, regardless of the length of time they have been established, need to prepare a
list of their opening figures. Even as a new business, any investment in the business to get it
started, needs to be accounted for. The investment can come from a number of sources such
as your own money, money you have borrowed or business grants.
Opening balances represent the financial position of your business on the day you start entering
live transactions into Sage 50 Accounts. Whatever date you choose, you are likely to have
opening balances, whether your business is just starting up or changing over from another
accounting system. Opening balances are transactions that already exist before you start using
Sage 50 Accounts. For example:
INFO
The opening figures are the value of
Opening Figures your business broken down into
categories. These categories are
INFO
Profit and Loss Nominal Account Debit Credit known as nom inal accounts.
values (*sales, (categories)
purchases, Bank 1000
debtors and Sales North* 200 Bank balance
creditor) are Sales South* 100 The balance on your bank statem ent
only relevant if Materials Purchased* plus a list of uncleared item s.
you are partway Debtors* 300 Note: The total am ount should equal
through your Creditors* 900 the bank total in the opening figures.
accounting Stock 900
year. Capital 1000
Loan 4000
Vehicles 2000
Machinery 2000
Stock balances
A list of item s you sell plus the
Total Balance 6200 6200
quantity and cost of each.
Note: The total am ount should equal
the stock total in the opening figures.
Supplier balances
A list of suppliers and how m uch
m oney you owe to each one.
Note: The total am ount of supplier
Custom er balances balances should equal the total for
A list of your custom ers and how Creditors in the opening figures.
m uch m oney each of them owe you.
Note: The total am ount of custom er
balances should equal the total for
Debtors in the opening figures.
This is a simple list of opening figures. Notice how the figures for bank, debtors, creditors and
stock are a combination of other values. You may need a more detailed breakdown of these
opening figures.
The example assumes the supplier balances equal the total for Creditors and the customer
balances equal the total for Debtors. Normally you would expect the figures to match, although
730
it is possible they may not. This may be a result of taking figures from different sources. It will
not stop you from entering your opening figures but it is something you should be aware of.
Preparing a list of opening figures

A list of your nominal accounts and the values (balances) on each is referred to as an opening
trial balance.
If you have an Accountant ask them to prepare the opening trial balance for
you.
If you are moving from a different accounting product you may be able to
generate an opening trial balance from it.
You can prepare a list of these figures yourself. Here are the steps to do this,
but you also need to read Breaking down opening figures on page 732 to help
you complete this task.
To manually prepare your list of opening figures
Print the nominal list. To do this, choose Company > Nominal Ledger and then click Print
List.
This gives you a list of the nominal accounts you have decided to use for your business.
Add two columns to the print out, one for debit and one for credit.
Refer to your previous bookkeeping method to find the value (balance) of each listed
nominal account.
Finding the values for your bank, creditors, debtors and stock nominal accounts may
require a little more work. See Breaking down opening figures on page 732 to find out
more.
If you use the Standard VAT Accounting scheme and have decided to start using Sage 50
Accounts during a tax quarter, your opening figures should include an amount for
outstanding VAT.
Write the value of each nominal account as either a debit or a credit.
In accounting terms an asset to the business is recorded as a debit and a liability is
recorded as a credit.
731
Total the values in the debit column and then total the values for the credit column. The
debit value should equal the credit value.
Breaking down opening figures

There are benefits to be gained in breaking down some of your opening figures. Breaking down
opening figures gives you what is referred to as your opening balances. Opening balances may
be needed for each bank account you used for the business, each customer you sell to, each
supplier you buy from and each product you sell. The following should help you to decide if you
need to do this.
Bank balances
What it is made of? Do I need to break it down?
Your bank balance may include uncleared Only if you want to reconcile uncleared
items. The difference between the money items in Sage 50 Accounts.
you know you have received or have paid
out and that shown on your bank
statement.
How do I break down my

balance?
Match your bank statement to your bank records.

List each uncleared item.
The bank balance as shown on your bank statement is added to Sage 50
Accounts as one amount. The uncleared items are added separately as
individual values to Sage 50 Accounts (more about this later).
Interesting fact: Money credited to your bank account is an asset to the business.
Accountancy rules treat a positive balance as a debit balance, and an overdrawn
balance / negative balance is a credit balance.
732
Customer balances
The amount of money individual customers Only if you are going to keep customer
owe the business. This covers outstanding records. For example if you are a retail
sales invoices, less any money you have outlet operating till and cash sales, you are
received from the customer that has not unlikely to track individual customers.
been earmarked to an invoice, or it can be
money you owe the customer for rejected If you are going to track customers, the
goods. money an individual customer owes you
needs to be recorded on their record.
If you are entering your opening balances
at the start of the new financial year the This means an accurate balance of what is
total amount owed to you by all your owed by the customer is displayed when
customers is represented in the opening you start to record a sale or receive
figures as: payments from them.
Debtors, shown as a debit value. What is a Suspense Account?

Suspense, shown as a credit value. When you enter an opening balance, the
If you are part way through your opposite side of the double entry posts to
financial year the credit value is a the Suspense Account.
combination of your Sales and VAT
liability.

customer balances?
Check your sales records for outstanding transactions, such as invoices, credit
notes, payments on account.
List customers with outstanding transactions, together with the value of the
transaction.
If you use the Standard VAT Accounting scheme, record the transaction amount
including VAT.
If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, record both the net amount and
the VAT amount for each transaction.
The total owed to you by all your customers is your opening Debtors figure. If
the figures do not match, investigate further to try and identify the problem. If
you can't resolve the difference it does not stop you from entering your opening
figures, but expect warnings to be displayed by Sage 50 Accounts from time to
time to indicate there are discrepancies.
733
Supplier balances
The amount of money you owe each Only if you are going to keep supplier
supplier. This covers outstanding purchase records. The money you owe suppliers
invoices, less any money you have paid needs to be recorded on their record.
that has not been earmarked to an invoice
or it can be money owed to you by the This means an accurate balance of what is
supplier for returned goods. owed is displayed for a supplier when you
start to record purchases or make
If you are entering your opening balances payments to them.
at the start of a new financial year the total
amount you owe to all your suppliers is What is a Suspense Account?
represented in the opening figures as: When you enter an opening balance, the
Creditors, shown as a credit value. opposite side of the double entry posts to
the Suspense Account.
Suspense, shown as a debit value.
If you are part way through your
financial year the debit value is a
combination of Purchases and VAT
liability.

supplier balances?
Check your purchase records for outstanding transactions, such as invoices,

credit notes, payments on account.
List suppliers with outstanding transactions and the value of each transaction.
If you use the Standard VAT Accounting scheme, record the transaction
amount including VAT.
If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, record both the net amount and
the VAT amount for each transaction.
Note: This does not apply if you are using the Irish VAT Cash Accounting
scheme. If you use this scheme to calculate VAT, enter your supplier opening
balances as described for the Standard VAT Scheme.
The total owed to all your suppliers is your opening Creditors figure. If the figures
do not match, investigate further to try and identify the problem. If you cannot
resolve the difference it does not stop you from entering your opening figures,
but expect warnings to be displayed by Sage 50 Accounts from time to time to
indicate there are discrepancies.
734
Product balances
Sage 50 Accounts does not link Products (stock) to the Nominal Ledger. When you record a
product increase or decrease the quantity is adjusted only on the product record. The value of
the product in the Nominal Ledger is not automatically adjusted at the same time. Adjustments
to the Nominal Ledger to account for products are done using journal entries. For information
about journal entries see Recording a Journal Entry on page 308.
Entering your product balances is about adding the quantity and value of products to the
individual product records. It is more about stock taking than it is about accounting.
The quantity and cost of each item you sell. Only if you intend to keep product records
and record stock levels. For example, a
business that supplies car parts to the
public may want to keep a track of how
many they have in stock and what they
cost to buy in.
How do I break down my stock

balances?
Do a stock take.
List each product you sell together with the quantity you have in stock and how
much it cost to buy or its current value.
735
Entering your Opening Balances into Sage 50 Accounts

Once you know what your opening figures are, and in some cases your opening balances for
bank, suppliers, customers and products, they are ready to be entered into Sage 50 Accounts.
The goal is to enter the figures to match the credit and debit values of your opening figures.
The instructions to record your opening figures cover some tasks that assume you track
products, customers and suppliers. Please ignore tasks that are not relevant to you. The
instructions follow a worked example of a business starting up for the first time. They have been
trading for a month now and have:
Invested 1000 in the business.
Borrowed 4000 to purchase vehicles and machinery.
Sold goods to the value of 300.
Purchased stock worth 900 but have not yet paid for it.
736
Entering your customer balances

Remember you only need to do this if you are going to keep customer records.
What do I need? What's involved?
Customer records set up in Sage 50 You add the total amount that each
Accounts. See Chapter 5, Setting Up customer owes you to their customer
Records. record.
An opening balance for each customer.
See Customer balances on page 733.
737
What issues do I need to consider?

Two things:
How to deal with a customer balance when it is made up of more than one transaction.
How to deal with your Debtors value which is updated as part of entering customer
balances.
Balance has more than one transaction

If a customer has more than one outstanding transaction, each can be added separately.
This is particularly useful if you want to use ageing to work out when to chase the
customer for payment. If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme these transactions
are always entered separately.
If you are not going to use ageing and all your transaction types are the same you can
enter the total amount owed to you by a customer as one lump sum provided you use
the Standard VAT Accounting scheme.
Debtors value
When you add your customer balances to the customer records Sage 50 Accounts
automatically adds the value to the Debtors nominal account. This means that the
opening figure for Debtors is done at the same time. You have two choices, you can:
Leave the balance updated to the Debtors nominal account.
If you decide to leave the balance, when you come to enter your opening figures
directly to the nominal accounts in the Nominal Ledger you must use the opening
balance button found on each nominal account record.
This means opening each nominal account you have a balance for and adding its
value with the exception of the debtors nominal account. If you don't omit the
Debtors nominal account your Debtors figure will be inflated and your Nominal
Account will not balance.
Clear the balance on the Debtors nominal account by reversing that value.
When you come to enter your opening figures directly to the nominal accounts in
the Nominal Ledger you can then add the Debtors figure you have prepared for your
opening figures. This is particularly useful if you found your customer balances and
your Debtors figure do not match and you believe the Debtors figure is accurate.
If you are familiar with and prefer journal entries you may find it easier to enter your
opening figures directly to the nominal account using the journal entry method,
rather than opening each nominal account separately.
738
How do I enter my customer

balances?
There are two ways you can enter your customer balances; the method you choose is up to
you as the result will be the same. You can:
Use the opening balance button in the customer records.
Record the balances as transactions - invoice or credit notes. See Chapter 8, Customer
Tasks.
Note: If you are setting up your business for the first time, use the Standard VAT
Accounting scheme and need to record sales, use the regular transaction method to
record your sales. This ensures the sales are included in your Sage 50 Accounts VAT
Return.
To enter your customer balances using the opening balances button

the Customers view.
2. Select the customers you have opening balances for, then click Record.
The Customer Record window appears, showing the details of the first customer you
selected.
3. In the Balance box, click the OB button.
The Opening Balance Setup window appears.
4. In the Opening Balance Setup window enter the following opening balance details:
Ref Enter the reference for this opening balance.

This reference appears on the audit trail and will help you to identify this
transaction. If you are entering each outstanding invoice/credit note
separately, you can enter the invoice or credit note number here.
Alternatively you can enter O/BAL as the reference.
Date Enter the original date for the transaction. This ages the invoice/credit
note correctly by that date, so you can have an accurate picture of the
overdue debts on all your customer accounts.
Alternatively you can enter the last day of the previous accounting period.
For example, the last day of the previous financial year.
739
Type From the drop-down list, select the type of opening balance you want to
enter - Invoice or Credit.
If you owe your customers money, from the drop-down list, choose
Credit. This creates a negative balance when you enter their opening
balance. If they owe you money you would choose Invoice.
Standard VAT Accounting scheme users:
Gross Enter the gross amount of the original invoice or credit note here. If you
want to enter a single opening balance for this customer, enter the total
gross amount of all the items here.
VAT Cash Accounting scheme users:
Net Enter the net amount of the original invoice or credit note here.
T/C The default tax code for this customer appears here automatically, but
you can change it if necessary.
VAT Sage 50 Accounts enters the amount of VAT due, but you can change it if
necessary.
Tip: Press ENTER after each entry to move to the next entry box.
5. To accept these details, click Save.
To return to the Customer Record window without saving, click Cancel.
6. To return to the Customers window, click Close.
7. Check the customer balances are as expected. To do this, from the Customers window,
click Reports, then print the Aged Debtors Analysis Detailed and Customer Activity reports.
Adjustments can be made by opening the customer's record, clicking the opening balance
button and adding a value.
To enter your customer balances by entering transactions

See Chapter 8, Customer Tasks.
To reverse the Debtors value

This is only necessary in some circumstances, please read the issues you should consider on
page 738 before you proceed.
1. Print the Period Trial Balance report. To do this, select Company > Financials and click Trial.
2. From the Print Output window select the required output for your report, then click Run.
3. From the Criteria window, select Brought forward as the period, then click OK.
740
Note: This assumes you are entering opening balances at the beginning of the financial
year.
The report is generated.
4. Identify the balance on the Debtors control account, which is printed on the Period Trial
Balance report.
If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme also note the balance on the Sales Tax Control
Account.
5. To reverse the balance on the Debtors control account, prepare a journal entry. Use the
Suspense Account for the opposite posting. If the balance on your trial balance is a debit,
process a journal credit for the same amount.
Note: It is very important that you select the correct date for this step.
For more information about journal entries see Recording a Journal Entry on page 308.
741
Entering your supplier balances

Remember you only need to do this if you are going to keep supplier records.
Supplier records set up in Sage 50 You add the total amount that you owe
Accounts. See Chapter 5, Setting Up to each supplier to their supplier record.
Records.
An opening balance for each supplier.
See Supplier balances on page 734.
742
What issues do I need to consider?

Two things:
How to deal with a supplier balance when it is made up of more than one transaction.
How to deal with your Creditors value which is updated as part of entering supplier
balances.
Balance has more than one transaction
If a supplier has more than one outstanding transaction, each can be added separately.
This is particularly useful if you want to use ageing to work out when to make payments.
If you use the UK VAT Cash Accounting scheme these transactions are always entered
separately.
If you do not need to age your debt and all your transaction types are the same, you can
enter the amount owed to an individual supplier as one lump sum provided you use the
Standard VAT Accounting scheme.
Note: If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme the transactions must be entered
individually so that the unclaimed VAT amount can be dealt with correctly, if you are using
the Irish VAT Cash Accounting scheme - you can enter your opening balances as one
lump sum, as described for the Standard VAT scheme.
Creditors value
When you add your supplier balances to the supplier records Sage 50 Accounts
automatically adds the value to the Creditors nominal account. This means that the
opening figure for Creditors is done at the same time. You have two choices, you can:
Leave the balance updated to the Creditors nominal account.
If you decide to leave the balance, when you come to enter your opening figures
directly to the nominal accounts in the Nominal Ledger you must use the opening
balance button found on each nominal account record.
This means opening each nominal account you have a balance for and adding its
value with the exception of the Creditors nominal account. If you don't omit the
Creditors nominal account your Creditors figure will be inflated and your aged
creditors reports will not match your Nominal Ledger.
Clear the balance on the Creditors nominal account by reversing that value.
When you come to enter your opening figures directly to the nominal accounts in
the Nominal Ledger you can then add the Creditors figure you have prepared for
your opening figures. This is particularly useful if you found your supplier balances
and your Creditors figure do not match and you believe the Creditors figure is
accurate. If you are familiar with and prefer to use journal entries you may find it
easier to enter your opening figures directly to the nominal account using the journal
entry method, rather than opening each nominal account separately.
743
How do I enter my supplier

balances?
There are two ways you can enter your supplier balances the method you choose is up to
you the result will be the same. You can:
Use the opening balance button on supplier records.
Record the balances as regular transactions (invoice or credit notes). See Chapter 8,
Customer Tasks.
Note: If you are setting up your business for the first time, you use the Standard VAT
Accounting scheme and have made purchases where the VAT can be reclaimed, use the
regular transaction method for those purchases. This ensures the purchases are
included in your Sage 50 Accounts VAT Return.
To enter your supplier balances using the opening balances button

1. Select the Suppliers module and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Suppliers view.
2. Select the suppliers you have opening balances for, then click Record.
The Supplier Record window appears, showing the details of the first supplier you
selected.
3. In the Supplier Balance box, click the OB button.
4. Enter the following opening balance details:
Ref Enter the reference for this opening balance.

This reference appears on the audit trail and will help you to identify this
transaction. If you are entering each outstanding invoice/credit note
separately, you can enter the invoice or credit note number here.
Alternatively you can enter O/BAL as the reference.
Date Enter the original date for the transaction. This ages the invoice/credit
note by that date, so you can have an accurate picture of the overdue
debts on all your supplier accounts.
Alternatively you can enter the last day of the previous accounting period.
For example, the last day of the previous financial year.
744
Type From the drop-down list, select the type of opening balance you want to
enter - Invoice or Credit.
If your supplier owes you money, from the drop-down box, choose
Credit. This would create a negative balance.
If you owe money you should choose Invoice.
Standard VAT Accounting scheme user or Irish VAT Cash Accounting scheme
user:
Gross Enter the gross amount of the original invoice or credit note here.
If you want to enter a single opening balance for this supplier, enter the
total gross amount of all the invoices here.
UK VAT Cash Accounting scheme user:
Net Enter the net amount of the original invoice or credit note here.
Tc The default tax code for this supplier appears here automatically, but you
can change it if necessary.
VAT Sage 50 Accounts enters the amount of VAT due for you, but you can
change it if necessary.
Tip: Press TAB after each entry to move to the next entry box.
5. To accept these details, click Save.
To return to the Supplier Record window without saving, click Cancel.
6. To return to the Suppliers window, click Close.
7. Check the supplier balances are as expected. To do this, from the Suppliers window, click
Reports, then print the Aged Creditors Analysis Detailed and Suppliers Activity reports.
Adjustments can be made by opening the supplier's record, clicking the opening balance
button and adding a value.
To enter your supplier balances by entering transactions

See Chapter 9, Supplier Tasks.
To reverse the Creditors value

This is only necessary in some circumstances, please read the issues you should consider on
page 743 before you proceed.
1. Print the Period Trial Balance report. To do this, select Company > Financials and click Trial.
745
2. From the Print Output window select the required output for your report, then click Run.
3. From the Criteria window, choose Brought forward as the period, then click OK.
year.
The report generates.
4. Identify the balance on the Creditors Control Account, which is printed on the Period Trial
Balance report.
If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme also note the balance on the Purchase Tax
Control Account; UK users only - this is not applicable if you are using the Irish VAT Cash
Accounting scheme.
5. To reverse the balance on the Creditors Account, prepare a journal entry. Use the
Suspense Account for the opposite posting. If the balance on your trial balance is a debit,
process a journal credit for the same amount.
For more information about journal entries see Recording a Journal Entry on page 308.
746
Entering your opening figures

This is a task you must do.
747
A Chart of Accounts suitable for your You add your opening figures to the
business. See Chapter 4, Setting Up corresponding Nominal Record in the
your Chart of Accounts. If you are adding Nominal Ledger.
capital, ensure you have created a new
nominal account: default code 3250
Capital Introduced, so that the capital
can be added correctly to Sage 50
Accounts.
Your opening figures. See Gathering
your Opening Figures on page 730.
748
What do I need to consider?

Your opening figures include an opening balance for your bank accounts. This may include
uncleared payments or receipts from your previous system of bookkeeping. If you have
decided you want to reconcile these items in the future, add these items as regular bank
payments and receipts. See Chapter 7, Banking Tasks. The value of any items added in this
way is automatically updated to the bank nominal account for you.
How do I enter my bank

opening figures?
There are two ways you can enter your opening figures directly to the nominal accounts.
Choose the method that is right for you. You can use:
Journal entries.
Using this method you take your list of opening figures and enter each one into a journal
entry window. When the journal is saved Sage 50 Accounts updates each nominal
account for you. See Recording a Journal Entry on page 308.
Don't use this method if you have added customer and supplier balances and have
decided to leave the values that have been updated to the Debtors and Creditors
account. Use the following method instead.
The opening balance button on a nominal account.
Using this method you open a nominal account and added the relevant figure to it. Each
nominal account is done individually.
To enter your opening figures using the opening balance button

2. Select the nominal account code for which you have an opening balance, then click
Record. For example, if you have set up the nominal code 4001 for wine sales and you
already have a balance of 10,000 on the account, you would enter 10,000 on the record.
Note: To be able to select more than one nominal account code simultaneously, you must
have List selected from the Layout drop-down.
3. In the Balance box, click the OB button.
4. Enter the details of your opening balance as follows:
749
Ref Enter a text reference. This text appears on the audit trail and will
help you identify the transaction. The text O/Bal appears by default
but you can change it if you want.
Date Enter the last day of your previous accounting period.
Debit Enter the debit value, if appropriate. Asset nominal ledger accounts,
for example, bank accounts - only for positive balances, purchases
and overhead accounts, for example, electricity charges are normally
debit values.
Credit Enter the credit value, if appropriate. Liability nominal ledger

accounts (for example, loans) and income accounts, for example,
sales of wine, are normally credit values.
5. To record your opening balance, click Save. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
6. Now click Next to go to the next record you selected, and repeat steps 3 to 5.
Repeat these steps for the remaining nominal accounts.
To enter your opening figures using journals

See Recording a Journal Entry on page 308.
750
Entering your product balances

Remember you only need to do this if you have products (stock) that you want to track.
Product records set up in Sage 50 You add the total cost and quantity of
Accounts. See Chapter 5, Setting Up each product to its product record
Records. setup in Sage 50 Accounts.
A list of your products together with the
quantity and cost of each. See Product
balances on page 735.
Product Balances
Product Qty Cost Total

Shiraz 22 9.50 209
Merlot 32 8.50 272
Zinfindel 25 9.40 235
Hock 20 9.20 184 Values added
Shiraz
Qty In Cost Price

opening bal 22 9.50
Merlot
Qty In Cost Price

opening bal 32 8.50
Zinfindel
Qty In Cost Price

opening bal 25 9.40
Hock
Qty In Cost Price

opening bal 20 9.20
Additional information
Product opening figures are not automatically updated to the Nominal Ledger. The value
of your opening stock is manually added to the Nominal Ledger when you enter your
opening figures to Sage 50 Accounts. See Entering your opening figures on page 747.
751
To enter figures into the product records

1. Select the Products module and, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the
Products view.
2. Select the product codes for which you want to enter opening balances, then click Record.
3. In the In Stock box, click OB.
The Opening Product Setup window appears.
4. Enter the opening balances as follows:
Ref The reference for the opening balance, for example, O/BAL.
Date The date for the opening balance. For example the last day of the
previous accounting period/financial year.
Quantity The quantity of the product that you currently have in stock.
Cost Price The unit price at which the opening stock is valued.
5. To record these details, click Save.

Note: If you have selected several product record codes from the Products window, use
the Previous and Next buttons to move between product records to enter their opening
balances.
When you save the opening balance, Sage 50 Accounts posts an Adjustment In (AI)
transaction which can be viewed in the Activity tab.
752
Checking the Opening Figures You Have Recorded

You need to check that the results are what you would expect before you start to enter your
business transactions. If there are problems it will be easier to find them and put them right now
before they become buried in lots of transactions making errors harder to find.
To check the values have been added correctly

Print a Trial Balance, select Company > Financials and click Trial.
From the Print Output window select the required output for your report, then click Run.
From the Criteria window, choose Brought forward as the period, then click OK.
year.
The report is generated.
Check the values on your opening figures match the values on your generated Trial
Balance. Take care over the credit and debit values.
Check the Suspense nominal account has a zero balance.
Something is not right!
Print the Nominal Activity Report and use it to identify the error. To do this, select the
Company > Nominal Ledger, then click Reports. Open the Nominal Activity Reports folder
and print Nominal Activity report.
Problem Possible explanation
The suspense account If you have added customer or supplier opening balances,
does not have a zero check you have reversed the initial values out of the Nominal
balance. Ledger before adding your opening figures.
The total balance does An opening balance has been missed, duplicated or added as a
not match the total credit, when it should be a debit, or vice versa.
balance of my opening
figures.
753
754
Index
A narratives 626
export adjustments and narratives to
file 621
Access Rights
import accounts data from file 621
assign 162
import adjustments and
create 161
narratives 611, 616, 618
enable 113
import clients data from a file 622
full access 161
introduction 608
logon names 161
material changes 614
new user 161
material changes record 615
no access 162
pay by card 628
password 161
set up preferences 119120
Access to Line 50 22
view comments and
Account
adjustments 617
bad debt 181
with Accounts, Accounts Plus or
control 180
Accounts Professional 610
credit card 190
with Client Manager 621
fixed asset 213
wizard 610
nominal 182
Accountant Link Wizard 610, 621
nominal activity 187
Accounting Schemes
nominal structure 179
specifying 4
petty cash 190
Accounts
status 96
cash 190
Account From 343, 716
Accrual N/C 224
Account Reference 194
Accruals
Account To 344, 716
add 223
Account Type
control account 181
control 180
late invoices 293
floating 168
month end 293
Account Types
monthly accruals 293
bank 190
postings
Accountant Link
example of 225
adjustments and narratives 624
wizard 223
apply adjustments and
ActiveSearch
narratives 619
display 113
comments and adjustments
using 59
record 625
ActiveSetup Wizard
exchange data with your clients 621
overview 4
export accounts data to file 610611
Activity
export adjustments and
nominal 185 viewing (non sales order

product 203 allocation) 569
project 576, 582, 592 Allow Negative Stock 114
viewing nominal account 187 Alphanumeric Codes 194
viewing product 554 ALT Key 30
Actual 550 Always Create Remittances 134
Adding Amending
customers to price list 375 stock allocation 566
products to price list 371 Arrows 49
Address Assembly Level 558
company delivery addresses 110 Asset Accounts 175
preferences 109 Asset Category 214
website 19 Assign
Adjustments project budgets 233
in 590 Audit Assistant
out 590 account verification 647
stock level 551 accounts system check window 642
Adjustments and Narratives check accounts system 639
apply 619 check VAT values 648
comments and adjustments introduction 638
record 625 VAT audit check 643, 646
export 626 VAT audit reports 647
import 616, 618 verify VAT discrepancies 638
posting 624 Audit Trail
recording 624 clearing 318319
Aged Balance Defaults report 683
setting up customer 141 AVS Validation 493
setting up supplier 142
Aged Balances B
supplier defaults 142
Ageing
Back Up
calendar monthly 138
advanced options 69
period ageing 138
previous backups 70
Allocating
restore 72
amending (non sales order
to CD 69
allocation) 569
Backing Up
amending (sales order
data 67, 302
allocation) 427
strategies 71
stock manually (non sales order) 566
Bad Debts
stock manually (sales order) 426
control account 181
427
Balance Sheet 175, 686
stock to a quotation 402
Balance Sheet Depreciation N/C 215
Index
Bank memorising bank receipts 329

adding records 191 memorising credit notes 534
cash account 190 memorising invoices 534
cheque account 190 printing of sales orders 425
credit card account 190 recalling bank payments 335
defaults 133 recalling bank receipts 329
opening balances 732 recalling credit notes 534
record 190 recalling invoices 534
Bank Account supplier credit notes 543
creating a new 191 Batch Option
Bank Accounts 190 bank accounts window 540
hmrc 283 Batch Payments
Bank Defaults memorising and recalling 334
always create remittances 134 templates 334
enable e-banking 133 Batch Reports 694
group items in bank Bill of Materials 557
reconciliation 133 available to makeup 559
List Payment/Receipt by split 133 component availability 559
no warning on visa receipts 133 entering 557
Bank Payment Billing
for projects 592 fixed price 601
memorising 334 for projects 210, 576, 601
recalling 335 time and materials 603
Bank Payments Bills
hmrc 283 accruals 223
Bank Receipts BOM 553, 557, 559
memorising 329 Book Value 216, 236
memorising and recalling 329 Box Contents 48
recalling 329 Brackets
Bank Reconciliation use of 54
e-Reconcile 633 Budget
group items in bank project 105, 207, 211, 577578,
reconciliation 133 584, 598
manual reconciliation 345 report 688
no bank reconciliation 192 Budgeting 121, 226
when to reconcile 345 department 227228
Bank Records 191 nominal accounts 226228
Bank Statements projects 233
printing 352 Buttons
Bank Transfers 343, 717 calculator 50
Batch calendar 50
memorising bank payments 334 Function Keys 60
C categories 167
copying layout 172
default 177
Calculate
editing 169
vat return 257
errors 170
Calculate Net 61
tailoring 165
Calculating prices 372, 383
Check BOM 559
Calculation Methods
Check Boxes 50
decrease sales price by % 372, 383
Check Stock Makeup 559
decrease sales price by value 372,
Checking
383
component availability 559
fixed price 372, 383
data 66
mark up % on cost price 372, 383
Cheque Layouts 118
mark up value on cost price 372, 383
Cheque Lines Per Page 118, 336
standard price 372, 383
Cheques 335
Calculator 60
CIS
Calculator Button 50
preferences 129
Calendar 60
setting up 129
Calendar Button 50
Clear 40
Calendar Monthly Ageing 137138
Clearing
Call Charge Rate
audit trail 319
setting the default 112
stock transactions 296
Cancel 39
VAT control accounts 271
Carousel Fraud 275, 277
Close 39
Case Sensitive 58
Coding 194
Cash Accounts 190
Column-Based Reports 692
Cash Businesses 326
Columns
Cash Sale 405
hiding 40
recording 406
resizing 40
settings 147, 159
Command Buttons 39
Categories
Comments and Adjustments
fixed assets 238
import 616
CD
view 617
back up 69
view record 625
Changing
Committed Costs (Projects) 595
chart of accounts 169
Commodity Code 202
financial year 86
Common Directory 631
password 22, 161
Company
program date 65, 287
address 109
Charges
parameters 112
for time 465
preferences 109, 119120
Chart of Accounts
Configurable columns 41
adding 167
Index
options 41 invoices 463

Configuration Editor purchase orders 521
account status tab 96 records 43
chart of accounts tab 90 sales orders 425
credit control tab 104 supplier price list 497
custom fields tab 102 Correcting
dispute reasons tab 103 data files 82
fixed assets tab 100 Corrections
general tab 88 overview 72
introduction 87 Cost Codes 578
products tab 98 Cost Postings
project costing tab 105 bank payment 592
tax codes tab 93 in life cycle 576
terms tab 91 projects 591
Contact - Time Biller 465 supplier invoice 591
Contacts Cost Types 105, 108, 577578
charging for time 465 Countries
creating service invoices 465 setting up 703
Control Accounts Create
accruals 181 bank accounts 190
bad debts 181 bank receipt 326
clearing VAT 271 bank record 191
credit charges 181 bank transfer 343, 716717
creditors control 180 batch supplier payment 540
debtors control 180 bill of materials 557
default bank 180 cash sales order 406
default sales account 181 cheques 340
introduction 180 customer price list 370
mispostings 181 data backups 67
prepayments 181 discount structure 393
purchase discount 180 fixed asset categories 100
retained earnings 180 fixed asset record 213
sales discount 180 good customer discount 389
suspense 181 invoice from contacts 465
VAT on purchases 180 journal entry 308
VAT on sales 180 nominal record 182
Converting a Quotation 402 prepayment 220
Copy Data Button 60 product invoice 439
Copy Skeleton Journal Entries 114 product record 202
Copying project record 208
COA layout 172 project resources 579
customer price list 376 purchase orders 503
sales orders 406 transaction activity 485

search 52 Customer Codes
service invoice 448 planning 194
special customer price 382 Customer Defaults 134
supplier payment 536 Customer Price Lists
supplier price list 496 importing 378
Creating introduction 370
chart of accounts 167 Customer Records
Creating a New Quotation 400 deleting 200
Creating New Accounts 191 entering 195
Credit Card Accounts 190 projects tab 597
Credit Charges Customer Support 18
control account 181 CV2 Validation 493
Credit Control
aged creditors analysis 543 D
reminder letters 104
suggested payments 540
Damages In 563
supplier invoices within
Damages Out 563
settlement 543
Dashboards 34
Credit Limit 134
Data
Credit Note
backing up 67
footer details 457
checking 66
order details 455
correcting 72, 82
red 438
file maintenance 72
service item line details 452
fixing 66
Creditors Control 180
importing 664
CSV File Format 665
restore 72
Ctrl 48
restoring 71
Currency Calculator 60
Data Entry Screen 46
Currency Revaluation Nominal Code 705
Data Entry Windows 46
Current Assets 175
Data Repair Service 66
Current Liabilities 175
Date Dependence 65
Cursor 46
Debtors Control 180
Custom Fields 102
Decrease Sales Price by % 372, 383
Customer
Decrease Sales Price by value 372, 383
defaults 134
Deduction
deleting records 200
net value discount 480
good customer discount 388
Deductions 480
invoicing contacts 465
Default Chart of Accounts 177
opening balances 733, 737
Defaults
price lists 370
bank 133
refunds 487
bank account 180
Index
call charge rate 112 Discounts

customer 134 by quantity 393
invoice and order 148 by unit price 147, 387
product 144 for early settlement 390
sales account 181 for quantity sold 393
supplier 142 for special customers 382
Delete 48 good customer 388
Delete Row 61 invoice value 396
Deleting manual 398
customer records 200 standard 388
nominal records 187 Discounts on Products 144
sales order 436 Display Account Status 113
supplier records 200 Display ActiveSearch Popup 113
transactions 79 Dispute Reasons 103
Delivery Addresses Dividends
company 110 recording 326
Demonstration data 26 Document Manager
Departments 227228, 232 add filing system reference 653
Deposit add shortcut 652
payment 490 attachments pane 651
quotation 490 overview 650
Deposits 480 project record 587
invoicing 481 Donations
quote 480 recording 331
sales order 480 Double-Entry Bookkeeping 175
Depreciation 236 Drill To Reports 692
depn to date 217 Drill-Down 51
next depn 216 Drop-Down Boxes 49
non-depreciating 216 Drop-Down Menus 30
posting tab 214 Duplicate
rate 216 invoice 463
reducing balance method 237 purchase order 521
Depreciation Method 215 records 43
Desktop layout 27 sales order 425
Desktop views 31
Despatching E
sales orders 428
Direct Debits 353
E-Banking
Discard 39
automatically reconciling 635
Discount by Quantity 393
configuring 630
Discount Methods 372, 383
enabling 133
Discount Tab Names 146
entering your supplier bank
details 632 cash sale 406

importing transactions 633 chart of accounts 167
making e-Payments 632 company parameters 112
manually reconciling 637 credit card accounts 190
reconciling 634 customer defaults 134
setting up 629 early settlement discount 390
setting up your bank account 630 fixed asset categories 238
statement end balance 635 fixed asset records 213
statement end date 635 good customer discount 389
using e-Payments 631 label preferences 111
using e-Reconcile 633 manual search 52
e-Banking nominal records 182
vat payment 282 price lists 370, 496
ECSL product defaults 144
generate 272 product records 201
preferences 123, 251 quantity discount structure 393
triangulation transaction 272 reporting preferences 117
triangulation transactions 274 special customer prices 382
Edit Item Line 60 stock returns 563
Editing 232 supplier defaults 142
batched transaction split 77 total discount 398
budgets 232 Entering and Editing Data 46
chart of accounts 169 E-Payments
nominal records 186 enable e-Banking 133
stock allocation 427 entering your supplier bank
Email Support 19 details 632
Enable E-Banking 133 making e-payments 632
Enable Project Costing 115, 577 using 631
End 48 E-Reconcile 634
Enquiry automatically reconciling 635
project budgets 234 confirm 634
project costs 234 highlighted transactions 635
Enter importing transactions 633
budgets 228 manually reconciling 637
project budget 233 matching 634
Entering reconcile 634
address preferences 109 statement end balance 635
bank account records 190 statement end date 635
bank defaults 133 Error Corrections
bill of materials 557 data errors 72
budgets 228 transactions 79
cash account 190 Errors
Index
audit assistant 639 transactional based management

Esc 48 reports 690
E-Submissions trial balance report 684
credentials 251 Financial Year 226
e-Submissions 123, 278280 changing 86, 307
credentials 123 nominal account budgets 226
Euro 700 Financials
e-VAT 278, 280281 column-based reports 692
Event Logging Finding Transactions 57
configure event log 673 Fix Data 66
enable 672 Fixed Asset Categories
view event log 673 creating 238
Excel editing 100
exporting to 656 Fixed Asset Records 213
Exchange Rates Fixed Assets
entering 700 asset accounts 175
Exclude Deleted Transactions 113 categories 238
Expenditure Accounts 174, 176 records 213
Expenses 366 sale of 238
Export Accounts Data to File 611 Fixed Price 372, 383
Exporting Floating Nominal Accounts 168
to Word, Excel and Outlook 656 Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard
Expressions to run 713
ordering 56 Foreign Currency
bank transfers 717
F overpayments 705
underpayments 705
Foreign Currency Accounts
F1 to F12 60
revaluation 714
FIFO 548
Foreign Currency Exchange Rates 700
File Maintenance
Foreign Trader
corrections 72, 82
how it affects data 724
delete transactions 79
setup 704
Finance Rates
to activate 705
credit charges account 181
wizard 705
Financial Reports
Free/On-Order 553
audit trail 683
Fuel Expenses
balance sheet 686
recording 331
budget report 688
Function Keys 60
prior year 689
configuring F11 and F12 61
profit and loss report 685
user-configurable 61
quick ratio report 687
G customer price lists 378

e-banking transactions 633
product prices 378
Generating Cheques
records 664
using Cheque List 340
Include Future Totals in Balance 141
Global Changes
Income Accounts 174175
nominal account budgets 226227
Insert Row 61
Good Customer Discounts 388
Installing Sage Line 50
Goods Despatched Notes
single user 3
despatched tab 434
Instalments 353
overview 429
Internet Resources 676
printing 434
Intrastat
viewing 434
arrivals 244
Goods Received Notes
commodity code 202
deliveries tab 530
country code 110
overview 524
defaults 158
printing 530
delivery terms 241, 246
Group Bank Transactions 134
dispatches 239
Group Items in Bank Reconciliation 133
nature of transaction code 241, 246
purchase orders 244
H sales orders 239
supplementary declarations 239
Help view archived report 244
customer support 18 weight 202
email support 19 Inv. No. 440
F1 60 Invoice
getting 62 copying 463
online support 19 duplicating 463
sage.com 19 footer details 457
training 19 for a project 603
website 19 mixed product and service 467
wizard 63 order details 455
Help Centre 32 payment details 460
Hide product invoice 439
data columns 42 product item line details 444
Home 48 projects 576
service invoice 448
I service item line details 452
update ledgers 470
Import value discounts 396
budgets 226 Invoice and Order Defaults 148
clients data from a file 622 entering 147
Index
footer defaults 151 update 470

Intrastat 158 Letters
numbering options 152 credit control 104
Invoicing Liability Accounts 174175
deposit 491 Link Level 558
deposits 480481 Links and Tasks 29
net value discounts 480 List Payment/Receipt by split 133
pay by card 491 List windows 37
Invoicing From Contacts 465 Log Events 116, 672
Irish Revenue Login Check 115
VAT3 269 Login Restrictions 115
Irish Tax Codes 93 Long Term Liabilities 175
Issuing Low/High 168
stock allocation 570
Item Line Details 444 M
J Maintaining Quotations 401
Making Bank Transfers 717
Journal 308 Making Journal Entries 308
Journal Entry Mark Up % on Cost Price 372, 383
create 308 Mark Up Value on Cost Price 372, 383
recurring entries 361 Material Changes
reverse 310 posting 614
skeleton 310 recording 614
view record 615
K Memorising
bank payments 334
bank receipts 329
Keyboard 30
batch credit notes 534
batch invoices 534
L Memos
document manager 650
Label Preferences 111 Menu Options 30
Last Posted 356, 362 Message Lines 438
Late Entries Mispostings
handling 297 control account 181
month end 297 Mixed Product and Service
posting 298 invoice and orders 467
Late Invoices Monitor
handling 297 budgets 226, 228
monthly accruals 293 project budgets 234
Ledger project costs 234
Month End 285 Nominal Ledger Accounts

checklist 285 explained 174
clear stock 296 Nominal Record
explained 285 adding 182
late entries 297298 Nominal Records
monthly accruals 293 code 165
product reports 297 Non-Depreciating Fixed Asset 216
Mouse 30 NOTC
MTIC Fraud 275, 277 nature of transaction code 241
Multi Level Projects 207, 581, 584 Numeric Codes 194
N O
N/C 183 OK 39
Navigation Bar 28 Online Support 19
Navigation Groups 28 Opening Balances
Net Amount/Amount 356 bank balances 732
Net Value Discount 480 check values 753
Net Value Discounts 480 customer balances 733
New Bank Account 191 customers 737
New Call Window 465 nominal ledger 747
News Feeds 676 product 735, 751
configuring 677 supplier 742
settings 678 supplier balances 734
No Warning on Visa Receipts 133 Option Buttons 49
Nominal Order
activity 187 mixed product and service 467
activity tab 185 purchase order 502
bank account records 190 purchase order cycle 502
budgets 226 sales order cycle 404
floating accounts 168 Order No. 440
graphs tab 184 Order of Lists 37
memo tab 186 Ordering the List 40
opening balances 747 Outlook
Nominal Account exporting to 656
budgets 226227
Nominal Codes 165 P
Nominal Defaults 179
Nominal Journals
P&L Depreciation N/C 215
reversing 310
Password 22
Nominal Ledger
changing 161
opening balances 747
Index
Pay All 541 adding customers 375

Pay by Card 488489 adding products 371
accountant link 628 copy customer price list 376
AVS and CV2 493 copy supplier price list 497
bank receipts 490 create 370
customer receipts 489 printing 385
deposit 490 Pricing
invoicing 491 decrease sales price by % 372, 383
sales orders 492 decrease sales price by value 372,
set payment solutions 488 383
supplier refund 546 fixed price 372, 383
wizard 493 mark up % on cost price 372, 383
Pay in Full 541 mark up value on cost price 372, 383
Paying by Instalments 353 standard price 372, 383
Payment File Options 631 Pricing Option
Payment on Account 477 customer price lists 370
Payments special customer pricing 382
accruals 223 supplier price lists 496
batch bank 334 Print Address on Stationery 118
Payments From Customers Print End of Report Banner 117
recording 477 Printing
Period Ageing 137138 price lists 385
Petrol remittances 538
recording expenses 331 Prior Year Report 689
Petty Cash 366 Process maps 33
Planning Process Recurring Entries 363
nominal account structure 179 Producing Cheques 335
Post 221 Product 232
Posting activity 554
late entries 298 activity report 297
Preferences allocation (non sales order) 566
budgeting 121 allocation (sales order) 426
CIS 129 bill of materials 557
payment solutions 126 categories 98
vat 123 category labels 99
Prepayment N/C 221 clear stock transactions 296
Prepayments component availability 559
add 220 custom fields 99
control account 181 defaults 144
posting levels 549
example of 222 opening balances 735, 751
Price Lists profit report 297
records 201 changing 65, 287

returns 563 Project Charge
sales table 232 in life cycle 576
shortfall 551 introduction 588
transfers 561 Project Costing
valuation report 297 introduction 574
Product Activity Report 297 project life cycle 575
Product Categories Project Only Costs
creating 98 timesheets 588
Product Code 441 Project Record
Product Codes analysis tab 210
advice 201 deleting 212
Product Defaults memo tab 587
entering 144145 overview 207
Product Discounts 144 Projects
Product Invoice activate 577
create 439 activity 576, 582, 592
item line details 444 allocating stock 566
Product Invoices 439 billing 210, 576, 601
Product Levels 551 budgets 207, 211, 233234, 578,
Product List 584, 597
setting up 201 committed costs 595
Product Profit Report 297 completing 576, 606
Product Records cost codes 578
activity tab 203 cost postings 576, 591
BOM 202 cost types 105, 108, 577578
details tab 202 costs 234
discount tab 203 create record 208
entering 201 enquiries and analysis 597
graphs tab 203 fixed price billing 601
memo tab 202 introduction 574
pricing 202 invoice 603
quantity discount 203 invoicing 576
sales tab 202 life cycle 575
web tab 204 linked to purchase orders 595
Product Transfers 561 managing budgets 233
Products multi level 207, 581, 584
amending allocation 427 project charge 576, 588
Profit and Loss Report 176, 685 record 207, 576, 592
Profit Value 469 reports 576
Proformas 400 resources 579
Program Date set up cost codes 106
Index
set up statuses 106 Quantity to Order 553

setting budgets 233 Quick Ratio Report 687
stock issue 576 Quotations 400
stock postings 590 allocating stock 402
structures 207, 581, 584 changing details 402
time and materials billing 603 changing status 402
timesheets 576 converting 402
Purchase creating 400
discount account 180 expired 402
Purchase Invoices maintaining 401
for accruals 293
for projects 591 R
from purchase orders 533
received after month end 297
RCSL 275, 277
Purchase Order Deliveries Tab 530
transaction breakdown 277
Purchase Orders 502
Recalling
batched delivery 531
bank payments 335
copying 521
bank receipts 329
creating 503
batch credit notes 534
creating purchase invoices from 533
batch invoices 534
deliveries tab 530
Reconciling
delivery details 519
e-Banking 634
duplicating 521
manual reconciliation 345
footer details 516
Recording
goods received notes 524
cash sales 405406
Intrastat 244
dividends 326
item line details 509
grant monies 326
linked to projects 595
insurance monies 326
manual delivery 531
money received 326
order cycle 502
non-regular transactions 308
order details 514
Recording Money
placing on order 523
paid to your suppliers 536
printing batches 522
Records
recording delivery 523
bank 191
saving 522
fixed assets 213
Purchase Payment 335, 536
nominal 182
product 201
Q Recurring Entries
bank/cash/credit card 354
Quantity Discount customer payment on account 357
product records 203 journal 361
Quantity Discount Structure 393 supplier payment on account 359
types of 353 Restore

Recurring Invoices 471 back up data 72
Recurring Purchase Orders 471 overview 71
Recurring Sales Orders 471 view previous backups 70
Red Credit Note 438 Restoring
Reference Codes 194 data 71
Refunds Retained Earnings 180
customer 487 Revaluation of Foreign Currency
supplier 545 Accounts
Remittance Advice Notes 538 Foreign Bank Revaluation
Re-order Wizard 713
stock 551 manual adjustments 714
Re-Order Level 553 Reverse
Reports journal entry 310
aged creditors analysis 543 Reverse Charge 277
audit trail 683 csv file 275
balance sheet 686 Reverse Charge Sales List 275
batch 696 Right-Click 30
budget 688 RSS News Feeds 676
column-based 692 configuring 677
drill to 692 settings 678
preferences 117
prior year 689 S
product 297
product activity 297
Sage Payment Solutions 126, 488489
product profit 297
accountant link 628
product valuation 297
bank receipts 490
profit and loss 685
customer receipts 489
projects 576
deposit 490
quick ratio 687
invoicing 491
transactional based
sales orders 492
management 690
supplier refund 546
trial balance 684
wizard 493
Reports Required for VAT Inspection 284
SageCover 18
Reset practice company 25
Sale of Fixed Assets 238
Resize
Sales Discount Account 180
data columns 42
Sales Order Despatched Tab 434
Resources
Sales Orders 404
creating 579
allocating 426
deleting 580
batch printing 425
overview 579
cash sale 405
projects 579
completing 424
Index
copying 425 account status 96

creating 405406 address preferences 109
deleting 436 bank defaults 133
deliveries tab 434 bill of materials 557
despatch details 406, 422 company parameters 112
despatching 428 customer defaults 134
details tab 405, 437 customer price lists 370
duplicating 425 depreciation 213
footer details 405, 416, 437 early settlement discounts 390
goods despatched notes 429 financial year 86
Intrastat dispatches 239 good customer discounts 388
invoice details 406, 423 Intrastat defaults 158
item line details 410 invoice value discounts 396
order cycle 404 label preferences 111
order details 405, 414, 437 passwords 161
pay by card 492 program date 65, 287
payment details 406, 419, 437 quantity discounts 393
printing 425 reporting preferences 117
saving 424 special customer prices 382
stock allocation 427 standard discounts 388
Save 39 supplier defaults 142
Saving supplier price lists 496
VAT returns 269 Settings
Saving Time 607 preferences 123
Scale Charges 272 vat preferences 251
Scroll Bars 49 Shift+Tab 48
Search 52 Shortcut Keys 60
and/or 54 Shortfall
creating a search manually 52 stock 551
how to use the 54 Show Due Entries Up To 363
joining expressions 54 Showing Data Columns 40
ordering expressions 56 Smart Totals 116
using brackets 54 Sorting Lists 37
using wildcards 55 Space Bar 50
Selecting Menus 30 Special Customer Prices 382
Selecting Records 37 entering 382
Service Invoice Standard Budgeting 226
creating 448 Standard Discounts 388
item line details 452 Standard Price 372, 383
Service Invoices 448 Standing Orders 353
Service Item Lines 452 Starting Up Line 50 22
Setting Statement End Balance 635
Statement End Date 635 Supplier Aged Balances

Statement Reconciliation Service 631 setting up supplier 142
Statements Tab 137 Supplier Codes
Status planning 194
changing project 587 Supplier Defaults
Stock ageing tab 143
activity 203 record tab 142
allocation (non sales order) 566 Supplier Payment on Account 359
allocation (sales order) 426 Supplier Payment Window 536
amending allocation (non sales Supplier Payments 536
order) 569 recording 536
amending allocation (sales Supplier Price Lists 496
order) 427 importing 498
clear transactions 296 overview 496
component availability 559 Supplier Refund
defaults 144 pay by card 546
issuing an allocation 570 Supplier Remittances 538
levels 549 Supplier Reports 400
product activity report 297 Suspend Posting 356, 362
product profit report 297 Suspense
product valuation 297 control accounts 181
records 201 Swap 40
shortfall 551
transfers 561 T
Stock Issue 576
Stock Levels 551
Tab 48
Stock Postings
Tasks and Links 29
projects 590
Tax Breakdown List 443
Stock Returns
Tax Code Setup 93
damages in 563
Tax Codes 93
damages out 563
Tax Rates
write off 563
cis 129
Stock Shortfall
Tax Total 333
stock levels 551
Technical Support 18
Stock Transfer
Telephone Calls
make 561
invoicing for 465
Suggested Payments 540
setting up default charge 112
Supplier
Telephone Charge Default 112
opening balances 734, 742
Time
price lists 496
invoicing for 465
refunds 545
Timesheets
transaction history 543
for projects 576, 588
Index
Timeslips Link 114 archive 269

Toolbar 39 calculating 256
Total Discounts 398 hmrc bank accounts 283
Total Required Postings 356, 362 ledger 249
Tour of Line 50 21 manual adjustments 267
Track offline payment 280
project budgets 234 online 278
project costs 234 online payment 281
Training 19 payment 282
Transaction Activity preferences 123, 251
customer 485 return process 256
supplier 543 tasks 249
Transactional Based Management totals 267
Reports 690 VAT Audit Check 643, 646
Transactions VAT Audit Reports
amending 77 audit assistant 647
finding 57 overview 284
product 232 VAT Cash Accounting
Transfer EI 263
bank 717 UK VAT return 259
product 561 VAT Control Accounts
stock 561 clearing 271
Trial Balance VAT Discrepancies 638
report 684 VAT on Purchases 180
Triangulation 274 VAT on Sales 180
VAT Rates 93
U VAT Reconciliation
EI standard VAT 261
EI VAT cash accounting 263
Unit Price Discount 147, 387
standard VAT 258
Update
UK VAT cash accounting 259
ledgers 470
VAT Registration Number 110
User Assistance Centre 32
VAT Return
User-configurable Function Keys 61
analyse 267
Using Windows 32
calculating 256
calculation 257
V checking 265
checklist 250
Valuation EI standard VAT scheme 261
product report 297 future transactions 270
VAT irish republic 269
analyse 267 late transactions 270
manual adjustment 267 transactions 485, 543

overview 258 Views 29
preferences 251
printing 265 W
process 256
republic of ireland 261
Wages
saving 269
journal entries 313
standard VAT scheme 258, 265
processing 313
totals 267
Website Address 19
UK cash accounting 259
Welcome Page 35
VAT cash accounting 266
Welcome Window 32
view previous 278
Wildcards 55
VAT Window 249
Windows 48
VAT3
Windows Control Panel 61
file access in Vista 269
Wizard
View
submissions 279
hmrc responses 280
Wizards 63
VAT archive 269
ActiveSetup 4
View Options 31
Word
View Selector 29
exporting to 656
Viewing 530
Work Area 30
customers 485
goods despatched notes 434
nominal accounts 187 X
previous VAT returns 249
products 554 XML File 269
project activity 592
project budgets 234 Y
project costs 234
project costs to budget 597 Year End
stock 554 checklist 300
stock allocation 566
suppliers 543

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

7xPDF covers for Mike:Layout 1 15/1/07 14:53 Page 7

No part of this documentation may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated,

Sage (UK) Limited

Read This First

Other Sage 50 Accounts documentation

Instructions in This Guide