sage Line 50 portrait 2007 covers 2/11/06 14:45 Page 1

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Powerful accounting software for growing businesses
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Copyright
© Sage (UK) Limited, 2007. 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: 17/07/2007
Pbn No: 13466
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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 computer, 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 navigation
groups.
„ Company Tasks
Company tasks include: forecasting cash flow; credit control and managing bad debts;
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.
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„ Banking Tasks
Banking tasks include: recording receipts, payments, and 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.
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Other Sage 50 Accounts documentation

In addition to this User Guide, the following user documentation is also provided, both on your
disks and in the program 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 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 e-Mail
This guide explains how to set up, register, and use Transaction e-Mail, 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 e-mail the Sage SBD Documentation Team at
SageR&[email protected].
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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 program. 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' navigation group 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 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 268.
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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.......................................................................17
About SageCover ..........................................................................................17
SageCover Online Support ............................................................................17
sage.co.uk & sage.ie......................................................................................18
Sage Training .................................................................................................18
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Sage 50 Accounts .......................... 19
Accessing Sage 50 Accounts ........................................................................20
Using Sage 50 Accounts Demonstration Data ...............................................21
The Sage 50 Accounts Desktop ....................................................................22
Sage 50 Accounts Window Types..................................................................27
Using the Search to Find Records..................................................................46
Finding Transactions ......................................................................................51
Using ActiveSearch........................................................................................53
Function Keys ................................................................................................54
An Overview to Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts ...............................................58
Administrative / Maintenance Tasks ...............................................................59
Chapter 3: Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts ......................................... 73
Setting the Financial Year ...............................................................................74
The Configuration Editor ................................................................................75
Entering Your Company Preferences..............................................................97
Entering Your Bank Defaults.........................................................................119
Entering Customer Defaults .........................................................................121
Ageing Transactions in Sage 50 Accounts ...................................................124
Entering Supplier Defaults ............................................................................128
Entering Product Defaults ............................................................................130
Entering Invoice and Order Defaults .............................................................133
Setting Up Users .........................................................................................147
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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Chapter 4: Setting Up your Chart of Accounts ............................... 149

Setting Up your Chart of Accounts...............................................................150
Adding a Chart of Accounts.........................................................................153
Editing your Chart of Accounts ....................................................................155
Checking your Chart of Accounts ................................................................156
Deleting a Chart of Accounts .......................................................................158
Copying a Chart of Accounts .......................................................................158
Chapter 5: Setting Up Records ........................................................ 159
Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained............................................................160
The Nominal Account Structure ...................................................................165
Control Accounts .........................................................................................166
Entering Nominal Records ...........................................................................168
Editing Nominal Records..............................................................................172
Deleting Nominal Records............................................................................172
Viewing Nominal Account Activity ................................................................172
Entering Bank Account Records ..................................................................175
Editing a Bank Record .................................................................................178
Deleting a Bank Record ...............................................................................178
Planning your Customer and Supplier Codes...............................................179
Entering Customer and Supplier Records ....................................................180
Deleting Customer Records .........................................................................185
Deleting Supplier Records............................................................................185
Setting Up Your Product List........................................................................186
Creating a Product Record ..........................................................................186
Editing a Product Record .............................................................................191
Deleting a Product Record ...........................................................................191
Setting Up Project Records
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................192
Setting Up Your Fixed Asset Records
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................198
Chapter 6: Company Tasks ............................................................. 203
Forecasting Your Cash Flow.........................................................................204
Managing Credit Control ..............................................................................209
Writing Off Bad Debts ..................................................................................234
Prepayments
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................240
Accruals
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................243
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Contents

Budgeting in Sage 50 Accounts...................................................................246

Working With Fixed Assets ..........................................................................254
Preparing Intrastat Declarations ...................................................................258
Managing your VAT......................................................................................268
Carrying Out Your Month End ......................................................................305
Running the Year End ..................................................................................320
Recording a Journal Entry............................................................................328
Clearing the Audit Trail .................................................................................338
Clearing Stock Transactions.........................................................................343
Compressing Your Data ...............................................................................343
Chapter 7: Banking Tasks ................................................................ 345
Recording a Bank Receipt ...........................................................................346
Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card Payment ........................................351
Recording a Transfer....................................................................................363
Reconciling Your Bank Account ...................................................................365
Creating and Processing Recurring Transactions .........................................373
Viewing Bank Transaction Activity ................................................................385
Managing Your Petty Cash...........................................................................387
Chapter 8: Customer Tasks ............................................................. 389
Pricing and Discounts ..................................................................................390
Customer Pricing .........................................................................................391
Proformas
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................421
Quotations
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................421
Sales Order Processing
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................425
Entering an Invoice ......................................................................................458
Posting an Invoice........................................................................................491
Dealing with Recurring Transactions ............................................................492
Receiving Customer Payments ....................................................................498
Entering a Credit Note .................................................................................500
Deductions
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only) ..........................................501
Deleting Invoices and Credit Notes ..............................................................504
Viewing a Customer’s Transaction Activity....................................................506
Customer Refunds.......................................................................................508
Sage Payment Solutions Pay by Card Facility ..............................................509
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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Chapter 9: Supplier Tasks ................................................................ 519

Supplier Price Lists
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................520
Processing Purchase Orders
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................526
Entering an Invoice from a Supplier ..............................................................557
Supplier Payment Control ............................................................................560
Supplier Reports ..........................................................................................569
Recording a Supplier’s Credit Note ..............................................................569
Viewing Supplier Transaction Activity............................................................569
Supplier Refunds .........................................................................................571
Chapter 10: Product Tasks (Stock) .................................................. 573
A Note on Product Valuation in Sage 50 Accounts.......................................574
Recording a Stock Take ...............................................................................575
Adjusting Stock Levels by Recording an Adjustment In or Out .....................577
Stock Shortfall
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................577
Viewing Product Activity...............................................................................580
Bill of Materials
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................582
Recording Stock Returns
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................588
Allocating Stock
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................591
Issuing Allocated Stock
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................595
Chapter 11: Project Tasks
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only) ........................... 597
An Introduction to Project Costing ...............................................................598
Who Can Use Project Costing?....................................................................598
The Life Cycle of a Project ...........................................................................599
The Project Life Cycle in Sage 50 Accounts .................................................599
Setting Up Project Costing...........................................................................601
Starting Up a Project....................................................................................605
Applying Project Costs.................................................................................612
Viewing Project Activity ................................................................................616
Working with Purchase Orders
(Accounts Professional only) ........................................................................619
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Contents

Project Enquiries, Analysis and Reporting ....................................................621

Billing Your Customer for a Project ...............................................................625
Completing Your Project ..............................................................................630
Chapter 12: Support Tools ............................................................... 631
Accountant Link...........................................................................................632
e-Banking ....................................................................................................654
Audit Assistant.............................................................................................663
Working with Attachments using Document Manager ..................................675
Exporting to Microsoft® Word, Excel and Outlook .......................................681
Importing into Sage 50 Accounts.................................................................683
Event Logging..............................................................................................691
Using The Task Manager..............................................................................695
Working With Internet Resources .................................................................696
News Feeds.................................................................................................696
Chapter 13: Reporting ...................................................................... 701
An Introduction to Reports ...........................................................................702
Running the Audit Trail Report......................................................................703
Running the Trial Balance Report .................................................................704
Running the Profit and Loss Report .............................................................705
Running the Balance Sheet Report ..............................................................706
Running the Quick Ratio Report
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................707
Running the Budget Report .........................................................................708
Running the Prior Year Report......................................................................709
Running the Transactional-Based Management Reports
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)..........................................710
Column-Based Financial Reports.................................................................712
Chapter 14: Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts ........ 715
The Euro and Other Currencies....................................................................716
The Countries Table .....................................................................................719
The Foreign Trader
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................720
Processing in Sage 50 Accounts Using the Foreign Trader
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................725
The Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................729
Viewing and Changing Revaluations
(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................730
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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Bank Transfers Involving Foreign Currency Accounts

(Accounts Professional Only)........................................................................732
How Foreign Trader Affects Sage 50 Accounts ............................................740
Chapter 15: Recording Opening Balances ...................................... 743
Transferring Figures from a Previous System to Sage 50 Accounts ..............744
Gathering your Opening Figures...................................................................746
Entering your Opening Balances into Sage 50 Accounts..............................752
Checking the Opening Figures You Have Recorded .....................................768
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Chapter 1
Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts

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 you’ve installed Sage 50 Accounts, The ActiveSetup Wizard.......................4
we’ll look at registering the program and Registering Sage 50 Accounts...........17
discuss your support and training options.
About SageCover ..............................17
SageCover Online Support ................17
sage.co.uk & sage.ie .........................18
Sage Training .....................................18
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Introduction to Sage 50 Accounts

Sage 50 Accounts is the UK’s 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 program 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, 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 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.
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Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts

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 computer 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, select 'Readme'. 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 computer, 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 program.
If prompted, restart your PC.
You are now ready to run your Sage 50 Accounts program for the first time.

3
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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

The ActiveSetup Wizard

The first time you open Sage 50 Accounts, the ActiveSetup Wizard appears. The ActiveSetup
Wizard is a series of screens, 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 program 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 on how to enter this information into the ActiveSetup Wizard follow.

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Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts

Access Sage 50 Accounts

To open Sage 50 Accounts, double-click the Sage icon on your desktop.
To use ActiveSetup enter your company information into the relevant boxes. Click Next to
progress onto the next step or click Back to return to the previous step to re-enter or edit any
information. If you need additional help on any of the screens 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.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

You can choose:

„ I would like to set up a new company:
Single User Version: Select this option if you are installing the program for the first
time on the computer.
Multi-User Version: Select this option if you are installing the program for the first time
and this is the computer 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 computer.
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 computer 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 computer.
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 screen, 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 icon:

„ 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 computer, or if you are installing your new program for the first
time on a computer 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 program.
Multi-User version: if you are preparing a multi-user version and this is the second
computer (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, click Next to proceed.

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Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts

New Company - Window 2 - Enter Company Details

Enter the your company information on the Enter Company Details window, similar to the
following fictitious example:

One of the items on this screen - DUNS Number - may not be known to you.
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.
Please check with your accountant on whether you will need to know this number. It is not a
mandatory field.
When you have completed your entries, click Next to proceed.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

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.
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, click on the question mark icon for further information on Customised chart of
accounts.

Once you have selected the chart of accounts you want to use, click Next to continue.

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, click Next to proceed.

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Welcome to Sage 50 Accounts

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. For example, Sage 50 Accounts users cannot change this
date, without losing all entered transactions.
The date you enter does not have to start at today's date. For example, if today's date was 15th
December 2006 and you are entering data from September 2006 to August 2007, your start
date would still be September 2006.

When you have made your selection, click Next to proceed.

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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. Select Yes if your company is registered,
or No if it is not.
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.

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Note for users in the Republic of Ireland: The Irish 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 computer's Regional Options are set to 'English (Ireland)', selecting the 'VAT Cash
Accounting' check box enables you to calculate your VAT according to the Irish 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 question mark icon for further information on VAT Cash Accounting.

When you have made your selections and entries, click Next to proceed.

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.

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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.
When you have made your selection, click Next to proceed.

New Company - Window 7- Activate Program

On this penultimate window, enter your serial number and activation key to activate Sage 50
Accounts.
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 program 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, or from one of our Customer Care technicians.
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.

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If your Serial Number and Activation Key entries are valid the wizard will change to the Finish
screen. Invalid entries will result in an information message, advising you to check your
information and try again.
When you have made your selection, click Next to proceed.

New Company - Window 8- Finished

You have now entered all the information required to set up your company. To review or change
any of the details you entered, click Back. Otherwise, to complete the ActiveSetup Wizard and
create your new company in Sage 50 Accounts, click Finish.
You have now completed the ActiveSetup Wizard.

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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 computer, this installation window appears.
Use this window to enter the drive letter and directory path, 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 computer, select the 'Search Local (local hard drive)' option. To search
computers 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 computer'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.

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Window 2a - Location of existing Sage 50 Accounts installation

This window only appears if you selected one of the search options on Window 2. Select 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, select all the installations you want to connect to. 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, click Next to proceed.

Existing Company - Window 3 - Activate Program

Note: This window only appears if the ActiveSetup Wizard does not find existing program
registration details on your computer. If the wizard does find these details on your computer, 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

Functionality on this window is the same as that described in New Company - Window 8-
Finished on page 13.
a. 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 computer,
or if you are installing your new program for the first time on a computer 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 program.

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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, click Browse to locate the file.
Once you have selected the back-up file click Next to proceed.

Restore from Backup - Window 3 - Activate Program

Note: This window only appears if the ActiveSetup Wizard does not find existing program
registration details on your computer. If the wizard does find these details on your computer, 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.

Restore from Backup - Window 4 - Finished

Functionality on this window is the same as 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.

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Registering Sage 50 Accounts

Unless you register your Sage 50 Accounts program, you can only use your new Sage 50
Accounts for a maximum of 60 days. At the end of the unregistered period you will be unable
to use the program (however, all of the information you entered during this period will be
unaffected).
To register your Sage 50 Accounts program, call one of the following telephone numbers.
UK residents (mainland), 0845 111 5555
Northern Ireland, 0845 245 0280
Republic of Ireland, 01 642 0800
If you have Internet access, you can register your program online. From the Sage 50 Accounts
menu bar, select Tools > Activation > Upgrade Program, then click Web Register from the
Product Registration window. Follow the instructions on-screen to register your program.

About SageCover
If you are new to Sage 50 Accounts, you are entitled to receive free SageCover for a 60-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, e-mailing your query to [email protected] 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 program.

SageCover Online Support

If you have SageCover and access to e-mail, 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.

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On 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 over 100 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 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.

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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 ............20
you are ready for a quick tour.
Using Sage 50 Accounts Demonstration
This chapter will help you become familiar
Data ..................................................21
with Sage 50 Accounts. You will find out
what Sage 50 Accounts can do and you The Sage 50 Accounts Desktop ........22
will learn about the demonstration data, a Sage 50 Accounts Window Types .....27
fictitious set of accounts included with
Using the Search to Find Records......46
Sage 50 Accounts for practise purposes.
Finding Transactions ..........................51
This chapter also describes the layout of
the Sage 50 Accounts desktop and how Using ActiveSearch............................53
you use the various window types. Function Keys....................................54
Finally, this chapter outlines the tasks you Getting Help ......................................56
need to perform to prepare the system for
Wizards .............................................57
use and describes the administrative and
maintenance tasks which you will need to An Overview to Setting Up Sage 50
carry out from time-to-time. Accounts ...........................................58
Administrative / Maintenance Tasks ...59
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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 147.
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, e.g. =, !, #, commas, full stops, etc.
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.
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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 program. 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 don’t worry and try things out.
Remember, you are not on your own. This chapter explains how to use Sage 50 Accounts on
your computer, 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 and 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.

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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 Accounting Desktop
icon, 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 26 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 program displays
work area. information about your data.

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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 program.

The Tasks and Links show the

major activities to be
performed on the current
data, in this case Company.

The icons allow you to open

the various Sage 50 Accounts
navigation groups.

Navigation groups
The icons shown at the bottom of the navigation bar provide access to the major areas of the
program. These are the Sage 50 Accounts navigation groups:
„ Customers
„ Suppliers
„ Company
„ Bank
„ Products
„ Projects

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Click the icon you require to access the corresponding area of the program. When you choose
a navigation group, 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
navigation group selected. They provide you with access to particular functions. For example,
in the Customers navigation group, the Tasks include: "New Customer", "New Quotation",
"New Sales Order", and so on; the Links include: "Project List", "Invoice List", and so on.
To make a selection, simply click the option you require.
Note: Throughout this guide, where we need to describe selection of a navigation group
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 navigation group you are working in, but typically they
might include:
„ A Process Map - showing the workflow associated with the selected navigation group.
„ A list display - of items appropriate to the selected navigation group.
„ A Dashboard - showing key information for the selected navigation group.
For detailed information on these window types, see Sage 50 Accounts Window Types on page
27. For details of how to set default view options, see Defining your desktop view options on
page 26.
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.

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The work area

The work area is where Sage 50 Accounts displays information and where you enter your data
into the program. The layout of the work area depends upon the view you have selected and
type of window you are using.
For detailed information on the window types which can be displayed in the work area, see
Sage 50 Accounts Window Types on page 27. For details of how to set default view options,
see Defining your desktop view options on page 26.

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

Click the left mouse button when the pointer is on the menu option name, to display the pull
down menu. To select an option, click the left mouse button again 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 and 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.

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Defining your desktop view options

Desktop view options allow you to define:
„ Which of the navigation groups 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 navigation groups 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 navigation group that is to be
displayed when you first access Sage 50 Accounts.

Default View For each of the navigation groups, use the drop down to
select which of the screen types will be displayed when the
navigation group 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.

Don’t 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.

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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 screen.
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. Click on these tabs to move between any of the windows.

In the example above, you can click on any of the tabs to change the view from Supplier
Process to Nominal Ledger, Customers Window or the Welcome Window.

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Process maps
Process maps provide a diagrammatic representation of the workflow associated with a
particular navigation group.

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, simply click the appropriate icon.
Process maps are available for the following navigation groups:
„ 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 24.

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Dashboards
Dashboard windows are used in Sage 50 Accounts as a quick way of providing you with useful
information related to the navigation group you are currently working in.

Update icon. 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 icon to refresh it.
Dashboards are available for all the navigation groups.
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 24.

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The Welcome Page

The Welcome Page provides you with a central resource base, from where you can access all
of the 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's New? link takes you to What's New page of the main program help file, while the
Help link takes you directly to the first page of the help file. Use the Ask Sage link to access your
Help and Support site.

Further Information

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:
„ 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.
Use the Weblinks page to take you to a screen providing all available Sage links, along with an
HMRC link. The Use demonstration data link opens the corresponding page of this help file.

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Contact Sage

The Contact Sage link provides you with the necessary details for getting in touch with Sage.
Finally, the Wish List link opens a Wish List form for you to fill in and send to Sage if you have a
suggestion for an added feature or change.

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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 24.
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 icons provide data

processing options

New records appear on the Command buttons allow you to manipulate

list automatically. the list.

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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 97.

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 the Next button. To go back to a previous record from
the ones you have chosen, click the Previous button.
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
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.

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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, click the appropriate icon with the
left mouse button.
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, e.g. 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 Close is the button 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 choose the 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.

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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 the Clear button. 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 don’t
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 don’t want selected so they are highlighted and then click the Swap
button. Everything that isn’t 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 you’ll 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. Click with the left mouse button 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 can’t 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.

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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 program view without affecting other users. When you next log into the
program, Sage 50 Accounts remembers your settings and displays each window as you
configured it.

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 37 and To hide or
restore a data column on page 37 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.

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.

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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 the mouse 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 the mouse 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.
A drop-down menu 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 menu.
2. To hide a column from the current window, left-click the column heading on the drop-down
menu.

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The column disappears from the window, and the item no longer shows a tick against it on
the drop-down menu.
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, 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 menu.
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 record’s 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.
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. Click OK to return to the record window and enter a new reference.

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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 record’s 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 the records you
want to make changes to.
2. Click Batch Changes.
The Batch Changes window appears.
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:

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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, click No to return to
the main ledger window. 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 system’s Index tab.

Data entry windows

In Sage 50 Accounts, your data is entered onto window. 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.

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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 click the left hand
mouse button. 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.

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.

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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.

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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 program 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 clicking on the required option with the left mouse button (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.

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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 clicking with the left mouse button 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.

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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.

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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.

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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 48.

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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.

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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.

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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*

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 program. 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 program.

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.

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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 program. 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.

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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 program.

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An Overview to Setting Up Sage 50 Accounts

You are now ready to begin entering information into your new Sage 50 Accounts program. 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.

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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 computer 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.
We’ll show you how to change your program date, a useful feature if you need to process many
transactions on a certain date.
FInally, we’ll 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, i.e. 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
program.
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.

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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.

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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 computer 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's Backup facility, follow the instructions below.
Note: The amount of disk space required depends on how much data you have saved in your
program. 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.

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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 program. If you are using a multicompany version of the
program, 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 pen, please
make sure that the device is attached to your computer 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.

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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
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Backup.
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.
2. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Backup.
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

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Backup.
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.

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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

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Backup.
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 computer. 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.

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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

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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 computer 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.

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„ 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.

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 can't 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 using 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.
2. Click Corrections.
The Posting Error Corrections list box appears. It contains a list of the audit trail
transactions. Any transactions which have previously been deleted using the File
Maintenance facility, appear in red. You cannot edit these transactions.
3. Select the transaction you want to correct from the list and then click Edit.
The Edit Details window appears. The title of this window displays the number of the
selected transaction and the transaction type.
4. Edit the transaction details or amounts as required.
5. 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.

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Your program gives you 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.
6. To post your amendments, click Yes.

The Postings Error Corrections Window

The Details tab window displays the transaction you selected from the Posting Error Corrections
window.
The title bar displays the audit trail number of the selected transaction and what type of
transaction it is; for example a Purchase Invoice or Bank Payment.
The three tabs on this window - Details, Amounts and Splits break down the transaction
information further.

To Edit a Transaction Allocation

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Maintenance.
2. Click Corrections.
The Posting Error Corrections window appears. The Posting Error Corrections window
displays a list of the audit trail transactions.
3. To change the details associated with a particular transaction, select the transaction and
then click Edit.
The Edit Details window appears. Edit the details on these three tabs as required.
4. Click Edit.
The Edit Transaction Split window appears showing the details of the splits (i.e. the
individual items that make up the transaction that you have selected).
5. From the Allocations section, select the information you want to edit and click Edit.
The Edit Transaction Allocation screen appears.
6. 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).
7. Once all the corrections have been made, click Close.
The Edit Transaction Split Record window appears.
8. To return to the Edit Details window, click Close.
9. To post your amendments, click Save.
Note: If you do not want to save your amendments click Close.

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A confirmation message appears.

10. To post your amendments click Yes.
The Posting Errors Corrections list box appears and you have changed the transaction
allocation.

To Edit a Batched Transaction Split

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Maintenance.
2. From the File Maintenance window, click Corrections.
3. From the list of transactions that appear, select the transaction and then click Edit.
The Details window appears.
4. Click the Splits tab.
5. From the list of transaction splits that appear, select the one that you want to edit and click
Edit.
The Edit Transaction Splits window appears.
6. Edit the information as required.
Note: Deleting an individual entry line will delete the whole batch!
7. To save your changes, click Close and then Save.
A confirmation message appears asking you to confirm you wish to post your
amendments.
8. To post your amendments, click Yes.
Note: Your program warns you if you cannot post your amendment. For example, this
would happen if you try to amend an allocated transaction when using the VAT Cash
Accounting scheme.
9. For further information on the editing of the various fields, please refer to the File
Maintenance > Corrections > To Edit a Batched Transaction Split topic in the main program
help file (F1).

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To Reverse and Delete Transactions using Error Corrections

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select File > Maintenance.
2. Click Corrections.
The Posting Error Corrections window appears listing all your transactions.
3. Select the transaction you want to reverse or delete and click Edit.
The Edit Transaction Details window appears showing details of the selected transaction.
4. If the transaction has been reconciled on the VAT Return a Reverse button appears on the
Edit Transaction Details window. Click Reverse. When prompted to reverse the transaction,
click Yes.
If the transaction has not been reconciled on the VAT Return the Delete button appears on
the Edit Transaction Details window. Click Delete. When prompted to delete the
transaction, click Yes.

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, the back up copy 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 Posting Error 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 program overwrites the transaction, unless is has been VAT reconciled.

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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.
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 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 can't 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?
Information that can be changed are the department number, reference, details and tax code.
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.

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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 ...................74
Accounts to suit your business.
The Configuration Editor ....................75
The Configuration Editor assists you in
setting up many of your company defaults, Entering Your Company Preferences..97
from selecting the best Chart of Accounts Entering Your Bank Defaults.............119
for your business to setting up terms, tax
Entering Customer Defaults .............121
codes, statuses, departments and labels
that Sage 50 Accounts uses throughout Ageing Transactions in Sage 50
the program. Accounts .........................................124
You can find out how to enter your Entering Supplier Defaults................128
company preferences such as your Entering Product Defaults ................130
address and contact details, and
Entering Invoice and Order Defaults .133
parameter settings specific to your way of
working. Setting Up Users .............................147
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, you’ll 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.
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Setting the Financial Year

When you first used your program, 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.
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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 program.
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)

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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.

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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 30 characters.

Description Enter a description for the configuration file. You can enter up
to 252 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.

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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.

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Red Bank account

A bank account is a nominal code that you create in the Bank navigation group.

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.

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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, i.e. 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.

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Terms Type in up to 30 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 you want the new interest rate to apply from.

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 Irish users upgrading from an existing Sage program: 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 Irish 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
specify up to 100 VAT rates, each one identified by a code from T0 to T99. You can then select

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the rates that are to be included in the VAT Return calculations and which relate to EC
transactions.
When you install your program, 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 program, by clicking on
the Sage.com icon on the main Sage desktop and then making the appropriate selection from
the pop-up list.

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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' (i.e. 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.

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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.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

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.

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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.
6. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
7. To save the changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

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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 999 different categories for analysis and
reporting purposes. For example, if you are a stationery and computer retailer, you may want to
separate your sales into Paper Products, Office Supplies, Computer 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.

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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.
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 your details,
click Close.

To set up your product category label fields

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Products tab.
The Products information appears.
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.
3. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
4. To save the changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.

To set up your product record custom fields

1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Products tab.
The Products information appears.
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.
3. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
4. To save the changes to your template file, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

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The Fixed Assets Tab

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
Sage 50 Accounts lets you divide your fixed assets into 99 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 254.

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.
5. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
6. To save the changes, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.

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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 program.
1. From the Configuration Editor window, click the Fixed Assets tab.
2. Enter your new text label in the Label box.
3. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
4. To save the changes, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

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The Custom Fields Tab

There are some fields in the program you can rename. A meaningful name will help when
entering information into the program.
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 and then click Apply.
3. To save the change to your template file, click Save.

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The Dispute Reasons Tab

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
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 1000 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. This is '1 - No Reason'.

2. Select the dispute reason that you want to add or change and 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.

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5. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
6. To save the changes, click Save, or to exit without saving click Close.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

The Credit Control Tab

If your customers do not pay after you have sent them their statement, you can use Sage 50
Accounts's Payment Reminder letters. You can choose from 3 different types of letter: a simple
reminder, the more forceful warning, or the threat of legal action.
Using Sage 50 Accounts's 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.

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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.
5. To apply the changes to the company that is currently open in Sage 50 Accounts, click
Apply.
6. To save your entries, click Save, or to exit without saving, click Close.
To continue entering your configuration settings, see the following section.

The Project Costing Tab

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
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).

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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:

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Project Status Use this section of the window to add, edit or delete a project
status. You can add to Sage 50 Accounts's original five
statuses, creating up to 99.
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.

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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 99 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's
original four cost codes, creating up to 99 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. Click OK to save the cost code.
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.

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Entering Your Company Preferences

The Company Preferences facility is a very important area of the program as it affects the way
your program 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
information 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 632.

To enter your address preferences

Use this area of the program to fill in your company address.
1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
The Company Preferences information appears.

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2. If necessary, edit your company name and address. You can also add your company's
telephone and fax numbers, e-mail 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 addresses. For example, if your business has several offices,
you can enter a delivery address for each office.

Type 'Delivery Address' into the Help system’s index to find out how.
Help

6. To save any changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.

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To enter your label preferences

Setting your label preferences determines how your Sage 50 Accounts program displays
information. This includes how you want to display addresses and additional information on
your customer, supplier and product records.
1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
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 46.
4. To save any changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.

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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 program works. These options are explained in the following
instructions.
1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
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 486.

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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 53.

Access Rights Sage 50 Accounts's Access Rights facility lets you set
individual passwords for each person who has access to 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 147.

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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 program to your Sage 50 Accounts program, 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.

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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 computer on the network,
Sage 50 Accounts prevents the logon. You cannot logon to a
company using the same logon name from more than one
computer 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 program cannot
connect you at this time." You cannot logon using this logon
name until the user logs out on the other computer.
Note: If you use this facility, you must ensure that this check
box is cleared on every other computer 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 program.
If this check box is not selected, a message appears when you
start your Sage 50 Accounts program 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's
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 .PDF file) and can also
be accessed via Help > Charities.

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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 691.

4. To save any changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.

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To enter your reporting preferences

1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
The Company Preferences information appears.
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.

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Cheque lines per page Enter the number of lines that appear on your cheque layout
(Accounts here. The program 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.

4. To save any changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.

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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.
1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
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 program
directory. For example, if your program 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.

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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.
1. Select Company > Company Preferences.
The Company Preferences information appears.
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, e-mail 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.

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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.
By default, Sage 50 Accounts uses Import and Export folders within your program
directory. For example, if your program 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 want to track keep an eye on costs and income? Then select the budgeting method you
want to use from the drop-down lists.

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You can choose from:

„ Standard
This is budgeting by the 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 (version 12 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
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.

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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 program can handle all
your VAT reporting requirements, in accordance with current legislation.
Access 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.
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

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On installation, your program 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 program that are non-vatable, e.g. 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 which is automatically calculated by your program 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 scheme combinations:
VAT Cash Accounting
VAT Standard Accounting
To find out more about the scheme right for your company, look here and/or 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 (ticked) if you want Sage 50 Accounts to validate EU
VAT numbers for all EU member countries.
„ Enable e-VAT Submission
Select (tick) 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.

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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.
„ 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:
„ 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
Government Gateway account.
„ 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
Government Gateway account.

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.

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1. Click the Sign up now! button and 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. Type 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.

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Using a dedicated Sage Payment Solutions account will assist with subsequent bank
reconciliation.
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.

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.

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5. To save changes and exit, click OK, or to exit without saving, click Cancel.
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 program'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). It is the first 10 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 program's eSubmission
feature.
„ Employer's PAYE Ref
This information was entered when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard. It is sometimes
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 3 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 program's eSubmission feature.
„ Accounts Office Ref
This information was entered when you ran the CIS Activation Wizard. It is sometimes
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 program's eSubmission feature.
You can enter the following CIS Tax Rate:
„ Standard
The program 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.

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„ Higher
The program 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 program'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
when you submit electronic information to them using the program's eSubmission feature.
„ 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 program'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
when you submit electronic information to them using the program's eSubmission feature.
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.

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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 program's
eSubmission feature.
„ 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 program's
eSubmission feature.
„ 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 program's eSubmission feature.
„ E-Mail
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 program's
eSubmission feature.

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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. When
this check box is selected, the next time you enter the Bank
navigation group, a registration window appears. Enter your
e-Banking registration details (which appear on the 'Important
Information' sticker sheet included in your Sage 50 Accounts
box) to use the features for a trial period of 30 days.
When the 30-day trial period is over, you must enter a new
Activation Key in order to continue using e-Banking. If you have
valid SageCover for your Sage 50 Accounts program, you can
obtain this activation key free of charge from Sage's Customer
Care department. If you do not have valid SageCover for Sage
50 Accounts, you can continue to use e-Banking for a specific
charge. For Customer Care's contact details, see Contacting
Sage on page 654.
For more information about e-Banking, see e-Banking on page
654.

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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.

Group Bank If this check box is selected, bank transactions (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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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)

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.

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, see Managing Credit Control on
page 209.
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 390.
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.

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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 (i.e. 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.
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 2005, 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.

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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.
For example: An invoice was sent out to a customer on the 15th January 2007, and was
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.

Date you run the Aged option Period the transaction shows in

Prior to 14 January 2007 (inclusive) Future

15 January 2007 to 13 February 2007 Current

14 February 2007 to 14 March 2007 Period 1

15 March 2007 to 13 April 2007 Period 2

14 April 2007 to 13 May 2007 Period 3

14 May 2007 onwards Period 4

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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).
For example: An invoice was sent out to a customer on the 15th January 2007, and was
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.

Date you run the Aged option Period the transaction shows in

Prior to 14 January 2007 (inclusive) Future

15 January 2007 to 29 February 2007 Current

1 March 2007 to 30 March 2007 Period 1

31 March 2007 to 29 April 2007 Period 2

30 April 2007 to 29 May 2007 Period 3

30 May 2007 onwards Period 4

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To set up your customers' aged balance defaults

1. Select Customers > Customer Defaults.
The Customer Defaults window appears.
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.

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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 30 days, but another may give you 90 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.
3. Use the Ageing tab to set the defaults for your suppliers' aged balance reports.
For more information on ageing and credit control, refer to Managing Credit Control on
page 209.

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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.

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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 132.
If you do change the names on the discount tabs, these name changes appear in the following
areas of your program:
„ 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.

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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.

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To enter your discount tab names

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
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.

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Entering Invoice and Order Defaults

If the invoices, credit notes (or proformas and quotations for users of Accounts Plus or Accounts
Professional) that you produce 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 (i.e. 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 408. 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.

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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 (i.e. of 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.

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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 459.

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 577.
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.

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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. If you
Professional only) 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.

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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 (i.e. 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.
1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults.
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.

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To enter your invoice and order numbering options

Use this facility to set up how you want your invoices and orders numbered.
1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults.
The Invoice and Order Defaults window appears.
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:

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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 390.
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 144.

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 142, 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
1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults.
2. Click the Discounts tab.
3. Select any of the following check boxes and options:

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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 142.

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
Accounts Professional
only)

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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.

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Choosing defaults for quantity and invoice discounts

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)

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.

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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.

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To set up your Intrastat defaults

1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order 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-downs, 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-downs, 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.

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To set up your cash sales defaults

(Accounts Professional only)
1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults.
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. 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.

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5. To save your changes, click OK. To return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop without
saving, click Cancel.

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Setting Up Users
To help you protect your sensitive financial information, Sage 50 Accounts allows you to control
access to the program 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.

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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.

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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 ..150
central to your accounting system and
Sage 50 Accounts uses it to form the Adding a Chart of Accounts.............153
structure of your Profit and Loss and Editing your Chart of Accounts ........155
Balance Sheet reports.
Checking your Chart of Accounts ....156
This chapter explains how to work with
Deleting a Chart of Accounts ...........158
your Chart of accounts, from reviewing
and modifying the chart you selected Copying a Chart of Accounts ...........158
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.
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Setting Up your Chart of Accounts

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 163.
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 looks 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 320.
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 151.
The COA you selected is a good base to start from, but it 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
166.
„ 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.
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To review your Chart of Accounts

„ Print the Nominal List. To do this, select Company > Nominal Ledger and then click Print
List.
„ Using the Nominal List identify 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 153
„ Edit your Chart of Accounts. See, To edit your Chart of Accounts on page 155
„ Change the name on the nominal account. See, Editing Nominal Records on page 172.
„ Delete a nominal account. See Deleting Nominal Records on page 172.
„ Change the nominal account code. See Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained on page 160
„ Add a nominal account. See Entering Nominal Records on page 168.
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 can't 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 can't 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

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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 165.

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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 163.
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.

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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 80 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 60 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 program 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.

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5. Check you have set up the Chart of Accounts correctly. See Checking your Chart of
Accounts on page 156.
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 and then click Run. You can also send the
details via e-mail.
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

1. Select Company > 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 156.

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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

1. Select Company > Chart of Accounts.
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) you require for the error
report and click Run. You can also send the details via e-mail.
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.)

Export Sales 3050 4080

(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 155.

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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

Product Sales 4000 4099

Export Sales 4010 4020

(This is enclosed within the first category account range)

Export Sales 4020 4059

(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 155.

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 155. Alternatively, if you are not using the nominal
account, you can delete it. For more information, see Deleting Nominal Records on page 172.

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.

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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

1. Select Company > Chart of Accounts.
2. From the Chart of Accounts window, select the COA you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
A confirmation message appears.
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.
1. Select Company > Chart of Accounts.
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 ’To Edit a Chart of Accounts Layout’.
5. To return to the Nominal Ledger window, click Close.

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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 Explained160
for each of your customer, supplier, bank
and nominal accounts. These records are The Nominal Account Structure .......165
rather like index cards in a manual filing Control Accounts.............................166
system. You can also create a record for
Entering Nominal Records ...............168
each product item that you keep in stock,
or for service items that you regularly Editing Nominal Records..................172
provide. Deleting Nominal Records................172
Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Viewing Nominal Account Activity ....172
users can also create fixed asset records.
Entering Bank Account Records ......175
This chapter explains how to set up each
Editing a Bank Record .....................178
of these record types in Sage 50
Accounts, and discusses the importance Deleting a Bank Record ...................178
of planning your account codes carefully. Planning your Customer and Supplier
Codes..............................................179
Entering Customer and Supplier
Records...........................................180
Deleting Customer Records .............185
Deleting Supplier Records................185
Setting Up Your Product List............186
Creating a Product Record ..............186
Editing a Product Record.................191
Deleting a Product Record...............191
Setting Up Project Records (Accounts
Plus and Accounts Professional Only) ....
192
Setting Up Your Fixed Asset Records
(Accounts Plus and Accounts
Professional Only) ............................198
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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); and 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 163. This shows the categories, types
and names of accounts that make up the Chart of Accounts.
.

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.
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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, etc. 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 (things you own). But 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.

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

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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 705.

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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)
Product Sales 4000 4099
Export Sales 4100 4199
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

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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.

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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's financial reports.

Default nominal ranges

Sage 50 Accounts's default nominal ranges are listed below (and shown 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.

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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 (i.e. sales) entered into Sage 50 Accounts are
posted to this account. When you post an invoice to a customer's
account, (i.e. record an invoice that you have sent to a customer) 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 (i.e. purchases) entered into Sage 50 Accounts
account) are posted to 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 chosen for you (as the default) when you
enter any information using one of the Bank facilities. You can rename this
account and give it the same name as your real bank account. Read how
to do this in the section, Editing Nominal Records on page 172. This is
not a true control account as it is not used for double-entry transactions.

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 (i.e. a
customer receipt), the value of the discount is posted to this account as a
debit.

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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 shortfall) of income over expenditure
for the financial year, i.e. the net profit.

Default Sales This is the Default Sales nominal account.

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 the bad debt is posted to.

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.

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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 38.
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.

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You will see five prior year columns which show your financial data from past years (so 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 325.
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.
Note: You can make your new nominal code up to eight numbers long.
However, you cannot mix your numbers, for example, you cannot have a
four number nominal code with a six number code in the same nominal
structure, as this will make your Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports
incorrect. You must therefore be consistent.

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.

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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.

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 navigation group. For details, see
Entering Bank Account Records on page 175.
If you open an existing nominal record, the 'Account Type' box shows
'Bank Account' if you created this account in the Bank navigation group,
'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.

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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 (i.e. a control
account that transactions are automatically posted to by Sage 50 Accounts when you record
transactions, for example, the Debtors Control Account), you can break the transactions down
into the individual items by clicking the cross on the left-hand side of the transaction list.
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
338.

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
675.

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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.

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.

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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 menu.
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 (those that fall beyond the end of the current financial year).
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:' menu and complete the
relevant fields on the Activity Range window that appears.
Your program retains the filter you specify from the 'Show:' menu and applies it the next
time you view the activity. This is true for all of the 'Show:' menu 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' menu. For
example, if you selected 'Custom Range' and entered the date range 01/07/2006 to 31/
07/2006, these dates appear in this field.
The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.
Type
If you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show' menu and use the Activity Range window to
choose a specific type of transaction to display, this field 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:' menu and
re-select the transaction type you want to view.
O/S Only
If you selected 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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:' menu and select or clear the 'Outstanding Transactions Only?'
check box in the Activity Range window.

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Trans
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and use the Activity
Range window to specify a range of transactions to view, this field shows the transaction
numbers you chose.
If you do not specify a transaction range, this field displays the first and last transaction
numbers from your audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your audit
trail, this field shows '1 to 2169'.
You cannot change the range shown in this field directly. To change the transaction number
range shown here, select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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 the Previous and Next buttons 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 Account’s
Activity topic in the main program Help file (F1).

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Entering Bank Account Records

Bank accounts are nominal accounts but they should be created through the Bank navigation
group.
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 navigation group 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 38.
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.

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To enter cheque, credit card and cash accounts

Note: This method assumes the Bank Record Wizard is disabled.
1. Select Bank > New Account.
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.

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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).

You can enter cash, credit card receipts and cheques into a
'bank account' whatever the type. However you would not
normally enter cheques into your petty cash tin! 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 720.
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.

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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.

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, select the Bank navigation group and, if
appropriate, use the view selector to switch to the Bank Accounts view. Select the record(s) you
no longer require from the Bank Accounts window, and 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.

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Planning your Customer and Supplier Codes

It is important that you plan your customer and supplier reference codes (not their nominal
codes, which are entered for you by Sage 50 Accounts). 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 code.
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

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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 navigation group, 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 38.

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:

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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 delivery addresses for your customers or suppliers. If your
customer or supplier has several different offices, you can enter a
different delivery address for each office. To do this, click Delivery
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. If you want Sage 50 appears in the 'Miscellaneous
Accounts to use this default Defaults' section on this tab. By
nominal code on product default, the 'Use Default Nominal
invoices and credit notes (and Code for Purchases' box is
sales orders for Accounts selected. This means that Sage
Professional users) in place of 50 Accounts uses this default
the nominal code from the nominal code on each item line of
product record, select the 'Use all new purchase orders raised
Default Nominal Code for Sales' for this supplier. If you want Sage
check box. Similarly, if you want 50 Accounts to use the default
Sage 50 Accounts to override the nominal code from the product
product's tax code on product record when you raise a new
invoices and credit notes (and purchase order for this supplier,
sales orders for Accounts ensue the check box is
Professional users), select the unchecked.
'Use Default Tax Code for Sales'
check box.

Credit For both record types, use the Credit Control tab to enter or edit your
Control credit control details. If you want to know more about Sage 50
Accounts's credit control facilities, refer to Managing Credit Control on
page 209.

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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. Double-click supplier. Double-click any of the
any of the orders in the list to orders in the list to view the
view the Sales Order record. Purchase 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. For more information selecting it and clicking
about creating new invoices and Duplicate. For more information
orders, see Chapter 8, Customer about creating new and duplicate
Tasks. purchase orders, see Chapter 9,
Supplier Tasks.

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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. You can also create a
only) 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, see Ageing
transactions in Sage 50 Accounts on page 209.

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.

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Contacts For both record types, you can use the Contacts tab to record details
(Accounts of the telephone conversations you have with your customers or
Professional suppliers. The information you enter here also appears in the Task
only) Manager. For example, if you enter a follow-up call date, the details
appear in the 'Contacts' section of the 'To Do' list in the Task
Manager.
Customer records only: If you have Accounts Professional and your
business charges for the time spent on the telephone, you can create
an invoice directly from the Contacts tab. For more information, see
Invoicing from telephone calls (Accounts Professional Only) on page
486.

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 675.
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.

3. To save your new record, click Save.

To exit the record without saving, click Close and click No to the confirmation message that
appears.

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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. Select the Customers navigation group and 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.
A confirmation message appears.
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. Select the Suppliers navigation group and 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.
A confirmation message appears.
3. To delete the account, click Yes.

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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 item’s 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 130.
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 38.

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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
391.
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 version 10
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 675. 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
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

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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 12 and enters the resulting value into each month's budget box. If there
is a remainder after dividing the total by 12, Sage 50 Accounts enters it into the box
for month 12.
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).

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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 407.
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.

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8. To save your product record, click Save.

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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 and 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 product’s ‘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 product’s activity
must be removed. For more information, see Clearing Stock Transactions on page 343.

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.
A confirmation message appears.
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.

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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 navigation group, 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.

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„ 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 605.

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:

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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 601.
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
94.

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 621.

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.

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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 625.

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.

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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 94.
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 605.

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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 navigation group 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.
A confirmation message appears.
4. To confirm the deletion, click Yes. To cancel the deletion, click No.
You have successfully deleted your project record(s).

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Setting Up Your Fixed Asset Records

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 38.

To enter a fixed asset

1. Select Company > Manage Fixed Assets.
2. Click Record.
The Fixed Asset Record window appears.

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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.

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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'.

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 254.

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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 selected 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.

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.

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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.
A confirmation message appears.
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.

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Chapter 6
Company Tasks

This chapter covers the tasks contained In this chapter:

within Sage 50 Accounts 'Company'
Forecasting Your Cash Flow ............204
navigation group.
Managing Credit Control ..................209
The chapter introduces the topics of cash
flow forecasting, credit control Writing Off Bad Debts ......................234
management, budgeting, fixed asset Prepayments (Accounts Plus and
handling and VAT Return preparation. It Accounts Professional Only).............240
also touches on preparing your accounts
Accruals (Accounts Plus and Accounts
for audit and running your month end and
Professional Only) ............................243
year end routines.
Budgeting in Sage 50 Accounts.......246
Also in this chapter, we look in detail at
how to produce your Intrastat declarations Working With Fixed Assets ..............254
and guide you through the processes of Preparing Intrastat Declarations .......258
recording and reversing journal entries,
Managing your VAT..........................268
even showing you how to use journals to
pay your employees’ wages. Carrying Out Your Month End ..........305
Running the Year End ......................320
Recording a Journal Entry................328
Clearing the Audit Trail .....................338
Clearing Stock Transactions.............343
Compressing Your Data ...................343
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Forecasting Your Cash Flow

Have you ever asked yourself...
“Who can I afford to pay within the next few days?”,
“My customers owe me money, and I need to pay my supplier / staff. Which customers
should I chase up to pay their debts?”, or
“How much cash will I have after I have made my payments?”
The Cash Flow facility allows you to plan payments to your suppliers, expected incomes,
expected expenditure and variable payments such as wages and utility bills.
The Cash Flow facility looks at the customer and supplier credit control details that you
have entered when you set up each customer record, and creates a list of outstanding
transactions. It also displays recurring entries and transactions created in the Task
Manager.
Any changes that you make to your Cash Flow will be remembered and recalled the next
time that you use the Cash Flow feature.
Note: The Cash Flow facility does not take settlement discounts into consideration.

To forecast your cash flow

1. Select Bank > Forecast Cash Flow.
Alternatively, from the Bank Accounts window, right click sand then select Cash Flow
from the menu that appears.
2. The Cash Flow window appears.

This window displays any outstanding payments, receipts and recurring entries that
have been entered into your Sage 50 Accounts program.
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3. Click Print to print a copy of the outstanding transactions.

Click Graph to view a graphical summary of the outstanding transactions.
Click Send To… to export the transaction list into Microsoft® Excel.
Note for network users: If someone changes the accounts data from another PC on the
network, your cash flow will be out of date. To update your accounts data, click Refresh.
Click Close to return to the Bank window.
The Cash Flow window displays the following information:

Today's Date This box displays the Sage 50 Accounts program date.

Forecast up to Enter a date in this box. Entering a date in this box, will update
the list of outstanding transactions in the Cash Flow window.
By default, the date displayed in this box is today's date plus
seven days.
Change the date in this box to see how your cash flow changes
over time.
Note: The further into the future that you set this date, the less
accurate your forecast will be as it is only calculated using the
transactions that have already been posted into your Sage
accounts program.

The 'Summary' area of the window shows a summary of the transactions listed in the
window as follows:

Book Balance for Displays the total starting balance for the selected bank accounts.
Bank Account(s)

Regular Payments Displays the total for all regular payments (for the selected bank
accounts) from recurring bank payments, recurring journal credits
and recurring payments on account, plus bills created via the
Task Manager.

Forecast Payments Displays the total value for all forecast payments, such as
purchase invoices and manual entries with a credit value.

Regular Receipts Displays the total value of all regular receipts (for the selected
bank accounts) from recurring bank receipts, recurring sales
receipts on account, and recurring journal debits.

Forecast Receipts Displays the total value of all forecasted receipts, such as sales
invoices, and manual entries with a debit value.

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Forecast Book Displays the closing value for the bank accounts that have been
Balance for Period selected for inclusion in the cash flow. This is calculated as:
Book balance for Bank Accounts + ((Regular Receipts + Forecast
Receipts) - (Regular Payments + Forecast Payments))

Within the 'Bank Accounts' area of the Cash Flow window, select the bank accounts that
you want to include in your Cash Flow forecast by selecting the check box next to the bank
account name.
All of the bank accounts that have been set up in your Sage 50 Accounts program appear.
Note: If you have set up any foreign currency bank accounts, they will also appear here.
However, the values are displayed in the base currency that you assigned in Sage 50
Accounts.
The main area of the Cash Flow window displays the list of transactions. The following
transaction details appear:
'

Forecast This column displays the date that the payment (or receipt) of the
transaction is expected to be made.
By default any sales invoices will have a date based on the
following calculation:
Invoice Date + Average Number of Days that it usually takes the
customer to pay.
All other transactions will have a default date that is set to the
transaction's due date.

Due This column displays the date that this transaction was due. You
cannot change this date.

A/C Ref This column displays the account reference that was entered on
the customer, supplier or nominal record.

Details This column displays the details entered on the transaction,

depending on the type of transaction.

Overdue This column displays the number of days' difference between the
'Program Date' and the 'Due Date'.

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Disp?' This column displays a 'd' alongside the transaction, if the

(Disputed) transaction has been marked as 'disputed'.
Note: Any transaction that has been flagged as 'disputed' will not
be included in the cash flow, but will be displayed in the list. To
include the disputed transaction, select the 'Include' check box
for the transaction.

Inc? Select the check box to include the transaction in the cash flow. If
(Include) this check box is not selected, the transaction amount will not be
included in the running total column on the right of the cash flow
window ('Balance for Day') or the cash flow summary.

Receipts This displays the amount outstanding on the transaction.

Debit amounts are shown here for sales invoices, recurring bank
receipts, recurring journal debits and recurring customer receipts
on account.
Note: You can only change the amount in this column if the
transaction is a manual entry.

Payments This displays the amount outstanding on the transaction.

Credit amounts are shown for purchase invoices, recurring bank
payments, recurring supplier payments on account, recurring
journal credits and any transactions created in the Task Manager.
Note: You can only change the amount in this column if the
transaction is a manual entry.

Balance for Day The 'Balance for Day' column displays the running total of the
forecast balance per forecast date. The last transaction for the
day will show the balance total.
This balance is calculated as:
Opening Balance for the day + total Debit Amount for day - total
Credit Amount for day
If this balance is less than zero, or is below the selected Bank
Account's minimum limit, the value is displayed in red.
Note: This column does not display any information if the window
is sorted by any other option than Forecast.

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Manual entries in a cash flow

It is possible to enter a manual entry into the Cash Flow to account for any transactions that you
are expecting, but have not posted onto your Sage 50 Accounts system.
You may also choose to add a manual entry to see what would happen to the cash flow if an
unexpected cost occurred during that cash flow period.

To enter a manual entry into the cash flow window

1. Select Bank > Forecast Cash Flow.
The Cash Flow window appears. The window shows all selected outstanding transactions
for the selected bank accounts to the date specified in the 'Forecast up to' box.
2. Place the cursor in the first vacant line of the list, in the 'A/C Ref' Column (the date in the
'Forecast' and 'Due' columns automatically defaults to the current program date).
3. Enter the following details in the row. Data in other columns cannot be edited:

Forecast Enter the date when you expect to actually receive or make the
payment. Either enter the date directly into the column, or click the
button alongside the column to select the date from the pop-up
calendar.

A/C Ref Enter a reference code for the manual entry. This will allow you to
identify the transaction on any cash flow reports that you may choose to
run.

Details Enter a description of the entry that you want to add to the cash flow.
This allows you to recognise the transaction on the cash flow and the
cash flow reports.

Inc? Ensure that the check box in the 'Inc?' column is checked so that the
entry is included in the cash flow. Deselect the check box to remove the
transaction from the cash flow.

Receipts/ Enter the amount of the payment or receipt in the appropriate column.
Payments
For example, if you are recording a sale, enter the value in the 'Receipts'
column.

4. Click Print to print a copy of the outstanding transactions.

Click Graph to view a graphical summary of the outstanding transactions.
Click Send To… to export the transaction list into Microsoft® Excel.

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Managing Credit Control

Credit control is an essential part of any business. Setting up a good credit control system helps
you to manage your cash flow and avoid late payments and bad debts.
Sage 50 Accounts's Credit Control facilities brings together all of the tools you need to actively
manage your outstanding debtors and creditors. The features cover all aspects of credit control,
from viewing transaction histories and aged balances for your accounts, recording contacts for
customers and suppliers and making payments, through to disputing items, handling bad debts
and writing off invoices.
The Credit Control facility links closely with Cash Flow, updating your cash flow forecast with
any promised payments and amounts paid. Good credit control improves your cash flow, which
is essential for your business to succeed. By reporting on the money you are owed, money you
owe and the age of the debts, you should be able to reduce late payments. This keeps money
coming into your business, helping it to grow.
In this section you will find out how to set payment deadlines for your customers, how to charge
your customers for late payment of bills and how to write off bad debts.
All of these activities will enable you to keep tight control on your business and feel in control of
your incomings and outgoings. This section also tells you how Sage 50 Accounts can provide
you with appropriate letters to send to late-paying customers.

Ageing transactions in Sage 50 Accounts

Ageing in Sage 50 Accounts deals with the length of time that your customers have to pay you
and the length of time you have to pay your suppliers. 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
To find out more about each method, and to see how to set up your ageing method in Sage 50
Accounts, see Ageing Transactions in Sage 50 Accounts on page 124.

Producing a Retrospective Aged Balance report

A retrospective aged report allows you to look back in time to see the aged balances as they
were on a particular date. You would do this, for example, if you wanted to have a look at a
particular customer's payment history.
To produce a retrospective aged report, use the Reports option from the Customer or Supplier
window and double-click the 'Aged Debtors/Creditors Reports' folder. Select the report you
want to produce, choose the output you require and click Generate Report. The Criteria window
appears. Enter a date range and select the 'Exc. Later Payments' check box. Click OK to
produce the report.

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Note: By selecting the 'Exclude Later Payments' check box, all transactions paid after the
selected date range appear as outstanding on the report.

Checking aged balances

As part of your weekly or monthly activities you will probably produce your aged analysis reports
and compare them (i.e. reconcile them) with the balances in your debtors and creditors control
accounts. (For an explanation of debtors and creditors control accounts, see Control Accounts
on page 166.)
This lets you chase any outstanding debts from your customers. You can also check that these
control account balances agree with the transactions appearing on the aged balances reports.
In this way you can check whether your nominal ledger agrees with your customer and supplier
ledgers. If they do not agree then select File > Maintenance and click Check Data. This checks
that the balances on the Customers ledger (sales ledger) agree with the balances on the debtors
control account (in the nominal ledger) and also checks the balances on the Suppliers ledger
(purchase ledger) agree with the balances on the creditors control account (in the nominal
ledger). If they do not agree you will get a warning.
If warnings are reported that relate to your debtors and creditors control account, refer to Why
data warnings appear when checking data in your Debtors and Creditors Control accounts on
page 210.
If no data warnings appear, but they still don't agree, see Why your Debtors and Creditors
Control accounts disagree even though no data warnings appear on page 211.
For more information, type 'File Maintenance' in the Help index and select 'Check Data' from the list
Help of options.

Why data warnings appear when checking data in your Debtors and
Creditors Control accounts
„ You have posted journal entries directly to the Debtors/Creditor Control accounts.
If there is a valid reason for posting the journals, make a note of it and inform your
accountant at the end of the year.
If the journal was posted by mistake, you should reverse the journal. For further information
about how to reverse journal entries, see Reversing nominal journals (Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional Only) on page 330.
„ After you have entered the customers' and suppliers' opening balances, you did not clear
these values from the trial balance before you entered the opening trial balance from your
accountant.
To correct this, clear the trial balance generated by Sage 50 Accounts from your customer
and supplier opening balances. For further information about how to do this, see To
reverse the Debtors value on page 756 and To reverse the Creditors value on page 761.

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„ You have entered your customer's and supplier's opening balances and cleared down the
debtors/creditors control accounts but you have not yet entered your opening trial balance
from your accountant.
It is normal to see these warnings if you have not entered your opening trial balance. When
you have entered the trial balance, these warnings should disappear.
„ You have previously fixed errors using Check Data.
This may have happened because Check Data was unable to fix the errors completely. If
this has happened you should restore a backup which was taken before these errors
occurred and re-enter your data.
Alternatively, if you have SageCover you can do the following:
If you have a backup which was taken before the errors were fixed by Check Data, contact
Sage Technical Support who may be able to help you to correct these errors over the
phone.
Take a backup of your current data and send it to Sage Technical Support who may be
able to correct it for you.
Remember, if you send your data to Sage Technical Support, you must not enter any
transactions into Sage 50 Accounts until your data is returned to you. Please contact
Support prior to sending in your data. For contact details, see About SageCover on page
17.

Why your Debtors and Creditors Control accounts disagree even though no
data warnings appear
„ You have posted a correcting journal entry to the control account with an incorrect date.
To correct this, post a reversing journal. For further information about how to post a
reversing journal, see Reversing nominal journals (Accounts Plus and Accounts
Professional Only) on page 330.
„ An invoice dated outside the date range you specify was paid by a transaction within the
date range. To find out if this has happened, contact Sage Technical Support.
„ If these suggestions do not solve the problem, contact Sage Technical Support.

Credit control for each customer

After you have decided on a method of ageing your debts, it is important to enter the credit
control details within each customer's record. This can minimise the debt they can run up,
encourage payment by offering them a settlement discount as well as allowing you to keep
notes on any credit issues.
Note: You can also record credit control details on your supplier record to remind you of the
terms you have agreed with your suppliers.

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To enter your credit control details

1. Select the Customers navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Customers view.
2. From the Customers window, select the customer or customers you require and click
Record.
3. Click the Credit Control tab.
The Credit Control information appears, displaying the selected customer's credit control
details.

4. Enter the following information:

Credit Limit If you want to set a limit on the amount of credit a customer is
allowed, you can enter the limit here.

Settlement Due Days You can give your customers a discount for early payment. If
payment is received within the number of days you enter
here, your customer qualifies for a discount.

Sett. Discount If you want to offer this customer an early settlement

discount, enter the percentage discount in this box.

Payment Due Enter the number of days in which the payment is due for
outstanding invoices. This information is used to help you to
keep track of overdue invoices.

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Average Time to Pay This box updates automatically as invoices and receipts
against them are posted to the account. You can over type
this with an estimated average value and this is taken into
account when the next calculation is made.

Trading Terms Text Type in up to 30 characters of text, for example '60 days'.
This can be printed on your invoices, statements and other
stationery if required.

Credit Ref. Enter the customer's credit reference here, if you have
obtained one from a credit control agency.
Sage 50 Accounts uses this information in conjunction with
the Internet Resources you set up to help you to check on a
customer's credit status. When you click on the Hotlink
button at the right of the 'Credit Ref.' box, Sage 50 Accounts
launches your Internet browser and loads the credit bureau's
website, according to the settings you enter in Internet
Resources for the bureau in use.
Use Settings > Internet Resources to set up the 'Credit
Checking URL' (the path to the website) so that it
automatically searches for the credit reference in the 'Credit
Ref.' box. For more information about Internet Resources,
see Working With Internet Resources on page 696.

Bureau Select the credit bureau you want to use for this customer
from the drop-down list. Your default credit bureau appears
here automatically.
You can set up your credit bureau details in Internet
Resources. For more details, see Working With Internet
Resources on page 696 or refer to the Sage 50 Accounts
Help system.

Credit Position Select the customer's current credit status from the
drop-down list.
If you use Sage 50 Accounts's Credit Control features to send
reminder letters to your customers when they have overdue
balances on their accounts, this status changes according to
the settings you enter in the Configuration Editor. For more
information, see The Configuration Editor on page 75.

Account Status Select the status you want. If a status is red, it puts the
account on hold.

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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.

Can Charge Credit If you want to use the Credit Charges Wizard to apply interest
charges if this customer doesn't pay their bill on time, select
this check box.

Restrict Mailing You may want to exclude the selected customer from
mailings. For example, you can restrict them from all mailings
concerning overdue accounts. If you select this check box,
the customer is excluded when you print letters.

Terms Agreed Select this check box if you have agreed credit terms with this
customer.

Account On Hold Select this check box if you want to place an account on
hold. You might want to do this if you have not yet agreed
credit terms.

A/C Opened Enter the date when you opened this customer's account.
The length of time a customer has been trading with you may
influence your decisions concerning credit terms.

Last Credit Review Enter the date when you last reviewed this customer's credit
details.

Next Credit Review Enter the date when you next want to review the current
credit terms. For example, you may want to review credit
terms on a six monthly basis.

Application Date Enter the date the customer applied for credit here.

Date Received Enter the date you received the credit application here.

5. If you want to keep additional notes on the credit agreement you have with the selected
customer, position the cursor in the Memo box and type your comments.
6. To save the details click Save or to clear any data you entered and start again click Discard.
7. To exit the customer record and return to the Customers window, click Close.

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The Credit Control Window

You can access the Credit Control window using Customers > Manage Credit Control or
Suppliers > Manage Credit Control.

Your credit control window displays a list of accounts that show an outstanding, overdue or
promised amount, together with a summary of their current credit position.
The list displays information from the customer or supplier record, including the outstanding and
overdue balances and the age of the oldest debt (for customers). You can also see details of
promised payment amounts, whether an account is on hold (taken from its Account Status) and
credit positions and the dates of any follow-up action you need to take.
By default, the 'Include invoices due within the next XX day(s)' box shows the number of days
currently displaying in the Cash Flow window. If you require, you can change this number to
extend or reduce the period showing in the credit control list. When you change the number,
Sage 50 Accounts refreshes the list automatically.
You can change the information that the Credit Control window displays using the 'Show:'
drop-down list. From the list, you can select 'Overdue Debtors (or Creditors)', 'Overdue and
Outstanding Debtors (or Creditors)' or 'All Customers (or Suppliers)'. Select the option you
require according to the type of accounts you want to view.
At the bottom of the list, a number of credit control function buttons appear. Most functions are
available within both the Customers and Suppliers tabs, while some are specific to Customers
or Suppliers only.

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The following table shows which functions you can use in each tab:

Customers and Suppliers: Customers only: Suppliers only:

„ Contacts „ Charges „ Payments

„ Activity „ Analysis

„ Aged Debt / Aged Credit

„ Dispute
(Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional
only)

„ Record

„ Write Off

„ Cash Flow

For information about each function and how to use it, refer to the relevant sections in this
chapter.

Recording contact details

Successful credit control begins with effective communication with your customers and
suppliers. Keeping accurate and up-to-date records of all your contacts is an essential part of
your credit control process, helping you to keep track of correspondence and promises of
payment, and serving as a reminder when you need to take follow-up action.
Sage 50 Accounts's Credit Control features include a Contacts facility, which enables you to
record all types of contact, from telephone calls and written correspondence to face-to-face
meetings. Use the Contacts facilities to create and amend contact records, log details of any
letters or statements you send to (or receive from) customers or suppliers, trace promised
payments and update account statuses.

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You can access the Contacts facility from both the Customers and the Suppliers tab in the
Credit Control window by clicking Contacts. The figure below shows the Customer Contact
History window:

Note: Clicking Contacts from the Suppliers tab opens the Supplier Contact History window.
This window differs slightly from the Customer Contact History window in that it displays a
'Priority' check box. If you select the 'Priority Supplier' check box within the Credit Control tab
of the Supplier Record to indicate that this is a priority or key supplier account, the 'Priority'
check box on the Supplier Contact History window displays a tick. You cannot amend this
setting here.
The Contact History window displays summary information about the selected account in the
upper part of the window, where you can change the account or date range in use if you require.
The lower section of the window stores details of your contacts for this account, one line per
contact.
The buttons that appear at the bottom of the Contact History window help you to manage your
contact list. For details about using the New, Edit and Delete buttons, refer to the following
sections. The Print List button allows you to print the contacts that currently appear in the list.
Note: The Supplier Contact History window also contains a Promised Payment Details button.
You can amend a supplier's promised payment information directly from the Supplier Contact
History window using this button. The Promised Payment Details window allows you to view the
current promised payment status and dispute information for this supplier, and to record a new
value and date for a promised payment. For more details about recording promised payments,
see To add or edit a contact on page 218.

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To add or edit a contact

1. Select one of the following:
„ Customers > Manage Credit Control
„ Suppliers > Manage Credit Control
2. From the Credit Control window, select the account you want to record contact information
for.
3. Click Contacts.
The Contact History window appears, displaying the list of contacts for the record you
selected.
4. To add a new contact, click New. Alternatively, to amend an existing contact, select the
contact you want to change and click Edit.
The Customer (or Supplier) Contact window appears, displaying the Contact Details
information:

Note: By default, Sage 50 Accounts selects the Telephone option button and assigns a
contact type of 'Telephone, made' for all new contacts.

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5. Enter the details of your contact into the relevant section of the Contact Details tab:

Contact Details Use this section to record general information about the
contact, such as the type of contact, the date and a contact
name. You can record a contact for a telephone call, for a
letter, fax or e-mail correspondence, or for a face-to-face
meeting.
Note: If you are amending an existing contact, you cannot
change the overall type of the contact. For example, you
cannot change a telephone contact into a letter, fax or e-mail
correspondence or a face-to-face meeting.
If you are recording a telephone call, Sage 50 Accounts enters
the telephone number from the customer (or supplier) record
into the 'Telephone' box. If you use the Windows telephone
dialler with Sage 50 Accounts, click the hotlink button to the
right of the telephone number to dial the number. For more
information about using the telephone dialler, refer to the Sage
50 Accounts Help system.
If you send or receive a letter, you can specify its type from the
'Style' drop-down list. If you select one of the standard Credit
Control letters specified in the Configuration Editor, the Save
and Generate button becomes active. Once you have
completed the remaining contact details, click Save and
Generate to save the contact and open the letter in the
Preview window, ready for you to print, save or e-mail as you
require.
For meetings, you can specify the location, selecting from Our
Office, Customer's Office or Other.

Telephone Timer If you want to record the duration of a telephone call, click
Note: This section of the Start when the call begins. The Start box shows the start time
window only appears for of the conversation.The timer counts until you click Stop at
Telephone contacts. the end of the call. The Stop box displays the end time of the
conversation, and the Duration box shows the length of the
call in hours, minutes and seconds.
Note: If you generate an invoice for this contact using the
Invoice button, Sage 50 Accounts uses the Telephone Timer
information to calculate the chargeable time. See step 5
below for more details about generating invoices for contacts.

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Contact Result Use this area of the window to record the outcome of the
contact. From the drop-down list in the 'Outcome' box, you
can specify, for example, whether you spoke to a customer or
left a message, whether you are sending a letter, or that the
customer made a promise of payment. You can also specify a
follow-up date and a new account status for the account, if
you require.
Note: If you set the Outcome to 'Send Reminder Letter',
'Send Warning Letter' or 'Send Legal Letter', Sage 50
Accounts sets the 'New Account Status' to the default for that
letter type, as it appears in the Credit Control tab of the
Configuration Editor. For more information about setting up
your credit control letter defaults, see The Credit Control Tab
on page 92.
If a customer agrees to make a payment (or you agree to
send a payment to a supplier), select 'Payment Promised'
from the 'Outcome' drop-down list. Enter the amount of the
promised payment in the 'Promised Amount' box, and the
date that it is due.
Note: When you record promised payment details, the
Customers (or Suppliers) list in the main Credit Control
window displays the promised amount against the relevant
account. The promised payment also appears in your Cash
Flow window.

6. To generate an invoice for the contact, click the Invoice button.

The Time Biller window appears, enabling you to enter the contact and posting details you
require for the invoice.

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Note: For telephone contacts, Sage 50 Accounts calculates the chargeable time using the
information in the 'Telephone Timer' section of the window. For other contact types, or if
you did not use the timer to record the duration of a call, you must enter the chargeable
time manually.
To generate the invoice once you have entered the details click Save, then click Yes to
create a service invoice. To close the window without saving the details click Cancel.
7. To view account information, such as the payment terms, account status, credit position
and balances, click the Customer Details (or Supplier Details) tab.
8. To enter memo information onto the contact record, click the Memo tab. You can use this
tab to enter as much text as you require.
9. To save the contact details, click Save.
The Contact History window appears.
When you save a new or amended contact, the following updates occur:
„ Sage 50 Accounts stores the details of the contact in the Contact History window.
„ Any promised payment information displays in the Credit Control and Cash Flow
windows. If promised payments already exist for this account, Sage 50 Accounts
removes the original details from the Credit Control and Cash Flow windows and
posts a new entry for the updated details.
„ If the contact contains an amended account status on the customer (or supplier)
record, Sage 50 Accounts updates the record with the new status.
10. To exit from the Contact History and return to the Credit Control window, click Close.
You have successfully recorded your contact details.

To delete a contact
1. From the Contact History window, select the contact(s) that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
A confirmation message appears.
3. To confirm that you want to delete the contact(s), click Yes. Alternatively, to cancel without
deleting the record(s), click No.
4. To exit from the Contact History and return to the Credit Control window, click Close.

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Viewing transaction history and aged balances

The Activity and Aged facilities are available within both the Customers and Suppliers tabs.
The Activity feature allows you to see the financial activity for a selected account. You can print
a copy of the activity information displayed on-screen directly from the Activity window. This
may be useful as a reference during telephone conversations or for face-to-face meetings for
example.
The Aged facilities (Aged Debt in the Customers tab, Aged Credit in Suppliers) enable you to
view a summary of the outstanding debt on an account, grouped by ageing period. From the
Aged Balances window, you can change the display so that you see the information in a detailed
or graphical format, and you can also print the summary and detailed aged balance information
directly.

To view customer or supplier transaction history

1. Select one of the following:
„ Customers > Manage Credit Control
„ Suppliers > Manage Credit Control
2. From the Customers (or Suppliers) tab of the Credit Control window, select the account
you want to view the transaction history for.
3. Click Activity.
The Activity Date Range window appears.
4. Enter the transaction range, transaction type and date range information you require, and
click OK.
The Activity window appears, showing the transactions associated with the account you
selected, one transaction per line.
The window also displays the total amount that your customers owe (or that you owe to
your suppliers), grouped by age, in the boxes at the bottom of the window. For example,
the total debt of a customer that is less than 30 days old appears in the 'Current' total box.
5. To view another account's transactions, select the reference of the account you require
from the drop-down list in the 'A/C' box at the top of the window.
6. To view a different range of transactions, click Range. Enter the transaction range,
transaction type and/or date range you require, and click OK.
7. To print a copy of the transactions in the list, click Print List.
8. To exit the Activity window, click Close.
The Credit Control window appears.

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To view a customer or supplier aged balances

1. Select one of the following:
„ Customers > Manage Credit Control
„ Suppliers > Manage Credit Control
2. From the Customers (or Suppliers) tab of the Credit Control window, select the account
you want to view aged balances for.
3. Click Aged Debt (or Aged Credit).
The Aged Balances Date Defaults window appears.
4. Enter the dates you require and click OK.
The Aged Balances window appears. The window shows the total of any outstanding
invoices for the customer or supplier, grouped by age.
Note: The Aged Balances window determines the ageing periods to use from the settings
you enter in Customer Defaults and Supplier Defaults. For further details about setting up
your ageing periods, see Producing a Retrospective Aged Balance report on page 209.
5. To see the account's detailed aged balances, click Detailed.
The Detailed Aged Analysis window appears, displaying the individual transactions that
make up the aged totals.
6. To print the list of aged balances, click Print List.
7. To view the aged balances in a graphical format, click the Graph tab. You can access the
graph from both the Aged Balances window and the Detailed Aged Analysis window.
8. To exit from the Aged Balances window, click Close.
The Credit Control window appears.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Handling disputed transactions

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
If a customer queries an invoice you have sent them, you can mark the invoice as disputed until
you come to an agreement. You can mark any invoice that is not fully paid as disputed. As soon
as the invoice query is settled you can remove the disputed flag.
Disputed transactions appear in your Sage 50 Accounts reports. Some reports display these
transactions as disputed by displaying a 'd' alongside them.
If you do not want to show disputed items in your Sage 50 Accounts reports, you must set a
filter. For further information about how to do this, refer to your Report Designer User Guide.
Note: You can also mark invoices you have received from your supplier as disputed by choosing
the Dispute option from the Suppliers tab of the Credit Control window.

To mark an invoice as disputed

1. Select one of the following:
„ Customers > Manage Credit Control
„ Suppliers > Manage Credit Control
2. From the Customers (or Suppliers) tab of the Credit Control window, click Dispute.
The Disputed Items window appears.
3. From the A/C drop-down list, select the account you require.
4. Select the transaction you want to mark as disputed and click Dispute.
The Details window appears, prompting you to select a reason to explain why the item is
in dispute.
Note: You can set up or amend reason codes in the Configuration Editor. For more
information, see The Configuration Editor on page 75.
5. Select the reason code you require, and click OK.
The transaction now displays 'd' in the 'Disputed?' column, and the reason for the dispute
in the 'Dispute Reason' column.
Alternatively, to return to the list of transactions without marking the item as disputed, click
Cancel.
6. To record your changes, click Save. To exit without saving your changes, click Discard.
7. To return to the Credit Control window, click Close.

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Credit control reporting

Sage 50 Accounts comes with several reports to help you with credit control and debt chasing.

Aged Debtors reports

The Aged Debtor Analysis (Detailed) report gives you the most detail on who owes you money.
We recommend that you use this report when you are chasing debts.

The report shows the following:

Balance The Balance column lists the total sum each customer owes and the total owed
by all debtors from unpaid invoices, less any unused credits or payments on
account.

Future This shows you what financial transactions will happen in the future. The 'Future'
column lists the total value of customer transactions (i.e. invoices, receipts or
credit notes) dated in advance of the report date. A value will only appear in this
column if you have selected 'Include Future Transactions' in the Criteria window.

Current Using the default ageing periods, the current column shows the total of each
customer's transactions that are less than 30 days old (or the ageing period
specified).

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Periods The program then categorises the transactions that are overdue into periods: 1,
2, 3 and Older.

There are two additional aged debtors reports available:

„ The Aged Debtors Analysis (Summary) lists each customer and the balance they owe for
each period.
„ The Aged Debtors Analysis (Contacts) lists each customer and the balance they owe for
each period as well as their contact details.

To run an aged debtors report

1. From the Customers window, click Reports.
2. Select the Aged Debtors Reports folder.
3. Select the report you want to print, the type of output from the drop-down list, and then
click Generate Report.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Enter the following criteria:

Customer Ref If you want to run the reports for a specific customer range, enter
the customer references you require. If you want to run the report
for all of your customers, accept the defaults.

Report Date Enter the date you want to age the debts against.
Note: Enter the date that you want to age the debts against in the
'To' box. If a 'From' date is entered and there are any transactions
outstanding prior to this date, they will show on the report as a
total brought forward figure.

Inc. Future Tran If you want to include transactions dated after the report date,
select this check box.

Exc. Later Payments Select this check box if you want to produce retrospective aged
reports. This means that later payments will not be included so
that you can see how much your customer owed you on a
particular date.
For example, if you have an invoice dated in March but paid in
April and you run the aged report for March selecting the 'Exc.
Later Payments' check box, the report will show the invoice as
outstanding as the payment will not be included in the report.

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Other Customer reports

The following reports can also help you improve your credit control:

Customer Invoices Due

This report lists all the outstanding invoices up to the current system date.

Customer Invoices Overdue

This report lists all outstanding invoices with reference to the 'Payment Due' days that have
been set on the Customer Record and Credit Control tab.
The report looks at the invoice date, pay due days and report date in order to calculate whether
the invoice is overdue. You can use this report most effectively where some customers are
allowed 30 days to pay and others only 7 days etc.

Customer Invoices Within Settlement Terms

This is a useful report to send to a customer to encourage them to pay early. To produce this
report, Sage 50 Accounts looks at the date of the sales invoice, calculates the date the
customer must pay to qualify for the discount, and the saving to be made if the payment is made
early.

Statements
Use statements to keep your customer informed of their balance with you. Statements can be
sent to customers at any time, and can be printed for a specific customer range or transaction
date range.
There are lots of different statement layouts that can be produced to suit your individual
requirements. You can choose to print statements that show each individual transaction or you
can choose to group transactions that have the same date and reference.
Note: These reports can be found on the Statements button, next to Reports.

Payment Reminder Letters

If your customers do not pay you after you have sent them their statement, you can use Sage
50 Accounts's Payment Reminder Letters. There are three different types of letters provided.
Note: These can be obtained through the Customers toolbar, by using the Letters button.

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Charging your customers for late payments

Sage 50 Accounts includes a facility to enable you to apply credit charges to customers who
do not pay on time. By default, a payment is regarded as late if it is 30 days overdue. If you want
to apply different payment terms, you must enter the required number of days in the 'Payment
Due' box in the Credit Control tab of the Customer Record.
Before you can apply any credit charges to your customers, you must set up the rates you want
to use. To do this, select Settings > Configuration, then choose the Terms tab to view the
Customer Finance Rates information. For details on how to set up your finance rates, see The
Terms Tab on page 79.
You can set the date the finance rate applies from, the base rate percentage and any additional
percentage rates that you want to apply. When you apply a finance charge rate to a transaction,
the first rate charged will also be applied to the invoice until it is paid. For example, if a payment
is overdue in March and again in April, the same finance rate will be applied for both months
until the payment is made. You cannot increase the finance rate for that invoice.
When you have entered your finance rates, use the Credit Charges Wizard to guide you through
the process of applying credit charges to overdue payments.
To run the Credit Charges wizard, click Charges from the Customers tab of the Credit Control
window. Alternatively, you can access the Credit Charges Wizard from the Customers window.
Follow the instructions in the wizard to apply the charges.
Type 'Finance Rates' in the Help index to find out more.
Help

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Days Sales Analysis

Days Sales Analysis helps you to measure your company's debt collection performance by
calculating the average time it takes to collect your debts. You should use this feature at the end
of a sales period, for example at the end of each month as part of your Month End routine.
The Days Sales Analysis window is split into three tabs.
„ Use the Days Sales Outstanding tab to see whether your company is collecting its
receivables effectively. In the form of a graph, it shows how many days' worth of sales are
outstanding and not paid for at any given time.
„ The Days Sales Overdue tab indicates how well your customers are meeting their payment
terms. You can use this information to see if your customers are good payers, or if you
need to improve your debt collection processes.
„ The Details tab shows a list of days sales outstanding and overdue for each company that
falls within the period up to the current program date.
To find out how to use each section of the Days Sales Analysis feature, refer to the following
sections.

To view your Days Sales Outstanding information

1. Select Customers > Manage Credit Control.
Alternatively, from the Cash Flow window, click Credit Control.
The Credit Control window appears, showing the Customers information.
2. From the bottom of the Customers tab, click Analysis.
The Days Sales Analysis window appears, showing the Days Sales Outstanding
information.

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The window displays the following details:

Company's Days Sales Sage 50 Accounts calculates the 'Company's Days Sales
Outstanding Outstanding' value by taking the total outstanding balance
from all customers within the company and working out how
many days' worth of sales this value represents. The resulting
figure shows, on average, how long your customers take to
pay their invoices.
For example, your usual payment terms are 30 days and Sage
50 Accounts shows a 'Company's Days Sales Outstanding'
figure of 66. This indicates that, on average, your customers'
payments are 36 days overdue. Unauthorised credit can be
costly, so you can now take steps to reduce the amount of
overdue debt.
If this figure rises month by month, your business is taking
longer to collect its debts and should take action to correct
this.
If the figure falls month by month, your company's collection
processes are improving, or your customers are becoming
better at paying on time.

Default Payment Terms This box displays your company's default payment terms in
days. This is the number of days that you usually give your
customers to pay their invoices. Sage 50 Accounts reads this
information from the default you set up in the Terms tab of the
Configuration Editor. For more information about setting up
your terms, refer to To set up your terms on page 80.
You should use this value as a guide when analysing your
days sales outstanding information - if the 'Company's Days
Sales Outstanding' figure is more than twice the 'Default
Payment Terms', then your company may not be collecting its
debts effectively and you may want to review your collection
processes.

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Graph The graph shown in the main part of the Days Sales
Outstanding window displays, for the whole company, the
number of customers that have outstanding balances on their
accounts. The graph shows the number of customers that fall
into each of your company's ageing periods. Sage 50
Accounts reads the ageing periods (shown on the X-axis of
the graph) from your Customer Defaults (Customers >
Customer Defaults). You can amend the appearance of the
graph to suit your requirements. For details about
manipulating graphs, refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help
system.

3. To close the Days Sales Analysis window and return to the Credit Control window, click
Close.
Alternatively, to continue viewing your Days Sales Analysis information, click the Days Sales
Overdue tab. Refer to the following section for more details.

To view your Days Sales Overdue information

1. Select Customers > Manage Credit Control.
Alternatively, from the Cash Flow window, click Credit Control.
The Credit Control window appears, showing the Customers information.
2. From the bottom of the Customers tab, click Analysis.
The Days Sales Analysis window appears, showing the Days Sales Outstanding
information.
3. Click the Days Sales Overdue tab.
The Days Sales Overdue window appears.
The window shows the following information:

Company's Days Sales Your 'Company's Days Sales Overdue' figure shows, on
Overdue average, how many days overdue your customer balances
are at this point in time. Sage 50 Accounts takes the total of
the overdue balances for all customers within the company
and calculates how many days' worth of sales this value
represents.
If this value is very low, customers may either be very good
payers or their payment terms may be too generous. If the
value is significantly higher than your standard payment terms,
you may need to improve your debt collection processes.

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Default Payment Terms This box displays your company's default payment terms in
days. This is the number of days that you usually give your
customers to pay their invoices. Sage 50 Accounts reads this
information from the default you set up in the Terms tab of the
Configuration Editor. For more information about setting up
your terms, refer to To set up your terms on page 80.
You should use this value as a guide when analysing your
Days Sales Overdue information. If the 'Company's Days
Sales Overdue' figure is very low when compared with the
'Default Payment Terms', then either your customers are very
good payers, or their payment terms are too generous.
However, if the 'Company's Days Sales Overdue' figure is
significantly greater than the 'Default Payment Terms', then
your company may not be collecting its debts effectively and
you may want to review your collection processes.

Graph The graph shown in the main part of the Days Sales Overdue
window displays, for the whole company, the number of
customers that have overdue balances on their accounts. The
graph shows the number of customers that fall into each of
your company's ageing periods. Sage 50 Accounts reads the
ageing periods (shown on the X-axis of the graph) from your
Customer Defaults (Customers > Customer Defaults). You can
amend the appearance of the graph to suit your requirements.
For details about manipulating graphs, refer to the Sage 50
Accounts Help system.

4. To close the Days Sales Analysis window and return to the Credit Control window, click
Close.
Alternatively, to continue viewing your Days Sales Analysis information, click the Details tab.
Refer to the following section, To view your detailed Days Sales Analysis on page 232, for
more details.

To view your detailed Days Sales Analysis

1. Select Customers > Manage Credit Control.
Alternatively, from the Cash Flow window, click Credit Control.
The Credit Control window appears, showing the Customers information.
2. From the bottom of the Customers tab, click Analysis.
The Days Sales Analysis window appears, showing the Days Sales Outstanding
information.

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3. Click the Details tab.

The Details window appears.
The window shows the following information:

Company's Days Sales This box displays the value Sage 50 Accounts calculates for
Outstanding your company's Days Sales Outstanding analysis. For details,
see To view your Days Sales Outstanding information on page
229.

Company's Days Sales This box shows the figure Sage 50 Accounts calculates for
Overdue your company's Days Sales Overdue analysis. For details, see
To view your Days Sales Overdue information on page 231.

Default Payment Terms This box displays your company's default payment terms in
days, as set up in the Terms tab of the Configuration Editor.

List The main list on the Details window shows a list of customer
accounts that have sales outstanding or overdue, at the
current date.

4. To print the list, click Print List at the bottom of the window. The list information outputs to
your chosen printer.
5. To close the Days Sales Analysis window and return to the Credit Control window, click
Close.
You have now viewed your Days Sales Analysis information.

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Writing Off Bad Debts

Sometimes you may want to write off outstanding transactions on an account, for example, if a
customer does not pay an invoice and the outstanding balance becomes a 'bad debt'.
When you write off a transaction, the balance transfers to a bad debt control account, which
displays on the year's Profit and Loss report as an overhead. In addition, writing off a bad debt
reduces the debtors or creditors figure on the Balance Sheet.
When you write off a debt, you need to decide whether it meets the VAT Bad Debt Relief
conditions set by HM Revenue & Customs. You then need to check the balance on the account,
and post the necessary transactions.
Sage 50 Accounts offers you two ways to write off bad debts. The Write Off, Refund and
Returns Wizard automates the write off procedure for you and posts the necessary transactions
to reduce the outstanding amount and balance your books. Alternatively, you can process bad
debts manually by posting the transactions you need to record the write off.
Note: The Write Off, Refund and Returns wizard does not account for VAT. If you need to reclaim
VAT when writing off transactions that meet the VAT Bad Debt Relief criteria, you must post
manual transactions to account for the VAT.
This section describes how to use the wizard to write off bad debts, and provides instructions
on how to perform write offs manually.

VAT bad debt relief

Note: VAT Bad Debt Relief only applies if you are using the standard VAT accounting scheme.
If your business operates under the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, you pay VAT only on the
money you actually receive from customers, so VAT Bad Debt Relief is not necessary.
If your customers do not pay you for goods or services that you supply, you can claim relief from
the VAT on the bad debt, as long as you meet certain conditions specified by HM Revenue &
Customs. These conditions include the following:
„ You must already have accounted for the VAT on the invoice and paid it to HM Revenue &
Customs.
„ You must have written off the debt in your VAT accounts and transferred it into a separate
bad debt account.
„ The debt must have remained unpaid for a period of six months from the payment due
date, or the date the supply was made, whichever is later.
Similarly, if you do not pay a supplier for goods or services they provide, they are entitled to claim
VAT Bad Debt Relief according to the same set of conditions. In this case, you are obliged to
repay the VAT portion of the bad debt.
Note: For a full list of the conditions applying to VAT bad debt relief, and an explanation of the
conditions, see VAT Notice 700/18. You can obtain copies of VAT Notices from HM Revenue &
Customs, or download them from www.hmrc.gov.uk.

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Writing off bad debts using the wizard

The Write Off, Refund and Returns Wizard automates the write off procedure for you and posts
the necessary transactions to reduce the outstanding amount and balance your books.
Note: You can only use the wizard to write off bad debts if your business operates under the
Standard VAT accounting scheme. If you use the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, you must write
off debts manually. For more details, refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help system.
The Write Off, Refund and Returns Wizard does not take VAT into account. If you need to
reclaim VAT for transactions that meet the VAT Bad Debt criteria, you can use the wizard but
you will then need to post manual transactions to account for the VAT element of the write off.
Alternatively, you can write off the debt manually using the instructions in Writing off bad debts
manually on page 237.

To write off a sales invoice using the Write Off, Refund and Returns Wizard
Note: The following procedure describes how to use the Write Off, Refund and Returns Wizard
to write off a bad debt invoice for a customer. If you want to write off a supplier invoice, replace
'customer' with 'supplier' in the steps below.
1. Select Customers > Manage Credit Control.
2. From the Customers tab of the Credit Control window, click Write Off.
The Write Off, Refund and Returns Wizard appears.
3. Select 'Write Off Customer Transactions' and click Next.
4. Select the account that contains the transaction(s) you want to write off and click Next.
The list of outstanding transactions on the customer account appears.

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5. Select the invoice(s) you want to write off and click Next to continue.
6. Enter the date and any additional reference you want to use for the write off and click Next
to continue.
7. Check the transaction summary that appears on the final screen of the wizard, and click
Finish to confirm the details and post the write off transactions.
Sage 50 Accounts posts a sales credit note to the customer's account using the bad debt write
off nominal code and the non-VATable tax code, usually T9.
The sales credit transaction:
„ Credits the debtors control account for the total amount of the bad debt, including VAT;
„ Debits the bad debts control account for the total amount of the bad debt, including VAT;
and
„ Reduces the outstanding balance on the customer account by the total amount of the bad
debt.
Note: Because Sage 50 Accounts posts the sales credit note with a non-VATable tax code, your
next VAT Return does not pick up the transaction.

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Using the wizard to write off other debts

Using the wizard, you can post four types of write off:
„ Customer or supplier accounts. Use this option if you want to write off an entire account,
for example if a customer or supplier stops trading.
„ Customer or supplier transactions. Choose this option to write off individual transactions.
„ Transactions below a specified value. Select this option if you want to write off small
amounts, for example, transactions under 50 pence (you may have a lot of very small
transactions which, for some reason, have not been paid and you want to clean up your
ledgers).
„ Small Overpayments. Use this option to write off small customer or supplier overpayments
(again, if you want to clean up your ledgers).
To use the wizard, select whether you want to make amendments to the Sales ledger or
Purchase ledger. Next, select the type of write off you want to make and then follow the
on-screen instructions.
When you write off bad debts using the wizard, Sage 50 Accounts automatically generates all
the appropriate adjustments to the nominal ledger and the customer or supplier account.
However, VAT is not accounted for; if you need to reclaim or repay VAT, you must post
transactions to account for the VAT element of the write off. Read how to reclaim or repay VAT
in To reclaim VAT After writing off a sales invoice on page 238.

Writing off bad debts manually

Note: These instructions only apply if you are using UK Standard VAT Accounting. Under VAT
Cash Accounting you do not need to reclaim the VAT from bad debts as you only pay VAT on
the money you actually receive. However, you do need to post transactions to balance your
books (to reverse out the invoices or credit notes).
For more information, type 'Write Offs' in the Help index, select 'Customer' or 'Supplier', and follow
Help the on-screen instructions.

To post a bad debt sales credit and write off a sales invoice
In this example, there is an unpaid invoice of £117.50 on the customer account, Brown Ltd. You
want to write this balance off as a bad debt.
1. Select Customers > Batch Credit.
The Batch Customer Credits window appears.

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Enter the details in the Batch Customer Credits window, For example:

A/C Date Ref N/C Details Net T/C VAT

BROWN Write off BADDBT 8100 Write off 117.50 T9 0.00

date

2. To post the credit note click Save, or to exit without saving, click Discard and then click
Close.
Sage 50 Accounts posts the credit note, and the Batch Customer Credits window clears.
3. To return to the Customers window, click Close.
The Customers window appears.
You now need to allocate the credit to the invoice to clear the outstanding debt, for further
information about this, please refer to the Sage 50 Accounts Help System.
Posting the Credit Note has the following effect on the control accounts:
„ Credits the debtors control account for the total amount of the bad debt, including VAT;
„ Debits the Bad Debt control account for the total amount of the bad debt, including VAT
and
„ Reduces the outstanding balance on the customer’ account by the total amount of the bad
debt.

To reclaim VAT After writing off a sales invoice

If you post a write off transaction but need to reclaim the VAT you can achieve this by posting
a journal.
If you need more information about the conditions that need to be satisfied before the VAT can
be recovered on a bad debt, please contact HM Revenue & Customs.
In the following example, you wrote off an invoice with a balance of £117.50, and now need to
recover the £17.50 VAT element.
Note: This section assumes that you have posted the write off credit as described in To post a
bad debt sales credit and write off a sales invoice on page 237.
1. Select Company > New Journal.
The Nominal Ledger Journals window appears.

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2. Enter a date and reference for the journal, then enter the required information to reclaim
the VAT, for example:

N/C Name Details T/C Debit Credit

2201 Purchase Bad debt T1 17.50 0.00

Tax Relief
Control
Account

8100 Bad Debt Bad Debt T9 0.00 17.50

Write Off Relief

Note: the date used for this journal should satisfy HM Revenue & Customs’ rules for bad debt
relief.
3. To post the journal, click Save, or if required, to exit without saving, click Discard then click
Close.
The journal is posted, and the Nominal Ledger Journals window appears.
You have now posted the journal to reclaim the VAT. As required by HM Revenue and Customs
this transaction updates box 4 of the VAT Return, VAT reclaimed in this period on purchases.

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Prepayments
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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
1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
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.

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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.

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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

Month 2 Prepayment 2 100.00 100.00

7100 Rent Account 1103 Prepayment A/C

Month 3 Prepayment 3 100.00 100.00

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.

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Accruals
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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
1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
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.

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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.

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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 305.

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

7502 Telephone 2109 Accrual A/C

Month 3 Accrual 3 100.00 100.00

7502 Telephone 2109 Accrual A/C
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.

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Budgeting in Sage 50 Accounts

You can use the program 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.
Or 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. Or 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.

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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.

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„ 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 (version 12 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.

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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.
Set the program to use your chosen budgetary method
1. Click Settings > 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.
Create department records (not required when budgeting by nominal code only)
1. Click Company > Departments > New.
2. Enter the reference (up to 9 characters) and name (up to 50 characters) for the department.
3. Enter a description (up to 100 characters) - this is optional, then click Save.
Tip: Do you want the program to create the reference? If yes, leave the Reference blank. The
program abbreviates the name you enter. Use a consistent reference system - it will help you in
the long run.
You can have up to 999 departments.
Set up budget records
1. Click Company > 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.
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 program distributes the amount evenly
across the 12 months in the Monthly Breakdown table. Amend those individual monthly
values to suit.

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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 > Departments.
2. Select the department from the list you want to report on. Click Reports.
3. Select the report you want from the list then click New.
The Report Wizard appears; follow the on-window instructions 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
1. Click Company > Departments.
2. Select the department you want to report on from the list. Click P and L.

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3. Choose where you want to send the report to and 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
1. Click Company > Departments.
2. Select the department you want to report on from the list. Click Balance.
3. Choose where you want to send the report to and 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.

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.

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Product Budgets
To view or edit a product budget:
1. Select the Products navigation group and 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.
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 program divides it by 12 and enters the resulting value in each month's
budget box.
If there is a remainder after dividing the total by 12, your program enters it into the box for month
12.
Quantity Sold Budget
This column displays the budgeted sales that you had planned to sell in that month.

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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.
The Project Record window appears, showing the Details information.
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.
5. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.

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.
The project’s 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 project’s 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 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 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 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.

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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.
You can work with fixed assets in Sage 50 Accounts by selecting Company > Manage Fixed
Assets. On the Fixed Assets window, you can enter the details of your fixed assets, put in details
about their depreciation and also, write them off.
.

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 198.
The next section outlines the depreciation methods that Sage 50 Accounts uses.

Type 'Fixed Assets' in the Help index to find out more.

Help

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.

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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 305.
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

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.

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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
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 198).

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,
select Company > Manage Fixed Assets and then click Disposal from the Fixed Assets toolbar.

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Creating fixed asset categories

Sage 50 Accounts lets you divide your fixed assets into 99 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 88.

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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 144.

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
Intrastat defaults on page 144.
„ 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).

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„ The Product Tax Code on the sales order must be T4 (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 186.

To confirm your Intrastat dispatches

1. Select Company > 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 144.
The Intrastat Dispatches Confirmation (SOP) window appears.

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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
Accounts Help system.
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.

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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?"

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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
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 (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 263.
6. To close the Supplementary Declarations report window and return to the previous
window, click Close.
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.

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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 program 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 SRD 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.srd'.
Note: You can only view SRD 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
Intrastat defaults on page 144.
„ 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).

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„ 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 186.

To confirm your Intrastat arrivals

1. Select Company > 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 144.
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.

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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
Accounts Help system.
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.

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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:

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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 263.
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.

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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

In this version of Sage 50 Accounts, all VAT functionality has been brought together into a
central VAT Ledger.
1. From the navigation bar click Company.
2. Now click Manage VAT in the Tasks List at the top of the navigation bar. 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.
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 Menu
> 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.
3. 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
but with all other options being disabled.
4. To print out the VAT Ledger listing, click Print List.
5. To delete a highlighted VAT Return, ECSL or RCSL in the list, Click Delete.

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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.

‰ Optional: Post your Scale Charges.

‰ 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.

‰ Where necessary: 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.

‰ Make a Payment to HMRC.

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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 program 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.

2. In the VAT Preferences tab that appears, set your VAT Details, ECSL preferences,
e-Submission credentials and contact preferences. For detailed information on the various

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entry box categories on this tab, please refer to the Manage your VAT > VAT Preferences
> To Configure your VAT Preferences topic in the main program help file (F1).

Configure your VAT Details Preferences

At the top of the VAT Details window, enter your VAT registration number. For further information
on 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 program 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 program that are non-vatable, e.g. 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 which is automatically calculated by your program 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 scheme combinations:
„ 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).
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 (ticked) if you want Sage 50 Accounts to validate EU VAT
numbers for all EU member countries.
Enable e-VAT Submission
Select (tick) 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.

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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 set 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.

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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:
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 Government
Gateway account.
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 Government
Gateway account.

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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. You should back up your data files before
doing this.
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. From the Company navigation group click Company; then from the Tasks List click Manage
VAT. Finally, click VAT Return on the VAT Ledger toolbar to open the Value Added Tax
Return window..

Note: The alternative navigation route of Company > Financials > VAT button is also
available.
Enter the VAT Period dates "For the period" and "To". These dates are inclusive, i.e. any
transactions logged on these dates are included in the VAT Return.
You can include previously reconciled VAT transactions, for example if you want to
calculate a VAT Return quarterly, and you have not cleared your audit trail. To include these
transactions, select the Include Reconciled Transaction check box.
2. 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.

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If you wish to include these transactions in your VAT Return, choose Yes, if you do not,
choose 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.

How your VAT Return is Calculated

As soon as you choose the Calculate button, 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 program 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 program help file
(F1).

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The UK VAT Return (Standard VAT 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 program
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.
Click the figure in Box 2 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.
Click the figure in Box 4 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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), your program displays the difference as a positive figure in Box 5. This
represents the total amount of VAT that you must pay to HMRC for this period.

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If the value in Box 3 (Total VAT due) is less than the value in Box 4 (VAT reclaimed in this period
on purchases), your program displays the difference 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).
Click the figure in Box 6 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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).
Click the figure in Box 7 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Box 8 - Total value of EC sales, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all sales to EC member states, excluding VAT.
Click the figure in Box 8 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Box 9 - Total value of EC purchases, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all purchases from EC member states, excluding VAT.
Click the figure in Box 9 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.

The UK VAT Return (VAT Cash Accounting)

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.

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Box 1 - VAT due in this period on sales

This contains the VAT charged on all your receipts. This represents the total VAT due in this
period on your sales.
Click the figure in Box 1 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.
Click the figure in Box 2 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.
Click the figure in Box 4 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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), your program displays the difference 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), your program displays the difference 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).
Click the figure in Box 6 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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).

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Click the figure in Box 7 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Box 8 - Total value of EC sales, excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all invoices to EC member states, excluding VAT.
Click the figure in Box 8 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Box 9 - Total value of EC purchases excluding VAT
This represents the total value of all invoices from EC member states, excluding VAT.
Click the figure in Box 9 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.

The Republic of Ireland VAT Return (Standard VAT)

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.
Click the figure in Box 1 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Box 2:
VAT due on purchases made within the EU (credits are deducted).

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Click the figure in Box 2 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.
Click the figure in Box 7 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
E2 Total Goods FROM other EU countries
Box 8:
This represents the total value of all purchases from other EU member states, excluding VAT.
Click the figure in Box 8 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.

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Click the figure in Box 9 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Total value of purchases, excluding VAT
Box 10:
This represents the total value of all purchases excluding VAT. This includes all imports from both
EU and non-EU countries.
Click the figure in Box 10 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.

The Irish VAT Return (VAT Cash Accounting)

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.
Click the figure in Box 1 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Box 2:
VAT charged on purchases made within the EU (credits are deducted).
Click the figure in Box 2 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.

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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.
Click the figure in Box 4 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.
Click the figure in Box 7 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
E2 Total Goods FROM other EU countries
Box 8:
This represents the total value of all purchases from other EU member states, excluding VAT.
Click the figure in Box 8 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
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.

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Click the figure in Box 9 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.
Total value of purchases, excluding VAT
Box 10:
This represents the total value of all purchases excluding VAT. This includes all imports from both
EU and non-EU countries.
Click the figure in Box 10 to see a list of the transaction types and tax codes that your program
uses to calculate this value.

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 E-mail.
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 (for example, if you were doing the VAT Return for January,
February and March and you included a transaction from May, i.e. outside the specified period)
or you have entered the transaction using the wrong VAT code, or you have posted VAT
incorrectly.
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 and then click Reports.

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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 (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.
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 quarter’s VAT Return, did you post the clear down journals
correctly i.e. 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 and 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.

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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.
„ 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 total’s 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 with
the left mouse button on 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 VAT code (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.

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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.
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.

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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.
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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

Note: 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 topic.

To Reconcile and Archive a VAT Return

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.

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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
is then displayed, prompting you to confirm whether or not to flag all the VAT transactions.
To flag the transactions, click Yes.
3. 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.

Archive Locations

Customers in the UK
The VAT return is archived as a XML file type in the following location:
Windows 2000, Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings \ All Users \ Application Data \ Sage \ Accounts \ 2008 \
Company.000 \ VATRtns \ <year
Windows Vista
C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2008\Company.000\VATRtns\<year

Customers in the Irish Republic

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 \ 2008 \
Company.000 \ VATRtns \ <year> \ VAT3
Windows Vista
C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2008\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.

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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 program needs to pick up these transactions
when you run your next VAT Return.
On running the next VAT Return, the program 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, i.e. the late transactions. The program 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 program warns of late transactions, under tax regulations you must print off a
separate list of the late transactions.

Handling future transactions

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.
To do this, select Company > Nominal Ledger, select the VAT control account and then click
Activity. Click Range and then select the day after your VAT period in the Date Range, 'From'
box to view the activity for the future period only.
If it is future dated transactions that are causing the difference, the B/Fwd figure on the Control
Accounts Activity will be the same as the VAT Return figure.

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.
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 program help file (F1) for full details on the
VAT Liability Transfer Wizard. Secondly, by manually posting journals. Either process will achieve
the same result.

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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.

Entering Scale Charges

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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.
The tax amount and breakdown of the CO2 bands can be accessed from here.
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.

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1. Select Modules > Company and then select Manage VAT from the Tasks list.

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.
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
„ An Indicator field - 0 (business to business transaction) or 2 (triangulation transaction)
„ a Submitted field, in which the submitted status of each transaction is shown

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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 (or 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 or VAT
cash accounting.
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 to remove the ECSL details and recalculate.
6. Finally, 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.

Note: When you click Save, if your EC Sales List contains any transaction entries with a
blank or incomplete fields, the program 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. Finally, click Run to generate your print-out.
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.

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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:

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.
1. Select Modules > Company and then select Manage VAT from the Tasks list.
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.
3. Proceed to enter the "For the period / to" dates (for up to a 12 month period) and then click
Calculate.

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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 (or 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, click Clear to remove the return details and recalculate.
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.

Note: When you click Save, if your Reverse Charge Sales List contains any transaction
entries with a blank or incomplete fields the program 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.

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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 program 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.

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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 have introduced new legislation, from 1st June 2007. Under this
legislation, if you are supplying any of these specified goods and the invoice value for the goods
is greater than £5,000, then you will not charge or collect output tax. However, you will need to
record the amount of reverse charge VAT on the invoice but for notional purposes only.
Similarly, if you are purchasing more than £5,000 (invoice value) of these 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 this notional reverse charge, affected businesses will have to submit a
Reverse Charge Sales List (RCSL) with each VAT return.

To View a Previous VAT Return

1. Ensure that the VAT Ledger is open (Company > Manage VAT).
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 being disabled.

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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.

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 help topic does apply to you.
If you chose not to enable e-VAT submission, then please refer to the Submit your VAT Return
topic.
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. From the navigation group, click Company and then from the Tasks List 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).
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.

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 28 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.

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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.
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 computer.
Click Close to complete the e-Submission process.

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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.
A full description of all the error codes is outside the scope of this guide but full details can be
downloaded from http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ebu/vat-ec-techpack.htm.

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:
1. From the navigation group click Company and then from the Tasks List click Manage VAT.
The VAT Ledger 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.
Some of the possible submission errors that can be reported are shown below:

A full description of all the error codes is outside the scope of this help topic but full details can
be downloaded from http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ebu/vat-ec-techpack.htm.

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To Make a VAT Payment

Making an Offline VAT Payment to HMRC

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, then this help topic does not apply to you.
Please refer to Entering an Online VAT Payment to HMRC with e-Banking Enabled.
If you chose not to enable e-VAT submission and/or not to enable eBanking, then read on.
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. 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.
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 program's bank account.

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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 your program's
bank account.

Entering an Online VAT Payment to HMRC with e-Banking Enabled

1. From the navigation group click Company and then from the Tasks List click Manage VAT.
The VAT Ledger appears.
2. Click Settings on the VAT Ledger toolbar. In the VAT Tab of the Company Preferences
window, ensure that the Enable e-VAT Submission check box is selected.
3. To enable e-Banking, select Settings Menu and then Bank Defaults. The Bank Default
window appears. Select the Enable e-Banking check box. 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.
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 field 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. From the navigation bar, click Bank.
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.

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3. Highlight the HMRC payment(s) requiring payment and 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.
Other Method / UK Payment Account setting within the HMRC Payments Window
Completion of Step 4 above results in a bank payment posting with a T9 tax code. However,
the payment to HMRC is then outside the remit of Sage 50 Accounts, and requires the use of
your other banking software or other method to send the HMRC payment. The VAT Ledger will
still be 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."
Other Method / Payment from NON-UK A/C setting within the HMRC Payments Window
Completion of Step 4 above results in a bank payment posting.

No system message is displayed on this occasion. However, the payment to HMRC is then
outside the remit of Sage 50 Accounts, and requires the use of your other banking software or
other method to send the HMRC payment. The VAT Ledger will still be updated and the VAT
Return Paid box is shown as Y instead of N.
Note: On those occasions where a refund or repayment from HMRC is due, you will use the
Bank Receipts option in the Bank Module of Sage 50 Accounts.

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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

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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)

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„ 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.
You can use the Month End facility to clear fully paid transactions that have been reconciled with
the bank and the VAT Return (optional), and to move any recurring entries that you have set up
to the next month. Also use the Month End to clear your customer and supplier month-to-date
turnover figures.
Clearing the audit trail is optional. Some companies like to keep years of data on their system,
so they can see their historical data quickly, whereas others clear their transactions every month
so it's easier to keep track of current transaction activities. Whatever you decide you should still
run the Month End every month because of recurring entries. We also recommend that you take
a print out of your audit trail with a date range that includes the current month's transactions.
Note: You do not have to run your Month End at the exact Month End date. Because your
transactions (for example, bills, invoices, etc.) may not all arrive on time, you may not receive
everything you need, until, for example, the second week of the next month. In this case, you
can wait until all transactions are in, then change the program date to the Month End you want
to run.

Help Type 'Month End' in the Help index for more information.

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 59.

‰ 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.

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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 373.

‰ 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 240.

‰ 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 254.

‰ (Optional) Reconcile all of your bank accounts. For further information about how to do
this refer to Reconciling Your Bank Account on page 365.

‰ (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 309.

‰ 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 322.

‰ Run the Month End procedure. For further information about how to do this, refer to
Running the Month End on page 307.
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 322.

‰ (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 316.

‰ (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 338.

‰ 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)'.

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Changing the program date

One of the strengths of Sage 50 Accounts is that you can change the program date, i.e. 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.
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 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 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.

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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.

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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's default
Chart of Accounts.
2. Find out your opening stock balance in your 1001 Stock account.

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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
following journal entry.
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.

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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
following journal entry.
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

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At the end of the first month the closing stock value was £4000. Post the following journal entry:

N/C Name T/C Debit Credit

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:

N/C Name T/C Debit Credit

1001 Stock T9 4000

5201 Closing Stock T9 4000

At the end of month two post the following journal entry to enter the closing stock value:

N/C Name T/C Debit Credit

5201 Closing Stock T9 10000

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.

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Month 3
At the beginning of month three post the following journal entry to clear the closing stock value
from month two.:

N/C Name T/C Debit Credit

1001 Stock T9 10000

5201 Closing Stock T9 10000

At the end of month three post the following journal entry to enter the closing stock value for
month three:

N/C Name T/C Debit Credit

1001 Stock T9 6000

5201 Closing 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.

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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, i.e. 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

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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, i.e. where you posted
a debit, post a credit and vice versa. After you have done this go to step 8 in this section.
1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
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.

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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.

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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 322.
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.

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Printing your Product reports

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional)
You should print out the following reports:

Product Activity (PRDHIST.SRT) This shows the product's detailed history.

Product Profit (PRDPROF.SRT) This shows if your products have sold at a profit.
(Accounts Plus and Accounts
Professional only)

Product Valuation (PRDVALUE.SRT) This shows how much your stock is worth.
(Accounts Plus and Accounts
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 338.

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 313.
„ 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.

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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, i.e. the same date that
appears on the original purchase invoice.
2. Posting a journal entry to remove the late purchase invoice value from last month’s
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
1. Select Company > New Journal.
The Nominal Ledger Journals window appears.
2. Enter the correct date, i.e. enter the same date you used when you posted the late
purchase invoice.
3. Enter the following details for your journal entry in the boxes provided:

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N/C Name Details T/C Debit Credit

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, i.e. 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
1. Select Company > New Journal.
The Nominal Ledger Journals window appears.
2. Enter the correct date, i.e. enter a date in your current month.
3. Enter the following details for your journal entry in the boxes provided.

N/C Name Details T/C Debit Credit

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.

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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, you can archive your old data so you can make comparisons at a later date. You
can then see how your business is performing year after year.
When you run your Year End, the balances of your income (your Sales accounts) and
expenditure (your Purchases, Direct Expenses and Overheads) accounts are set to zero. For
more information, see Sage 50 Accounts's Default Chart of Accounts on page 163. 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 305.
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 322.

‰ 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 59.

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‰ 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 323.

‰ Take a backup and label it 'After Year End'. For further information about how to do this,
see Backing up your data on page 322.

‰ 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 327.

‰ 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 338.

‰ 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 343.

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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

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 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 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 option
has been run. You should also contact our helpline (on the same number as above) for the
necessary procedural forms.
3. The Previous Paths drop-down list shows the location of your previous backups. If you
want to back up your data to one of the previous locations, select the path you require from
the list.
Alternatively, enter the drive, directory and file name you require in the boxes provided. By
default the backup will be saved onto your C drive in the path of your Sage 50 Accounts
directory. If this is the default directory, the path is c:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts in a file
called SAGEBACK.001.
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. If you want to enter a description of your backup, for example Week 1 dated 24/02/2005,
type the text you require in the Description box.
5. Select the type of data that you want to back up from the File Type check boxes.

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6. To proceed with the backup, click OK. If you do not want to continue with the backup, click
Cancel.
7. 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.
The Backup 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.
When the backup is finished, a message box appears telling you that the backup has been
successful (or not). 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.
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.

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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 the Year End, Sage 50 Accounts automatically resets the balances on all of
your profit and loss nominal accounts to zero for your new financial year.
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 program 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 program to set up budget figures
for the coming year select the Stock Budgets 'Copy Current Year Budgets' option.
Choose the figures you want the program 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 year’s 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.

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A confirmation message appears.

7. To continue with your Year End, click OK.
When your Year End postings have been made, a warning message appears reminding
you to change your Program Date back to the correct date.
After you have entered the correct date, click OK to continue.
Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus users can now clear down their stock
records if required. See Clearing your stock transactions on page 316.

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 system’s 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 168.

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 60.
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.

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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 2005 and you have
installed Sage 50 Accounts in the default directory, the full archive
path will be C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Archives\2005.
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 can’t modify an opened archive. Activities such as the creation of new
customers, suppliers, nominal accounts, products, banks, invoices, etc., 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.

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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 and 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.

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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. But 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 (i.e. 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 333.

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.

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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 30 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 values.

3. In the transaction table, enter the following transaction details, one line per transaction:

N/C Enter the nominal account that you want to be affected by this
transaction. Use the drop-down button to select 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.

Details Enter a description for the transaction of up to 60 characters.

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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'
Parameters 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

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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

1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
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.

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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 322.
When you have completed your backup, the Nominal Reversals window appears.
5. Click OK.
The Transaction Range window appears.
6. Enter the following information:
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.

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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. Click Range to enter the correct details and 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.

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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

1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
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.

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2. Make a note of the totals from your payroll run (i.e. the money that you have paid) for the
period to be posted for PAYE, net wages, total National Insurance/PRSI contributions (i.e.
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

1. Select Company > New Journal.
The Nominal Ledger Journals window appears.
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)

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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. Click Save to save your journal entry details.
Note: You will only be able to save the journal entry when the balance displayed is equal
to zero.
4. Click Close to exit the Nominal Ledger Journals window.
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.

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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 Use the drop-down button to select the required bank account from the
Bank Ledger list.

Date The program date is automatically entered for you to. Change this if
required.

Ref Enter a unique reference, of up to 30 characters. For example, the

cheque number.

N/C Choose the drop-down button to enter the nominal code for net wages
(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 60 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. Click Save to record your bank payments for employee wages.

You have recorded the bank payments for your wages.

To record the bank payment to HM Revenue & Customs

(or the Revenue Commissioners)
1. Select Bank > New Payment.
The Bank Payments window appears.
2. Use the drop-down list to choose the name of the bank you require. Select the bank name
and then click OK.

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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.
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

1. Select Bank > New Payment.
The Bank Payments window appears.
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. Choose the Save button to record your bank payments for your contributions to your
pension company.
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.

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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.

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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.
If special circumstances exist where you need to remove transactions that do not meet all of
the above criteria, you may be able to post a manual adjustment that allows you to clear the
chain of linked items. For more details, and to see an example, refer to the Sage 50
Accounts Help system.

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. Click Next to proceed.
The 'Confirming you have printed reports' screen appears.

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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, click Next to continue. The 'Confirming your
Clear Audit Trail date' screen appears.

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4. Enter the date that you want to remove fully paid and reconciled transactions up to.
Remember that this date is inclusive.
5. 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.
If you have already made your pre-Clear Audit Trail backups, click Next to proceed.
The 'Removing the transactions' confirmation screen 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 screen
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' screen appears.

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The 'Finished' screen 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.

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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 316.

Compressing Your Data

Use the Compress Data facility to return the unused disk space (created when you have deleted
your customer, supplier, nominal, bank and product records) 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.

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Chapter 7
Banking Tasks

This chapter contains information on the In this chapter:

tasks included in Sage 50 Accounts
Recording a Bank Receipt ...............346
'Bank' navigation group. It discusses all
the activities you’ll need to perform when Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card
working with your bank accounts. Payment ..........................................351
In this chapter, we guide you through Recording a Transfer........................363
recording payments and receipts and Reconciling Your Bank Account .......365
show you how to process a transfer of
Creating and Processing Recurring
funds between accounts. We’ll also
Transactions ....................................373
introduce the process of reconciling your
bank accounts in Sage 50 Accounts with Viewing Bank Transaction Activity ....385
your actual bank statements. Managing Your Petty Cash...............387
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 175.
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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.
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2. For each receipt, enter the following details one line at a time.

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 59.

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, i.e. 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.

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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.

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Memorising and recalling bank receipts

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 346).
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.
Alternatively you can use a different method. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select
Edit > Recall.
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.

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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.

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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, i.e. Company Credit Card payments.

To record bank payments

1. Select Bank > New Payment.
The Bank Payments window appears.

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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 59.

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 project’s 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.

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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, i.e. 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.

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.

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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 don't 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

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 351).
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. Click OK to
continue.
Alternatively you can use a different method. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select
Edit > Memorise.
The Memorise window appears.
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.

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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

1. Select Bank > New Payment.
2. From the Bank Payment window, click Recall.
Alternatively you can use a different method. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select
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
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 (i.e. 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

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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 (i.e. make a purchase payment).
When you prepare a cheque in this way, Sage 50 Accounts will automatically update your
Purchase (or supplier) ledger.
1. Select the Bank navigation group 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 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.

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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
360.

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

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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 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 navigation group 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.
.

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3. Enter the following details:

Bank Enter the bank account you want to make the payment from. If the
bank account selected is not a cheque account, i.e. 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 project’s 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.

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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.

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 (i.e. a
print run).
1. Select Bank > 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.

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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.
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 program warns you that
cheques will be printed for all listed transactions. Choose Yes to continue and print
cheques for all of the listed transactions or click No to abandon and select the individual
transactions that you want to print cheques for.

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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.

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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 328), 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 382.

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:

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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.

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 60 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 732.

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Reconciling Your Bank Account

Bank reconciliation is the process of matching your computer 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 654. 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 don’t have to reconcile any of your bank accounts if you don’t 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.

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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. Select Bank > Reconcile Account.
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.

Ending Balance If this is the first time the bank account is to be reconciled the
account’s 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.

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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 (explained later).
„ 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.

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Transactions up to and including the 'Statement (End) Date' are displayed.

An opening balance appears in the 'Matched Against Statement' area of the window. If this
is the first time the bank account is to be reconciled the account’s 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.
Any account charges or interest earned that have been recorded using the Statement
Summary window appear in the '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 119). 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.
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 (left-click mouse button - the line becomes highlighted) then
click Match Transaction.
As you move transactions the 'Matched Balance' and 'Difference' values change
automatically.

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Transactions are positioned in the 'Matched Against Statement' area 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 'Matched Against Statement' to 'Unmatched items', select the
transaction (left-click mouse button) then click Unmatch Transaction.
6. To add a transaction to your bank records (bank charge, interest earned, payment or
receipt) click Add Adjustment.
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.

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.

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Payment Enter a payment value if you are recording withdrawals from your
bank account. 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 'Matched Against Statement' area of the window.
8. To change the position of a transaction in the 'Matched Against Statement' area, select a
transaction (left-click mouse button) 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 reconciliation’s 'Statement (End) Date'. To put the bank reconciliation on hold click
Save and then OK when prompted to do so. 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.
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 navigation group 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.

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„ 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 (chronological, value) 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.

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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. Click OK to accept the settings and print the statement. Click Cancel to exit without
running the bank statement.

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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 378.

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 380.

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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
382.

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.

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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.

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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
change this if required.

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.

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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.

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.

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To enter a customer payment on account recurring entry

1. Select Bank > New Recurring Transaction.
The Add/Edit Recurring Entry window appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transaction details for each 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.

Transaction Ref Enter a reference for the recurring entry transaction here.

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. For example,
you could enter 14 days, 5 weeks or 3 months.

Total Required Postings If you know the number of postings you need to make, for
example if your customer is paying off a debt in 12
repayments, 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.

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 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.
The box is updated to read 'Perpetual'.

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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 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
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
non-vatable tax code set up in your Company Preferences.

If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, the VAT
element of the transaction appears automatically for you.

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 Entries List, then to return to the Bank
Accounts window, click Close.

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To enter a supplier payment on account recurring entry

1. Select Bank > New Recurring Transaction.
The Add/Edit Recurring Entry window appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transaction details for each 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.

Transaction Ref Enter a reference for the recurring entry transaction here.

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. For example,
you could enter 14 days, 5 weeks or 3 months.

Total Required If you know the number of postings you need to make, for
Postings example if you are paying off a loan over 24 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.

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'.

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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 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
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 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.

VAT If you are using the Standard VAT scheme, the 'VAT' box does
not appear as the recurring entry is posted against the
non-vatable tax code set up in your Company Preferences.
If you are using the VAT Cash Accounting scheme, the VAT
element of the transaction appears automatically for you.

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 Transactions List, then to return to
the Bank Accounts window, click Close.

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To enter a journal recurring entry

1. Select Bank > New Recurring Transaction.
The Add/Edit Recurring Entry window appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transaction details for each 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 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. For example,
you could enter 14 days, 5 weeks or 3 months.

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'.

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.

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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 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 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.

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To process your monthly recurring entries

If you have any outstanding recurring entries, 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 your Company Preferences (Company > Settings).
1. Select Bank > New Recurring Transaction.
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

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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 bank’s 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.
3. 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 menu. 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 program 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:' menu settings, although the 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' menu. For
example, if you selected 'Custom Range' and entered the date range 01/07/2006 to 31/
07/2006, these dates appear in this field.

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The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.
Type
If you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show' menu and use the Activity Range window to
choose a specific type of transaction to display, this field 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:' menu and
re-select the transaction type you want to view.
O/S Only
If you selected 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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:' menu and select or clear the 'Outstanding Transactions Only?'
check box in the Activity Range window.
Trans
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and use the Activity
Range window to specify a range of transactions to view, this field shows the transaction
numbers you chose.
If you do not specify a transaction range, this field displays the first and last transaction
numbers from your audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your audit
trail, this field shows '1 to 2169'.
You cannot change the range shown in this field directly. To change the transaction number
range shown here, select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and enter the
transaction number range you want to view.
4. To print the information shown, click Print List.
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 Bank’s Transaction Activity
topic in the main program help file (F1).

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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 363.
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 374.

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 351.

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Chapter 8
Customer Tasks

This chapter contains information on the In this chapter:

tasks included in the 'Customers'
Pricing and Discounts ......................390
navigation group. It discusses all the
activities you’ll need to perform when Customer Pricing .............................391
working with your customer accounts, Proformas (Accounts Plus and Accounts
from creating a quotation through to Professional Only) ............................421
recording your customers’ payments.
Quotations (Accounts Plus and
In this chapter, we look at the sales order Accounts Professional Only).............421
cycle in detail, from the creation of an
Sales Order Processing (Accounts
order, through allocation of stock, to
Professional Only) ............................425
despatch and completion. We also guide
you through invoice production, including Entering an Invoice ..........................458
how to set up recurring transactions, and Posting an Invoice ...........................491
checking the profit you’ll make from an
Dealing with Recurring Transactions.492
invoice as you create it.
Receiving Customer Payments ........498
Later, the chapter shows you how to enter
the payments you receive from your Entering a Credit Note .....................500
customers, dealing with deductions, helps Deductions (Accounts Plus and
you to create a credit note, along with Accounts Professional only) .............501
viewing customer transaction history,
dealing with customer refunds and Deleting Invoices and Credit Notes ..504
payments using the Pay by Card facility. Viewing a Customer’s Transaction
Details on credit control can be found in Activity.............................................506
Chapter 6, Company Tasks. Customer Refunds...........................508
This chapter assumes you have set up Sage Payment Solutions Pay by Card
your customer records. For details on how Facility .............................................509
to do this see Chapter 5, Setting Up
Records.
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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 133.
Note: Discounts and special pricing cannot be used with Transaction e-Mail.
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Customer Pricing
Sage 50 Accounts applies a price to each item during invoice entry or order entry. It does this
by checking an item’s price information held in the product record. An item’s 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?

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Using customer price lists

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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

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'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

1. Select Customers > Price List.
The Price Lists window appears, showing any existing price lists.
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.

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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.
Note: You cannot use this method on foreign currency price
lists or for foreign currency customers.

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:

Value Enter the amount or percentage to be used to update the

selected price list items.

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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.

'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.

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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:

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.

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To add customers to your price list

1. Select Customers > Price List.
The Price Lists window appears, showing any existing price lists.
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.

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

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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

1. Select Customers > Price List.
The Price Lists window appears, showing any existing price lists.
2. Select the price list you want to copy and click Copy.
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 393 to help you.
6. Click Customers and add customers to the price list. Refer to the information on page 397
to help you.
7. Click Save and to return to the Price Lists window, click Close.

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Importing product prices onto a customer price list

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
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

1. Select Customers > Price List.
The Price Lists window appears, showing any existing price lists.
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 392.
3. Click Import.

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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.

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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.

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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.
For example, if you have a price list containing 1000 products, and you import a file
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.

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Setting special customer prices

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 navigation group.

To enter a special customer price

1. Select the Products navigation group 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.

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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.
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.
Note: You cannot use this method on foreign currency price
lists or for foreign currency customers.

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:

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'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.

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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

1. Select Customers > Price List.
The Price Lists window appears, showing any existing price lists.
2. Select the price list that you want to print and click Print.
The Criteria window appears.
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.

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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 computer 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 .SRD.

E-Mail Use this option if you are using Microsoft® Outlook as your
e-mail program and you want to send the Price List report via
e-mail.

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).

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„ In addition to all of these types of discount, you can apply a one-off price reduction (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 133.

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 414) and customer defaults (see page 417) 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 133).
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 customer’s record.

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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:

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„ 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 121.
„ 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 180. For information on setting up a 'good' customer discount, refer to
the following section.

To set up a 'good customer' discount

1. Select the Customers navigation group and 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.

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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 navigation group 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.

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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 computer 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.
Your invoice lists the following values:

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€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

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Discounting by quantity of product sold

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 10 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 navigation group 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.

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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.

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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.
6. To exit the product record and return to the Products window, click Close.
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.

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Discounting by invoice value

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
This discount is set up as part of your Customer Defaults.
You can set up 10 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

1. Select Customers > Customer Defaults.
The Customer Defaults window appears.
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'.

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3. Click OK to add these discount values as defaults. To exit without saving, click Cancel.
4. To set the discount on a customer’s record from the main desktop, select the Customers
navigation group. 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.

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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.

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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.

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Proformas
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 425 and Entering an Invoice on
page 458.
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
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 133 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 460 or To create a sales order on page 427.

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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 423.
„ Changing the status of a quotation. For details see To change the status of a quotation on
page 423.
„ Allocating stock. For details, see To allocate stock to a quotation (Accounts Professional
only) on page 423.
„ Amend stock allocation. For details, see To convert a quotation to an invoice or sales order
on page 423.
„ Converting a quotation to an invoice or sales order. For details, see To convert a quotation
to an invoice or sales order on page 423.
„ Removing a quotation from the list. For details see To remove a quotation from the list on
page 424.

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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 421.
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

(Accounts Professional only)
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 447.
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
Invoice and Order Defaults on page 133.

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.
3. Click Yes or No, as appropriate.

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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.
3. Click Yes or No, as appropriate.

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Sales Order Processing

(Accounts Professional Only)
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 459.
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 423.
2. Creating the order.
For more information, see Creating a sales order on page 426.
3. Saving the order.
For more information, see Saving your sales order on page 445.
4. Printing your sales order.
For more information, see Printing your sales order on page 446.
5. Allocating the stock.
For more information, see Allocating stock to sales orders on page 447.
6. Despatching the stock.
For more information, see Despatching sales orders on page 449.
7. Print the invoice.
For more information, see Completing the sales order cycle on page 457.

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8. Update the ledgers.

For more information, see Posting an Invoice on page 491.

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 133). 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 133. 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 426.
„ 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 435.
„ 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 437.

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„ 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
440.
„ 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 443.
„ 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 446.
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 492.

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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 133).

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.

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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 431.

Quantity Enter the quantity of stock that your customer has ordered.

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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 133.

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 435.

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To enter any carriage or settlement details see To enter your sales order footer details on
page 437.
To enter payment details against the sales order see To enter your sales order payment
details on page 440. 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 442.
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).
The Edit Item Line window appears.
Some of the boxes on the Edit Item Line window are already filled, with information taken
from the product and customer records.

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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 60 characters.

Comment 1 and These two boxes, each of up to 60 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).

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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 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
customer’s record (see To enter your customer and supplier records
on page 180) dictate which nominal code is suggested for use. This is
either the nominal code from the product record or from the
customer’s record.
If you have added a special product code, the nominal code from the
customer’s 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.

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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.

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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
Intrastat defaults on page 144.

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.

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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.

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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.

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's 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.)

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.

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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, i.e. 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'
check box in the Company Preferences (Company > Settings).

Gross This shows the gross amount of carriage to be paid (i.e. the net plus
VAT in total).

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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, i.e. 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.

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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 60 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.

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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, i.e. 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 customer’s 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.

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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 system’s 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 customer’s 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. Or 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 133.
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 492.

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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 138.
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.

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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 134.

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 e-mail 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.

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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

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales order you require and 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 can't 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 447.

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 446.
If you want to allocate your sales orders, see Allocating stock to sales orders on page 447.
If you want to despatch your sales orders, see Despatching sales orders on page 449.
Note: You cannot despatch your sales orders until you have allocated stock to the order.

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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

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales order you require and then click
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

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales order you require and then click
Print.
3. Select the layout and output you require and then click Generate Report.

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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 e-mail. 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', i.e. to print all of the orders in one
go. Or, 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 445.
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 (i.e. the stock has been spoken for). 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 10 stock items left in your stores and you receive two orders for 10
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 448.

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 448.
1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
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.

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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 didn't, 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 449.

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:
„ The 'free stock' level decreases.
„ The 'allocated' stock increases.

To allocate sales orders manually

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales orders you require and then
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:
„ The 'free stock' level decreases.
„ The 'allocated' stock increases.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically makes the following adjustments for each product allocation
that you have decreased:
„ The 'free stock' level increases.

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„ The 'allocated' stock decreases.

To amend stock allocation

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
2. From the Sales Order Processing window, select the sales orders you require and then
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
Professional Only) on page 577.

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 445.
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 456.
„ 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 456.
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.

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„ 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.

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„ 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:

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.
„ 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:

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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.
„ 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:

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.
„ 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'.

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Note: Printing a despatch note in this way does not store goods despatched note
details on the Despatched tab of the order.

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

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
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 message 'There is no stock allocated to order(s)' appears. 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.

3. Enter the date and customer details in the boxes provided:

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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 138.

Date Despatched By default, the program date appears here. You can change
this if you require.

Customer’s 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.

4. 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.

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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
Despatched is, the number of items you are despatching.

5. To save the goods despatched note information, click Save.

6. 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 450.
7. 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.
8. 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 that you have despatched goods to.

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 443.
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 138.

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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

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
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 450.
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

1. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
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
450.
6. To return to the Sales Order Processing window, click Close.

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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 491.

To print your invoice

1. Select Customers > Invoice List.
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 computer when you compress your data.
Before you delete any orders, back up your data. For more information, see Backing up your
data on page 322.

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 322.
Note: Keep this backup until your Year End.
2. Select Customers > Sales Order List.
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.

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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 460.
„ 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 476.
„ 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 478.
„ 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 481.

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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
Invoice and Order Defaults on page 133.
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 484.
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 492.
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 491.

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 186 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.

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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.

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Type 'Proformas' in the Help index to find out more.

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 134.

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 449.

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.

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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 459. 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 465.

Description The item’s 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 465.

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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.

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 are only displayed if

Sage 50 Accounts is set to do this. See Entering Invoice and Order
Defaults on page 133.

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.

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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 476.
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 478.
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 481.
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 489.
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 e-mail. For
information, view the notice on the Revenue website at

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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.
The Edit Item Line window appears.
Note: You cannot edit the item line until some detail has been entered.

2. Enter your item line details.

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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 e-Mail.

Order Line This shows this item's position on the invoice.

Reference This number is only used by Transaction e-Mail.

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.

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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
Parameters tab of Company Preferences, (Company > Settings),
you can edit this value.

Nominal Code The defaults set on the customer’s record (see To enter your
customer and supplier records on page 180) dictate which nominal
code is suggested for use. This is either the nominal code from the
product record or from the customer’s record.
If you are using a special product code, the nominal code from the
customer’s 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.

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.
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.

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If you want to analyse each line of the invoice separately, select the
VAT code you require from the drop-down list.
If you want to analyse the whole invoice or credit note 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 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.

Like the nominal and tax codes described above, department
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.
If you want to analyse the whole invoice or credit note to just 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 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 459.

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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.
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 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.

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Type 'Proformas' in the Help index to find out more.

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 134.

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.

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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 473.

Amount Enter the unit price for the service here.

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
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
Defaults on page 133.

Net Sage 50 Accounts calculates the net value automatically. You cannot
edit this.

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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
Parameters 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.

Carriage These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of any carriage costs
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 476.
If you want to enter any carriage or settlement details, see To enter your invoice or credit
note footer details on page 478.
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 481.
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.
Important Note for Irish Users: Special legislation exists in the Republic of Ireland
regarding VAT requirements when sending and receiving invoices and orders by e-mail. For

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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.
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.
The Edit Item Line window appears.
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 e-Mail.
The 'Order Line Reference' shows this item's position on the
invoice. This number is only used by Transaction e-Mail.

Quantity/Hours Enter a quantity of service items or the number of hours worked

here.

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.

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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
Parameters 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.

If you want to analyse the whole invoice or credit note to just one
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.

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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.
If you want to analyse the whole invoice or credit note to just one
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.

Like the nominal and tax codes described above, department
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.

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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 customer’s 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.

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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 address from
the list of company, customer or supplier delivery 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.

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.

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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 478.
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.

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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 Company Preferences (Company >
Settings).

Gross This shows the gross amount of carriage to be paid (the net plus VAT
amounts).

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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 courier’s 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 (i.e. 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, i.e. 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.
Note: Carriage will always be updated to the Audit Trail on a separate line.

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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 60 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 481.
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.

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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.

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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 (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 customer’s 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 customer’s 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 and 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 customer’s record is
suggested for use but you can select another from the drop-down. 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.

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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

1. Select Customers > Invoice List.
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.
The new invoice or credit note appears in the list on the Invoicing window, ready to be printed
and updated.

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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 system’s Index tab
Help and select 'customer invoices'.

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Invoicing from telephone calls

(Accounts Professional Only)
The Contacts 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

1. Select the Customers navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Customers view.
2. Select the customer you require and click Record.
3. Click the Contacts 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.

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9. Enter the following information:

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.
A confirmation message appears.
11. Click Yes to create the invoice.

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Creating mixed product and service invoices

(Accounts Professional Only)
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 Professional
Only) on page 526.

To create a mixed product and service invoice

1. Select Customers > New Invoice.
The Invoice window appears, showing the Details tab.
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 460.
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.
The Edit Item Line window appears.
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 473.
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 476.
If you want to enter any carriage or settlement details, see To enter your invoice or credit
note footer details on page 478.
You can also enter payment details against the invoice. For further information, see To
enter your invoice payment details on page 481.
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.

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Important Note for Irish Users: Special legislation exists in the Republic of Ireland
regarding VAT requirements when sending and receiving invoices and orders by e-mail. 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.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard.

Invoice profit check

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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.
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.

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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.

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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

1. Select Customers > Invoice List.
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 (.SRD), text file format (.TXT),
HTML (.HTM), Comma Separated Value (.CSV) or PDF file (.PDF).

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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 460 or To create a service invoice or credit note on page 469.
For more information about entering orders, see To create a sales order on page 427 and
To create a purchase order on page 527.
3. Click Memorise.
The Memorise window appears.
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.

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).

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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, and
„ 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:

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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 system’s 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.
1. Make one of the following selections:
„ 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.

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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.

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To view or edit a recurring transaction’s frequency

1. Make one of the following selections:
„ Customers > Sales Order List
„ Customers > Invoice List
„ Suppliers > Purchase Order List
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.

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To delete a recurring transaction

1. Make one of the following selections:
„ Customers > Sales Order List
„ Customers > Invoice List
„ Suppliers > Purchase Order List
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. Click Yes to delete the entry, or click No to cancel.
6. To return to the previous window, click Close.

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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.

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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 program, by running
the Foreign Trader Setup Wizard, this additional field will be displayed.
This field 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 program, but you do not have access rights assigned
for the foreign trading functionality, this field is read-only. box displayed on this window.
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 item’s 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.
Note: 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 field 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 field 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 field 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 30 characters.

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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 460.

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 491.

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 485.
For full details about entering batch customer credits, type 'batched' in the Help system’s 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 558.

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Deductions
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)
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 navigation group 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.

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.

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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 field 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)
Select this option if you wish to post the payment to the customer’s account, and allocate
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:

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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

1. Create your invoice in the normal manner, completing the Details Tab header entries and
the product item lines you are invoicing.
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).

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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.
1. Create your invoice in the normal manner, completing the Details Tab header entries and
the product item lines you are invoicing.
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.

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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
343.

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Viewing a Customer’s 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.
„ 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 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.
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 menu. 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.
Your program 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:' menu settings, although the 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' menu. For
example, if you selected 'Custom Range' and entered the date range 01/07/2006 to
31/07/2006, these dates appear in this field.
The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.

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Type
If you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show' menu and use the Activity Range window to
choose a specific type of transaction to display, this field shows which transaction type you
selected.
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.
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:' menu and
re-select the transaction type you want to view.
O/S Only
If you selected 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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:' menu and select or clear the 'Outstanding Transactions Only?'
check box in the Activity Range window.
Trans
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and use the Activity
Range window to specify a range of transactions to view, this field shows the transaction
numbers you chose.
If you do not specify a transaction range, this field displays the first and last transaction
numbers from your audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your audit
trail, this field shows '1 to 2169'.
You cannot change the range shown in this field directly. To change the transaction number
range shown here, select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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 customer, use the Previous and Next buttons to move
between the selected customer records.
5. To view another customer’s transactions, enter that customer’s 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.
6. To exit the Activity window, click Close.

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For further information, please refer to Customers > Record > To View a Customer’s 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) via Customers > Receive Payment, or in
Bank > Customers.

To Post a Customer Refund

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click Customers > 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, click
Discard to clear the window.
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).

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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.

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2. Click the Sign up now! button and 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.
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. Type 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.
6. 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.
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. From the navigation group, click Bank or Customers; then from the Tasks pane click
Receive Payment. The Customer Receipt window is displayed.
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.

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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 Amount field in the Customer Receipt Window.
6. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

Bank Receipts - Enter Money using Pay by Card

1. From the navigation group, click Bank; then from the Tasks pane click New Receipt.
The Bank Receipts 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 Bank Receipts 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, 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.
6. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

Invoicing - Receive a Pay by Card Deposit Against a Quotation

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional only)

The Pay Deposit by Card payment facility can be used for deposits, paid against a quotation.
1. From the navigation group, click Customers, then from the Links pane, click Quotations
List. Now click New/Edit on the Quotations toolbar. The Product Quote SOP window is
displayed.
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 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.

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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
Information Message will advise you if this is not the case.
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).
Select this option if you wish to post the payment to the customer’s account, and allocate
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.
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.
7. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

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. From the Navigation group, click Customers 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.
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 window.
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.
4. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

To Receive a Pay Deposit by Card Against a Product/Service Invoice

1. From the Navigation group, click Customers 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.
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 window.

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2. Click the Payment Details tab. From the Bank Account drop-down list choose the
appropriate Bank Account Code.
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. Enter the deposit amount to be paid in the Payment Amount entry box.
4. 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).
5. Click the Pay Deposit 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 of the
Product/Service Invoice Window.
6. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

Sales Orders - Receive Pay by Card Payment

(Accounts Professional only)
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. From the navigation group click Customers, then from Links list 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 program
requests that you confirm that you wish to complete the order as a cash sale. Click Yes.
3. The program 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.
4. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

To Receive a Pay by Card Deposit Against a Sales Order

1. From the navigation group click Customers, then from Links list 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.

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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.
3. Enter the deposit amount to be paid in the Payment Amount entry box.
4. 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).
5. Click the Pay Deposit 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 of the
Product Quote SOP Window.
6. Complete the Sage Payment Solutions Wizard.

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, click Next to proceed.
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, click Next to proceed.
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.

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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.
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, click
Next to proceed.
8. The program 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.

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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.

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Chapter 9
Supplier Tasks

This chapter contains information on the In this chapter:

tasks contained within the 'Suppliers'
Supplier Price Lists (Accounts
navigation group. It discusses all the
Professional Only) ............................520
activities you’ll need to perform when
working with your supplier accounts, from Processing Purchase Orders (Accounts
creating a supplier record to making a Professional Only) ............................526
payment to a supplier. Entering an Invoice from a Supplier ..557
In this chapter, we’ll look at the purchase Supplier Payment Control ................560
order cycle in full, from creating a new
Supplier Reports..............................569
order, through placing stock 'on order', to
delivery and completion. Recording a Supplier’s Credit Note ..569
We’ll also show you how to enter the Viewing Supplier Transaction Activity569
invoices and credit notes you receive from Supplier Refunds .............................571
your suppliers, guide you through the
process of recording the payments you
make, view a supplier’s 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 180.
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Supplier Price Lists

(Accounts Professional Only)
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 522.
1. Select Suppliers.
2. Switch to the Suppliers View.
3. Select a supplier from the list and 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. Click OK to add the highlighted products to the price list.
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
product’s purchase price.
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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. Click Close to save the price list details and return to the Supplier window.
Alternatively;
Click Print to print a copy of the supplier price list.
Click Import to import a supplier price list from a file. For more information, see To import
a saved supplier price list on page 522.
Click Send To, to export the price list details into Microsoft® Excel.
Click Delete to remove the selected product from the Supplier Price List window.

To copy a supplier price list

Note: You can only copy a supplier price list from the Products navigation group, not the
Suppliers navigation group.
1. Select Products > Price Lists.
2. Select the supplier price list you want to copy and click Copy.
The Supplier Price List window appears.

3. Select a supplier for the price list using the 'Name' drop-down.

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The name of the supplier is applied to the price list description. It cannot be changed.
4. Click Save.
5. Amend the displayed information, where required. Refer to the information on page 520 to
help you.
6. Click Save, and 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 and 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.

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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.
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. Click Continue to proceed with the import process.
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.

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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.

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.
For example, if you have a price list containing 1000 products, and you import a file
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.

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„ '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.
Click Cancel to return to the Supplier Price List window without importing any supplier
price list details.
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.

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Processing Purchase Orders

(Accounts Professional Only)
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 601.

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 546.
„ Printing your purchase order.
For further information about this, see Printing your purchase order on page 546.
„ Placing the goods 'on order'.
For further information about this, see Putting purchase orders 'on order' on page 547.
„ Recording the delivery of the goods.
For further information about this, see Recording delivery of goods on page 547.
„ Creating an invoice from the order.
For further information about this, see Creating purchase invoices from your purchase
orders (Accounts Professional Only) on page 557.
„ Deleting the order.
For further information about this, see Deleting a purchase order on page 556.

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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 538.
„ 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
540.
„ 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 543.
You can also produce purchase orders from within the Check BOM facility (see step 3 of To
check a component's availability on page 584).
You can also create a new purchase order from within the Products navigation group. 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 545.
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.

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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 134.

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.

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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, 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.

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 533). 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 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 601

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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
533). 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 (Sage 50 Accounts will prompt you) to
apply the change to each order line.

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.

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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 (i.e. the M product code) to add any text into
the main body of the purchase order.

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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 533.

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.

Carriage These two boxes show the Net and VAT totals of any carriage costs
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 538.
If you want to enter any carriage charges or settlement details, see To enter your purchase
order footer details on page 540.
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.

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To print the purchase order straight away, click Print.

If you have already received the products for this purchase order, click Complete.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard.
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 492.
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).
The Edit Item Line window appears.

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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 60 characters, can be used to

Comment 2 add additional text to the description.

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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.
You can change this if required.

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 parameters tab of Company
Preferences (Company > Settings).

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7. In the boxes provided in the 'Posting Details' area, enter the following details:

Nominal Code The defaults set on the supplier’s record (see To enter your
customer and supplier records on page 180) dictate which nominal
code is suggested for use. This is either the nominal code from the
product record or from the supplier’s record.
If you are using a special product code, the nominal code from the
supplier’s 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.

Tax Code This is the default tax code for the product. If you have selected the
'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 order’s 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 601.
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.

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Cost Code If a cost code has been entered on the order’s Details tab then it is
displayed here. If this is a new order it can be changed. You can use
the drop-down 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 144.

11. To save your Purchase Order Item Line entries click OK, or if you want to exit without saving
click Cancel.

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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.

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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 30 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 543.
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

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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.
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 492.
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).

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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'
check box in the Company Preferences (Company > Settings >
Company Preferences > Parameters).

Gross This shows the gross amount of carriage to be paid (i.e. 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).

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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.
If you have already received the products for this purchase order, click Complete.
To clear the entries you have made and start again, click Discard.
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 492.
5. To exit without saving, click Close.

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To view delivery information for a purchase order

Note: The only information that can be entered via this window is the 'Due Date'.
1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
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 138.
The delivery information for the selected order appears.

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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
Intrastat defaults on page 144.

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
e-mail. Click Close to return to the Deliveries tab.
7. To exit and return to the Purchase Order Processing window, click Close.

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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

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
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

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
2. From the Purchase Order Processing window, select the order you want to complete, click
the New/Edit button.
The Purchase Order Window appears.

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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 547.

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
546.
„ If you want to place your goods 'on order', see Putting purchase orders 'on order' on page
547.
„ If you want to record the delivery of the order, see Recording delivery of goods on page
547.

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

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
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 E-mail.
Important Note for Irish Users: Special legislation exists in the Republic of Ireland
regarding VAT requirements when sending and receiving invoices and orders by e-mail. For

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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 order(s), 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 545.
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 order(s) '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 547.

To put purchase orders 'on order'

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
2. Select the purchase order or orders you require from the Purchase Order Processing
window and then click Order.
The Confirm window appears displaying the message, 'Do you want to print the purchase
order for the selected items?'.
3. Click Yes to print the purchase order, or click No to continue without printing.
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.

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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 545.
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 555.
„ 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 555.

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 133 for more
details). The behaviour of the GRN, Deliver and Amend options depends on the settings you
enter for these defaults.

Option 1: 'Generate for all received (Default)'

„ Goods Received Notes window:

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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:

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.
„ If you do not want to produce a goods received note or update your stock levels and
order status, click No.

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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.
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 '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:

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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.
„ 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

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
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.

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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.

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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.

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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 548.
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
543 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 138.

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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

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
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
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 548.
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

1. Select Suppliers > Purchase Order List.
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
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 548.
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.

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Deleting a purchase order

If you want to, you can delete cancelled or completed orders. This will free up disk space on
your computer when you compress your data.
Before you delete any orders, back up your data.
For more information, see Backing up your data on page 61.
For information on how to delete completed or cancelled orders, see To delete completed or
cancelled orders on page 457, substituting 'Sales Order Processing' with 'Purchase Order
Processing', and 'sales orders' with 'purchase orders' throughout.

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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

(Accounts Professional Only)
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,
Help then select 'creating (via 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.

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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 supplier’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 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

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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.

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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.

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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.

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2. Enter the following details:

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.

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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 (i.e. cheque) you are sending.
1. Select the Bank navigation group and 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.

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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.

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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.

To view a list of suggested supplier payments

1. Select Suppliers > Manage Credit Control.
The Credit Control window appears, showing the Suppliers tab.
2. From the Suppliers tab of the Credit Control window, click Payments.
The Suggested Payments window appears.

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The Suggested Payments window displays a prioritised list of all the suppliers with overdue
or outstanding balances.
3. Type the value of the bank funds that are available for payment in the 'Funds for payment'
box.
Alternatively, you can leave the 'Funds for payment' box blank, and allow Sage 50
Accounts to enter the balance available in the bank account when you click Suggest. For
more details, refer to step 5.
4. In the 'Bank Account' area of the window, select the bank account you want to use for the
payments from the 'Bank A/C' drop-down list.
The bank account's name, current balance and minimum limit appear in the remaining
boxes in the 'Bank Account' section of the window.
5. Click Suggest.
Note: If the 'Funds for payment' box is blank, Sage 50 Accounts checks the balance and
minimum limit of the bank account you are using to see whether funds are available in the
account.
If funds are available in the account, Sage 50 Accounts displays the message "You have
not entered a value for the funds available for payments. £xxxxx is available in the selected
bank account. Do you wish to use this value so the system can suggest which payments
to make?" Click Yes to use the suggested amount, or click No to cancel and enter your
own value.

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If there are no funds available in the account, Sage 50 Accounts displays the message "You
have not entered a value for the funds available for payments. Please enter a value for the
funds for payment before continuing." Click OK and enter a value in the 'Funds for
payment' box, or select a bank account with sufficient funds to make payments and repeat
steps 3 and 4.
Sage 50 Accounts suggests a payment amount for each outstanding balance in the
'Payment Amount' column, using the funds available for payment, and indicates the
reason for suggesting the payment in the 'Reason' column.
To amend the amount Sage 50 Accounts suggests for a payment, click into the 'Payment
Amount' column on the line you want to change and type in the amount you want to pay
to that supplier. Alternatively, you can enter the amount using the Calculator button.
6. To discard the suggested amounts, for example if you want to re-enter your available funds
value or select a different bank account, click Clear.
The 'Payment Amount' column clears, ready for you to make the changes you require and
request the suggested values again.
7. To print the list of suggested payments, click Print List.
8. To continue by making a payment to a supplier, refer to the following section.
Alternatively, to return to the Credit Control window without making any payments, click
Close.
The Credit Control window appears.

To make a supplier payment

Note: These instructions assume that you have already followed the steps in the previous
section and clicked Suggest to display the suggested payment in the 'Payment Amount'
column, or entered your own payment amounts.
1. From the Suggested Payments window, select the account you want to make a payment
to.
2. Click Make Payment.
The Supplier Payment window appears, automatically displaying the supplier details and
payment amount.
3. Allocate the payment amount to the invoices you want to pay by entering the value you
want to pay in the 'Payment £' column.
4. Continue allocating payments until the value in the 'Analysis Total' box is equal to the
amount of the suggested payment.
5. To save the payment details, click Save. Alternatively, to clear the data without saving, click
Discard.

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6. To return to the Suggested Payments window and select another supplier to pay, click
Close.
The Suggested Payments window appears, displaying the value of any saved payments in
the 'Payment Made' column. Sage 50 Accounts:
„ Reduces the value of any promised payment for the selected supplier by the amount
of the payment.
„ Increases the value in the 'Paid' box by the amount of the payment, showing the
amount that you have paid so far.
„ Decreases the value in the 'Remaining' box by the amount of the payment. This
shows the value of your 'Funds for payment' remaining after making the payment.
„ Reduces the value in the 'Still to Pay' box by the amount of the payment, showing the
total remaining outstanding and overdue balance on your supplier accounts.
In addition, a message appears at the top of the list to inform you whether there are
sufficient funds remaining to make the rest of the suggested payments.
7. Continue in the same way to pay the suppliers you require.
8. To print the list of suggested payments and the payments made, click Print List.
9. To exit the Suggested Payments window, click Close.
The Credit Control window appears.
You have successfully viewed your suggested payments and paid your suppliers.

Batch supplier payments

(Accounts Professional Only)
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

1. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the 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.
Foreign Trader users: Only those supplier accounts using the same base currency as the
selected bank account are listed.

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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. Enter the
department number you want to use, or select a department from the drop-down list.
7. If you want to save your batch purchase payments click Save, otherwise you can clear the
payments and start again by clicking Discard.
8. To return to the Bank Accounts window, click Close.

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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 Supplier’s 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.
„ 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 an invoice that has been paid, the pane shows

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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.
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 menu.
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.
Your program 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:' menu settings, although the 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' menu. For
example, if you selected 'Custom Range' and entered the date range 01/07/2006 to 31/
07/2006, these dates appear in this field.
The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.
Type
If you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show' menu and use the Activity Range window to
choose a specific type of transaction to display, this field shows which transaction type you
selected.
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.
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:' menu and
re-select the transaction type you want to view.
O/S Only
If you selected 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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.

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You cannot change this setting directly here - to select or clear this box, select 'Custom
Range' from the 'Show:' menu and select or clear the 'Outstanding Transactions Only?'
check box in the Activity Range window.
Trans
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and use the Activity
Range window to specify a range of transactions to view, this field shows the transaction
numbers you chose.
If you do not specify a transaction range, this field displays the first and last transaction
numbers from your audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your audit
trail, this field shows '1 to 2169'.
You cannot change the range shown in this field directly. To change the transaction number
range shown here, select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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 supplier, use the Previous and Next buttons to move
between the selected supplier records.
5. To view another supplier’s transactions, enter that supplier’s 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.
6. To exit the Activity window, click Close.
For further information, please refer to the Suppliers > Record> To View a Supplier’s 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) via Suppliers > Make Payment, or in Bank
> Suppliers.

To Post a Supplier Refund

1. From the navigation group, click Suppliers; then from the Tasks pane, click Supplier
Refund.
The Supplier Refund window appears.

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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 the Dept. button 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, click
Discard to clear the window.
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 program help file (F1).

Receive a Supplier Refund using Pay by Card

1. From the navigation group, click Suppliers; 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.
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. To receive the Supplier Refund via card payment over the telephone, click the Pay by Card
button. 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.

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Chapter 10
Product Tasks (Stock)

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 .........................................574
running a stock take, how to carry out
Recording a Stock Take ...................575
stock transfers, how to adjust your stock
also view the product activity. Adjusting Stock Levels by Recording an
Adjustment In or Out........................577
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).............577
all the products and/or services you sell, Viewing Product Activity...................580
see Creating a Product Record on page
Bill of Materials (Accounts Plus and
186.
Accounts Professional Only).............582
Recording Stock Returns (Accounts Plus
and Accounts Professional Only)......588
Allocating Stock (Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional Only).............591
Issuing Allocated Stock (Accounts Plus
and Accounts Professional Only)......595
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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.
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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. Select Products.
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. Select Record Stock Take.
Alternatively, click Stk Take from the Products toolbar.
The Stock Take window appears.

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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, i.e. the difference between the 'In stock' and
the 'Actual' figure appears here. 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.

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Adjusting Stock Levels by Recording an Adjustment In or

Out
From the Products navigation group, 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
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 (i.e.
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.

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To use the stock shortfall facility

1. Select Products.
2. Select the products that you want to check on.
3. Select 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.

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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 50 bottles of lemonade, but
you have a re-order quantity of 100, the re-order quantity
appears in the 'Qty to Order' column. If you have a shortfall of 50
bottles of lemonade, but you have a re-order quantity of 25, 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.
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.

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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 program. 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 fields
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 program 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.
The Product Activity window appears, showing the activity of the first product you
selected.

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2. To filter the transactions displayed, choose the criteria you require from the following
selection fields:
Show
To filter the transactions by a specific calendar month, select the month you want to display
from the 'Show:' drop-down menu.
Alternatively, you can set a date 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 program 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:' menu settings, although the values you
enter on the Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
This read-only field displays the date range you selected using the 'Show' menu.
For example, if you selected 'Custom Range' and entered the date range 01/07/2006 to
31/07/2006, these dates appear in this field.
The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.
Type
If you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show' menu and use the Activity Range window to
choose a specific type of transaction to display, this field shows which transaction type you
selected.
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 field directly - to change the type of
transaction displayed here, you must select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and
re-select the transaction type you want to view.
3. To print the information shown, click Print List.
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.
6. To exit the Activity window, click Close.
For more information, please refer to the Products > Activity > To View a Product’s Activity topic
in the main program help file (F1).

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Bill of Materials
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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

1. Select Products.
2. From the Products window, select the product you want to set up a bill of materials for (i.e.
for the product assembly), then click Record.
3. From the Product Record window, click the BOM tab.
The bill of materials information appears.

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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.
Note: You cannot edit the displayed information.

Description This shows the description of the product component as set up

on its product record.
Note: You cannot edit the displayed information.

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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.
6. To exit the product record and return to the Products window, click Close.

Checking a Bill of Materials

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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.

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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 527.
If you have enough to make up the required quantity, a message box appears to tell you
that you have enough components in stock. Click OK to return to the Check Stock Makeup
window.
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.

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Recording a stock transfer

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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

1. Select Products.
2. From the Products window, select the products that you are entering transfers for.
3. Click Transfer.
The Stock Transfers window appears.

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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 (i.e. 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
(Accounts product, 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. Click OK to clear the message.
6. To exit and return to the Products window, click Close.

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Recording Stock Returns

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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.

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4. Enter the following details:

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
change this if required.

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.

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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.

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Allocating Stock
(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 619.
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 595.

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To allocate stock
1. Select Products > Make Allocations.
The Allocations window appears.

2. Select 'Allocate stock' and click OK.

3. The Stock Allocation window appears.

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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 product’s 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.

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To view, amend or remove a stock allocation

1. Select Products > Make Allocations.
The Allocations window appears.
2. Select 'View/Amend Allocations', and 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.

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Issuing Allocated Stock

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 601.
„ 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.
The Allocations window appears.
2. Select 'Issue Allocations', and click OK.
The Issue Allocation window appears showing all stock allocations.

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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.

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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 ...598
accurate details about projects and helps
you to track and evaluate costs. Who Can Use Project Costing? .......598
Understanding the costs and their The Life Cycle of a Project ...............599
breakdown helps you to manage projects
The Project Life Cycle in Sage 50
more efficiently and make them more
Accounts .........................................599
cost-effective.
Setting Up Project Costing...............601
In this chapter you will learn how to use
Project Costing to create and manage Starting Up a Project........................605
projects and their associated costs, and Applying Project Costs.....................612
how to bill customers for work carried out.
Viewing Project Activity ....................616
You can also find out how to view project
activity and analyse your cost information. Working with Purchase Orders
(Accounts Professional only) ............619
Project Enquiries, Analysis and
Reporting.........................................621
Billing Your Customer for a Project...625
Completing Your Project ..................630
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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.
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The Life Cycle of a Project

In 'real life', 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.

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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
193.

„ 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 612.
„ To record stock usage, post a Stock Issue or Stock
Return. See To record a stock issue or return to a
project on page 614.
„ 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 615.
„ To record goods/services ordered for the project,
create a Purchase Order. See Processing Purchase
Orders (Accounts Professional Only) on page 526.

„ 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
621.

„ 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 625.

„ 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 630.

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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 fields and icons
specifically for project costing.
If you cannot see the icons and fields in the screens displayed, 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 97.
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 and 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 94.
„ 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.

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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 94.
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 611.

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 605.
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 621.
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 94.

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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 612) 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. Select Projects > 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 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.
The Projects window appears.
You have successfully created or amended a resource.

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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.
A confirmation message appears.
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.
The Projects window appears.
You have successfully deleted a resource.

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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 192). 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 customer’s
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 608.
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 10 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.

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To view a project's activity

1. Select the Projects navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the 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(s) 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.

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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.
The Projects window appears.
You have now viewed your project's Activity details.

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To assign a project budget

1. Select the Projects navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Projects view.
2. Select the project(s) you require and click Record.
The Project Record window appears, showing the Details information.
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.
5. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data and start again click Discard.
6. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.
The Projects window appears.
You have successfully applied budgets to your project record.

To build and maintain a multi-level project

1. Select the Projects navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Projects view.
2. Select the project record you require and click Record.
The Project Record window appears, showing the Details information.

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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 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.

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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 10 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 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.
6. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.
The Projects window appears.
You have successfully established a multi-level project structure.

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To add memo information to a project record

1. Select the Projects navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Projects view.
2. Select the project(s) you require and click Record.
The Project Record window appears, showing the Details information.
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 675.
5. Enter or edit text in the memo pad as you require. The text automatically wraps around
onto the next line as you type.
6. To save your entries click Save, or to clear any data and start again click Discard.
7. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.
The Projects window appears.
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 (Sage 50 Accounts prompts you) to apply the same status to any sub-projects
linked to the project record.
1. Select the Projects navigation group and 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.
The Project Record window appears, showing the Details information.
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.
5. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.
The Projects window appears.
You have successfully changed the project's status.

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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 612.
„ 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 614.
You can also set aside stock for a project. See Allocating Stock (Accounts Plus and
Accounts Professional Only) on page 591.
„ 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 615.
„ 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 619.
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 94.

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'.

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1. Select the Projects navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the 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.

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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 product(s) 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 612.
3. Click Record Adjustment Out if you want to post a stock issue, or click Record Adjustment
In if you want to post a stock return.
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, or to clear any data you entered and start again, click
Discard.
7. To exit and return to the Products window, click Close.

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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 557 or Recording a Supplier’s
Credit Note on page 569.

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To apply a bank payment to a project

1. Select Bank > New Payment.
The Bank Payments window appears.
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 351.

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 project(s) whose activity you want to
view and 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 select 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.
3. To filter the transactions displayed, choose the criteria you require from the following
selection fields:
Show
To filter the transactions by a specific calendar month, select the month you want to display
from the 'Show:' drop-down menu.
Alternatively, you can specify a date range, transaction number range or transaction type
to display by selecting 'Custom Range' from this menu and completing the relevant fields
on the Activity Range window that appears.

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Your program 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:' menu settings, although any values you enter on the
Activity Range window will not be retained.
Date
This read-only field displays the date range you selected using the 'Show' menu.
For example, if you selected 'Custom Range' and entered the date range 01/07/2006 to
31/07/2006, these dates appear in this field.
The Activity window only displays those transactions that fall within the specified date
range.
Type
If you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show' menu and use the Activity Range window to
choose a specific type of transaction to display, this field shows which transaction type you
selected.
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 field directly - to change the type of
transaction displayed here, you must select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and
re-select the transaction type you want to view.
O/S Only
If you selected 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu 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:' menu and select or clear the 'Outstanding Transactions Only?'
check box in the Activity Range window.
Trans.
This field shows the transaction number range currently displayed on the Activity window.
For example, if you select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and use the Activity
Range window to specify a range of transactions to view, this field shows the transaction
numbers you chose.
If you do not specify a transaction range, this field displays the first and last transaction
numbers from your project audit trail. For example, if you have 2169 transactions on your
project audit trail, this field shows '1 to 2169'.

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You cannot change the range shown in this field directly. To change the transaction number
range shown here, select 'Custom Range' from the 'Show:' menu and enter the
transaction number range you want to view.
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 Project’s Activity topic
in the main program help file (F1).

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Working with Purchase Orders

(Accounts Professional only)
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 591. 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.

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„ 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 (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 622.

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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 606. 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 621.
„ 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.

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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.
The project’s 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'.

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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 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 project’s 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.

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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 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 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 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.

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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.

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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

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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
473.

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.
1. Select Customers > New Invoice.
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
message "The status of this project does not allow postings" appears. 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 611.

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6. Click OK to accept the item line details.

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 458
and Entering a Credit Note on page 500.
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

1. Select Customers > Invoice List.
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 491.

To enter batch customer invoices or credit notes

1. Select Customers > Batch Invoice.
The Batch Customer Invoices window appears.
2. Enter the item line details such as the customer’s account reference, the invoice date and
the project you want to update.

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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 611.
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 500.

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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

1. Select the Projects navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the 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.
6. To exit the Project Record window, click Close.
The Projects window appears.
You have now completed your project.

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Chapter 12
Support Tools

The tasks and tools explained in this In this chapter:

chapter are designed to save time, so you
Accountant Link...............................632
spend less time entering data and more
time running your business. e-Banking ........................................654
The chapter explains how to use Audit Assistant.................................663
Accountant Link, a powerful feature that Working with Attachments using
allows you to send your data to your Document Manager .........................675
accountant and continue working on it
Exporting to Microsoft® Word, Excel and
while your accountant reviews it and
Outlook............................................681
makes adjustments. The chapter also
introduces e-Banking, a tool that enables Importing into Sage 50 Accounts.....683
you to pay suppliers online and reconcile Event Logging..................................691
your bank statements electronically.
Using The Task Manager .................695
We’ll also show you how to prepare your
Working With Internet Resources.....696
accounts for audit using the Audit
Assistant. News Feeds ....................................696
Later, you’ll 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 the Task Manager,
Internet resources and News Feeds.
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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 version 10 (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 facing 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:
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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.
If you are using Sage 50 Accounts, Accounts Plus or Accounts Professional, 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
634 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 646.

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Using Accountant Link with Sage 50 Accounts, Accounts Plus or

Accounts Professional
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 via
e-mail 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 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 Accountant
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
screen allows you to choose whether you want to export your data to a file to send to your
accountant, or import your accountant's adjustments and comments.
„ 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' screen. 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 e-mail 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 635. For more
information about material changes, see Recording material changes to your data on page
638.

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„ Import Adjustments and Narratives From A File

The third and final 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 640.
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
107.

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 e-mail. 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 638.

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?' screen.

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3. Select the 'Export accounts data to a file for my accountant' option and click Next to
continue.
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' screen:

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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' screen:

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' screen
appears.
From this screen 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 e-mail.
5. To e-mail 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 e-mail 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".

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6. Enter the e-mail address you want to send the file to, make any amendments you require
to the e-mail message and 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 e-mail 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 639.

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

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click Yes to save the material change. 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.

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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.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.

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

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sufficient time to complete the entire import process in one single uninterrupted session, rather
than staging the process over several sessions.

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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.

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To import the adjustments and narratives file from your accountant

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards.
2. From the Wizards menu, choose Accountant Link.
The 'Exchange Data With Your Accountant' section of the Accountant Link Wizard
appears, displaying the 'What Would You Like To Do?' screen.
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' screen.

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 and 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".
Click OK to return to the wizard, and ensure that you are importing the correct file. If the
file is the one you require, click Cancel to exit the wizard, open the correct Sage 50
Accounts company data, and restart the import procedure from step 1.

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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 643, 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.

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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.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.
You have successfully applied your accountant's adjustments and narratives to your data.

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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 e-mail 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
screen 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' screen. 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.

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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 651. For more
information about adjustments, see Recording adjustments on page 649.
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 108.

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 649.

To import your client's accounts data

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards.
2. From the Wizards menu, select Accountant Link.
The 'Exchange Data With Your Clients' section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears,
displaying the 'What Would You Like To Do?' screen.

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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' screen.

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, and click Cancel
on the wizard to exit to the desktop.
„ 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, click Yes to proceed. Sage 50
Client Manager clears the adjustments record and continues with the import.
Alternatively, click No to cancel. Sage 50 Client Manager cancels the import process
and returns you to the wizard. Click Cancel to exit the wizard and return to the
desktop.

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When the import is complete, the Accountant Link Wizard closes and the Sage 50 Client
Manager desktop appears.
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 many 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 651.

Posting an adjustment
When you try to save an adjustment, Sage 50 Client Manager displays a confirmation message:

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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.

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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.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.

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 e-mail. 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
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Modules > Wizards.
2. From the Wizards menu, select Accountant Link.
The 'Exchange Data With Your Clients' section of the Accountant Link Wizard appears,
displaying the 'What Would You Like To Do?' screen.
3. Select the 'Export adjustments and narratives to a file for my client' option and click Next
to continue.
The 'Export Adjustments and Narratives To A File' section of the wizard appears, displaying
the 'Create Export File' screen.

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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'
screen appears.

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From this screen of the wizard, you can continue to the next stage of the Accountant Link
process and send your exported adjustments file to your client by e-mail.
6. To e-mail 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 e-mail message appears, automatically displaying the company's
e-mail 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 e-mail 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 e-mail 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 program.
If an accountant is using the program 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.

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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/productsandservices and select 'e-Business Solutions' from the menu
on the left-hand side of the screen.

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 e-Mail 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 program box.
If you want to continue using Transaction e-Mail after your 30 day trial period expires, contact
Customer Care to register free of charge and receive a full activation key. You can then continue
to use the Transaction e-Mail 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 a charge of £99 + VAT per annum.
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 program.
„ 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.

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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 navigation group.
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
program box.
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 program.

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

1. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the Bank Accounts view.
2. Select the bank account that you want to make e-payments from and/or reconcile using
the e-Reconcile facility, and 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 '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.
7. Enter the following information:
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.

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Common Directory This is the directory where the electronic payment and statement
data is stored. The default directory (C:\) appears automatically.
You can change this if required.
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 program. 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
658.

Using the e-Payments facility

The e-Payments facility works by creating a file that your bank's online banking program 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 654.
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 655.
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 657.

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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. Select Suppliers.
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. Click Save to save your changes and clear the supplier record information.
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 Bank’s Supplier Payments option. If the 'Online
Payments' check box is selected in the supplier’s 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 657.
For details about how to post a purchase payment in Sage 50 Accounts, see To record a
supplier payment on page 560.

To transfer payments using the e-Payments option

1. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the 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.

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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 654.
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 655.
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 computer. You must import this file so that you can
compare the transactions from your banking software with those on Sage 50 Accounts.

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To import e-Banking transactions

1. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the 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 computer 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.

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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.
2. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the 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
To /Sage Transactions 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.

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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 program.

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 program, for example, bank charges.

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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.
A confirmation message appears.
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.
A confirmation message appears.
6. To confirm that you want to reconcile the transactions, click Yes.
You have now completed your reconciliation.

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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 (e.g. 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 664.
For more information about the Accounts System Check window that appears after
running this option, see The Accounts System Check Window on page 667.
„ 'Run VAT Audit Check on Accounts System for possible tax queries (e.g. 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 668.
„ '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.

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For more information about running this feature, see the topic To view the Account
Verification and VAT Audit reports on page 672.
„ '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 673.

To check your accounts system for potential audit queries

1. Select Company > Prepare for Audit.
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 are displayed on-screen 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, 14 days after the date that appears
within 14 days‘ on the invoice in Sage 50 Accounts.

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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 (tax code T1 if you are using the default
not using Standard tax codes). Select the check box to identify any sales or
Rated Tax Code purchase 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 program, by opening the
WebLinks menu and selecting HM Revenue and Customs.

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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.
6. To continue, click OK.
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 667.
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.

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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
can change this here if you require.

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.

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To run the VAT audit check

1. Select Company > Prepare for Audit.
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.'

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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.

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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.
4. To continue, click OK.
The Date Range window appears.
5. Enter the date range you want to run the check for.
6. To continue, click OK.
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 671.

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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 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 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 program.

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.

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To view the Account Verification and VAT Audit reports

1. Select Company > Prepare for Audit.
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.

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To check your VAT values

1. Select Company > Prepare for Audit.
2. Select the 'Check VAT Values on Transactions for Possible Errors' option, and click OK.
The Date Range window appears.
3. Enter the date range you want to run the check for.
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.

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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 transaction’s 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.
Click Send To… to export the information from the Check VAT Value window into
Microsoft® Excel.
Click Print to print a list of the transactions that are displayed on the Check VAT Values
window.
6. Click Close to return to the main Financials window.

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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, e-mails 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.

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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(s), 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

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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:

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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
computer.

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.

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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 computer.

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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.

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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 Help’s index.

Sending your customer and supplier contacts to Microsoft® Outlook

You can send your customer and supplier contact information stored in your Sage 50 Accounts
program to Microsoft® Outlook. This saves you time, as you do not have to enter your contacts
in two places.
The Send Contacts to Microsoft® Outlook option will create a contact record for customers and
suppliers that have a contact name entered on their customer or supplier record. If there are
two accounts with the same contact name, two contact records will be created as the contacts
could be two different people. If a customer is also a supplier and they have been given the
same account number and contact name, only one contact record will be created.
You can also make changes in Sage 50 Accounts and use the Send option to update
Microsoft® Outlook with your amended contact details. If you do this, the original contact entry
will be amended unless the contact name has been changed. If the contact name has changed,
a new contact will be created. If you do not want to keep the original contact entry, you must
delete it from within Microsoft® Outlook.

Sending an e-Mail message using Microsoft® Outlook

You can send an e-mail message to a recipient directly from the Sage 50 Accounts desktop
without having to minimise or close your program to access Microsoft® Outlook.
To send a message to an e-mail 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 e-mail 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.

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.

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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 'what if?' situations. To do this, from
within the window you want to send to Excel, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar select File
> Send > 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 675.

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.

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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 account records
„ Stock records
„ 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 program 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 same
as putting your left glove on your right hand. It may be close but it will not be right.
.

Type 'Import' into the Help system’s Search tab to find the correct layout for the CSV file structure.
Help

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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 don't need to use all of the fields Sage 50 Accounts is expecting. You can
leave these fields blank if you do not need them, as long as they are not compulsory fields. For
example, the 'A/C Ref' field 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.

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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 (computer) 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.

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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.

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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 684.
„ 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.

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Microsoft® Excel

„ Take a copy of the file containing the information you want to transfer.
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.
„ 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 684.
„ Save the file as a CSV file. To do this:
„ 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.

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Microsoft® Word

„ Take a copy of the file containing the information you want to transfer.
„ 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.
„ 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 684.
„ Save the file as a CSV file. To do this:
„ 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.

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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 60.

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 computer.

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.

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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 computer. 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.
4. To save your changes, click OK.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.

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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 File > Maintenance.
2. From the 'Event Logging' section of the File Maintenance window, click Logging.
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.
3. To print the list of events, click Print List.
4. 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.
5. To change the configuration of your Event Log file, click Settings.
The Settings window appears.

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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 computer, 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. Click Yes to continue, or click No
to cancel 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.

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6. To save your changes to the Settings window, click OK. Alternatively, to exit without saving,
click Cancel.
7. To exit from the Events Log window, click Close.
The File Maintenance window appears.
8. To return to the Sage 50 Accounts desktop, click Close.
9. You have now viewed your Events Log.

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Using The Task Manager

The Task Manager helps you to run your business by reminding you of the actions you have to
take, people you have to contact and bills you have to pay. You can also view how much you
owe, how much you are owed and the status of your accounts, invoices, sales orders and
purchase orders.

Use the Task Manager to:

„ Set up a list of tasks that you need to do and view any tasks that are due, overdue or
completed.

„ List the people you need to contact today and in the future and view any contacts that
are overdue or have been completed.

„ Record any bills you receive and view bills that are due for payment, overdue or paid.

„ Find out how much money your customers owe you, and how much you owe your
suppliers.

„ Find out the account status of your customers and suppliers. For example, you can see
at a glance which accounts are 'on-hold', over their credit limit, etc.

„ View the recurring entries you have set up in Sage 50 Accounts.

„ View the status of your invoices. For example, you can see which invoices are due for
printing.

„ (Accounts Professional) View the status of your sales orders and purchase orders.

„ (Accounts Professional and Accounts Plus) View your stock to see the items that are
out of stock, below re-order level, on order or allocated.

There are full instructions on how to use the Task Manager in the Sage 50 Accounts Help
system. To open the Task Manager, from the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar select Modules >
Task Manager. To access the help information for the Task Manager, press F1 on your keyboard.
Type 'Task Manager' in the Help index to find out more about this feature.
Help

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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 websites 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
websites.
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.

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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.

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. Select the feed source you want to look at, using the Select a news feed to display
messages from drop-down. 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.

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To configure your news feeds:

1. From the News Feeds menu click View Feeds.
The News Feeds window appears.
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.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

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.
„ What proxy settings should be used to obtain updates.

To define your news feeds settings:

1. Click News Feeds.
The News Feeds window appears.
2. Click Settings.
The News Feeds Settings window is displayed.

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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 box.
„ 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.
4. Specify your required proxy settings.
„ Use your standard proxy settings
Select this option to have the RSS feeds use the same proxy server settings as your
web browser.
Note: This is the default setting and it is unlikely that you will need to change it.
„ Use these proxy settings
If you choose not to have RSS feeds use your standard proxy settings, you should
enter the Address, Username and Password that want the program to use. This
information will be provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
5. Click OK to save your changes.

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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...............702
time. You can select specific ranges of
transactions to be included on each report Running the Audit Trail Report..........703
and you can see the report on-screen, Running the Trial Balance Report .....704
print it out, save it to a file or e-mail it to
Running the Profit and Loss Report .705
someone.
Running the Balance Sheet Report ..706
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
Professional Only) ............................707
Running the Budget Report .............708
Running the Prior Year Report..........709
Running the Transactional-Based
Management Reports (Accounts Plus
and Accounts Professional Only)......710
Column-Based Financial Reports.....712
Line50.book Page 702 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

An Introduction to Reports
Reports are a very important area of the Sage 50 Accounts program. There are a number
of places where you can access the reports. Each navigation group (Customers,
Suppliers, Bank, etc.) 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 navigation group has your Balance Sheet Report, Profit and
Loss, etc. There are numerous reports available. For a full list of reports go to the Contents
tab of the Sage 50 Accounts Help system, double-click Reports, then open 'Report List'.
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. This has its own User
Guide (Report Designer) which is found in the box which came with the product.
Alternatively, refer to the Reports > Introduction > The Report Designer topic in the main
Sage 50 Accounts help file (F1), which will open the specific Report Designer help file
automatically. This help file is also available on your program disk as:

Note: If you change the reports, you must save them under a different filename. For
example, Customer Activity (Detailed) is called CSTACTD.SRT, so if you want to change
the layout or personalise the report (in Report Designer) you must call it something else,
for example, CUSACDET.SRT.
When you click Reports within a navigation group (for example, Customers, Suppliers,
etc.) you will see all the reports available in that navigation group in a tree view.
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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 e-mail. 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.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Enter the criteria you want to use for the report, and click OK.

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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.

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 Trial Balance report

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click the Trial button.
The Print Output window appears.
3. Select the output you require and click Run.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.

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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.

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 Profit and Loss report

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click the P and L button.
The Print Output window appears.
3. Select the output you require and click Run.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.

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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 (or 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.

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 Balance Sheet report

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click Balance.
The Print Output window appears.
3. Select the output you require and click OK.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.

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Reporting

Running the Quick Ratio Report

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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 program 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

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click the Ratio button.
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.
The Print Output window appears.
4. Select the output you want to use and click Run.
The Criteria window appears.
5. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

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.
.

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 Budget report

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click the Budgets button.
The Print Output window appears.
3. Select the output you require and click Run.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.

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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
(variance) between the two. In addition, each group total is calculated as a percentage of the
total sales figure, as a ratio.

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 Prior Year report

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click the Prior Yr button.
The Print Output window appears.
3. Select the output you require and click Run.
The Criteria window appears.
4. Choose the period that you want to run the report for, and click OK.

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Running the Transactional-Based Management Reports

(Accounts Plus and Accounts Professional Only)
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.

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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

1. Select Company > Financials.
2. Click the Reports button.
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.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

The Criteria window appears.

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, click OK to run the report.
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, new 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.

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Reporting

Several new 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 > Management Analysis
Reports navigation route.
1. When you preview (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.

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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........716
transactions in Sage 50 Accounts.
The Countries Table .........................719
In this chapter, we show you how to set up
currencies and exchange rates. We’ll The Foreign Trader (Accounts
introduce the Foreign Trader feature, and Professional Only) ............................720
guide you through setting it up for the first Processing in Sage 50 Accounts Using
time. We’ll then explain how to process the Foreign Trader (Accounts
foreign currency transactions in Sage 50 Professional Only) ............................725
Accounts, including producing invoices
The Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard
and orders, recording payments and
(Accounts Professional Only)............729
receipts and setting up foreign currency
price lists. Viewing and Changing Revaluations
(Accounts Professional Only)............730
Later, the chapter discusses how to use
foreign bank accounts and explores the Bank Transfers Involving Foreign
implications of multiple currencies on bank Currency Accounts (Accounts
transfers. We’ll also help you to use the Professional Only) ............................732
Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard. How Foreign Trader Affects Sage 50
Accounts .........................................740
Line50.book Page 716 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

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 or set a time
(e.g. 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.
Line50.book Page 717 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts

A UK business accepting payments in Pound Sterling and in euro

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Currencies.
The Currencies window appears.

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.

An Irish business accepting payment in euro and Pound Sterling

If you are an Irish business, 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.
1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Currencies.
The Currencies window appears.
2. Select Pound Sterling (number 1 on the list) and enter the exchange rate for Pound Sterling
into euro.
You have now fixed the exchange rate between euro and Pound Sterling.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

A UK business accepting payment in South African Rand and US Dollars

1. From the Sage 50 Accounts menu bar, select Settings > Currencies.
The Currencies window appears.
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 (e.g. 'net' or 'price' boxes).

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Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts

The Countries Table

The Countries table lists all countries, together with country codes, that are currently members
of the European Union (EU). 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
deleted.
Note for users upgrading from Sage 50 Accounts version 9 or version 10: 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.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

The Foreign Trader

(Accounts Professional Only)
Note: You cannot use this facility if you are using VAT Cash Accounting.
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 'Accounting and Bookkeeping' area of the Help system to find out
Help more.

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 program
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.

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Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts

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 screen.
The Currency Revaluation information appears.

Enter a Currency Revaluation nominal code. (For an explanation of nominal codes, see
Nominal Ledger Accounts Explained on page 160.) 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 (if you are an existing user
of Sage 50 Accounts), you must enter a different account number.
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 160.

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For examples of currency fluctuations and what they mean to you (if you gain or lose
money), type exchange rates in the Index tab of the Sage 50 Accounts Help system (press
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 screen 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 screen 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.

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Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts

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' screen 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

1. Select Customers > Invoice / Order Defaults.
The Invoice and Order Defaults window appears.
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.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.
You have now checked or amended your Invoice and Order Defaults settings.

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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 computer’s 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 716.

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 732

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.

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Processing in Sage 50 Accounts Using the Foreign Trader

(Accounts Professional Only)
Now that you’ve 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 customer’s or supplier’s 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
customer’s or supplier’s 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 customer’s or supplier’s currency.

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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 account’s currency.
For full details about entering bank payments and receipts, see Recording a Bank Receipt on
page 346 and Recording a Bank, Cash or Credit Card Payment on page 351.

Recording customer receipts and supplier payments for foreign

currency accounts
When you process sales invoices and orders in the customer’s 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
account’s 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.

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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
498. For information about entering supplier payments, refer to Making a payment to a supplier
on page 560.

Foreign currency price lists

Once you have activated the Foreign Trader, you are able to set up Customer and Supplier Price
Lists in the customer’s or supplier’s 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 customer’s currency. The List Price
also displays in the customer’s 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
supplier’s 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 391 and Supplier
Price Lists (Accounts Professional Only) on page 520

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.

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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 system’s Search tab.

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The Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard

(Accounts Professional Only)
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 screen.
2. Click Next to proceed.
The next screen 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 and click Next
to continue.
The next screen allows you to set the revaluation date.
4. Select the revaluation date required and click Next to continue.
Note: The revaluation date cannot be in the future.
The next screen 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.
6. Click Next to continue.
The next screen shows details of the revaluations to be performed.
7. Check that the details are correct and click Next to continue.
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.

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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.
The Sage 50 Accounts desktop appears.
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 system’s Search tab.

Tip: Use the Day Books: Foreign Bank Revaluations report to print a list of revaluation journals.
From the Company navigation group, select Nominal Ledger > Reports > Day Book Reports >
Day books: Foreign Bank Revaluations.

Viewing and Changing Revaluations

(Accounts Professional Only)
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
730.
„ Reversing a revaluation made in error. See To reverse a revaluation on page 731.

To adjust a revaluation
1. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the 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.

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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, and 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
1. Select the Bank navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to switch
to the 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, and click Reverse.
Sage 50 Accounts automatically reverses the revaluation, and creates and posts the
appropriate journals to the relevant accounts.

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Bank Transfers Involving Foreign Currency Accounts

(Accounts Professional Only)
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

1. Select Bank > Record Transfer.
The Bank Transfer window appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transfer details:

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
change this if required.

Description Type a description of up to 60 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'.

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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

1. Select Bank > Record Transfer.
The Bank Transfer window appears.
2. In the boxes provided, enter the following transfer details:

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 60 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.

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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
736.

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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
following message appears:
'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 736.

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 736.
3. To process the transfer, click Save. To re-enter the data click Discard and/or to leave the
window, click Close.

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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.
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.
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 3
You enter the Account From, Account To and Receipt Value.
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 Receipt Value you entered to
calculate the Payment Value.
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."

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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:
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:
1.000000 x 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 $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.

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Scenario 5
You enter the Account From, Account To and Receipt 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 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.
Initially, Sage 50 Accounts calculates the exchange rate using the values in the Currency table
for the two currencies involved. It then uses is exchange rate and the Payment Value you
entered to calculate the Receipt Value.
If you then change the Payment Value, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange rate from
the new Payment Value and the calculated Receipt Value.
For your information, the note on the Bank Transfer window reads: "The exchange rate for this
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.
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.
If you then change the Receipt Value, Sage 50 Accounts recalculates the exchange rate using
the Payment Value and the new Receipt Value.
For your information, the note on the Bank Transfer window reads: "The exchange rate for this
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."

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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:
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:
1.000000 x 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 $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
for the two currencies involved. It then uses this exchange rate and the Payment Value you
entered to calculate the Receipt Value.
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.
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."

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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
for the two currencies involved. It then uses this exchange rate and the Payment Value you
entered to calculate the Receipt Value.
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.
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."

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.

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Working with Foreign Currencies and Accounts

„ 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
(i.e. 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 screen 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.

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„ If you need to reverse a journal that has been posted automatically by your program, 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.
Task Manager
„ You can create Bills from the Task Manager which will be posted as a Bank Payment.
„ You cannot post a Bill Payment if a non-base currency Bank Account has been selected.
A bill payment in a non-base currency 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.)

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Chapter 15
Recording Opening Balances

If you are a new user of Sage 50 In this chapter:

Accounts, (if you are not upgrading from a
Transferring Figures from a Previous
previous version) you will need to enter a
System to Sage 50 Accounts ..........744
series of opening balances. These
opening balances are very important to Gathering your Opening Figures.......746
your bookkeeping activities and you must Entering your Opening Balances into
get them right. If you do not enter them Sage 50 Accounts ...........................752
correctly then your books will be wrong
Checking the Opening Figures You Have
(although you can make adjustments to
Recorded.........................................768
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.
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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.
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Recording Opening Balances

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 (more about this later).
Note: If you use the Standard VAT 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.

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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 (more about this later). 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 it is possible they may not. This may be a result of taking

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Recording Opening Balances

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 748 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 748 to find out
more.
If you use the Standard VAT 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 (balance) 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.

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„ 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 shows this as a debit on the bank account. This may seem odd,
but it is how the bank account views the money. The bank account owes the
business the amount that has been deposited, in other words it is in debt to the
business to that amount.
On the other hand, money drawn from the bank account is a liability to the business.
Accountancy rules show this as a credit to the bank account. The business in this
instance is a creditor to the bank account for the amount withdrawn.

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Recording Opening Balances

Customer balances

What it is made of? Do I need to break it down?

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. This
If you are entering your opening balances means an accurate balance of what is
at the start of the new financial year the owed by the customer is displayed when
total amount owed to you by all your you start to record a sale or receive
customers is represented in the opening payments from them.
figures as:
„ Debtors, shown as a debit value.
„ Suspense, shown as a credit value.
If you are part way through your
financial year the credit value is a
combination of your Sales and VAT
liability.

How do I break down my

customer balances?

„ Check your sales records for outstanding transactions (invoices, credit notes,
payments on account).
„ List customers with outstanding transactions, together with the value of the
transaction.
„ If you use the Standard VAT 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.

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Supplier balances

What it is made of? Do I need to break it down?

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. This
that has not been earmarked to an invoice means an accurate balance of what is
or it can be money owed to you by the owed is displayed for a supplier when you
supplier for returned/rejected goods. start to record purchases or make
payments to them.
If you are entering your opening balances
at the start of a new financial year the total
amount you owe to all your suppliers is
represented in the opening figures as:
„ Creditors, shown as a credit value.
„ 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.

How do I break down my

supplier balances?

„ Check your purchase records for outstanding transactions (invoices, credit

notes, payments on account).
„ List suppliers with outstanding transactions and the value of each transaction.
If you use the Standard VAT 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.

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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 328.
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.

What it is made of? Do I need to break it down?

The quantity and cost of each item you sell. Only if you intend to keep product records.
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.

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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 such as
customer, supplier or product balances. 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.

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Recording Opening Balances

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 749.

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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.

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Recording Opening Balances

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 on 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

1. Select the Customers navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Customers view.
2. Select the customers you have opening balances for.
3. Click Record from the Customers toolbar.
The Customer Record window appears, showing the details of the first customer you
selected.
4. Choose the OB button, which is attached to the Balance box.
The Opening Balance Setup window appears.
5. 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.

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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 you would select 'Credit' from the
drop-down list. This would create a negative balance when you enter their
opening balance. If they owe you money you would select 'Invoice'.

Standard VAT 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 invoices 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.
6. To accept these details, click Save.
To return to the Customer Record window without saving, click Cancel.
7. To return to the Customers window, click Close.
8. 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 754 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.

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Recording Opening Balances

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. For more information about journal entries
see Recording a Journal Entry on page 328.

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Entering your supplier balances

Remember you only need to do this if you are going to keep supplier records.

What do I need? What's involved?

„ 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 750.

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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 (unless you are
using the Irish VAT Cash Accounting scheme - if you calculate VAT using this 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.

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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 navigation group and then, if appropriate, use the view selector to
switch to the Suppliers view.
2. Select the suppliers you have opening balances for.
3. Click Record from the Suppliers window toolbar.
The Supplier Record window appears, showing the details of the first supplier you
selected.
4. Choose the OB button, which is attached to the 'Supplier Balance' box.
The Opening Balance Setup window appears.
5. 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 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.

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Recording Opening Balances

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, you would select 'Credit' from the
drop-down box. This would create a negative balance. If you owe money
you should select 'Invoice'.

Standard VAT 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 ENTER after each entry to move to the next entry box.
6. To accept these details, click Save.
To return to the Supplier Record window without saving, click Cancel.
7. To return to the Suppliers window, click Close.
8. 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 759 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.

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3. From the Criteria window, select 'Brought forward' as the period, then click OK.
The report is generated.
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 328.

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Recording Opening Balances

Entering your opening figures

This is a task you must do.

What do I need? What's involved?

„ A Chart of Accounts suitable for your „ You add your opening figures to the
business. See Chapter 4, Setting Up corresponding nominal account in the
your Chart of Accounts. Nominal Ledger.
If you are adding 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 746.

INFO
This bank opening balance
includes uncleared item s. In this
Opening Figures exam ple the total opening balance
breaks down to £1100 from the last
Nominal Account Debit Credit bank statement with 3 receipts and
(categories) 2 paym ents that had not cleared
Bank 1000 Values added the bank. Each item is added
Sales North 200 to Nom inal Ledger individually to the Nom inal Ledger.
Sales South 100
Materials Purchased
Debtors 300
Creditors 900 Debit Credit
Nom inal account
Stock 900
Capital 1000 1000
Bank
Loan 4000 200
Sales North
Vehicles 2000 100
Sales South
Machinery 2000
Materials Purchased
Debtors 300
Total Balance 6200 6200 900
Creditors
Stock 900
Capital 1000
Loan 4000
Vehicles 2000
Machinery 2000
Suspense

Total (balance) 6200 6200

Bank

Debit Credit
opening bal £1100
Payment 1 £40
INFO Payment 2 £10
Receipt 1 £100
The individual item s of the
Receipt 2 £20
bank balance autom atically
Receipt 3 £30
update to the bank account
record and are shown as
Balance = £1000
separate item s.

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What do I need to consider?

Your opening figures include an opening balance for your bank account(s). 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 328.
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

1. Select Company > Nominal Ledger.
2. Select the nominal account code you have an opening balances and 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. Click the OB button in the Balance box.
The Opening Balance Setup window appears.
4. Enter the details of your opening balance as follows:

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Recording Opening Balances

Ref Enter a text reference. This text appears on the audit trail and will
help you identify the transaction. The text O/Bal is entered for you as
the 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), 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 328.

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Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Entering your product balances

Remember you only need to do this if you have products (stock) that you want to track.

What do I need? What's involved?

„ 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 751.

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 763.

766
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Recording Opening Balances

To enter figures into the product records

1. Select the Products navigation group 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. Click the OB button attached to the In Stock box.
The Opening Product Setup window appears.
4. In the Opening Product Setup window 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.

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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, select 'Brought forward' as the period, then click OK.
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 and 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.

768
Line50.book Page 1 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index
A accountant 634
exchange data with your clients 646
export accounts data to file 634–635
Access Rights
export adjustments and
assign 148
narratives 651
create 147
export adjustments and narratives to
enable 101
file 646
full access 147
import accounts data from file 646
logon names 147
import adjustments and
new user 147
narratives 635, 640, 643
no access 148
import client’s data from a file 647
password 147
introduction 632
Access to Line 50 20
material changes 638
Account
material changes record 639
bad debt 167
pay by card 653
control 166
set up preferences 107–108
credit card 175
view comments and
fixed asset 198
adjustments 642
nominal 168
with Accounts, Accounts Plus or
nominal activity 172
Accounts Professional 634
nominal structure 165
with Client Manager 646
on hold 214
wizard 634
petty cash 175
Accountant Link Wizard 634, 646
status 84
Accounting Schemes
view status 695
specifying 4
Account From 364, 732
Accounts
Account Reference 179
cash 175
Account To 364, 732
Accrual N/C 244
Account Type
Accruals
control 166
add 243
floating 154
control account 167
Account Types
late invoices 313
bank 175
month end 313
Accountant Link
monthly accruals 313
adjustments and narratives 649
postings
apply adjustments and
example of 245
narratives 644
wizard 243
comments and adjustments
ActiveSearch
record 650
display 101
exchange data with your
Line50.book Page 2 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

using 53 Ageing
ActiveSetup Wizard calendar monthly 124
overview 4 period ageing 125
Activity Agreeing Terms 214
nominal 171 Allocating
product 188 amending (non sales order
project 600, 606, 616 allocation) 594
viewing nominal account 172 amending (sales order
viewing product 580 allocation) 448
Actual 576 stock manually (non sales order) 591
Adding stock manually (sales order) 447–
customers to price list 397 448
products to price list 393 stock to a quotation 423
Address viewing (non sales order
company delivery addresses 98 allocation) 594
preferences 97 Allow Negative Stock 102
website 18 Alphanumeric Codes 179
Adjustments ALT Key 25
in 614 Always Create Remittances 120
out 614 Amending
stock level 577 stock allocation 591
Adjustments and Narratives Arrows 43
apply 644 Assembly Level 583
comments and adjustments Asset Accounts 160
record 650 Asset Category 199
export 651 Assign
import 640, 643 project budgets 253
posting 649 Audit Assistant
recording 649 account verification 672
Aged Balance Defaults accounts system check window 667
setting up customer 127 check accounts system 664
setting up supplier 128 check VAT values 673
Aged Balances introduction 663
checking 210 VAT audit check 668, 671
retrospective aged balance VAT audit reports 672
report 209 verify VAT discrepancies 663
supplier defaults 128 Audit Trail
Aged Debtors clearing 338–339
reports 225 report 703
Aged Debtors Analysis (Contacts) 226 AVS Validation 514
Aged Debtors Analysis (Summary) 226
Line50.book Page 3 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

B recalling 355
Bank Payments
hmrc 303
Back Up
Bank Receipts
advanced options 63
memorising 349
previous backups 64
memorising and recalling 349
restore 66
recalling 349
to CD 63
Bank Reconciliation
Backing Up
e-Reconcile 658
data 61, 322
group items in bank
strategies 65
reconciliation 120
Bad Debt Sales Credit
manual reconciliation 365
posting 237
no bank reconciliation 178
Bad Debts
when to reconcile 365
control account 167
Bank Records 176
types of 237
Bank Statements
VAT bad debt relief 234
printing 372
Write Off, Refund & Returns
Bank Transfers 363, 733
wizard 235
Batch
Balance Sheet 161, 706
memorising bank payments 354
Balance Sheet Depreciation N/C 200
memorising bank receipts 349
Bank
memorising credit notes 558
adding records 176
memorising invoices 558
cash account 175
printing of sales orders 446
cheque account 175
recalling bank payments 355
credit card account 175
recalling bank receipts 349
defaults 119
recalling credit notes 558
opening balances 748
recalling invoices 558
record 175
supplier credit notes 569
Bank Account
Batch Option
creating a new 176
bank accounts window 567
Bank Accounts 175
Batch Payments
hmrc 303
memorising and recalling 354
Bank Defaults
templates 354
always create remittances 120
Bill of Materials 582
enable e-banking 119
available to makeup 584
group items in bank
component availability 584
reconciliation 120
entering 582
List Payment/Receipt by split 120
Billing
no warning on visa receipts 120
fixed price 625
Bank Payment
for projects 195, 600, 625
for projects 616
time and materials 627
memorising 354
Line50.book Page 4 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Bills Cancel 34
accruals 243 Carousel Fraud 293, 296
in Task Manager 695 Case Sensitive 52
BOM 579, 582, 584 Cash Accounts 175
Book Value 201, 254 Cash Businesses 346
Box Contents 42 Cash Flow 204, 208
Brackets Cash Sale 426
use of 48 recording 427
Budget settings 133, 145
project 93, 192, 196, 601–602, 608, Categories
622 fixed assets 257
report 708 CD
Budgeting 109, 246 back up 63
department 247–248 Changing
nominal accounts 246–248 chart of accounts 155
projects 253 financial year 74
Buttons password 20, 147
calculator 44 program date 59, 307
calendar 44 Charges
Function Keys 54 can charge credit 214
customer late payment 214
C for time 486
Chart of Accounts
adding 153
Calculate
categories 153
vat return 275
copying layout 158
Calculate Net 55
default 163
Calculating prices 394, 404
editing 155
Calculation Methods
errors 156
decrease sales price by % 394, 404
tailoring 151
decrease sales price by value 394,
Check BOM 584
404
Check Boxes 44
fixed price 394, 404
Check Stock Makeup 584
mark up % on cost price 394, 404
Checking
mark up value on cost price 394, 404
component availability 584
standard price 394, 404
data 60
Calculator 54
Cheque Layouts 106
Calculator Button 44
Cheque Lines Per Page 106, 356
Calendar 54
Cheques 355
Calendar Button 44
CIS
Calendar Monthly Ageing 124
preferences 115
Call Charge Rate
setting up 115
setting the default 100
Line50.book Page 5 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

Clear 35 contact history 217

Clearing creating service invoices 486
audit trail 339 deleting 221
stock transactions 316 editing 218
VAT control accounts 289 for credit control 216
Close 34 in Task Manager 695
Coding 179 promised Payment Details 217
Column-Based Reports 712 Control Accounts
Columns accruals 167
hiding 35 bad debts 167
resizing 35 clearing VAT 289
Command Buttons 34 credit charges 167
Comments and Adjustments creditors control 166
import 640 debtors control 166
view 642 default bank 166
view record 650 default sales account 167
Committed Costs (Projects) 619 introduction 166
Commodity Code 187 mispostings 167
Common Directory 656 prepayments 167
Company purchase discount 167
address 97 retained earnings 167
parameters 100 sales discount 166
preferences 97, 107–108 suspense 167
Configurable columns 36 VAT on purchases 166
options 36 VAT on sales 166
Configuration Editor Converting a Quotation 423
account status tab 84 Copy Data Button 54
chart of accounts tab 78 Copy Skeleton Journal Entries 102
credit control tab 92 Copying
custom fields tab 90 COA layout 158
dispute reasons tab 91 customer price list 398
fixed assets tab 88 invoices 484
general tab 76 purchase orders 545
introduction 75 records 38
products tab 86 sales orders 446
project costing tab 93 supplier price list 521
tax codes tab 81 Correcting
terms tab 79 data files 70
Contact - Time Biller 486 Corrections
Contacts overview 66
adding 218 Cost Codes 602
charging for time 486 Cost Postings
Line50.book Page 6 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

bank payment 616 last review 214

in life cycle 600 next review 214
projects 615 Credit Card Accounts 175
supplier invoice 615 Credit Charges
Cost Types 93, 96, 601–602 control account 167
Countries setting customer 214
setting up 719 Credit Control
Create activity 222
bank accounts 175 aged balances 222
bank receipt 346 aged creditors analysis 569
bank record 176 aged debtors report 225
bank transfer 363, 732–733 bad debts 235
batch supplier payment 567 contacts 216
bill of materials 582 customer invoices due 227
cash sales order 427 customer invoices overdue 227
cheques 360 days sales outstanding 229
customer price list 392 days sales overdue 231
data backups 61 detailed days sales analysis 232
discount structure 414 reminder letters 92
fixed asset categories 88 reporting 225
fixed asset record 198 statements 227
good customer discount 410 suggested payments 564
invoice from contacts 486 supplier invoices within
journal entry 328 settlement 569
nominal record 168 Credit Control Details 212
prepayment 240 Credit Limit 121
product invoice 460 Credit Note
product record 187 footer details 478
project record 193 order details 476
project resources 603 red 459
purchase orders 527 service item line details 473
sales orders 427 Creditors Control 166
search 46 CSV File Format 684
service invoice 469 Ctrl 42
special customer price 403 Currency Calculator 54
supplier payment 560 Currency Revaluation Nominal Code 721
supplier price list 520 Current Assets 160
Creating Current Liabilities 161
chart of accounts 153 Cursor 41
Creating a New Quotation 421 Custom Fields 90
Creating New Accounts 176 Customer
Credit A/C opened 214
Line50.book Page 7 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

account on hold 214 writing off 237

aged debtors report 225 CV2 Validation 514
agreeing terms 214
bureau 213 D
credit limit 212
credit position 213
Damages In 588
credit reference 213
Damages Out 588
defaults 121
Dashboards 29
deleting records 185
Data
good customer discount 409
backing up 61
invoices due 227
checking 60
invoices overdue 227
correcting 66, 70
invoices within settlement terms 227
file maintenance 66
invoicing contacts 486
fixing 60
opening balances 749, 753
importing 683
overdue letters 227
restore 66
payment due days 212
restoring 65
price lists 392
Data Entry Screen 41
refunds 508
Data Entry Windows 40
reports 227
Data Repair Service 60
restrict mailing 214
Date Dependence 59
settlement discount 212
Days Sales Analysis
settlement due days 212
days sales outstanding 229
statements 227
days sales overdue 231
terms 213
detailed 232
terms agreed 214
Debtors Control 166
transaction activity 506
Debts
using credit charges 214
in Task Manager 695
Customer Accounts
Decrease Sales Price by % 394, 404
writing off 237
Decrease Sales Price by value 394, 404
Customer Codes
Deduction
planning 179
net value discount 501
Customer Defaults 121
Deductions 501
Customer Price Lists
Default Chart of Accounts 163
importing 399
Defaults
introduction 392
bank 119
Customer Records
bank account 166
deleting 185
call charge rate 100
entering 180
customer 121
projects tab 621
invoice and order 134
Customer Support 17
product 130
Customer Transactions
sales account 167
Line50.book Page 8 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

supplier 128 for special customers 403

Delete 42 good customer 409
Delete Row 55 invoice value 417
Deleting manual 419
customer records 185 standard 409
nominal records 172 Discounts on Products 130
sales order 457 Display Account Status 101
supplier records 185 Display ActiveSearch Popup 101
transactions 70 Dispute Reasons 91
Delivery Addresses Disputed Transactions 224
company 98 Dividends
Demonstration data 21 recording 346
Departments 247–248, 251 Document Manager
Deposit add filing system reference 678
payment 511 add shortcut 677
quotation 511 attachments pane 676
Deposits 501 overview 675
invoicing 502 project record 611
quote 501 Donations
sales order 501 recording 351
Depreciation 254 Double-Entry Bookkeeping 161
dep‘n to date 201 Drill To Reports 712
next dep‘n 201 Drill-Down 45
non-depreciating 200 Drop-Down Boxes 43
posting tab 199 Drop-Down Menus 25
rate 200 Duplicate
reducing balance method 256 invoice 484
Depreciation Method 200 purchase order 545
Desktop layout 22 records 38
Desktop views 26 sales order 446
Despatching
sales orders 449 E
Direct Debits 373
Discard 34
E-Banking
Discount by Quantity 414
automatically reconciling 660
Discount Methods 394, 404
configuring 655
Discount Tab Names 132
enabling 119
Discounts
entering your supplier bank
by quantity 414
details 657
by unit price 133, 408
importing transactions 658
for early settlement 411
making e-Payments 657
for quantity sold 414
manually reconciling 662
Line50.book Page 9 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

reconciling 659 credit card accounts 175

setting up 654 credit control details 212
setting up your bank account 655 customer defaults 121
statement end balance 660 early settlement discount 411
statement end date 660 fixed asset categories 257
using e-Payments 656 fixed asset records 198
using e-Reconcile 658 good customer discount 410
e-Banking label preferences 99
vat payment 301 manual search 46
ECSL nominal records 168
generate 290 price lists 392, 520
preferences 111, 270 product defaults 130
triangulation transaction 290 product records 186
triangulation transactions 292 quantity discount structure 414
Edit Item Line 54 reporting preferences 105
Editing 252 special customer prices 403
batched transaction split 69 stock returns 588
budgets 251 supplier defaults 128
chart of accounts 155 total discount 419
nominal records 172 Entering and Editing Data 41
stock allocation 448 E-Payments
transactions 68 enable e-Banking 119
E-mail Support 17 entering your supplier bank
Enable E-Banking 119 details 657
Enable Project Costing 103, 601 making e-payments 657
End 42 using 656
Enquiry E-Reconcile 659
project budgets 253 automatically reconciling 660
project costs 253 confirm 659
Enter highlighted transactions 660
budgets 248 importing transactions 658
project budget 253 manually reconciling 662
Entering matching 659
address preferences 97 reconcile 659
bank account records 175 statement end balance 660
bank defaults 119 statement end date 660
bill of materials 582 Error Corrections
budgets 248 data errors 66
cash account 175 details tab 68
cash sale 427 transactions 68, 70
chart of accounts 153 Errors
company parameters 100 audit assistant 664
Line50.book Page 10 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Esc 42 quick ratio report 707

E-Submissions transactional based management
credentials 270 reports 710
e-Submissions 111, 297–299 trial balance report 704
credentials 111 Financial Year 246
Euro 716 changing 74, 327
e-VAT 297, 299, 301 nominal account budgets 246
Event Logging Financials
configure event log 692 column-based reports 712
enable 691 Finding Transactions 51
view event log 692 Fix Data 60
Excel Fixed Asset Categories
exporting to 681 creating 257
Exchange Rates editing 88
entering 716 Fixed Asset Records 198
Exclude Deleted Transactions 101 Fixed Assets
Exclude Later Payments 210 asset accounts 160
Expenditure Accounts 160–161 categories 257
Expenses 387 records 198
Export Accounts Data to File 635 sale of 256
Exporting Fixed Price 394, 404
to Word, Excel and Outlook 681 Floating Nominal Accounts 154
Expressions Foreign Bank Revaluation Wizard
ordering 50 to run 729
Foreign Currency
F bank transfers 733
overpayments 721
underpayments 721
F1 to F12 54
Foreign Currency Accounts
FIFO 574
revaluation 730
File Maintenance
Foreign Currency Exchange Rates 716
amend transactions 68
Foreign Trader
corrections 66, 70
how it affects data 740
delete/reverse transactions 70
setup 720
error corrections details 68
to activate 721
Finance Rates
wizard 721
credit charges account 167
Free/On-Order 579
Financial Reports
Fuel Expenses
audit trail 703
recording 351
balance sheet 706
Function Keys 54
budget report 708
configuring F11 and F12 55
prior year 709
user-configurable 55
profit and loss report 705
Line50.book Page 11 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

G customer price lists 399

e-banking transactions 658
product prices 399
Generating Cheques
records 683
using Cheque List 360
Include Future Totals in Balance 127
Global Changes
Income Accounts 160–161
nominal account budgets 246–247
Insert Row 55
Good Customer Discounts 409
Installing Sage Line 50
Goods Despatched Notes
single user 3
despatched tab 455
Instalments 373
overview 450
Internet Resources 696
printing 455
Intrastat
viewing 455
arrivals 263
Goods Received Notes
commodity code 187
deliveries tab 554
country code 98
overview 548
defaults 144
printing 554
delivery terms 260, 265
Group Bank Transactions 120
dispatches 258
Group Items in Bank Reconciliation 120
nature of transaction code 260, 265
purchase orders 263
H sales orders 258
supplementary declarations 258
Help view archived report 263
customer support 17 weight 187
e-mail support 17 Inv. No. 461
F1 54 Invoice
getting 56 copying 484
online support 17 duplicating 484
sage.com 18 footer details 478
training 18 for a project 627
website 18 marking as disputed 224
wizard 57 mixed product and service 488
Help Centre 27 order details 476
Hide payment details 481
data columns 37 product invoice 460
Home 42 product item line details 465
projects 600
I service invoice 469
service item line details 473
Import update ledgers 491
budgets 246 value discounts 417
client’s data from a file 647 write off 235
Line50.book Page 12 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Invoice and Order Defaults 134 handling 317

entering 133 monthly accruals 313
footer defaults 137 Late Payment 214
Intrastat 144 Ledger
numbering options 138 update 491
Invoicing Letters
deposit 512 credit control 92
deposits 501–502 restrict mailing 214
for telephone calls 220 Liability Accounts 160–161
net value discounts 501 Link Level 583
pay by card 512 Links and Tasks 24
Invoicing From Contacts 486 List Payment/Receipt by split 120
Irish Revenue List windows 32
VAT3 287 Log Events 104, 691
Irish Tax Codes 81 Login Check 103
Issuing Login Restrictions 103
stock allocation 595 Long Term Liabilities 161
Item Line Details 465 Low/High 154

J M
Journal 328 Maintaining Quotations 422
Journal Entry Making Bank Transfers 733
create 328 Making Journal Entries 328
recurring entries 382 Mark Up % on Cost Price 394, 404
reverse 330 Mark Up Value on Cost Price 394, 404
skeleton 330 Material Changes
posting 638
K recording 638
view record 639
Memorising
Keyboard 25
bank payments 354
bank receipts 349
L batch credit notes 558
batch invoices 558
Label Preferences 99 Memos
Last Posted 376, 383 document manager 675
Late Entries Menu Options 25
handling 317 Message Lines 459
month end 317 Mispostings
posting 318 control account 167
Late Invoices Mixed Product and Service
Line50.book Page 13 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

invoice and orders 488 Nominal Defaults 165

Monitor Nominal Journals
budgets 246, 248 reversing 330
project budgets 253 Nominal Ledger
project costs 253 opening balances 763
Month End 305 Nominal Ledger Accounts
checklist 305 explained 160
clear stock 316 Nominal Record
explained 305 adding 168
late entries 317–318 Nominal Records
monthly accruals 313 code 151
product reports 317 Non-Depreciating Fixed Asset 200
Mouse 25 NOTC
MTIC Fraud 293, 296 nature of transaction code 260
Multi Level Projects 192, 605, 608 Numeric Codes 179

N O
N/C 169 OK 34
Navigation Bar 23 On Hold 214
Navigation Groups 23 Online Support 17
Net Amount/Amount 377 Opening Balances
Net Value Discount 501 bank balances 748
Net Value Discounts 501 check values 768
New Bank Account 176 customer balances 749
New Call Window 486 customers 753
News Feeds 696 nominal ledger 763
configuring 697 product 751, 766
settings 698 supplier 758
No Warning on Visa Receipts 120 supplier balances 750
Nominal Option Buttons 43
activity 172 Order
activity tab 171 mixed product and service 488
bank account records 175 purchase order 526
budgets 246 purchase order cycle 526
floating accounts 154 sales order cycle 425
graphs tab 170 Order No. 461
memo tab 171 Order of Lists 32
opening balances 763 Ordering the List 35
Nominal Account Outlook
budgets 246–247 exporting to 681
Nominal Codes 151 Overpayments
Line50.book Page 14 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

writing off 237 CIS 115

payment solutions 113
P vat 111
Prepayment N/C 241
Prepayments
P&L Depreciation N/C 200
add 240
Password 20
control account 167
changing 147
posting
Pay All 568
example of 242
Pay by Card 509–510
Price Lists
accountant link 653
adding customers 397
AVS and CV2 514
adding products 393
bank receipts 511
copy customer price list 398
customer receipts 510
copy supplier price list 521
deposit 511
create 392
invoicing 512
printing 406
sales orders 513
Pricing
set payment solutions 509
decrease sales price by % 394, 404
supplier refund 572
decrease sales price by value 394,
wizard 514
404
Pay in Full 568
fixed price 394, 404
Paying by Instalments 373
mark up % on cost price 394, 404
Payment
mark up value on cost price 394, 404
charging for late 214
standard price 394, 404
Payment File Options 656
Pricing Option
Payment History 209
customer price lists 392
Payment on Account 498
special customer pricing 403
Payments
supplier price lists 520
accruals 243
Print Address on Stationery 106
batch bank 354
Print End of Report Banner 105
Payments From Customers
Printing
recording 498
price lists 406
Period Ageing 124–125
remittances 562
Petrol
Prior Year Report 709
recording expenses 351
Priority Supplier 217
Petty Cash 387
Process maps 28
Planning
Process Recurring Entries 384
nominal account structure 165
Producing Cheques 355
Post 241
Product 252
Posting
activity 580
late entries 318
activity report 317
Preferences
allocation (non sales order) 591
budgeting 109
Line50.book Page 15 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

allocation (sales order) 447 pricing 187

bill of materials 582 quantity discount 188
categories 86 sales tab 187
category labels 87 web tab 189
clear stock transactions 316 Product Transfers 586
component availability 584 Products
custom fields 87 amending allocation 448
defaults 130 Profit and Loss Report 162, 705
levels 575 Profit Value 490
opening balances 751, 766 Proformas 421
profit report 317 Program Date
records 186 changing 59, 307
returns 588 Project Charge
sales table 252 in life cycle 600
shortfall 577 introduction 612
transfers 586 Project Costing
valuation report 317 introduction 598
Product Activity Report 317 project life cycle 599
Product Categories Project Only Costs
creating 86 timesheets 612
Product Code 462 Project Record
Product Codes analysis tab 195
advice 186 deleting 197
Product Defaults memo tab 611
entering 130–131 overview 192
Product Discounts 130 Projects
Product Invoice activate 601
create 460 activity 600, 606, 616
item line details 465 allocating stock 591
Product Invoices 460 billing 195, 600, 625
Product Levels 577 budgets 192, 196, 253, 602, 608,
Product List 621
setting up 186 committed costs 619
Product Profit Report 317 completing 600, 630
Product Records cost codes 602
activity tab 188 cost postings 600, 615
BOM 187 cost types 93, 96, 601–602
details tab 187 costs 253
discount tab 188 create record 193
entering 186 enquiries and analysis 621
graphs tab 188 fixed price billing 625
memo tab 187 introduction 598
Line50.book Page 16 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

invoice 627 order details 538

invoicing 600 placing on order 547
life cycle 599 printing batches 546
linked to purchase orders 619 recording delivery 547
managing budgets 253 saving 546
multi level 192, 605, 608 Purchase Payment 355, 560
project charge 600, 612
record 192, 600, 616 Q
reports 600
resources 603
Quantity Discount
set up cost codes 94
product records 188
set up statuses 94
Quantity Discount Structure 414
setting budgets 253
Quantity to Order 579
stock issue 600
Quick Ratio Report 707
stock postings 614
Quotations 421
structures 192, 605, 608
allocating stock 423
time and materials billing 627
changing details 423
timesheets 600
changing status 423
Promised Payment Details 217
converting 423
Purchase
creating 421
discount account 167
expired 423
Purchase Invoices
maintaining 422
for accruals 313
for projects 615
from purchase orders 557 R
received after month end 317
Purchase Order Deliveries Tab 554 RCSL 293, 296
Purchase Orders 526 transaction breakdown 295
batched delivery 555 Recalling
copying 545 bank payments 355
creating 527 bank receipts 349
creating purchase invoices from 557 batch credit notes 558
deliveries tab 554 batch invoices 558
delivery details 543 Reconciling
duplicating 545 e-Banking 659
footer details 540 manual reconciliation 365
goods received notes 548 Recording
Intrastat 263 cash sales 426–427
item line details 533 dividends 346
linked to projects 619 grant monies 346
manual delivery 555 insurance monies 346
order cycle 526 money received 346
Line50.book Page 17 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

non-regular transactions 328 product profit 317

Recording Money product valuation 317
paid to your suppliers 560 profit and loss 705
Records projects 600
bank 176 quick ratio 707
fixed assets 198 statements 227
nominal 168 transactional based
product 186 management 710
Recurring Entries trial balance 704
bank/cash/credit card 374 Reports Required for VAT Inspection 304
customer payment on account 378 Resize
in Task Manager 695 data columns 37
journal 382 Resources
supplier payment on account 380 creating 603
types of 373 deleting 604
Recurring Invoices 492 overview 603
Recurring Purchase Orders 492 projects 603
Recurring Sales Orders 492 Restore
Red Credit Note 459 back up data 66
Reference Codes 179 overview 65
Refunds view previous backups 64
customer 508 Restoring
supplier 571 data 65
Remittance Advice Notes 562 Restrict Mailing 214
Re-order Retained Earnings 167
stock 577 Retrospective Aged Balance Report 209
Re-Order Level 579 Revaluation of Foreign Currency
Reports Accounts
aged creditors analysis 569 Foreign Bank Revaluation
aged debtors 225 Wizard 729
audit trail 703 manual adjustments 730
balance sheet 706 Reverse
budget 708 journal entry 330
column-based 712 Reverse Charge 296
credit control 225 csv file 293
customer invoices due 227 Reverse Charge Sales List 293
customer invoices overdue 227 Reversing
drill to 712 transactions 70
preferences 105 Right-Click 25
prior year 709 RSS News Feeds 696
product 317 configuring 697
product activity 317 settings 698
Line50.book Page 18 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

S VAT returns 287

Saving Time 631
Scale Charges 269, 290
Sage Payment Solutions 113, 509–510
Scroll Bars 43
accountant link 653
Search 46
bank receipts 511
and/or 48
customer receipts 510
creating a search manually 46
deposit 511
how to use the 48
invoicing 512
joining expressions 48
sales orders 513
ordering expressions 50
supplier refund 572
using brackets 48
wizard 514
using wildcards 49
SageCover 17
Selecting Menus 25
Sale of Fixed Assets 256
Selecting Records 32
Sales Discount Account 166
Service Invoice
Sales Order Despatched Tab 455
creating 469
Sales Orders 425
item line details 473
allocating 447
Service Invoices 469
batch printing 446
Service Item Lines 473
cash sale 426
Setting
completing 445
account status 84
copying 446
address preferences 97
creating 426–427
bank defaults 119
deleting 457
bill of materials 582
deliveries tab 455
company parameters 100
despatch details 427, 443
credit control details 212
despatching 449
customer defaults 121
details tab 426, 458
customer price lists 392
duplicating 446
depreciation 198
footer details 426, 437, 458
dispute markers 224
goods despatched notes 450
early settlement discounts 411
Intrastat dispatches 258
financial year 74
invoice details 427, 444
good customer discounts 409
item line details 431
Intrastat defaults 144
order cycle 425
invoice value discounts 417
order details 426, 435, 458
label preferences 99
pay by card 513
passwords 147
payment details 427, 440, 458
program date 59, 307
printing 446
quantity discounts 414
saving 445
reporting preferences 105
stock allocation 448
special customer prices 403
Save 34
standard discounts 409
Saving
Line50.book Page 19 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

supplier defaults 128 issuing an allocation 595

supplier price lists 520 levels 575, 695
Settings product activity report 317
preferences 111 product profit report 317
vat preferences 270 product valuation 317
Settlement Terms records 186
customer invoices 227 shortfall 577
Shift+Tab 42 transfers 586
Shortcut Keys 54 Stock Issue 600
Shortfall Stock Level
stock 577 viewing in Task Manager 695
Show Due Entries Up To 384 Stock Levels 577
Showing Data Columns 35 Stock Postings
Smart Totals 104 projects 614
Sorting Lists 32 Stock Returns
Space Bar 44 damages in 588
Special Customer Prices 403 damages out 588
entering 403 write off 588
Standard Budgeting 246 Stock Shortfall
Standard Discounts 409 stock levels 577
Standard Price 394, 404 Stock Transfer
Standing Orders 373 make 586
Starting Up Line 50 20 Suggested Payments 564
Statement End Balance 660 Supplier
Statement End Date 660 opening balances 750, 758
Statement Reconciliation Service 656 price lists 520
Statements refunds 571
customer 227 transaction history 569
Statements Tab 123 Supplier Accounts
Status writing off 237
changing project 611 Supplier Aged Balances
Stock setting up supplier 128
activity 188 Supplier Codes
allocation (non sales order) 591 planning 179
allocation (sales order) 447 Supplier Defaults
amending allocation (non sales ageing tab 128
order) 594 record tab 128
amending allocation (sales Supplier Payment on Account 380
order) 448 Supplier Payment Window 560
clear transactions 316 Supplier Payments 560
component availability 584 recording 560
defaults 130 Supplier Price Lists 520
Line50.book Page 20 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

importing 522 project budgets 253

overview 520 project costs 253
Supplier Refund Training 18
pay by card 572 Transaction Activity
Supplier Remittances 562 customer 506
Supplier Reports 421 supplier 569
Supplier Transactions Transactional Based Management
writing off 237 Reports 710
Suspend Posting 376, 383 Transactions
Suspense amending 68–69
control accounts 167 finding 51
Swap 35 product 252
writing off 237
T Transfer
bank 733
product 586
Tab 42
stock 586
Task Manager 695
Trial Balance
Tasks 695
report 704
Tasks and Links 24
Triangulation 292
Tax Breakdown List 464
Tax Code Setup 81
Tax Codes 81 U
Tax Rates
cis 115 Unit Price Discount 133, 408
Tax Total 353 Update
Technical Support 17 ledgers 491
Telephone Calls User Assistance Centre 27
invoicing for 220, 486 User-configurable Function Keys 55
setting up default charge 100 Using Windows 27
Telephone Charge Default 100
Terms V
agreed 214
Time
Valuation
invoicing for 220, 486
product report 317
Timesheets
VAT
for projects 600, 612
analyse 285
Timeslips Link 102
archive 287
Toolbar 34
calculating 274
Total Discounts 419
hmrc bank accounts 303
Total Required Postings 376, 382
ledger 268
Tour of Line 50 19
manual adjustments 286
Track
Line50.book Page 21 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Index

offline payment 300 republic of ireland 279

online 297 saving 287
online payment 301 standard VAT scheme 276, 283
payment 301 totals 285
preferences 111, 270 UK cash accounting 277
return process 274 VAT cash accounting 284
tasks 268 view previous 296
totals 286 VAT Window 268
VAT Audit Check 668, 671 VAT3
VAT Audit Reports file access in Vista 287
audit assistant 672 View
overview 304 hmrc responses 299
VAT Cash Accounting VAT archive 287
EI 281 View Options 26
UK VAT return 277 View Selector 24
VAT Control Accounts Viewing 554
clearing 289 customers 506
VAT Discrepancies 663 goods despatched notes 455
VAT on Purchases 166 nominal accounts 172
VAT on Sales 166 previous VAT returns 268
VAT Rates 81 products 580
VAT Reconciliation project activity 616
EI standard VAT 279 project budgets 253
EI VAT cash accounting 281 project costs 253
standard VAT 276 project costs to budget 621
UK VAT cash accounting 277 stock 580
VAT Registration Number 98 stock allocation 591
VAT Return suppliers 569
analyse 285 transactions 506, 569
calculating 274 Views 24
calculation 275
checking 283 W
checklist 269
EI standard VAT scheme 279
Wages
future transactions 289
journal entries 333
irish republic 287
processing 333
late transactions 289
Website Address 18
manual adjustment 286
Welcome Page 30
overview 276
Welcome Window 27
preferences 270
Wildcards 49
printing 283
Windows 42
process 274
Windows Control Panel 55
Line50.book Page 22 Friday, July 20, 2007 10:57 AM

Sage 50 Accounts User Guide

Wizard Write Offs

submissions 298 using the wizard 235
Wizards 57
ActiveSetup 4 X
Word
exporting to 681
XML File 287
Work Area 25
Write Off
invoice 235 Y
Write Off, Refund & Returns Wizard 235
credit control 235 Year End
write off sales invoice 235 checklist 320