The short version
- The reports are in the Report Centre. Choose one, select Modify this report to set the dates, then Display.
- Export each report with the Export button on its toolbar, as a .csv file.
- Upload them to the Sage exports line on your onboarding page.
- Your accounts, customers, vendors, and inventory and services come out through Export Records.
- Bring the three lists over yourself, under Your lists.
The reports
Your cutover date is on your onboarding page. Use it wherever this table says cutover.
| Report | Where, and the dates to set | What it gives us |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts (Export Records) | File, Import/Export, Export Records, Accounts | Your chart of accounts, with each account's GIFI code |
| Trial Balance | Report Centre, Financials. As at: the cutover | Every opening balance |
| Customer Aged Detail | Report Centre, Customers & Sales. As at: the cutover; all customers | What customers owed you at the cutover |
| Vendor Aged Detail | Report Centre, Vendors & Purchases. As at: the cutover; all vendors | What you owed at the cutover |
| General Ledger | Report Centre, Financials. The start of your fiscal year to the cutover; all accounts | Everything posted this year, bank and card included |
1. Open each report
On the Home window, open the Report Centre. Choose the group from the table, then the report, and select Modify this report. Set the date from the table (As at, or Start and Finish), choose all the accounts, customers or vendors, then select Display.
2. Export it
On the report's toolbar, select Export. Choose Comma-separated (*.csv) as the type, name the file and save it. CSV is better than Excel here: Sage's Excel exports have a row limit.
If your Sage 50 is the cloud-connected version, save each file to your computer before you open or upload it.
3. Export your records
Sage 50's lists come out through Export Records: File, Import/Export, Export Records. Choose the record type, select Next, name the file, and choose all the records. Do it four times: Accounts (it goes with the reports, since it carries your GIFI codes), Customers, Vendors, and Inventory & Services.
Your customers, suppliers, and products and services
These three come over a different way: you bring each one over yourself, on your onboarding page under Your lists, and see every row before anything is added. Names, contact details, payment terms and prices come over. Nothing already there is overwritten, and no balances come over this way.
To get each one out of Sage 50:
- Customers: the Customers file from Export Records. It has no column names, so its columns are matched by their place in Sage's export: check each against the samples beside it.
- Suppliers: the Vendors file from Export Records. Sage calls them vendors.
- Products and services: the Inventory & Services file from Export Records. Its columns aren't named either, so say which holds the name, the description and the price.
Export Records leaves out banking details, so there's nothing to take out of these files first.
Then, on your onboarding page under Your lists, choose Bring it over beside each list. Choose Sage 50 as where the list is now, then the file. Check what each column holds, check the rows, and choose Bring it over. If a list has nothing in it, say no suppliers, choose Nothing to bring instead.
Bank details never come over. If an export has columns for bank account numbers, they're left out of the import and out of the copy we keep.
4. Upload the reports
On your onboarding page, upload every report and the Accounts file to the Sage exports line. You can upload several at once. We check them against your statements before anything is brought in.
If a report isn't there
Report names move a little between versions. If one isn't where the table says, look in the same group of the Report Centre, or tell us on your onboarding page which year your Sage 50 is.
Common questions
Can I send my Sage backup instead?
Please don't. A backup needs Sage to open and holds everything, payroll records included. The reports give us what we need and nothing more.
I use Sage Accounting, not Sage 50.
Tell us on your onboarding page. In Sage Accounting, customers and vendors export from Contacts with the CSV button, and the reports from Reporting; we'll send you the steps.
Do I need to cancel Sage 50?
Not yet. Keep it until your first year end with us is done. Your CPA may need to look something up.