New / Improvements in Sage 50 (UK) Accounts Latest 2013 Version (V19) to be released Aug 2012

How can Sage 50 Accounts 2013 (v19)

It is a powerful Accounting system that can help you to easily manage your customers and suppliers, control your cashflow, submit VAT returns online to HMRC and access detailed Management reports at the click of a button.

New features and Improvements of the 2013 version include:

New - User Interface and Language

Over 1,000 function/ feature labels have been updated and improved to ensure users know what they're doing without the need to know accounting terminology or abbreviations

New - Company Configuration

A new optional process to help guide users through the setup of their software

New - Help Centre

New search engine providing up-to-date help topics and information

New - Quick Tasks

Quickly create invoices, quotes, sales and purchase orders from the product list

Simplified month end, year end and VAT return tasks

Step-by-step guides through tasks, including confirmation when the tasks are complete

Improved Reporting

• New user interface with updated look & feel
• Excel improvements allow users to retrieve financial information faster
• Accurate report descriptions, previews filters and action buttons
• Send invoices by email is now accessible without entering Report Designer
• Customised reporting function allows users to create a professional look

Backing up Sage 50 Data - Best plus other Strategies

Backups are a must with any Electronic Data. Many times Organistaions have suffered due to various disasters and with the extent of IT use the cost of lack of backups could be Too big to bear.

Sage 50 standard Backup tool is able to slect what exactly needed to be backed up, namely Data, Reports, Layouts, Archives and such sections. There is no point in backing up something if there was no change to previous state. Likewise Reports, layouts, Archives etc are not changing regulary like Data. Thus backing up them everytime has no meaning, but it requires more space for the backed up File and takes more time.

When it comes to Sage 50, You can use following strategies :

1.  Back Up option available in Sage (File/backup/Say yes to Check data )
This is the best option but might take some time as the data volume grows up. This process creates a compressed File with .001 extention which is comparatively smaller in size. Latest versions Automatically creates a File name with the company name and date time incorporated, which is very handy. This process reminds you to Check your data before backup, which is very important as there could be no use of a backup with errors.

2. Copy the Sage Folder, Company Folder or ACCDATA Folder manually
This would be faster mainly because it does not include data checking and compressing processes. But you dont know whether copied data has errors. Yet may have to resort to this sometimes at busy offices and when the normal backup option is not functioning (Due to data volumes or system errors, back option may not work or get stuck )

3. Use an automatic Backup Software.
Here again, whatever the software, you will have to set that program to copy one of above folders on a schedule.

How to properly Uninstall and Re install sage 50

Sometimes we need to Unistall and Reistall Software Applications for various reasons like File Corruptions, unidentifiable errors etc. But sometimes such reisntallations do not correct the issues. This is due to there are some Files not getting cleared fully with the uninstall process and Registry entries not reversed. To overcome this you may follow the following procedure : 


Using the Control panel uninstall Sage 50
Using the Control panel uninstall .net (all versions 2+)
Delete the following directories
C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\ 
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sage Line50
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sage Report Designer 2007
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sage SBD
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sage SData
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sage Shared
If you are using a 64 bit operating system then the above paths will be \Program Files (x86)\


If you are on Vista or newer
C:\ProgramData\Sage


If you are using XP or older 
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sage


Note: As these are areas that users would not normally go into the folder C:\ProgramData\ (or on XP and earlier C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\) is hidden.  You can make "hidden folders visible" by opening Windows Explorer and going to Tools>Folder Options>View>Hidden Files and Folders>Show Hidden Files and Folders You need to press the "Alt" button to see the menu in some versions of Windows.


You are now ready to reinstall

Let Sage install .net as part of it's reinstall rather than manually installing it

Sage 50 - Closing Stock Valuations FIFO or Weighted Average Method?

Many Sage 50 users are confused as to how the Closing stock Value obtained as per Stock Valuation Reports available in sage 50 .(Products/Product Valuation Reports) There are basically 2 reports available with sometimes 2 different Valuations shown. One Report shows the value using the FIFO method and the other one using the Last Purchase Cost. Last Purchase Cost method is not a valuation accepted under Accounting Standards, yet useful in verifying whether "Net Realisable value" of stocks is below than "Cost" (FIFO report) as per the Standard.

The FIFO method report shows Total stock value as per FIFO (Assuming First came went First Out) method divided by balance Quantity available and thus a average Cost per Item column is shown. This makes it is confusing to many users whether this is the "Average" method. which is not so.

If Minus Quanity is allowed in the system Option available) then there couls be serious variations and value of FIFO report could be widely fluctuating

Difference in value according to these 2 reports is completely acceptable if prices are fluctuating.Yet the biggest issue is sometimes certain Items available as per one report is not shown in the other report and vice versa thus total quantity also may very on 2 reports.

This happens when items with very low cost (Less than 0.01 Cents per Item) as per FIFO report are available, but the last cost could be higher. Such items may not appear in FIFO report but could appear on  Last Purchase Cost Report creating a quntity (and also a value) Difference.

 

How to install and run Sage Accounts (50) programs on Windows Vista How to install and run Sage programs on Windows Vista

Windows Vista includes security features such as User Account Control and virtualisation which may affect the running of Sage software.

Note: This article does not relate to:
Sage 50 Accounts 2008 and above.
Sage Instant Accounts v14 and above.
Sage 50 Payroll
Sage 50 Forecasting v12.02 and above
Sage Winforecast v4.08 and above

These software versions are Vista compatible. This means that when you install them, you can install into C:\Program Files. The data files and some application files are automatically installed into C:\ProgramData, and you don't need to run as administrator.


This article explains how to install and run Sage programs to minimise the effect of these new security features and includes the following sections:
To install Sage programs on Windows Vista - When installing on Windows Vista you must install in a folder other than C:\Program Files.

To run Sage programs as an administrator - Many programs, including Sage programs, need to perform administrative tasks during their normal operation. The new security features in Windows Vista restrict the operation of administrative tasks. To allow Sage programs to perform administrative tasks, you must run them as an administrator.
To install Sage programs on Windows Vista

The Program Files folder on Windows Vista is a protected folder and programs are prevented from writing any data to this folder or any of its subfolders. This prevents some programs from writing to data files and configuration files which are essential for them to operate correctly.

To enable Sage programs to update and maintain their own data files and configuration files, they must be installed in a folder other than C:\Program Files, for example:
C:\Sage\Accounts
C:\Sage\Instant Payroll
C:\Sage\Forecasting
C:\Sage\Job Costing

Tip: To install your Sage programs into a different folder, during the installation you must click Custom Install, then locate and select a new destination folder.

To run Sage programs as an administrator on Windows Vista
Right-click the relevant shortcut then choose Properties.

The shortcut Properties window appears.

Click the Shortcut tab then click Advanced.

The Advanced Properties window appears.

Select the Run as administrator check box then click OK.

The shortcut Properties window appears.

Click OK then on the Access Denied window, click Continue.

The User Account Control window appears.

To return to the Windows desktop, click Continue.

Tip: If you are not logged on to the PC as an administrator, the User Account Control window prompts you to enter the user name and password of an administrator. Enter the user name and password then click OK.

You have now successfully set the program to run as an administrator.

Tip: Each time you open the program when logged on to the PC as a non administrator, the administrator user name and password must be entered.

Correcting mistakes in Sage 50

Correcting mistakesIf you have made an error in posting a transaction in Sage 50 Accounts, don’t worry, you can correct your mistake and keep a full record of the corrections that have been made. You can access the Corrections module from File > Maintenance > Corrections. In this window you simply locate the transaction which contains the error and either choose Edit Item, to make an amendment or Delete Item to remove it completely.
Here are a few things to remember when editing transactions.

• If you amend a critical field, the original transaction is amended and a deleted
transaction is created at the end of the audit trail. This deleted transaction shows the
original details before the amendment. Some examples of a critical field are; date,
nominal code, net and VAT amounts.

• If you change the net amount of a transaction, the VAT amount doesn’t automatically
recalculate so you also need to amend this value.

• You cannot delete a transaction which has been VAT reconciled. Instead, the software
will ask you if you want to reverse the transaction; this posts the opposite transaction
type. For example, if you try to delete a VAT reconciled sales invoice, a sales credit is
posted to reverse its effect.

• If you amend or delete a transaction which has been bank reconciled, this changes the
Last reconciled balance of your next bank reconciliation.

• It’s not possible to delete or amend a critical field on a journal transaction. If you make
a mistake with a journal you should manually reverse the journal by reposting it with the
same date and values, but swapping debits for credits and vice versa. This removes
the effect of the journal and you can then repost it correctly

Year end Procedure in Sage 50

At the end of your financial year, it is mandatory for the year end procedure to be run, however this does not have to be run on the actual day your financial year finishes.

1. Ensure that all transactions have been entered for the year you are closing.

2. Print all of the reports your business requires. As a minimum we would recommend the reports detailed above.

3. In Settings > Change program date, change the software date to the last day of your financial year.

4. Take two backups of your data in File > Backup, ensuring that these backups are stored in a secure location. It’s useful to label these backups as ‘YearEnd2012_1.001’ and ‘YearEnd2012_2.001’ for example.

5. Within Tools > Period End > Year End, check all the details are correct then click OK to complete the process. As part of this process an archive is automatically created. The archive is a ‘read only snapshot’ of your company at the point the year end is run. To access this at a later date, go to File > Open > Company Archive.

Running this process doesn’t stop you from being able to process transactions back into the year you have just completed, unless you have set a lock date.

Back Up option in Sage 50

Back Up Data and other Files in option in Sage 50

Having checked that your data is free from errors, a data backup should then be
taken at the end of every day where processing has taken place. Found in File > Backup,
the file created by the backup process should be stored in a secure location, ideally not
relying on a single PC to hold these files. We also recommend that a backup is taken prior
to running any major business process like a VAT or bank reconciliation or the year end
procedure.

Chart of accounts - New Taxation Category with sage 50 2012 -V18

COA -Taxation Category

Fulfilling a long felt need. The chart of accounts now includes a new Taxation category in the Profit and Loss area, therefore profit and loss reports can now show net profit before and after taxation. The Edit chart of Accounts window has been improved to show a preview of the effects of any changes that you make, and the profit and loss / balance sheet codes are now located on separate tabs.

Quick Search in Sage 50 2012 -V18 O/w

Quick Search
The Quick Search option makes it easier to find the information that you’re looking for,
without the need to build a complex search query. The Quick Search analyses all fields
within the ledgers for the information you’ve entered.