HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM SAGE 50 ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE: Ten Things You Should Know

Your business needs fast, effective support for the software you rely on to run your business, especially in the Accounts and Payroll divisions. Providing support for these essential components of a company’s IT infrastructure has been our business for five decades. Some of the most common calls to our Sage 50 helpline prompted us to compile a list of simple tips to help you feel more comfortable with the products and to help you get the most from Sage 50 .

Ten Tips to Make Sage 50 Easier for You to Use

1.    How to Access the Sage 50 Help File:

• Press F1 at any stage and the online help file opens
• If you press F1 while a particular window or form is open, the help files specific to that page will open
• You can access help by selecting Help >>” F1 – In product Help” from the Sage menu

2.    How to Check The Effect a Posting Will Have on Your Live Data

• Log into your demo/test company at any time and test a posting before applying it to your live data

3.    How to Deal with a Missing Nominal Account from Your Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet Reports

• Check that the nominal account has a balance
• Ensure that the account is included in your Chart of Accounts layout (COA)

4.    What to Do if There are Irreconcilable Differences between Aged Debtors/Aged Creditors and Debtors/Creditor Control Accounts

Ensure that:

• All transactions are posted and updated
• All manual journals were posted to your control accounts (there should not be any manual postings to control accounts)
• All dates of transaction postings have been posted to correct periods

Check that:

• If transactions were back-dated or future-dated into a closed period?
• If the ageing reports were run at month end or are you ageing reports as of month?
• If the reports were run after new transactions were posted and allocations took place?

5.     What Keyboard Shortcuts and Function Keys are available?

• Press the ALT key while a particular window is open to view the relevant keyboard shortcuts
• Some are highlighted on screen, such as F6 & F7 which insert rows and copy cells

Did you know you can use email within Sage to send statements, invoices, and remittances … and save on postage?!

6.    What to Do if You Cannot Find a Menu Item or Option in The Accounts Application

• Check with your Administrator that your user status or role status has access to the required feature or function.

7. What to Do if You Have a Problem Installing The Client Version of The Software

• Check permissions and user access control settings
• Check specifications on PC to ensure it meets minimum system requirements

8.    How Can You Access Reports Quickly?

• Mark them as favourites
• When accessing reports within different modules, favourites will be marked with a

Did you know before processing, you can pre-print VAT returns and view figures for the current period VAT return?

9.    How to correct a failed SEPA file (generally due to incorrect or missing details)

Check:

• Have you used the correct BIC and IBAN?
• Is the processing date correct?
• Are all fields completed?

10. How to Customise Your Screens List, such as Adding Columns for Quick Access

Check out this helpful video:

Customising your screens list saves time spent scrolling between different accounts when you need to view information within a customer account or sales order.

Each customer call for support is important to us. For all your Sage 50 support requirements, please email us at support@mcscomputers.ie or call us on 01 4507846 and ask to speak to Sinéad, Conor, or Paul—our Sage consultants.

Also, please note if you have unusual or unique business needs, our software development team will work with you to customise Sage 50 to meet your needs.

Read more about the MCS custom development service to find out how we can help you!

Written by Paul Daly and Sinead Hanbury