Convert Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online

When it comes to the best accounting software, nothing beats well-known names like Sage 50 and QuickBooks. Both foundations have polished and released various versions of their accounting systems over the years, ranging from desktop-based offline software tools to cloud-based solutions. Sage 50 and QuickBooks are two of the oldest rivals in the field of accounting software systems. The firms that built both accounting platforms, Sage Group plc and Intuit Inc., began their journey practically simultaneously in the early 1980s. 

Throughout the decades, the two adversaries have released several versions of their accounting systems, ranging from desktop-based offline software tools to cloud-based solutions. Businesses frequently struggle to choose the best decision. However, the decision is entirely dependent on the individual’s demands and preferences.

Businesses may find it challenging at times to select the optimal option. However, the choice is totally up to the personal tastes and interests of the person. Contrarily, QuickBooks continuously updates and introduces new features to enhance and streamline the performance of all accounting processes. 

For small enterprises, Sage Start-Up, QuickBooks SimpleStart, and QuickBooks Pro are all regarded as being equally beneficial. However, it is preferable to migrate to choices like Sage 50 (formerly known as Sage Peachtree) and QuickBooks Enterprise as a firm expands and its accounting needs grow. Sage One (also known as Sage Business Cloud), Sage 50 Cloud, and QuickBooks Online (QBO) are the ideal options to search for if you want to take full benefit of cloud-based accounting.

What may be converted from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online?

Things that cannot be converted

• Budgets
• transactional recollections
• Invoice Template attachments
• entries not posted
• estimate closures or partial closures, and purchase orders
• transaction deletions
• reversed entries in a journal
• History of bank reconciliation
• Static Assets
• sales requests
• Work permits

Things that can be converted

• initial balances
• both clients and vendors
• Accounts Chart
• Credits and invoices
• Diaries entries
• past transactions
• uniform payments

How long does it take to transfer data from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online?

Depending on the size and type of your Sage 50 file, processing timeframes may vary. From the time your data is put into the Dataswitcher conversion process, it typically takes up to 72 hours. Please be aware that this does not account for the time you will need to prepare and review your data before or following the conversion.

The quantity and complexity of your data will affect how long it takes to transfer from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online. Generally speaking, the procedure might take a few hours to many days.

If your data set isn’t too large, the conversion procedure can be finished very fast. The procedure can take longer, though, if you have a lot of data or complicated financial records.

It’s crucial to keep in mind that there are multiple processes involved in the conversion process, including exporting your data from Sage 50, getting the data ready for import into QuickBooks Online, and finally entering the data into QuickBooks Online. Every one of these stages might take any amount of time.

Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online conversion service limitations

The Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online conversion process has certain recognized restrictions:

• If the journals include a future date, transactions will be pushed to QuickBooks Desktop at that time.
• All foreign currency data transfers are conducted in the local currency.
• Reversed journals won’t be published.
• To synchronize your AR and AP histories, QuickBooks Conversion Tool could utilize a “dummy” client or vendor.
• QuickBooks does not allow account numbers with more than seven digits. The migration will fail if any of the accounts in your Chart of Accounts have seven numbers or more.
• In contrast to QuickBooks, which does not support fiscal years, Sage 50 lets you move balances to new accounts at year’s end.
• Sage 50, which does not support fiscal years, allows you to move balances to new accounts at the end of the year, but QuickBooks does not.
• Normal balance sheet account renaming is supported, however renaming system accounts, such as retained earnings, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, might cause problems after the conversion. Before attempting to migrate, return any renamed system accounts to their original settings.
• Account numbers of eight characters or more cannot be used in QuickBooks Online. The conversion will not work if one or more of your Chart of Accounts’ Sage 50 Account IDs are eight characters or more.
• Several problems might arise during the Conversion if your file fails the Data Integrity check (Maintenance -> Data Integrity Check).
• Your QuickBooks Online audit trail will not include this information for transactions that were converted from Sage 50. For auditing purposes, you should keep a duplicate of your Sage 50 backup file. See the Sage 50 pre-conversion checklist.
• The system accounts (Retained Earnings, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, etc.) cannot be renamed through the transaction history without causing problems, such as suspense accounts appearing as customers or vendors in QuickBooks Online.          
• The conversion may not succeed if your Sage 50 Chart of Accounts contains a large number of linked Account IDs.

System Requirements for Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online Conversion

Sage 50: To use Sage 50 Cloud (previously Peachtree) 2009–2012 or Sage 50 Accounting 2013–2017, you must be using the US edition.

QuickBooks Online: A paid QuickBooks Online (US) membership is required. If you don’t already have one, you may get one from our website or upgrade your membership if you’re currently using a free trial.  

Data backup for Sage 50 before conversion

The most significant and vital step is making a backup. In case data is unintentionally lost or corrupted, it is imperative that you regularly backup the data files for your company. If required, you may then recover your data.

To prevent data loss or file damage, carefully follow the instructions:

• The first step is to choose Back-Up from the file menu.
• Sage 50 shows the window for the Back Up Company.
• To be reminded to backup in a specific number of days, choose the Reminder box in the next step.
• If you want Sage 50 to name the backup file with your business name in it after the next step, make sure to include the company name selected.
• Now, choose the Include archives in the backup check box if you want Sage 50 to backup your archived companies.
• The backup option is still available after that in the file menu. Additionally, the Back Up Company window from Sage 50 is shown.
• If you want Sage 50 to back up files that you’ve connected to records and transactions, check the Include attachments in the backup box. If you don’t have any attachments, this option won’t work.
• In the following step, choose to Include attachments to ensure that Sage 50 backs up any files you’ve connected to records and transactions. If no attachments are included in the Backup form, this option will be disabled. If desired, you can alter this. PTB is the file extension for Sage 50 backup files.
• The file should be saved. In megabytes (MB), Sage 50 displays the expected size of your backup.
• Activate the OK button. Up until it’s done, the system updates the backup’s status.

The Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online Conversion Process

Much simpler than most people realize, switching from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online is possible. Utilizing the lesson below, let’s have a look at how easy it is. There are a few necessary steps that must be taken right before the conversion process to avoid delays later on. How to switch from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online and what to do will be discussed. A few things must be done before the conversion process can begin.

Bank and credit card accounts

When you initially start using QuickBooks Online, you may be prompted to link your bank and credit card accounts. Please do not proceed until instructed to do so in the post-conversion checklist.

Delete all of your QuickBooks Online data.

When you start the conversion process, you must confirm that there are no ongoing transactions in your QuickBooks Online file. If you have data in your organization, you must delete it before submitting your Sage 50 file to Dataswitcher.

Various currencies

If you utilize several currencies in Sage 50, you should activate multi-currency in QuickBooks Online as well. If you wish to delete your QuickBooks Online data, make sure to activate multi-currency thereafter, since this will reset your settings.

The tax on purchases

Sales Tax should not have been enabled in QuickBooks Online before the conversion. You must delete your QuickBooks Online data if you have enabled it. Now that you are familiar with the pre-conversion stages, let us go on to the conversion process.

Converting from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online

Step 1: 

• The user must give the following information precisely:
• Their contact information is provided.
• The email address of the person at your firm who is in charge of the conversion.
• After completing the preceding steps, click Next or sign in with your Intuit ID.

Step 2: 

The first and most important step is to go into QuickBooks Online as an administrator and open the company file you wish to convert to QBO.

Step 3: 

Go to Company > Export Company File to QuickBooks Online in Desktop Pro or Premier after the next step. Also, take notice that Ctrl+1 followed by Ctrl+B+Q are required for Desktop Enterprise.

Step 4: 

Press the Begin Export button after that.

Step 5: 

After completing the aforementioned procedure, choose Yes or No based on whether you want to import track inventory.

Step 6: 

Choose an online firm from the drop-down option, then select the company from the list that the new file should replace.

Step 7:

Click the Continue button to proceed after that. The word “Agree” must be typed into a text box that displays. Hit Replace after that.

Step 8: 

Finally, click Update to update the data after selecting Yes.

After your data has been imported, and confirmed, and any required corrections have been made, you may start using QuickBooks Online to manage your money. So that you can use the platform to its full potential for your business, be sure to spend some time becoming familiar with it and its features.

Conclusion

If you take the appropriate actions, switching from QuickBooks Online to Sage 50 may be a rather simple procedure. You can successfully switch to QuickBooks Online and begin using the platform to manage your finances by making a backup of your Sage 50 company file, exporting your data in the proper format, setting up your account, importing your data, verifying your data, making any necessary adjustments, and becoming familiar with the platform. Before making the transfer, it’s crucial to take the time to familiarize yourself with the platform and its capabilities because there may be some changes between the way data is handled and processed in Sage 50 and QuickBooks Online.

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FAQ

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Q. What should I consider before switching from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online? 

The following are a few points to keep in mind: 

• The hard drive of the computer should be used to store the QuickBooks Database and Sage 50-related data.
• The QuickBooks software and Sage 50 should be installed on the same computer for the conversion to be successful.
• The conversion tool cannot be used to convert between different regions.

Q. How do you get your data ready?

Please check the following boxes to complete this:

• Extracted all necessary reports from Sage 50 by the instructions in the pre-conversion phases.
• Confirmed that you are utilizing accrual accounting.
• An update was made to QuickBooks Online.
• Sage 50 was used to reconcile all accounts.
• Extracted from Sage 50 all open invoices and credits.
• Read the restrictions placed on the Sage 50 conversion procedure and comprehended them.

Q. How will my company’s data be safeguarded?

If you utilize the web form to upload, your company’s data will be secure. The SSL encryption used is the industry standard. The Data Stewardship Principles of Intuit also apply to your data.

Q. Can transactions be marked up as reconciled?

It is feasible to accomplish this. This is how you do it:

• Choose a blank check first next to Deposit (USD).
• After that, start hitting on all of Yes.
• Finally, choose the Finish Now option from the dropdown menu next to Save for Later.

Q. What are the most characters that may be used while making a password?

Make that the password generated by the users is no longer than 8 characters. A password longer than 8 characters will result in a malfunction of the converting tool.