Automatic Backup Configuration

Problem:

Accounting and bookkeeping can be a tedious and time-consuming process of manually keying in transactions, often the same entries week after week and month after month.  Often clerical staff put off keying these same repetitive transactions, and then face a crunch at month end to bring the books up to date. 

Solution:

Sage 50cloud allows you to create and save common transactions for future use with the Memorize Transactions feature. For example, you may want to repeat a customer transaction that you previously entered several times. Or, you can record an existing transaction and use it for other customers or vendors. Using memorized transactions can save time and alleviate the drudgery of repetitive data entry tasks.

Automatic Backup Configuration

This gem’s value:

Save time and headache by quickly restoring a backup if a file becomes damaged beyond repair.  

How to uncover it:

1. Click ‘File,’ then ‘Automatic Backup.’ (Alternative: You can also open the Automatic Backup Configuration from the Start menu or using the desktop icon.)
2. Click ‘Browse’ beside ‘Company Directory’ and select the company directory. 
3. Click ‘Browse’ beside ‘Save Backup to’ and select where you want to save your backup files.
4. If your company has users set up: enter the Sage 50 user name and password, confirm the password, and click ‘Verify User Details.’
5. Under ‘Include,’ if available and desired:                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
   - Check ‘Company Name’ in the backup file name. (Recommended if using more than 1 Sage 50 company.)
   - Check ‘Archived Companies.’
   - Check ‘Attachments.’ (Recommended if attaching files to transactions or maintenance records.)
   
   
6. Under ‘If a backup file already exists,’ select the desired backup option. (We recommend using ‘Automatically create a new backup file.’ This will create a new backup if a file of the same name exists.)
7. Check ‘Log out users prior to running backup.’ (This is recommended but not required.)
8. Click ‘Save.’
9. Choose a save location and a file name for the configuration file. The company directory is recommended.
10. Click ‘Save.’
11. Click ‘Schedule’ and select the desired backup schedule. (We recommend weekly backups.)
12. Click ‘OK.’
13. Enter the password for the Windows account and click ‘OK.’ (Note: The Windows Task Scheduler requires the Windows user account to have a password configured to access the account. The task cannot be scheduled if the user account does not require a password to log in.)
14. Click ‘Save.’

Bank Feeds/Bank Reconciliation

Problem:

Reconciling bank accounts can be a tedious manual process for any business.  In the past, in efforts to reduce these manual processes, businesses used tools such as PDF converters to extract the data from bank statements and import them into their accounting system to help with the reconciliation.  This process would often result in data errors that had to be fixed manually, slowing down the process.  

Solution:

Automated Bank Feeds are integrated into the powerful Bank Reconciliation module in Sage 50cloud.  The feeds facilitate the automatic retrieval of bank transactions from your bank into Sage 50. After you set up Bank Feeds, transactions securely flow from your bank account into Sage 50.  This eliminates manual processes to save you time, reduces errors, ensures accurate financial data, and provides an up-to-date view of your finances.

Bank Feeds/Bank Reconciliation

This gem's value:
Reduce manual data entry and avoid data entry errors.

How to uncover it:

1. Select the GL account from the ‘Account to Reconcile’ field.
   Note: You must complete the remaining steps for each GL account you want to connect to Sage Bank Feeds.
2. Click ‘Bank Feeds’ from the ‘Account Reconciliation’ toolbar.
3. Click ‘Connect to Bank Feed’ from the drop-down menu.
4. Enter and confirm the email address on the welcome page.
   (Note: Once you proceed past this step, you cannot go back to change the email address for any GL account in this company.)
5. Select to accept the Terms and Conditions and click the ‘I’m not a robot’ box to launch the CAPTCHA security requirements. Click the appropriate images on the CAPTCHA window.
6. Click ‘Finish’ on the security check window.
7. Choose your financial institution.
   (Note: ‘Popular Banks’ displays the top ten banks. ‘Other Banks’ will allow you to search for your bank. If your bank does not appear, submit the bank name to have it added to the list.)
8. Click the ‘Sign in’ button to select your bank account and start date for bank feeds transactions.
9. Enter your online ID and password.
10. Select the bank account type you are connecting to Sage Bank Feeds.
11. Select the ‘Start date’ and click the ‘Process’ button.
    (Note: The Start Date is extremely important, as it will determine the transaction records downloaded from your bank. For example, if you select October 1, 2017, it will only download transaction records starting from October 1 through the current date. This date should not include the time frame you have already reconciled. ‘Start Date’ will default to 90-days and you cannot select a date in the future. You can only go back two years from the current date. However, the bank institution will ultimately determine transactions available for download. For example, if you select 90-days and your bank limits downloads to 30-days of transactions, your download will only include transactions from the last 30-days.)
12. Click ‘Finish’ to complete the setup and close the wizard.

Make Multiple Records Inactive

Problem:

Accounting systems can get bogged down with obsolete data for customers and vendors.  These clutter up the system, and make it harder to focus on relevant data when you have to navigate through stale records that no longer have an impact on your business.  Cleaning up these records can very time consuming if you have to go into maintenance screens and make records inactive one at a time.  

Solution:

Sage 50 provides the Make Multiple Records Inactive feature that allows users to search for types of records that have not had any activity in the past 180 days including customers, vendors and inventory items.  Of course, you can change the default date to time periods less than or greater than 6 months if desired.   You can use this in conjunction with Hide Inactive Records on the Options/Global window.  Also, some customers use this function to target marketing messages to customers who haven’t purchased in a while or to solicit discounts from vendors they haven’t worked with in a while. 

Make Multiple Records Inactive

This gem's value:

Reduce time spent manually selecting and opening each record to mark it inactive. Inactive records can be hidden to make lists load faster and purged to reduce your company file size and improve Sage 50 performance.

How to uncover it:

1. Go to ‘Maintain.’ 
2. Select ‘Make Records Inactive.’
3. Choose either ‘Customer,’ ‘Vendor,’ or ‘Inventory Item.’ 
4. Select the last activity date (this will list the records with activity before the date you select). 
5. Click ‘Find Records.’ 
6. Click the ‘Make Inactive’ button.
   Note: We recommend making a backup before making records inactive.

Cash Flow Manager

Problem:

Lack of cash is one of the leading reasons small businesses fail.  Every month, there are regular bills to pay. Salaries, rent, suppliers and raw materials are important and are among the highest amounts of cash to be paid out. Plus, there will always be unplanned expenses.  If cash flow is negative, it can be a major warning sign. It does not take many weeks or months of an inadequate cash flow before a business may find itself in trouble.  Understanding cash flow management is vital to the health of a business.

Solution:

The Cash Flow Manager in Sage 50cloud gives you a powerful tool to quickly grasp the state of your business's cash. It shows you the balances of your cash accounts, cash expected to come in, and cash expected to go out. In addition, you can modify settings, such as the time frame you want to see, the types of transactions (invoices, quotes, purchases, etc.) you include and expected totals, as well as the ability to run “what-if” scenarios without affecting your data.

Cash Flow Manager

This gem's value:
Better manage the cash coming in and out of your business.

How to uncover it:

1. Go to ‘Analysis.’ 
2. Select ‘Cash Flow Manager.’
3. Change the ‘Time Frame’ to the desired range
4. Select ‘Expected Incoming Cash’ or ‘Expected Outgoing Cash’ to see transactions for the selected cash accounts.

Collection Manager

Problem:

Customers that do not pay their bills in a timely manner can be a significant drag on the profitability of any business.  It is critical that businesses stay on top of delinquent accounts to maintain a healthy cash flow.  This can be time consuming without tools to quickly identify which customers are delinquent and promptly communicate with them to collect on these amounts.  

Solution:

Sage 50 offers an easy-to-use Collection Manager to quickly access the aging status of money owed to you from your customers via graphs and numerical analysis listings.   You can drill into the 4 aging brackets (0-30 days, 31-60, 61-90, and over 90.) You can also drill down to various levels of detail to see balances for a customer and even to see the original invoice. In addition, you can check off a batch of customers to send collection letters to.

Collection Manager

This gem's value:

Quickly see and print a batch of collection letters to customers with past due balances.

How to uncover it:

1. Go to ‘Analysis.’
2. Select ‘Collection Manager’ to view the graphical representation of the total amount and number of days past due for all customers.
3. To view a numerical list, select the ‘Bracket’ button on the toolbar. This will show you a list of customers with a past due invoice and the total amount due for each invoice.
4. To send a collection letter, place a checkmark by the invoice amount under the ‘Letter’ columns for each customer.
5. Click the ‘Letter’ button on the toolbar to print those collection letters in batch.

Payment Manager

Problem:

Small businesses struggle to stay on top of vendor payments, balancing cash out with the opportunity to take advantage of discounts for early payments and avoiding late fees when payments are not made on time.  

Solution:

Sage 50 offers an easy-to-use Payment Manager feature to quickly access the aging status of money you owe to your vendors via graphs and numerical analysis listings.   You can drill into the 4 aging brackets (0-30 days, 31-60, 61-90, and over 90.) You can drill down to various levels of detail to see balances for a vendor and even to see the original invoice.  

Payment Manager

This gem's value:

See who you owe, avoid overdue fees, and claim more discounts.

How to uncover it:

1. Select ‘Analysis’ and then ‘Payment Manager’ from the top toolbar.

Memorized Transactions

Problem:

Accounting and bookkeeping can be a tedious and time-consuming process of manually keying in transactions, often the same entries week after week and month after month.  Often clerical staff put off keying these same repetitive transactions, and then face a crunch at month end to bring the books up to date.  

Solution:

Sage 50cloud allows you to create and save common transactions for future use with the Memorize Transactions feature. For example, you may want to repeat a customer transaction that you previously entered several times. Or, you can record an existing transaction and use it for other customers or vendors. Using memorized transactions can save time and alleviate the drudgery of repetitive data entry tasks.

Memorized Transactions

This gem's value:

When you have an outline that is roughly what would normally be processed, modify a template on the fly instead of creating a new transaction each time.

How to uncover it

Create a memorized transaction

1. Select ‘Maintain,’ then ‘Memorized Transactions,’ and select the appropriate transaction type. 
   (You can memorize Quotes, Sales Invoices, Purchase Orders, Payments, and General Journal Entries.)  
2. Enter a ‘Transaction ID’ to identify the memorized transaction and a description.
3. Enter the information that will be reused on each transaction.
4. Select ‘Save’ to record the memorized transaction for later use. 

Use a memorized transaction

1. Select ‘Maintain,’ then ‘Memorized Transactions,’ and select the transaction type.
2. Select the ‘Transaction ID’ for the transaction you would like to create.
3. Click the ‘Select’ button on the toolbar to open the transaction window and populate the details of the memorized entry.
4. Enter or adjust the entry as desired (any of the details can be changed).
5. Click ‘Save’ or ‘Print.’

Action Items

Problem:

Even small businesses can struggle keeping up with all the accounting and bookkeeping tasks especially across several employees.  Companies need help to ensure that proper workflows are followed, tasks are done on time and accurately, and potential problems are identified and brought to their attention.   

Solution:

Sage 50 users can leverage the Action Items module to manage Alerts, To-Do’s and Events.  You can setup Alerts to track the events that are most important to your business.  These Alerts are special conditions within your company that you want to be kept aware of. For example,  an alert that would inform you if a certain inventory item fell below 100 units.  

Action Items

This gem's value:

Helps you organize daily tasks and avoid duplicate transaction entry. Use the email feature to get reminders in your inbox. 

How to uncover it:

1. From the ‘Tasks’ menu, select ‘Action Items.’ 
2. Select the ‘To Do’ tab to view existing to-do items. 
3. To enter a to-do item, select a blank line in the list. Then enter the date and a brief description in the ‘Notes’ field. 
4. Select the checkbox if an item is completed. (To remove a to-do item from the list, click the ‘Delete’ button on the toolbar.)