Top 3 items to do when setting up a new company

3 minute read time.

New to Sage 50? Or do you just need to re-create a database? Here are the top 3 tips to help get you started after you've installed and activated your software. For full details see KB 29934.

 

Tip #1: Talk to your Accountant and Set Fiscal Start and End dates

Start by deciding what your Earliest Transaction Date will be. Two good choices are:

  • The first day of your calendar year
  • The first day of a fiscal period

 

"A fiscal year is your business's annual reporting period. All kinds of reports are based on the fiscal year, including taxes." -thebalance.com

 

A fiscal year should be a period of 12 months. Anything more than 12 months will result in muddled yearly reports.

 

Note*: If you decide to change the ending date but it's greyed out, this means that a transaction using this date has already been posted into the system blocking this date change.

 

Important*: The starting date cannot be changed once set, the whole database has to be recreated. Reasons why to plan ahead and know your dates!

During Step 4 of the New Company Setup wizard, you'll be asked to set your dates.

 

Tip #2: Create the Chart of Accounts

Sage 50 Accounting assigns numbers to accounts with the benefit being that you can identify the type of account by its account number alone.

 

The New Company Setup Wizard guides you through the process of creating a new company in a few simple steps.

 If you're just starting out, let Sage 50 Accounting create the list of accounts that you will use to track your business. Some accounts are industry-specific, so select your industry to get the list of accounts that best suits your business needs. If you do not know which type to pick, select Other. You can always modify your account list later.

 

Tip #3: Enter opening balances into Chart of Accounts

When you get to your list of accounts, you'll see several amounts of $0, these can be changed manually right from the New Company Setup Wizard screen or from the Company module > Chart of Accounts, double click on an account's balance to get the white field for amount input.

Important*: Before leaving history mode ( or before you get going with invoice creation etc., check your data integrity, go to Maintenance > Data Integrity, is Data ok ?) Also, once you leave history mode, you will no longer be able to enter opening balances into the COA.

Once these top tips are completed, review the article Setting up a new company for more detailed steps.

 

Here's how to enter of opening balances into your Chart of Accounts.

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