Software · Accounts
Getting data out of Sage 50
Sage 50 is the desktop accounts package half the industrial estate still runs on. It's fine at being accounts. It's stubborn about giving its data back. That's the part we fix.
The catch, plainly
Modern software has an API: a tap for getting data out. Sage 50 doesn't have a proper one. Data comes out through its development kit or a wired-in connection to its database, which is fiddlier than a cloud package and is where most integration tools give up. We don't; this route is bread and butter for us, and it's precisely why the firms who "can't get anything out of Sage" are wrong.
What we typically build
The numbers screen
Aged debt, cash, sales by customer, fed from Sage 50 on a schedule. About a week.
Job system into Sage
Invoices posted from your quoting or job system into Sage 50 automatically. Usually one to two weeks.
Example: simPRO to Sage 50Excel that fills itself
The report someone rebuilds from exports every Friday, refreshing on its own instead. A few days.
Three straight answers
Does Sage 50 have an API?
Not a modern one. There's no clean web API; the data comes out through Sage's development kit or a direct database connection. More work than a cloud package, entirely doable.
Do we have to move off Sage 50 to get dashboards?
No. An extract that refreshes nightly, or hourly if you need it, feeds a live dashboard perfectly well. Moving to a cloud package is a separate decision, and often not an urgent one.
Is Sage 50 ready for Making Tax Digital?
For VAT, yes: supported versions have filed VAT digitally for years. The income tax side that began in April 2026 is about sole traders and landlords, not limited companies; who the change actually affects is written up in plain English, and the answer is calmer than the adverts.
When not to do this
If you're moving to Xero or Business Central in the next few months anyway, don't pay us to wire up Sage 50 first. Wait and do it properly on the new system. We'll tell you if that's you, in the first conversation, for free.
Stuck on Sage 50?
You're not stuck. A first conversation costs nothing.