Sage 50 Accounts

It is a good idea to keep your Sage 50 Accounts program up to date to take advantage of the latest features and fixes for any bugs.

Memo – Job Costing or Sage Manufacturing V28.1 and above are no longer compatible with these programs, and it is recommended not to install Sage 50 Accounts V28.1 or V29.

Check for updates

Install available updates from within your Sage 50 Accounts software:

1. On the menu bar go to Help, then click check for Updates.
2. Follow the on-screen prompts.

You can choose to install the updates manually. To do this, follow the steps below.

Check your current version

1. Open Sage 50 Accounts.
2. On the menu bar go to Help, then select
3. In the Program Details section, check the version number.

Once you know the version number of your software, you can go Sage’s website and download the relevant update required.

Manually install an update

Note – To install the latest version, go to Sage’s website and use their software hub.

Select the software version you want to install eg V33.1, the latest version is 33.1.359.0

1. Log on to your computer as an administrator and close all software.
2. Go to Sage’s website and click the link for the relevant download eg ‘Download Sage 50 Accounts v33.1 64-bit’.
3. Click Save if prompted by your browser.
4. Locate and right-click the downloaded file, then select Run as Administrator.
5. Follow the instructions in the installer application.
6. Once installation is complete, Open Sage 50 Accounts.
7. On the menu bar go to Help, then select About.
8. Under program Details, check this shows the latest version.

If you have Sage 50 Accounts installed on multiple computers, repeat these steps on each, including the computer that holds your data, check they are all showing the same version number when you have finished.

If you would like help installing an update etc or installing sage on a new computer etc or if you need any other help with your Sage 50 Accounts, please contact us

Sage Payroll

Errors when emailing documents from program

ERROR: ’Outlook doesn’t recognize one or more names’ in event viewer

Since a recent Microsoft Outlook update on 21^st April 2026, some users are unable to send emails with various messages including:

• Error with address: Unknown Error
• Generic Com Error
• Unable to communicate with Microsoft Outlook

Resolution

This error only occurs when you send emails immediately from outlook.

To check if the Microsoft update caused your error

1. Type Event Viewer in the search box of your taskbar.
2. Click the Event Viewer app, then maximise the window app.
3. Click Windows Logs in the list on the left, then select Application.
4. Check the section heading Application for any errors where the Source is Sage Report Designer.
5. Select and error to view its details in the General tab below.
6. Check for the message ‘Outlook doesn’t recognize one or more names.’

Workaround

If you are unable to do the above, change your settings to save emails to your mailbox and send from there.

1. Go to Settings, then click Email Defaults.
2. In the Email Program dropdown, click Microsoft Outlook.
3. Select the tab for the items you send via email.
4. In the send Options, choose Save to Mailbox.
5. Click Apply and select the checkbox for each layout to apply the email settings to.
6. Select OK then OK.

If you have problems emailing documents from your Sage 50 Payroll program or need any other help or advice with your payroll, please contact us

We can also provide a remote access service where we can link into your computer to help you resolve your Sage Accounts or Payroll problems.

Sage Payroll Year end

Payroll New Year

1. Check you’ re using the correct version.

Before you start processing the new tax year, you must have installed the update for the 2026/27 tax year, V32.00.299 or V32.00.300.

2. Update your employees’ tax codes.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the personal allowance and emergency tax code remains the same at £25,570 and 1257L. This means you do not need to change your employees’ tax codes unless informed by HMRC.

You do however need to remove the week 1 / month 1 flag on any employees’ tax codes before processing in the new tax year.

3. Small employers’ relief

If you are eligible for Small Employers’ Relief (SER) (previous years gross National Insurance must be less than £45,000), you need to set your Sage Payroll to calculate and claim it.

1. Click Company then
2. Select the Eligible for Small Employers’ Relief
3. Click OK
4. Apply for Employment Allowance

TIP: make sure your process date is set to 6/04/2026 before completing this.

In the 2026/27 tax year the employment allowance remains as £10,500 for eligible employers to reduce their annual Employers National Insurance liability by up to £10,500.

Submit the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) for Employment Allowance

1. Click Company, then click Settings.
2. Select the Eligible for Employment Allowance check box and click Submit.

• Where this button is missing, you have already applied.
• If you need to submit another application, select Settings, then continue to Step 3.
• If you are ready to start claiming it in your software, skip to the enable Employment Allowance

3. Select Continue then Submit.
4. Select Submit again, then allow the submission to complete.
5. Print the submission log if required, then select Close.

At this stage, HMRC receives an EPS with Employment Allowance application.

• If your application is unsuccessful, you receive a notification in your IR Secure Mailbox within five working days.
• If you do not hear back from HMRC, then your application has been successful, and you can then select the Eligible for Employment Allowance check box within Company then Settings. Once you select this check box, your software is set up to calculate Employer Allowance.

Memo

If you select the Eligible for Employment Allowance check box after you have already processed one or more tax months, you must re-run your P32 for each month of the tax year starting from month 1. Sage 50 Payroll then calculated the Employment Allowance due in each period and records these values in Company Settings > HMRC Payments of your software.

6. Pensions module

If you use the pension module, when you process the first period of the new tax year, Sage prompts to check your pension contribution rates are correct.

Pensions Data Exchange

If you use the Pensions Data Exchange (PDX) to send data to your provider, there are some additional steps to complete at the start of the tax year, to make sure that the dates align etc.

5. New legislation for 2025/2025 tax year

There are a few changes to payroll legislation in the new tax year, including a change to the National Minimum Wage from 1 April and the most significant changes is to the rules on Statutory Sick Pay etc.

If you need help running your payroll year end routine or setting up for the new Payroll year or need any other help or advice with your payroll, please contact us

Sage 50 Accounts

You might want to add your own Chart of Accounts just to report on specific nominal codes.  You can have numerous Charts of Accounts.

Add a Chart of Account

1. Go to Nominal codes > then click Chart of accounts.
2. Click Add and enter a name for the new chart of accounts Add.
3. Add the nominal codes you wish to, in the chart of accounts, then click Save.
4. If you are not adding all your nominal codes to your chart of accounts, or you are going to come back and finish it later, you will get a warning message “Incomplete chart of accounts.” Click OK.

Note If you do not add all the nominal ranges, the chart shows as PARTIAL in the Chart of Accounts window after saving.

Edit

You can edit any chart of accounts.

1. Highlight the relevant chart of accounts and click Edit.
2. You can change the name of the chart of accounts and add more nominal codes or delete nominal codes, change the grouping of the nominal codes as required.
3. Click Save when finished.

Delete a chart of accounts

If you have a chart of accounts that you have created that you no longer need and want to delete it.

1. Highlight the relevant chart of accounts.
2. Click
3. Click Yes to confirm that you are sure you wish to delete the relevant chart of accounts.

Set a default chart of accounts

Sage uses the default chart of accounts to populate your reports automatically.  You can change this to suit your needs if you have set up your own chart of accounts layout.

1. Highlight the relevant chart of accounts.
2. Click Make Default then click OK.

If you would like help with creating, amending, or deleting a chart of accounts, or if you need any other help with your Sage 50 Accounts, please contact us

Benefits in Kind

A Benefit in Kind (BIK) is a notional payment, which increases you employee’s taxable pay without increasing their net pay.  You can also set a BIK payment as subject to NI if required.

As an employee’s taxable pay goes up, their PAYE Liability increases.  This reduces their net pay.  A common use of BIK is to calculate the tax due on a taxable benefit.  You can either produce a P11D after the Payroll year end to report your employee’s taxable benefits or you can register with HMRC to payroll the benefits.

Payrolling the Benefits in Sage 50 Payroll

Before you can process your benefits in Sage 50 Payroll you need to set up new pay elements for any BIKs and select the Benefit in Kind check box.

The benefit in kind payment increases the employee’s pay that’s subject to tax, and if applicable NI.

If you need to process Employer NI only on a benefit, do this through their P11D, Sage 50 Payroll can’t calculate employer only NI.

Setting up a new BIK

1. Click Company then click Pay Element.
2. Click New enter a description, for example, Medical Insurance.
3. Select the checkbox beside Benefits in Kind.
4. If the benefit is subject to NI, select the checkbox beside National Insurance.

Note – If you are not sure if your BIK is subject to NI, please contact us or HMRC for advice.

5. Click OK, then OK

If the BIK is subject to National Insurance, it can increase the loan contribution for employees paying a student loan.  This is due to student loan calculating as a percentage of employees’ NIable pay.

Adding the BIK to an employee’s record

1. Select the relevant employee.
2. Click Employee then click Employee Record.
3. Elick Employment tab, then click Pay Elements.
4. From the Payment Name drop-down list, choose the required payment.
5. Click OK.
6. If required, enter the relevant hours and rate.
7. To add another payment, move to the next line then repeat Steps 4, 5 and 6.
8. Click Save then click Close.

Add the same BIK to multiple employees

1. Select the required employee(s).
2. Click Tasks, then Global Changes.
3. Click Payments, then click Add Payment.
4. Select the required payments.
5. Click OK, click Yes, then click OK.

If you need help setting up a BIK pay element or adding a BIK pay element to an employee’s record or need any other help or advice with your payroll, please contact us

We can also provide a remote access service where we can link into your computer to help you resolve your Sage Accounts or Payroll problems.