How to Change Advance the Fiscal or Calendar Year in Sage 50

When it comes to managing finances and accounts, Sage 50 Accounts is one of the leading software solutions for businesses. But if you’re new to using Sage 50 Accounts, you may be wondering how to change advance the fiscal or calendar year in the software. In this blog post, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to change advance the fiscal or calendar year in Sage 50 Accounts. We will also look at some of the other features that make this one of the most popular financial software solutions available today. Read on to learn more!

The Sage accounting software makes automatic changes in its Fiscal Year End Dashboard after the year end date is marked for a particular financial year. In this blog, we will tell you how you can advance the fiscal or calendar year in the Sage 50 software.

What is a Fiscal or Calendar Year?

A fiscal or calendar year is the time period that a company or organization uses to measure its financial activity. This time period can be different from the calendar year, and it’s important to know how to change the fiscal or calendar year in Sage so that your financial reports are accurate.

To change the fiscal or calendar year in Sage, go to the Company menu and select Company Information. In the Company Information window, you’ll see fields for both the fiscal year and the calendar year. Enter the new fiscal or calendar year in the appropriate field and click OK. Your reports will now reflect the new time period.

Also Read: Change the Fiscal Year without Adding Historical Transactions in Sage

Steps for Change Advance the Fiscal or Calendar Year in Sage 50

Please follow the below-mentioned steps –

A.When the Fiscal year is the Calendar Year as well (1 Jan-31 Dec)

To verify the Current Year Dates you can go to Setup>>Settings>>Company>Information. If you  see that the present fiscal is same with the calendar year, the software will start both the years at the same time.

• Click OK to shut down the Settings window.
• Click on the Maintenance tab
• Click on Check Data Integrity. If you are using Sage 50 First Step, choose Tools, click For My Accountant and then click Check Data Integrity
• Please make sure that the ‘Data OK’ box is ticked on the bottom of the Integrity Summary window.
• Go to the window named New Fiscal and Calendar Year
• Click Yes to take a backup.
• After the backup gets completed, the Information window will pop up to inform that the years have been created successfully.
• Click OK to proceed
• Select No if you want to clear the old data.
• Close down the Checklist window.
• Close down Daily Business Manager window.
• Now you will see that the new fiscal/calendar year has taken effect.
• Repeat steps above to check data integrity once again.

B. When the Fiscal Year is not the same as the Calendar Year

Method 1: If you want only to start the new Calendar Year

In this case, you will need to roll forward your payroll year

Please follow the steps below-
If you move into a new calendar year, the software will reset all YTD payrolls to zero.
Then, the program won’t automatically calculate the payroll taxes for the previous calendar year.
Take a proper data backup.

Please Note– In case you are using Sage 50 First Step: you need to end the calendar year even if there is no payroll. Also, you need to move the session date to 1^st January. In Sage Premium,Quantum or Pro, you must log in with admin rights, as a single user.

• Click on Maintenance
• Click Start New Year.
• Click on Calendar year.
• Click OK

Method 2: If you want only to start the New Fiscal Year

In this case, you will need to roll forward your fiscal year. Please follow the steps below-

• Take a proper data backup.
• Check the fiscal year information by going to Setup>>Settings>>Company, >>Information 
• Specify the start and end dates of the current fiscal
• Click on Check Data Integrity. If you are using Sage 50 First Step, choose Tools, click For My Accountant and then click Check Data Integrity
• Please make sure that the ‘Data OK’ box is ticked on the bottom of the Integrity Summary window.
• In Sage Premium, Quantum or Pro go to Maintenance>>Check Data Integrity.
• Make the Data OK information is shown at the bottom.
• Print the year-end reports you require.
• In Sage 50 First Step click Tools >>For My Accountant, >>Start New Year.
• Then click Maintenance>>Start New Year.
• Select OK.
• Click No on being prompted to clear old lookup data,  
• Close down the To do list and Check List, if open  
• If you are using Sage 50 First Step, choose Tools, click For My Accountant and then click Check Data Integrity
• Please make sure that the ‘Data OK’ box is ticked on the bottom of the Integrity Summary window.
• In Sage Premium, Quantum or Pro go to Maintenance>>Check Data Integrity.
• Make the Data OK information is shown at the bottom.
• Click Setup>>Settings>>Company>>Information to ensure the dates have been moved forward. The current dates must be matching with the new dates.

Method 3:  Move into the New Year by scheduling the session Date to the First Day of the Fiscal /Calendar Year

• Click Maintenance >>Change Session Date.
• In Sage 50 First Step, click Tools>>For My Accountant>>Change Session Date
• Enter the first day of the new fiscal /calendar  year
• The New Fiscal and Calendar Year window will open up. Click yes to take a backup.
• After the backup gets completed, the Information window will pop up to inform that the years have been created successfully.
• Click OK to proceed
• Select No if you want to clear the old data.
• Close down the Checklist window.
• Close down Daily Business Manager window.
• Now you will see that the new fiscal/calendar year has taken effect.
• Repeat steps above to check data integrity once again

Related Article: Sage 50 US Payroll & Year-End Processing

Final Words

We hope the discussion above would help you advance the fiscal or calendar year change in Sage 50. You just need to follow the steps sequentially. If you experience any difficulties in carrying out the above-mentioned steps or if you have any more queries, you may speak to some of the authorized Sage experts.

💠FAQs💠