How to Purge Unnecessary Data from Sage 50?

Updated On: May 9, 2025 6:00 am

The process of eliminating inactive vendors, customers, jobs, employees, quotes, invoices, and others from within the records of a company is termed as Puring. 

The process helps eliminate data clutter and reduces the size of the data file. A data file without clutter is much easier for the system to process, leading to a better system performance. The user can purge data at any time, including after closing the fiscal year with the year-end wizard.

The main aspect of purging is to reduce the size of the data file and to remove some of the clutter that could  be within the records. This process helps in improving the overall performance of the system. When working with Sage 50, purging can be accomplished at any time. This also includes the time after you have shut the fiscal year and also the payroll tax year with the help of the year-end wizard.

The Sage 50 Purge Wizard works by assisting you across the process of purging, thus allowing you to decide the kind of records and how old the documents should be purged. Prior to using the Purge wizard, you are required to create a backup before tjhe process starts. Here is a look at the process in details:

Note: The process of purging is not meant to eliminate or fix corrupt data. If you are facing some problems with your data or suspect that it is corrupted, you are required to restore a backup of your company data.

Read More : How to Purge Old Employees in Sage 50

What is the Procedure to Purge Unnecessary Data in Sage 50?

You can start the purge process with the help of the Purge Wizard. But you will need to make a backup before starting the process. We would rather recommend you make two backups- one for the current reference and another to be stored for emergency needs.

Please follow the procedure below to begin the Purge process-

• From the Sage 50 menu bar, click Tasks
• Go to System >>Purge Wizard
• On the Purge Wizard Welcome Screen, click Next.
• The wizard would prompt you to make a backup before continuing. After completing the backup, you will be directed back to this window again
• Click Next. The Old Transactions window will appear
• It will enable you to choose the unwanted transactions you wish to purge.
• Enter the date by which the transactions can be purged.
• Click on the Transactions group box, 
• Choose the transactions you need to purge.
  • Click Payables in case you want to delete transactions like purchase orders, purchases, and payments.
  • Click Receivables if you want to delete transactions like quotes, invoices, and receipts.
  • Click Inventory to remove adjustment and assemblies transactions.
  • Click on Payroll to delete unwanted payroll transactions.
  • Click on Audit Trails to remove the company audit trail data (available in Sage 50 Complete Accounting and higher only)
  • Choose General Journals to purge journals, along with their entries.
  • Click on Unused Tickets to remove unused time and expense tickets (available in Sage 50 Complete Accounting and higher only). Next, enter a date by which you want such tickets to be purged.
  • Choose Used Tickets to remove expense and time tickets used in sales & payroll (available in Sage 50 Complete Accounting and higher only).
• Click Next to proceed
• The Account Reconciliation window will appear. It will let you specify if you want to use account reconciliation and which accounts need reconciling before purging.
  • If you click Yes, go to the grid at the bottom and select the accounts to reconcile before purging.
  • For each account category that needs reconciliation, double-click the arrow to drop down through the list of individual accounts. An account reconciled in the past will be shown by default.
  • Mark the check box for every individual account to reconcile. In this case, any transactions belonging to the account yet to be reconciled will not be purged- regardless of the date
• Click Next to proceed
• The Inactive Maintenance Records window will appear. It will let you specify the types of inactive maintenance records you wish to purge. You can purge such records only if they have a zero balance and are not used by any of the transactions.
• Mark the checkboxes for every type of inactive maintenance record you need to purge:
• When finished, click Next to proceed
• Once you finished making all the choices, a summary of your options will be displayed on the screen. This will help you decide whether to start the purge or go back and make the required changes before purging.
• If you are satisfied.
• Click to start the purge process
• Once the process is complete, click on the Log button to review what data has been purged.

Also Read : How to Delete a Payroll Instead of Voiding it at Sage 50

Conclusion

The purge process allows you the ability to stop the purge at any time and resume it within the same point when the time allows it. Nevertheless, when the process is stopped, some remaining transactions or maintenance records might not have been purged. However, if there are some doubts regarding the same, be sure to visit us at www.accountingadvice.co.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)