Migrating from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct can be a strategic move for businesses experiencing growth and needing more advanced financial management capabilities. If you have outgrown Sage 50 and your business needs something that allows for automation and powerful functionality, Sage Intacct is a step up. In this article, we’ll explore how it is beneficial for you to migrate from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct, and a step-by-step guide to help you throughout the migration of Sage 50 to Sage Intacct.

5 Reasons Why to Migrate from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct

While Sage 50 has been a reliable tool for many small to medium-sized businesses, Sage Intacct offers several advantages, especially for organizations that need more advanced functionality, automation, and integration capabilities. Here are key reasons why you should consider making the switch:

1. Too Much Reporting in Excel

As your business grows, Sage 50’s basic reporting may no longer meet your needs. You might find yourself relying on Excel for more complex reports, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Sage Intacct offers more advanced reporting features to help you analyze data more efficiently.

2. Consolidating Multiple Entities Takes Too Long

In Sage 50, consolidating financial data across multiple companies can be a slow and manual process. You often have to set up each entity individually and enter transactions by hand to balance the books. Sage Intacct makes this process faster and more automated, saving you time and effort.

3. You Need Remote Access

Many businesses need the flexibility to access their financial system from anywhere. While Sage 50 can be hosted on the cloud, it is not a fully cloud-based system. Sage Intacct is a native cloud solution that provides better performance, scalability, and remote access, even as your business grows.

4. Manual Workarounds for System Integrations

If your business uses different software for various tasks, you may have to create manual workarounds to make them work together with Sage 50. Sage Intacct easily integrates with other systems, reducing the need for time-consuming and error-prone manual processes.

5. Manual Processes Are Becoming Inefficient

As your business expands, manual tasks like purchase order approvals, invoice creation, and payment processing can become overwhelming. These tasks take up time and increase the risk of errors. Sage Intacct automates these processes, improving efficiency and allowing your business to scale without adding extra complexity.

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8 Steps to Migrate from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct

If you are thinking of migrating from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct, the transition requires careful planning and execution. Mentioned below is a step-by-step guide that can help you navigate through the migration from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct smoothly, so that there will be no technical issues and the experience is good for your team.

1. Preparation and Planning

You need a solid plan to start with the migration from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct. This plan will be your guide throughout the process, and you can keep things on track with the plan.

  • Take a Look at Your Current System: To form a plan, you need to take a close look at your current Sage 50 setup. Evaluate your chart of accounts, customers, vendors, inventory, and other key modules. By doing so, you know what needs to be moved and highlight anything that needs cleanup.
  • Identify the Data to Migrate: After planning what needs to be transferred, make a list of all the data, like financial transactions, accounts payable/receivable data, tax settings, and any custom reports you’ve been using.
  • Define a Timeline: Set a clear and realistic timeline. You can make a timeline for data validation, testing, and the final go-live to stay organized.
  • Keep Your Team Informed: Make sure your team is on board and ready for the change. You can arrange some basic training sessions on Sage Intacct’s features and functions so that the transition is easy for everyone.

2. Choose a Migration Method

When it comes to actually moving your data, you have two primary options:

  • Manual Migration: If you are planning on manual migration, you need to export data from Sage 50 (typically in CSV or Excel format) and import it into Sage Intacct manually. Manually exporting data can be a little bit time-consuming, and you are prone to making errors. This method can work effectively if your data is clean and well-organized.
  • Automated Migration: There are specialized tools designed to automate the data migration process. These tools seamlessly transfer data, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring the integrity of the data.

3. Data Mapping

Data mapping is really important, as Pepper data mapping makes sure that your data from Sage 50 fits perfectly into Sage Intacct’s structure. You’ll need to map out things like account codes, customer IDs, and product codes to make sure they match the format in Sage Intacct. This is an important step to make sure there are no issues down the line and your data flows correctly into the new system.

4. Data Migration

Once the mapping is complete, it’s time for the data migration. If you’re using automated tools, this step will be straightforward, with data transferring quickly and with minimal human input. If you’re migrating manually, ensure that all data is carefully entered into Sage Intacct to prevent any errors.

  • Accounts and Transactions: This involves migrating general ledger balances, trial balances, and historical transactions. Your account balances from Sage 50 must be accurately reflected in Intacct.
  • Customers and Vendors: Import your customer and vendor lists, complete with contact details and any outstanding balances.
  • Reports: Migrate any financial reports you rely on for business analysis. Sage Intacct’s reporting tools may require reconfiguration, so be ready to adjust your templates to make the most of the platform’s customizable reporting features.

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5. Testing and Validation

Once the data is migrated, the next step is rigorous testing and validation. In testing and validation, you need to check if everything works as you have expected and that no data was lost or altered during the migration. Test and validation are important to ensure all financial data, including account balances and translation history, has been transferred correctly.

You also need to test the core functionality of Sage Intacct, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, and financial reporting, to make sure everything works smoothly. You also need to double-check that user permissions and security settings are correctly set up.

6. Team Training

With the system set up and tested, the next step is training your team. This training is to make sure that everyone in your team knows how to use Sage Intacct effectively and can fully leverage its features.

  • Teach your team how to navigate the Sage Intacct interface.
  • Show them how to generate and customize financial reports and dashboards.
  • Train them on handling transactions and managing accounting processes.
  • If relevant, provide training on setting up integrations with other business systems, like payroll or CRM software.

If you invest in proper training, this will reduce errors and help your team get comfortable with the new system.

7. Go Live

After testing and training, it’s time to go live. This is the moment your business officially transitions to Sage Intacct. During the first few days, be sure that your team has full support in case any issues arise. It’s always a good idea to have your migration team on standby to resolve any immediate concerns.

8. Ongoing Support and Optimization

Once the migration is complete, your job isn’t finished. Ongoing support is important to make sure the system continues to function smoothly and meets your evolving business needs.

  • Regularly monitor system performance.
  • Conduct periodic check-ins with your support team to troubleshoot any issues.
  • Take time to explore and implement more advanced features in Sage Intacct to optimize your financial processes over time.”

Conclusion

Migrating from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct can greatly improve your business’s accounting processes. Sage Intacct offers more advanced features, better scalability, and the flexibility of cloud access, making it an ideal choice for growing companies. While the migration process requires careful planning and execution, following a clear step-by-step approach will help ensure a smooth transition.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why move from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct?

Sage 50 is suitable for smaller businesses. As you grow, you need stronger capabilities like multi-entity consolidation, real-time reporting, cloud access, and modern integrations, all of which Sage Intacct delivers.

How long does the migration take?

Implementation programs like Fast Start are completed in about 8 weeks — 4 weeks to go live and 4 weeks of post-launch support.

What migrates over from Sage 50?

Core data like customers, vendors, the chart of accounts, account balances, AR/AP, and up to 2 years of transactional history are typically migrated.

What are the key migration steps?

Steps include:

  • User training and post-live validation
  • Assessing and cleaning data
  • Mapping fields
  • Conducting pilot migrations
  • Customizing Intacct setup

How do I verify the migration?

Compare financial reports (trial balance, AR/AP aged reports, journals) before and after in Sage Intacct. Then, set a lock date to protect pre-migration data.

Can I customize Sage Intacct post-migration?

Yes, dashboards, workflows, fields, and permissions are highly customizable to fit your business needs.

What integrations are available?

Sage Intacct offers a robust API and connects with over 200 third-party applications—including Salesforce, payroll tools, and inventory systems.

Are there risks to consider?

Common challenges include data mismatches, poor reports post-migration, custom feature loss, high costs, and steep learning curves, especially without strong implementation support.

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