How to Import a Time Ticket Register into Sage 50 – Complete Steps

Managing time and its associated costs is crucial for many businesses, particularly those that charge clients by the hour, track project earnings, or distribute pay to hourly staff. Sage 50 Accounting supports the handling of time tickets, though when you have a lot of data to enter, it can quickly take a lot of time and may lead to mistakes. This guide explains each step required to import time ticket data into Sage 50, covering what you need to do beforehand, how to prepare the data, and what excellent practices to adopt, as well as how to utilize the import utility.

Understanding Time Tickets in Sage 50’s Ecosystem

Be aware of how Sage 50 makes use of time tickets before starting the import process. They are used to capture information about hours worked on certain duties, jobs, or categories involved in making payroll. They have consequences for several functions within Sage 50:

• Payroll: Since time tickets are a part of payroll processing, you can easily pay hourly staff the wages they worked for.
• Job Costing/Project Tracking: Project management is simpler for companies using time tickets, which allow them to visualize the cost of labor on each job and its profit.
• Customer Invoicing: Time tickets can be changed into billable charges on invoices when you charge clients by time and materials.
• Employee Productivity Analysis: Having time ticket data lets you see the productivity and use of resources among employees.

Read Also: Invoice Import Failing in Sage 50? Talk to a Sage Expert Now!

Prerequisites for a Successful Import

Proper preparation inside Sage 50 and well-structured external data form the basis of a smooth import.

1. Sage 50 Company Setup:

1. Company Data Backup

It is extremely important. Keep data backups of all your company data before engaging in any import of major data in Sage 50. Under the File menu, click on Backup and do as the program says. You can restore your data if anything goes wrong while bringing it over from the previous machine.

2. Access Rights

Make sure the user who is going to import data into Sage 50 has access to modify time tickets, employee, job, and possibly payroll information.

3. Enabled Features

Check that the proper features for time tracking, job costing, and payroll are turned on in your Sage 50 settings. You can review the settings for any new features by going to Maintain > Company Information or Options > Global Options (based on the version you are using).

4. Payroll Setup (if applicable)

If time tickets are managed in your payroll, verify that all settings, such as pay levels, overtime rules, and connected general ledger accounts, are correct.

5. Employees/Vendors Set Up

Anyone (who could be employees but is more likely to be contractors if you’re tracking them) listed on your time tickets always needs to be present in Sage 50 under Maintain > Employees/Sales Reps or Maintain > Vendors. Ensure their Sage 50 employee IDs and Vendor IDs exactly match the ones listed in the import file.

6. When defining jobs/projects (where applicable):

Time tracking on certain jobs/projects needs to be entered previously on Maintain > Jobs in Sage 50. The Job IDs must match in both Sage 50 and your import file.

7. Setting up activity items/service items (if any):

If you are including a few of these service activity names in your time tickets (e.g., “Consulting,” “Installation”), then you need to set up those service activity inventory items (service items) or activity items in Sage 50. This ensures correct financial figures.

Read Also: Payroll Import Template Not Working? Get Instant Help from Sage 50 Specialists!

2. Preparing Your External Data File

Sage 50 usually requires data to be in Comma-Separated Value (CSV) format. It’s a text file where data values are listed one after another with a comma (or different marker), and every row holds one piece of information about a person.

1. Choose Your Source

It’s possible to import your time ticket data into the app from a time tracking system, a spreadsheet, or another application.

2. Export to CSV

Most applications support the saving of data in the CSV format. If you’re working in a spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets) and want to convert to CSV, you can simply save the file in that format.

3. Identify Essential Fields

Normally, you will require these fields when working with time tickets. Sometimes the names of fields change in Sage 50, but the exact types of data matter most:

• Employee ID/Vendor ID: There should be a matching Employee or Vendor ID in Sage 50.
• Date: The month, day, and year when the time was noted (in formats like MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, or YYYY-MM-DD). Always use one consistent date format.
• Time units: For instance, 8.00 or 7.5 minutes refers to the time (not the video length).
• Activity/Service Item ID (Optional but Recommended): If service items are based on what you do.
• Job ID (Optional): If working with time tracking for different jobs.
• Phase ID (when required): When doing this with the help of job phases.
• Cost Code ID (Optional): Cost codes are required for time tracking.
• Customer ID (Optional): If the billing of customers is based on linked time.
• Description (Optional): A few points on how to input your time.
• Billable (Yes/No or True/False – Optional): Shows if you should record the hours as time you are billing to a customer.
• Rate (Optional): The hourly rate is regularly gathered from employee or job pages.

4. Clean Your Data

This is certainly the most important step.

• Remove Header Row (Sometimes): Some import wizards require you to delete the header row from your CSV file because Sage 50 handles the headers during the mapping step. Often, including the header row and mapping it when you import is the easiest approach.
• Format Dates Consistently: Make certain all dates are written in a way that Sage 50 can understand.
• Only Numbers in Numeric Fields: Check that no alphabets or currency signs are entered in the fields-“Hours” and “Rate”, which should only accommodate numbers.
• No Blank Mandatory Fields: Important fields should always be filled (for example, Employee ID, Date, and Hours).
• Match IDs Exactly: For your CSV to be read correctly in Sage 50, make sure Employee IDs, Job IDs, Customer IDs, and Activity Item IDs exactly match those created in Sage 50 (case may matter at times). The import will fail for that one line if there is any disparity in the data.
• Remove Special Characters: Though Sage 50 is sturdy, it’s wise to skip special characters in the description or ID, unless you have verified that Sage 50 can handle those characters.
• Small Batches (Initial Import): To start, import only 5–10 records to check if everything works, and then do the rest of the import. It makes it possible to spot problems fast.

See Also: Not sure how to import payroll timesheets in Sage 50? We’ll guide you through the process — contact us now!

The Import Process in Sage 50 Accounting

The Import or Export wizard helps you step by step with Sage 50. The process to open it might vary from one version to another, but generally, it is found in the File menu.

1. Go to the Import or Export Wizard.

• Go to the Menu Bar and click through File > Import or Export.
• Select the application known as Time & Billing (or another option with time tickets).
• Pick Time Tickets – Import as your main import source.

2. Select Import Type and Method

• Please inform the wizard about the type of data that will be imported. Use the Time Ticket Creator.
• After that, it will request the method to import data (either from a Delimited File or a Comma-Separated Value File). Choose the appropriate type for your CSV file.

3. Specify Your Import File

• Go to the place where you have stored your CSV file that is ready to be used with FTP.
• After selecting the file, click the “Open” button.

4. Data Field Mapping

• This step in the procedure is the most crucial. On the right is a list of the main fields inside Sage 50, and on the left is a sample of your file’s columns or your header row, if provided.
• Make sure to match each column in your source data to the right field in Sage 50.
• You generally click and drag the name of the field from “Available Fields” into “Mapped Fields,” and then select the matching column in your import spreadsheet.
• Required Fields: Be sure to fill out required information, as it is typically highlighted (e.g., with an asterisk or bold font). Be sure to set up all the needed fields from your data in Sage 50.
• Sage 50 will often let you switch to Template mode and save your map as a template when you finish. If you regularly import time tickets from the same source, this is well worth doing as it makes future imports much faster.

5. Set Import Options (If Applicable)

A few versions provide options such as:

• If your CSV data has a header row, mark the First row contains headings box.
• “Update Existing Records” is normally unnecessary when you enter new time tickets. Be careful if you notice an update available, since this might wipe your data.
• Error Handling: Whether to skip over records that lead to errors (and log the errors) or stop the import.

6. Begin the Import

• When all the setup is complete, hit the “Import” or “Finish” button.
• Sage 50 will work on the file. A progress bar could come up.

7. Review the Import Log

• Most times, after an import in Sage 50, the system creates an import log file.
• Provides information on the log:
  • How many records were moved from personal data to the system
  • How many of the imported records exhibited problems
  • What errors, if any, were triggered, such as “Employee ID not found”, “Invalid Date Format”, and “Required field is missing”
• Check the log to find mistakes in your initial CSV file so you can fix them.

Read More: Easily Import Credit Card Transactions into Sage 50 — Contact AccountsPro’s Sage Specialists Today!

Common Pitfalls and Tips

Importing data into the database isn’t always straightforward. The following are some common problems and solutions:

1. Employee ID / Job ID Not Found

Reason: The ID you have in your CSV file is not an exact match for an ID in Sage 50. It usually happens because of some typos, space mistakes, or the case in which you type the keys.

Solution: Check both the Sage 50 information and your CSV file to see that there are no errors. On fixing the CSV, you will have to try to import the records that did not succeed.

2. Recognized Date Format

The reason: Date Format in your file is not as per the stipulations of Sage 50.

Solution: Standardize all dates in your file under the pattern known to Sage 50 (for example, it should be in MM/DD/YYYY).

3. Non-Numeric Value in Numeric Field

Reason: The problem occurs because, if something other than numbers is added into any field, such as “Hours”, “Rate”, or many other numbers, currency symbols, or simply non-numeric characters are present.

Solution: Remove all non-numeric characters from the columns in your CSV files.

4. Required Field Missing

Cause: A field from Sage 50 that needs to be included was missing or had nothing entered in it in your CSV.

Solution: Look at all the necessary fields in the data and check that they are properly filled.

5. Import Freezes or Crashes

Cause: Having enormous files, if the CSV has bad data, or not enough memory on the system.

Solution: Try to buy your supplies from smaller lots. Quit other programs that you have open. Shut down Sage 50 and your whole computer, then restart both. Look through your CSV file to make sure there are no characters or formatting you do not expect.

6. Data Appears Incorrectly After Import

Cause: The reason is incorrect field mapping.

Solution: For this reason, it’s very important to test with just a small amount of product. If records were loaded into the wrong parts of Sage 50, delete them (if you can) or restore with a backup and then re-import correctly.

Read Also: Upgrade to Sage 50 latest Without the Hassle — Talk to Sage Professionals at AccountsPro!

Post-Import Verification and Best Practices

Once everything is imported, you need to keep up with other management processes.

1. Look over Sage 50 Reports

• Use several types of reports to find issues in your imported data, if any exist.
• Go to Reports & Forms, select Time & Billable, and next pick Time Tickets. Put a date or an employee’s name into the filtering bar to view the recent updates.
• Find out which jobs need to be logged and do so daily (if this is important at your workplace).
• Employee Earnings Report (if relevant): If you pay employees by time used, check the earnings for every worker.
• Look in the Customer Invoice Preview section (if your time is billed) to make sure you can see your time entries correctly.
• Horizontal checks and costing would need to be aggregated together in CSV format to see if they correspond with what is stated in Sage 50.

2. Random Spot Checks

• Check randomly a couple of employee or job records in Sage 50 (Maintain) and manually check in the time ticket or activity tab for information.

3. Predefining Import Timing, Whenever Required

• When importing time ticketing records frequently, risk of coming up with some kind of schedule.
• Keep using the import template you have stored when needing to import.
• Ensure the source system keeps everything in sync across its data records.

4. Error Correction:

After finding errors, it requires you need to figure out the best way to rectify them.

• If you notice small errors on just a few records, you could manually correct them within Sage 50.
• In such cases, you should restore your most recent backup (from before you imported the files in Sage) and re-import the new files with the correct rules.
• You can delete time tickets using Sage 50 from the “Time & Billing” menu. Be careful about deleting, most especially when you have linked them to payroll or invoices.

When to Seek Professional Help

This guide focuses on the regular process, yet there are situations where hiring an accountant is very helpful:

• Complex Data Structures: If your time data involves a tremendous amount of complexity, multiple relevant tables, or the requirement for advanced changes.
• Recurring Integrations: If you want a daily export from another system, an advanced integration can be done with help from a Sage 50 consultant or developer.
• Persistent Errors: These are errors that continue regardless of what you do with the log-on import or with troubleshooting options.
• Unusual Sage 50 Setup: If your Sage 50 Company is using custom fields or has atypical workflows and interconnects that could impact the import.
• Data Integrity Concerns: If it is uncertain how importing anything could impact your financial data.

Conclusion

Sage 50 Accounting allows you to easily import time tickets and thereby save much time, reduce errors, and organize things more efficiently. By preparing your data well, being familiar with field mapping, and closely checking the outcomes, you can improve your payroll, job costing, and invoicing with Sage 50. Make sure you back up your accounting data regularly and review it carefully so that you can be assured that nothing has changed in the information.

Frequently Asked Questions