Migrate your Sage 50 data to QuickBooks Online

Welcome to QuickBooks Online! We're excited to help you make the move from Sage 50. To make your transition as smooth and seamless as possible, we've developed a dedicated migration tool.

This guide will walk you through every step of the process. Please note that the tool is designed for businesses using the accrual basis of accounting.

Let's get your financial data moved into its new home!

Here’s an overview of the migration process…

Migrating from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online is a multi-step process that requires ‌careful preparation of both accounts before moving your data.

Before moving your data, you’ll backup your Sage 50 file, prepare your Sage 50 data (clean up and run data integrity checks), set up and configure your new QuickBooks Online account, and decide which data points will be migrated.

Sage 50 preparation includes:

• Backup your Sage 50 file
• Prepare your data
• Complete any final work

QuickBooks Online setup includes:

• Choose a subscription plan
• Set up your new company file
• Set up accounts

Migration includes:

• Perform the conversion
• Review and reconcile
• Fine-tune your settings

Preparing for a smooth conversion

Getting prepared

To ensure the best results, a little preparation goes a long way. We recommend these simple steps before you begin:

Plan Your Timing: Choose a low-traffic time for your business to run the conversion, like the end of the day or over a weekend. This gives you dedicated time to prepare and review your data without feeling rushed.

Review Your Data: The key to a successful migration is accuracy. This article will show you which reports to run before and after the conversion to confirm everything has transferred over correctly.

Get Expert Help if Needed: While our tool is designed for a straightforward process, certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor accountants or QuickBooks Solution Provider data conversion consultants are available if you have a complex setup or would like an expert to guide you.

What data will be migrated

Our migration tool converts up to two fiscal years of the following data from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online at no charge:

• Opening balances
• Customers and suppliers
• Chart of accounts
• Invoices and credits
• Journal entries
• Transactional history
• Matched payments

Requirements to migrate

To ensure a smooth migration, our tool needs to connect to the right versions of your software. Here’s a quick compatibility check:

Your Sage 50 software:

• Must be the Canada edition (formerly Peachtree)
• Must be version 2016 or newer

Your QuickBooks Online account:

• Must be an active, paid subscription
• Must be the Canada edition

Need a QuickBooks Online subscription? If you're on a free trial, you can easily upgrade your account. If you're brand new, welcome! You can choose the right plan and sign up here.

Required accounting method (Accrual Basis)

To ensure your financial data is migrated with the highest accuracy, our tool is designed to work exclusively with the accrual accounting method.

Important note for cash-basis users: Your Sage 50 company file must have been consistently maintained using the accrual method. Simply switching your setting from cash to accrual just before the conversion won't work and will cause data discrepancies. The tool needs the underlying historical transactions to be in an accrual format.

If you use the cash-basis method, we suggest talking to your accountant to find the best way to move your books to QuickBooks Online.

Getting your permissions ready

To ensure a smooth and secure transfer, our migration tool needs the correct permissions to connect to both of your accounts. This is a standard step that allows the tool to carefully read your data from Sage 50 and accurately build your new file in QuickBooks Online.

Here’s a quick check of the access levels you’ll need:

• In Sage 50: Be sure you're you're logged in as a user with Full Access permission. This ensures the tool can read all of your historical data completely.
• In QuickBooks Online: You will need to be an Admin user. This allows the tool to correctly set up your chart of accounts, lists, and balances in your new company file.

For extra peace of mind: Consulting an expert

For the smoothest experience, we recommend that the person managing the conversion has a good understanding of your company's finances. This helps ensure that after the migration, your reports are exactly as you expect them to be.

Don't have an accountant on your team? We're here to help. If you'd like to have a pair of expert eyes on your data, our network of certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors is a fantastic resource. They can offer guidance before you start or help review your data afterward to give you complete confidence in the results.

How long will the migration take?

Once you have uploaded your file and started the conversion, the tool takes it from there! You can safely close your browser window and get back to your day—we'll be in touch.

How we'll notify you: We'll send an email to you the moment your new QuickBooks Online company is ready.

Processing time: The time it takes depends on the size of your Sage 50 file. While many conversions finish within a few hours, larger and more complex files can take longer as the tool works to ensure every detail is captured accurately.

In some cases, especially with very large files, the migration can take up to 72 hours. If you haven't received your confirmation email after that time, don't worry. Just contact our QuickBooks Online support team and they'll be happy to check on the status for you.

Your data security is our top priority

We understand that your financial information is one of your most important assets. Because we want you to feel completely confident using our migration tool, we've built multiple layers of security into the process to keep your information safe from start to finish.

Here’s how we protect you:

Bank-Level Data Encryption: From the moment you upload your file, industry-standard SSL encryption protects your data. This is the same security technology that major banks use to keep financial information safe online. It ensures your data is scrambled and unreadable to anyone else while it's being transferred.

Our Data Stewardship Promise: Your data is protected by Intuit’s Data Stewardship Principles, our unwavering commitment to keeping your information safe and private. In basic terms, this is our promise that:

• You are always in control of your data.
• We'll never sell, rent, or share your information.
• We work tirelessly to keep your data secure.

You can proceed with the migration with the peace of mind that your business's sensitive information is in safe hands.

What data won't be moved

To give you a clear picture of your new file, the following data types won't be converted:

• Budgets
• Memorized transactions
• Invoice template and other templates
  Jobs that aren't attached to transactions
• Attachments
• Non-posting entries (estimates)
• Projects
• Closed or partially closed estimates and purchase orders
• Deleted transactions
• Reversed journal entries
• Bank reconciliation history
• Fixed Assets
• Sales orders (unsupported in QuickBooks Online)

How we handle year-end data for accuracy

We take special care to ensure your year-over-year reports are correct in QuickBooks Online.

At year-end in Sage 50, the Profit & Loss accounts are cleared by transferring the funds into a specific nominal code. The transactions that are posted into this nominal code are ignored because QuickBooks Online would otherwise duplicate your company results.

What payroll data can’t be converted

For maximum accuracy and security, the migration tool doesn't convert the following detailed payroll data:

• Employee Year-to-Date (YTD) pay information
• Employee setup details (such as pay rates, vacation and sick pay, direct deposit info, and tax withholdings)

Limitations of the Sage 50 conversion service

We want you to have a clear picture of how your data will look and function in its new home. Here are a couple of key details to help you get the most out of your new QuickBooks Online file:

Your transaction history, or Audit Trail

After your migration is complete, the QuickBooks Online audit trail will begin tracking every change you make from that moment on.

Because the two systems are built differently, the historical audit trail from Sage 50 won't be displayed in QuickBooks Online. For this reason, we highly recommend keeping a final backup of your Sage 50 file. This is a great business practice for your records and ensures you always have your original, detailed transaction history for any future needs.

Cash basis files

For a successful and accurate data migration, our tool is designed to work exclusively with Sage 50 files that use the accrual basis of accounting.

Note: The tool isn't compatible with cash-basis files. Simply switching your setting from cash to accrual right before the conversion won't work, as the historical data needs to be in the accrual format.

If your business uses the cash basis, we recommend consulting with your accountant or a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor to discuss the best path for moving your books to QuickBooks Online.

Cash refunds

QuickBooks Online and Sage 50 track these transactions differently. The conversion process migrates them as regular journals with no link back to the customer or supplier.

Migrating Chart of Accounts

• Account number character limits: QuickBooks Online requires that all account numbers in the Chart of Accounts be 7 characters or fewer. To ensure your data is compatible, edit any long account numbers in Sage 50 so that they are 7 characters or shorter.
• Balance sheets: QuickBooks Online simplifies your balance sheet ‌by using a single default Accounts Receivable (A/R) account and a single Accounts Payable (A/P) account. If you've been using multiple A/R or A/P accounts in Sage 50, the balances from all your separate A/R accounts will be carefully combined into the one A/R account in QuickBooks Online. The same will happen for your A/P accounts. Please be assured that your total outstanding receivables and payables will be correct. This process just merges the balances to align with the streamlined structure of QuickBooks Online.
• Linked Account IDs: Having lots of linked Account IDs in your Sage 50 Chart of Accounts can cause the conversion to fail.
• Identifying Account names: Our tool needs to correctly identify system accounts in your Sage 50 file for a smooth and accurate migration. Balance sheet accounts may be renamed, but renaming system accounts (like Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Retained Earnings) may cause some ‌issues. Take a moment to ensure your system accounts in Sage 50 are using their standard names. If you have renamed them, we strongly recommend changing them back before you create your backup file. This step helps deliver a clean and accurate migration.

Checking refunds

To ensure every transaction is correctly recorded in your new QuickBooks Online file, our tool has a specific process for handling check refunds received from suppliers.

QuickBooks Online and Sage 50 track these transactions differently. The conversion process migrates them as regular journals with no link back to the customer or supplier.

Migrating your multi-currency data

All your foreign currency transactions will be converted into your home currency (for example, Canadian Dollars). To maintain your records accurately, the tool uses the historical exchange rate that was recorded in Sage 50 on the date of the original transaction.

Also, converting Sage 50 files where multiple currencies have been activated can result in split beginning balances for each currency. Currency revaluations for invoices won't be posted as purchases and sales. When you select matching payments, QuickBooks Online will automatically correct these revaluations for you.

Migrating your inventory items

To ensure a speedy and stable conversion, the tool works best with files containing up to 1,000 inventory items.

We'll convert the following data related to inventory items:

• Name
• Description
• Quantity on hand
• Cost
• Sales price/rate

If your Sage 50 file has a larger inventory list, the tool focuses on migrating your core financial data first to ensure that it’s done quickly and accurately. Your inventory list won't be moved over automatically in this case. After the conversion is complete, however, you can import or create them manually in QuickBooks Online.

Income and asset accounts aren't migrated to QuickBooks Online. However, you can manually import income and asset accounts manually import inventory into QuickBooks Online.

Managing conversion of Journal entries

Locating Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP) in suspense accounts

Manual journal entries in the AR and/or AP accounts in Sage 50 display in your suspense account in QuickBooks Online after conversion. This is where Sage 50 places transactions when it's unclear where they belong.

Before you migrate, go through any transactions in this account and assign them to their correct categories.

Inventory

In some cases inventory journal entries are merged into a single entry. In these cases, the posting date used will be the first day of the reporting period. While this means the date of these journal entries will be different, it helps makes sure the balance for the reporting period is correct.

Reversed journal entries

Reversed journal entries won't be converted from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online.

Migrating the opening balance

Only two fiscal years of Sage 50 data are migrated by default. Any transactions from the remaining years on file are combined into an automatically calculated opening balance.

Migrating to an open equity account

To ensure your books are balanced from day one, QuickBooks Online uses a special, temporary account called Opening Balance Equity. Think of it as a holding area that's used during the setup process to make sure the math adds up across all your accounts.

In some cases, especially if a fiscal year hasn't yet been closed in your Sage 50 file, the original balancing account for an opening balance (often Retained Earnings) isn't available to the tool.

When this happens, the migration tool will post the balancing amount to Opening Balance Equity. This is the correct and safe way to ensure your financial data is complete and balanced during the move.

Migrating sales tax

Sales tax values

On each of your historical transactions, like invoices and bills, the original sales tax amount is brought over as a distinct line item. We use this method because it's the most reliable way to help ensure that your records in QuickBooks Online exactly match the totals from your Sage 50 file.

This approach requires a quick, one-time check after the migration is complete to ensure your sales tax is set up correctly for future transactions in QuickBooks Online. This important step sets you up for seamless and accurate tax filings moving forward, and we'll guide you through it in our post-conversion checklist.

Sales tax accounts

QuickBooks Online simplifies your bookkeeping by managing your sales tax through a single account, where Sage 50 often uses multiple accounts.

During the conversion, our tool will carefully combine the balances from all of your separate sales tax accounts in Sage 50 and merge them into the one designated sales tax account in QuickBooks Online. Rest assured, the total sales tax liability is preserved exactly.

Customer sales tax defaults

While your customer list is migrated, the default tax code that was assigned to each customer in Sage 50 is not. Because the two systems manage sales tax differently, setting this new in QuickBooks Online is the best way to guarantee your new invoices calculate sales tax correctly.

After the conversion, you can easily assign the correct default sales tax rate to each customer within their profile.

Migrating paycheques

Paycheque transactions are migrated as journal entries.

Making a clean switch: Your cutover plan

To ensure a seamless transition where no transactions are missed, it’s important to plan a clear cutover from Sage 50 to QuickBooks Online.

The file you upload to our migration tool is the final, complete record of your Sage 50 history. The conversion process works only from this file.

You can choose a clear "cutover" time to switch from one system to the other. A great time to do this would be at the end of your day or at the end of your work week. Create your backup file then, upload it, and from that point forward, plan to enter all new transactions into QuickBooks Online once your conversion is complete.

To prevent any data from being left behind, it's crucial that you stop entering transactions in Sage 50 once you've created this final backup. Any work done in Sage 50 after you've saved and uploaded your file won't be carried over.

Important: Wait to use QuickBooks Online during migration

To ensure a successful and complete conversion, it's essential that you don't enter any transactions or make any changes in your QuickBooks Online account while the migration is in progress.

The conversion process will overwrite all data currently in your QuickBooks Online account. Any information you entered before the migration is complete will be permanently removed and could cause the process to fail.

Rest assured, we'll send you an email the moment your conversion is complete and your new account is ready for you. That email is your green light to log in and get started!

Your Sage 50 pre-conversion tasks

Welcome! You're just a few steps away from bringing your business data into QuickBooks Online.

To ensure the smoothest and most accurate migration possible, here’s some steps to take with your Sage 50 file before you upload it. Taking a few moments to review these items is the best way to help make sure of a successful conversion.

After completing the essential and optional steps for Sage 50, we’ll run through a similar routine for your new QuickBooks Online account. That checklist will help ensure your QuickBooks is set up to receive your financial data and become your new business home.

We’ve organized the Sage 50 tasks into two sections:

• Essential Steps (for Everyone): These are a few crucial steps that apply to all conversions.
• Optional Steps (If Applicable): This section covers specific situations, like using multi-currency or managing complex inventory. Please have a quick look to see if these apply to your business.

Essential Steps (for Everyone)

A Quick Data Health Check (Essential)

Before we go any further, let's run a quick "health check" on your Sage 50 file to make sure it's in top shape. This simple, built-in Sage 50 utility helps spot any potential issues with your data before we move it.

How to run the health check in Sage 50:

1. Select Help from the main Sage 50 menu.
2. Choose Support Utilities.
3. Select Integrity Check and follow the on-screen prompts.
4. Resolve any inconsistencies in Sage 50 prior to beginning the migration.

Completing this check gives you confidence that the data you're about to migrate is clean, healthy, and ready for its new home in QuickBooks Online.

Confirm your account number ranges (Essential)

Our migration tool relies on the number ranges in your Sage 50 to understand what type of account each one is. Taking a moment to confirm these are set up correctly is an essential step for an accurate migration.

Let's quickly review the following points in your Sage 50 file to make sure there are no issues:

• Ensure all account numbers are in the range of your chart of accounts. If they aren't then we'll be unable to determine which account type (for example, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet) the account number belongs to when converting your file to QuickBooks Online.
• Ensure that the account number used to clear your Profit & Loss accounts at year end hasn't been changed from its default. If you don’t, QuickBooks Online will duplicate those entries when converted, which will put your accounts out of balance.

Match your A/R and A/P reports (Essential)

This is an important reconciliation to ensure your starting balances are ready for the move. We'll make sure that your detailed aged reports match the totals in your General Ledger.

If the totals don't align, it indicates a data issue in your Sage 50 file that should be resolved before converting.

Reconcile your bank accounts (Essential)

Ensuring your bank accounts are fully reconciled in Sage 50 will give you a clean, accurate starting point in your new system.

Before you create your final backup file, take the time to reconcile all of your bank and credit card accounts right up to your switch-over date.

Reconcile your tax accounts (Essential)

Ensuring your sales tax accounts are reconciled in Sage 50 will give you an accurate starting balance for your tax liabilities in QuickBooks Online.

Before creating your backup file, review your sales tax filings and payments in Sage 50 to confirm that your accounts are fully reconciled.

Run and save key reports for verification (Essentials)

To give you complete peace of mind, we'll have you save a few key reports from Sage 50. After the migration to QuickBooks you'll use these as a "before and after" snapshot to verify that your data has moved over correctly.

Run and save a copy of the following reports from Sage 50 for your conversion date:

• Balance sheet report up to the conversion date
• Bank Account balances up to conversion date
• Aged receivables up to conversion date
• Aged payables up to conversion date
• Trial Balance up to conversion date
• Income statement
• Taxable/exempt sales (if you collect sales tax)

For Multi-Currency users: Ensure that the option to show foreign currencies is enabled when you run your trial balance report. This is crucial as it allows our tool to see the original foreign amounts and accurately convert them using the correct historical exchange rates.

Creating your backup Sage 50 migration file (Essential)

In Sage 50, follow the normal process to create a backup of your company file. We recommend you name this backup file PRE_CONVERSION.CAB.

Ensure the following before creating a backup:

• Complete the essential tasks listed previously (for example, Reconcile your Bank Accounts, Reconcile Your Tax accounts, Run and Save Key Reports for Verification, and more)
• For auditing purposes, make a copy of the following reports and store them in a secure location:
  • Sales tax report
  • Purchase tax report
  • Account transactions

Optional steps (if applicable)

Clean up account numbers (Optional)

Take a moment to review your account numbers in Sage 50 (called Account IDs) that are unlikely to be needed in the future. If you have old accounts you no longer use, you may want to make them inactive.

A critical part of this cleanup is to review your suspense account. This is where Sage 50 places transactions when it's unclear where they belong. Before you migrate, go through any transactions in this account and assign them to their correct categories.

Match outstanding payments and sales (Optional, but recommended)

Match any outstanding payments and credit memos on accounts to their respective invoices. If left unmatched, these outstanding payments will migrate as journal entries that'll need to be matched post-migration. It’s also possible that your converted historical AR & AP in QuickBooks Online will be incorrect (although the balances will be correct) as some entries may show in the wrong column.

Complete your current tax period prior to conversion (Optional)

For the simplest and cleanest transition, we highly recommend scheduling your conversion to align with the end of a tax period (such as a quarter-end or year-end).

The best approach is to draw a clean line between tax periods:

1. Complete your current tax period ‌in Sage 50.
2. File your taxes for that period using your final Sage 50 reports.
3. Migrate your data to QuickBooks Online.
4. Start the next tax period fresh in your new system.

Clean up and repair your Sage 50 database (Optional)

This step isn't required for everyone, but it’s a great piece of housekeeping for extra peace of mind, especially if you have a long-standing or very large Sage 50-company file. Over time, data files can sometimes develop minor errors, and this process helps ensure your data is as healthy as possible before the move.

Important: Make sure you have created your final migration backup file before cleaning and repairing your file. See the previous section "Creating your backup Sage 50 migration file (Essential)" above for instructions.

If you see a Sage 50 password error during migration

If you encounter an error message during the migration that mentions "password authentication," don't worry. This is a known issue that can sometimes occur with Sage 50 data files, and there's a clear solution.

The issue is typically resolved by "rebuilding" your Sage 50 company file. This is a utility within Sage 50 that refreshes the file and corrects authentication issues.

Once the rebuild is complete, you need to compress the data and compress all the data files.

Rerun the backup process detailed in the previous section "Creating your backup Sage 50 migration file" above. This backup file will be referred to if you need to contact QuickBooks Online support.

Note: Rebuilding a data file is an advanced procedure. In the event of a failure to rebuild the company file we recommend that you contact the official Sage 50 support team.

Let's Keep Going: Your QuickBooks Online Pre-Conversion Checklist

Fantastic work getting your Sage 50 file prepped and ready to go!

Now for a few quick steps to ensure your new QuickBooks Online account is set up to receive your data. Running through this short list will help with a smooth and accurate transfer. You're in the home stretch of the prep work now!

Just like before, we’ve organized the tasks into two simple sections:

• Essential Steps (for Everyone): These are a few crucial checks that apply to all conversions.
• Optional Steps (if Applicable): This section covers specific situations, like using multi-currency or managing complex inventory. Please have a quick look to see if these apply to your business.

Delete your QuickBooks Online data (Essential)

To ensure a clean and successful migration, our tool needs to import your Sage 50 data into a fresh QuickBooks Online account. This step is about making sure your new "home" is empty and ready for your data to move in.

If you have a brand new QuickBooks Online account:

Great! If you just signed up and haven't entered any invoices, bills, or other transactions, you are all set. You can skip to the next essential step.

If your QuickBooks Online account already has data:

Clear out all existing data before the migration if you've been testing out QuickBooks Online or using it for your business. The migration process completely overwrites the QuickBooks Online account— it doesn't merge your old and new data.

Review our support article to delete your company data.

Sales Tax (Essential)

To ensure your sales tax history and settings are transferred correctly, the migration tool needs to set them up for you from scratch. For this to work, the Sales Tax feature must be turned off in QuickBooks Online before you begin the migration.

What if sales tax is already on?

If your Sales Tax Centre is already active and set up, this is considered existing data that'll conflict with the migration.

Hold off on connecting your bank feeds (Essential)

When you first log into your new QuickBooks Online account, it can be tempting to connect to your live bank and credit card feeds right away. We know this is an exciting feature, but for a smooth migration, it's very important to wait on this step.

Why the Wait?

Our migration tool will create your bank and credit card accounts in the Chart of Accounts and bring over their correct balances from your Sage 50 history. Connecting your bank feeds before this is complete can create duplicate accounts and make your first reconciliation tricky.

What to Do

If QuickBooks prompts you to connect your accounts, please skip this step for now.

Don't worry, we'll get you set up soon! Connecting your bank feeds is one of the first things we'll walk you through in the post-conversion checklist.

Multiple currencies (Optional)

If you use multiple currencies in Sage 50, you must turn this feature on in QuickBooks Online before starting the migration. This activates the necessary features to correctly receive all your foreign currency transactions and balances.

If you want to delete your QuickBooks Online data, make sure to turn on multi-currency after you delete your data. This will reset your settings.

Departments & Projects (Optional)

This step is only for you if you use the Departments and/or Projects features in Sage 50. If you don't use these, you can skip this section.

To continue tracking these segments in QuickBooks Online, you'll need to enable the tracking of classes and locations in QuickBooks Online before you migrate.

Activating these features now helps makes sure that when your data migrates, all your historical transactions will be correctly categorized, preserving your valuable report history.

Let's Start Your Migration

You've completed all the preparation steps for Sage 50 and QuickBooks, and your data is ready for its new home.

What you should have done at this point (Essential)

At this point, you should have a backup file with a .CAB extension ready to migrate. If that file hasn't been generated, review the steps in this article and then return to this section.

The following tasks should have been completed:

• Reconciled all accounts in Sage 50.
• Completed tax reporting in Sage 50.
• Extracted all open invoices and credits from Sage 50.
• Extracted all required reports from Sage 50 as described in the pre-conversion steps.
• Verified that you are using the accrual accounting method.
• Ensure your Quick Books Online account is a new subscription or QuickBooks Online has been reset.
• Understand the limitations of the Sage 50 conversion process.

Using the migration tool

First, open your QuickBooks Online account.

When QuickBooks Online opens, you'll be asked to give some information to get started. This information includes the name of your business and what product you used before QuickBooks (in this example, Sage 50 or Peachtree). Once answered, the Bring in your data from Sage 50 screen displays.

1. Select Get Started.
2. Drop your company file into the field. The company file uploads.
3. Select Move data when prompted. The AppStream window, a tool to guide the migration process, opens. The prompt "Choose your application to get started" displays, along with your options.
4. Select the option Sage50Accounting. The Sage 50 Accountant Edition window displays. Note: Select Allow if prompted with "See text and images copied to the clipboard."
5. Select the option Restore from backup, then select OK. The Restore from backup window displays.
6. Select Next. The Select Backup File window displays.
7. Select Browse, then select This PC, then Home Folder. Your backup file should be located in this location.
8. Select your backup file, then select Open.
9. Select Next when returning to the Select Backup File window. The New File Name window displays.
10. Select the Active company option, then Browse. The Create Company window displays.
11. Select This PC, then Home Folder.
12. Select Open, then Save.
13. Select Next, then select Finish. The Restore in Progress window displays.
14. When prompted, enter your Sage 50 credentials.
15. Select the option Open data in multi-user mode, then select OK. The NEW.SAI window displays.
16. Select the option Catalogue from the top menu bar, then select Competitive Switcher. The Export to QuickBooks Online window displays.
17. Select Get started.
18. Select the option Bring all your company data. Select Continue.
19. Select the option Yes, sign me in, then select Continue.
20. When prompted, enter your QuickBooks credentials, then select Sign In.
21. Select your new QBO company, then select Continue.
22. Select Export. Your data's migration is underway. When complete, the “Your company file has a new home” message displays. If you want to go do something else while you wait, you'll receive an email when the migration is complete.
23. Select Open QuickBooks Online.

You should be automatically logged into QuickBooks Online using your credentials and ready to start!

Post-migration checklist

Just like before, we’ve organized the tasks into two simple sections:

• Essential Steps (for Everyone): These are a few crucial checks that apply to all conversions.
• Optional Steps (if Applicable): This section covers specific situations, like using multi-currency or managing complex inventory. Please have a quick look to see if these apply to your business.

We recommend reviewing the optional tasks, even if they may not apply to you entirely, to determine if they are relevant to your situation.

Don't connect your bank or credit card accounts (Essential)

Before connecting your bank or credit card accounts, mark up your transactions in QuickBooks Online as reconciled to reflect the bank reconciliation you did in Sage 50 pre-conversion. Do not connect your back or credit card accounts yet, this is covered later.

Review your company information, and update if required (Essential)

A great first step is to personalize your account with your business details. This ensures that all your sales forms, like invoices and estimates, look professional and have the correct contact information.

Here's how to update your info:

1. Select the Gear icon ⚙ , then select Account and Settings.
2. Select Company, then enter your company and contact information.
3. Update or verify the email addresses. This ensures billing ‌and customer communications are handled correctly.
4. Enter the email address in Company email where you would like to receive the monthly invoices for your QuickBooks Online subscription.
5. If you don't want to use the Company email address for your customers to contact you, enter the email address in the Customer-facing email box that you want your customers to associate with your business.
6. Select Save.

Set your fiscal start month (Essential)

This is a quick but crucial step to ensure your financial reports, like the Profit & Loss statement, align perfectly with your business's financial calendar.

1. Select Advanced.
2. In Accounting, choose the first month of your fiscal year.
3. Select Save, then Done.

Confirming your numbers match (Essential)

Grab the reports you saved from Sage 50 earlier—these will be your "before" snapshots. Now, let's run the "after" reports in QuickBooks Online.

Tip on Report Dates: To get a match, remember that Sage 50 uses reporting periods while QuickBooks Online uses specific dates. When you run a report in QuickBooks Online, make sure to use the exact period end date from your Sage 50 report.

In QuickBooks Online, run the following reports and compare their totals to your saved Sage 50 reports:

• Compare Balance sheet in QuickBooks Online to Balance Sheet in Sage 50.
• Compare Trial Balance in QuickBooks Online to Trial Balance in Sage 50.
• Compare Accounts Receivable Aging Summary in QuickBooks Online to Aged Receivables in Sage 50.
• Compare Accounts Payable Aging Summary in QuickBooks Online to Aged Payables in Sage 50.

Run the reports by This Fiscal Year or This Year in QuickBooks Online and compare them with the reports you exported earlier from Sage 50.

Contact the QuickBooks Online support team if the data doesn't match and you’re unable to identify and fix the issue.

Mark past transactions as Reconciled (Essential)

It's essential that you complete this step for all your bank and credit card accounts before you connect them to online banking.

In the pre-conversion checklist for Sage 50, we asked you to reconcile your transactions in Sage 50 prior to creating your backup file and uploading it to QuickBooks Online. Your QuickBooks Online file has no knowledge of that reconciliation.

Marking past transactions as “reconciled” is a simple but critical action that prevents QuickBooks from re-downloading old, already-reconciled transactions when you connect your bank feeds. This prevents the creation of duplicates and makes future reconciliations difficult.

Beginning the reconciliation process:

Once you start the reconciliation process in QuickBooks Online, a window will display:

1. Next to Deposit (CAD), select blank check.
2. Select Yes, then select All.
3. Next to Save for later, select Finish Now from the dropdown menu options.

QuickBooks Online now understands that all transactions that were converted from Sage 50 are reconciled.

Match unmatched entries (Essential)

If you had any manual journal entries made directly to your A/R or A/P accounts in Sage 50, our migration tool brought them over safely to a temporary "placeholder" customer or supplier.

Now is the ideal time to assign them to their proper homes. This involves matching these specific journal entries to their corresponding invoices and bills.

Why is this important? If left unmatched, your trial balance will be affected.

To match your entries:

1. Open a supplier.
2. If the open amount doesn't equal the overdue amount, go to step 3. Otherwise, go to the next supplier.
3. Select New check.
4. Select Add all. QuickBooks automatically makes a payment linking the journal entries and the bills (amount paid should be 0.00).
5. Select Save and close.

Turning on sales tax (Optional)

Time to activate the Sales Tax feature in QuickBooks Online and do a quick review:

1. Turn on the Sales Tax feature.
2. Open the Sales Tax Liability Report.
3. Compare the totals to the Taxable/Exempt Sales report in Sage 50.

Contact our support team for assistance if the numbers don't match.

Start using QuickBooks Online

Congratulations! You've reviewed your data, completed the post-conversion checklist, and your migration is officially a success. Your financial data is now in its new home, and you and your team can now begin using QuickBooks Online for all your daily business activities.

Ready to dive in? Here's how to get started

To help you get comfortable and unlock the full power of your new software, we have a wealth of free resources. Pick the learning style that works best for you:

• Getting Started Articles: Perfect for quick answers and learning the essentials.
• Feature Tutorial Videos: Short, easy-to-follow videos for visual learners.
• Training Webinars: Join our experts for live, in-depth training sessions and Q&A.
• Training Courses: For structured, hands-on learning.

Welcome to the QuickBooks Online family! We're excited to have you and we’re happy to support your business's success.