Add a company from Sage 50 Accounts

Fathom has the ability to import your financial data from Sage 50 Accounts (UK & Ireland).

When you import a Sage 50 Accounts company into Fathom, your company’s Chart of Accounts will be brought into Fathom. You can import a maximum of 3000 accounts and up to 8 years of monthly data.

📝 Note: Sage 50 Accounts companies will be automatically imported onto a Fathom Pro plan and cannot be downgraded to a Portfolio plan. Sage 50 Accounts companies can access Fathom Pro features, like the Analysis tools, Reports, Forecast, and Insights Dashboard.

Import your Sage 50 Accounts company into Fathom

To import a Sage 50 Accounts company into Fathom, log into your Fathom account or start a subscription and go to the ‘My Companies’ page.

On the My Companies page, select the green Add button.
Choose Company
Select Sage and Continue
Select Sage 50 Accounts and Next
Type in a name for the company

❗Notice: The name must match the company's name in the Sage 50 Accounts file.
Select a currency

📝 Note: The currency selection determines the currency symbol displayed in Fathom. Fathom will not translate the company's currency to the selected currency.
Select an accounting method

📝 Note: Like in Sage 50 Accounts, the accounting method cannot be changed in Fathom.
Upload the Chart of Accounts Layout. To download the Chart of Accounts file from Sage 50 Accounts:
1. Go to the Nominal Codes module
2. Select Chart of Accounts
3. Double-click the Chart of Accounts layout you want to use (this is usually the default layout)
4. Select Print
5. Select Preview
6. Press Run
7. Select Report to Excel
8. Save the file and upload it to Fathom
Upload the Trial Balance. To download the Trial Balance file from Sage 50 Accounts:
1. Go to the Nominal Codes module
2. Select Trial Balance
3. Select Preview
4. Press Run
5. Select the period and press OK
6. Select Data to Excel
7. Save the file and upload it to Fathom
  
  ❗Notice: Keep the files closed as you're importing them. If the Chart of Accounts or Trial Balance files are open during the import, the import may freeze.
After uploading the files to Fathom, select Import Company

📝 Note: It is only possible to import financial data from as early as the previous financial year because the Trial Balance file only includes financial data from the Current Financial Year and the Prior Financial Year.

Once the import has been completed, you will see your Sage 50 Accounts company on the 'My Companies' page in Fathom. You’ll now be able to access the company's Settings, Analysis, Reports, and Forecast.

Continue company setup

Update your financial data from Sage 50 Accounts

You can manually update the financials of your Sage 50 Accounts company in Fathom at any time in the company’s Settings.

Go to Update Data in the company’s Settings
Under 'Financials', select Update from Sage 50 Accounts
Upload the Chart of Accounts Layout. To download the Chart of Accounts file from Sage 50 Accounts:
1. Go to the Nominal Codes module
2. Select Chart of Accounts
3. Double-click the Chart of Accounts layout you want to use (this is usually the default layout)
4. Select Print
5. Select Preview
6. Press Run
7. Select Report to Excel
8. Save the file and upload it to Fathom
Upload the Trial Balance. To download the Trial Balance file from Sage 50 Accounts:
1. Go to the Nominal Codes module
2. Select Trial Balance
3. Choose Yes
4. Select Data to Excel
5. Save the file and upload it to Fathom
❗Notice: The name listed in the Chart of Accounts Layout and Trial Balance files must match the company's name in Fathom.

❗Notice: Keep the files closed as you're importing them. If the Chart of Accounts or Trial Balance files are open during the import, the import may freeze.
After uploading the files to Fathom, select Update Company

Troubleshoot Sage 50 Accounts Import & Update

Did not match the supplied company name

If the company name listed in the Chart of Accounts Layout file and/or Trial Balance file does not match the name typed into the 'Company name' field in Fathom, then the import will fail.

The name typed into the 'Company name' field in Fathom must match the company name listed in the uploaded files.

📝 Note: If you have changed the company name in Sage 50 Accounts, then you must change the company name in Fathom before attempting to update the company's financials. You can change the company's name in the Company Profile.

Chart of Accounts Issues

⚠️ Error Alert: If you're running into issues while importing or updating your Sage 50 Accounts company in Fathom, please run an Error Check on the Chart of Accounts.

You can find the instructions for running an Error Check here.

No matching Chart of Accounts Layout range

In the Chart of Accounts Layout in Sage 50 Accounts (UK), there is no range for the account listed in the error message.

You must assign a Chart of Accounts Layout range to the account. To resolve this, you have two options:

Option 1: Update the account code in question so that it falls within an existing layout range

Option 2: Add a new account range by editing the chart of accounts layout and adding the account in question to a new range

Then, re-download the Chart of Accounts Layout file from Sage 50 Accounts and upload the new file to Fathom.

Invalid floating range

Fathom allows for floating ranges for accounts classified as current assets or current liabilities. This means that an account, such as a bank account or a VAT liability account, can be either an asset or a liability depending on its value.

Example: A company has a bank account that can go into overdraft, some periods it will be positive, therefore an asset, and other periods it will be negative, a liability. In Sage, you can have a floating range which updates the account's position on the Balance Sheet depending on its value.

If you are encountering an error due to floating ranges, e.g. ‘The ranges xxxx, yyyy, etc are invalid as floating ranges', it is most likely due to one of the following issues:

The account ranges used don’t match (e.g. 1000–1050 vs. 1000–1100).
The account ranges have different names (e.g. ‘VAT Liability’ and ‘VAT Asset’)
The account ranges used as floating are not classified as current assets or current liabilities

To resolve the above, action the appropriate step(s) listed here within Sage:

Make the account ranges identical
Make the account range names identical
Reclassify accounts as a current asset or current liability. If an account isn’t current (e.g. an investment), you will have to choose whether it will be permanently an asset or a liability in Fathom

Once completed, re-download the Chart of Accounts layout file from Sage and upload it to Fathom.

Next steps

Congratulations on adding your Sage 50 Accounts company to Fathom! Continue the 'Get Started Workflow' by setting up your company for analysis, reporting, and forecasting. Choose from one of the steps below:

What you want to do:	Next step in the setup process:
Import a budget for analysis and reporting	Import Budget from Excel
Set up your Company Profile	Set up the Company Profile
Check and customise your Chart of Accounts in Fathom	Customise the Chart of Accounts

💡Smart Tip: If you want to consolidate several companies in Fathom, we recommend importing and completing the setup process for each company before creating a consolidated group. You can consolidate companies from different source accounting systems.

Learn more

Import financials from Sage 50 Accounts