Adding 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.

Importing 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.

Select the green ‘Add’ button in the upper right corner of the ‘My Companies’ page
Choose ‘Company’
In the menu that opens, select ‘Sage’
Then select ‘Connect to Sage 50 Accounts’
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 setting up your company in Fathom

Bank & VAT Liability accounts

In Sage 50 Accounts (UK), Bank accounts and VAT Liability accounts can change classification from Current Asset to Current Liability accounts or vice versa, depending on their value.

In Fathom, these accounts are set as a Current Asset or a Current Liability account based on their value when the Sage 50 Accounts company is first imported into Fathom.

If the value of the account(s) changes from positive to negative or vice versa, then the classification will remain the same in Fathom, and the account(s) will display as a current asset or liability with a negative value.

Example: When the 'BEST Company' was imported into Fathom for the first time, the VAT Liability account was positive in Sage 50 Accounts. Fathom classified the account as a Current Asset account.

A month passes, and the BEST Company is updated in Fathom. The VAT Liability account is negative in Sage 50 Accounts. In Fathom, the VAT Liability account remains a Current Asset account with a negative value.

You can change the classification of an account in Fathom. If you manually change the classification of a Bank or VAT Liability account, subsequent updates of the financials will not change the classification of the account in Fathom.

Example: When the 'BEST Company' was imported into Fathom for the first time, the VAT Liability account was positive in Sage 50 Accounts. Fathom classified the account as a Current Asset account.

The CFO for the BEST Company changes the classification to Current Liability. As a Current Liability account, the value of the account is negative.

A month passes, and the BEST Company is updated in Fathom. The VAT Liability account is negative in Sage 50 Accounts. In Fathom, the VAT Liability account remains a Current Liability account and has a positive value for the recently updated period.

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

Troubleshooting 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.

Next steps

Congratulations on adding your Sage 50 Accounts company to Fathom! Continue the 'Getting 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

💡Pro 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.

Additional knowledge & common questions