Introduction
The traditional way of helping you to maintain your Sage records was for you to take a backup of your data and send that backup to us by email or on a disk. The main difficulty with that method was that you had to stop working on your file until we had made the corrections and sent you a modified backup to restore.
At our end, we had to use the same version of Sage as you used and we had to know your passwords, if any.
In recent versions, the default backup was of all files in the Sage folder. This produced very large files that were difficult to email. These files were not encrypted so, in principle, could be read by someone who intercepted the email.
The Accountants Link
The principle of the Accountants Link is that you generate a compressed, encrypted file of your data that you email to us. This is a relatively small file and easy to email. Whilst we are working on your data, you can continue entering transactions, provided you date them after you created the data file.
Once we have reviewed your data, we will email back a set of amendments. You can use the Accountants Link to import those amendments into your system without affecting any entries that you have made in the meantime.
Sending information to us
Before you start, you will need to register us on your system. To do this, go to Settings – Company Preferences – Accountant. The only important line is the email address. If you know the individual who is working on your accounts, put in their email address. Otherwise, use ub@underwoodbarron.com
On your system, look at Help and then at Accountants Link for an explanation of how to send us a file. Otherwise, select Modules – Wizards – Accountants Link and follow the onscreen guidance.
When generating a file to export to us, you must use an 8-character password for that file. This can be different from your usual password, if any. Unless you feel the data is exceptionally sensitive, please use the password 12345678.
Material changes
Once you have exported your data to us, you can continue working and posting new transactions. If possible, you should avoid posting a past transaction. If you do post a past transaction, Sage will make a record of this “material change”.
Including our amendments
When we have prepared our amendments, we will send them to you by email. Please save the attachment in a convenient location. You will only need the file once.
Open you Sage and select Modules- Wizards – Accountants Link. This time you will be importing our file. If possible, you should complete the process of importing in one session. If you have made any “material changes”, this may take some time.
If you have made any “material changes”, please contact us by telephone before proceeding. We may ask you to send us the “material changes” report so that we can see whether that affects any of our amendments.
Otherwise, proceed with importing our amendments. Since our amendment file will only contain changes, it will not contain sensitive data and will have the password 12345678. First, read the notes screen carefully and follow any guidance on that screen.
If you have any problems at any stage, please give us a call.
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