As a Sage customer, it’s never been easier to work remotely and empower your business and customers through cloud-based technology. We’ve put together a list of tools and helpful tips to keep your business on track when you may need to work somewhere other than your office.
There are several ways that you may be able to access your data remotely, and we recommend you work with your Sage Business Partner and IT Specialist to determine which method is best for your company. Some of your options may include:
- Back up your data daily and store somewhere so that you can access it remotely. We would recommend using our Office 365 feature Cloud Backup. Cloud Backup is available to Sage 50cloud users who have an Office 365 subscription to Business Premium or one of the Enterprise levels E1, E3, or E5. Cloud Backup enables you to schedule your backups and saves them to your OneDrive storage area on your Office 365 subscription. For information about using this feature, please refer to Sage Knowledgebase Article 79594: How do I use the Office 365 feature Cloud Backup? For more information about backing up your data, please refer to Sage City blog: Backing up your Sage 50 data---It's more important now than ever!
- A single user license to Sage Drive is available as part of your Sage 50cloud license. Sage Drive can be used to connect to your company data from anywhere with an installation of the software and a reliable internet connection, so you’re no longer tied to the office when you want to work on your data. You can share a copy of your company data securely in the cloud, then you and your colleagues can access and update the data from remote locations using the internet. For more information, please refer to Sage Knowledgebase Article 72832: How do I activate Sage Drive? and to the Sage City blog: Work safely from home and stay productive with Remote Data Access.
- Note: Multi-user functionality is available for an additional fee. For more information, please refer to Sage Knowledgebase Article 92913: Getting started with Sage Drive Multi-User.
- Always have the latest transactions imported into your software by utilizing automated Bank Feeds. Bank Feeds allows Sage 50 US to connect to numerous banks and import transactions for purposes of account reconciliation. Bank Feeds allows transactions imported to automatically clear in account reconciliation. For more information, please refer to Sage Knowledgebase Article 87415: How to reconcile my account using Bank Feeds.
- Direct Deposit is a service that’s integrated with Sage 50. It is a method of paying your employees by depositing their paychecks directly into their bank accounts. Using direct deposit reduces the time and money spent printing paper checks as well as delivering them to employees. It also reduces the time employees spend going to the bank to cash paychecks. For more information about Direct Deposit, please refer to Sage Knowledgebase Article 104169: Direct Deposit: Getting Started - Quick Reference Guide.
- Set up a terminal server that holds your software and all of its data allowing users to remote into the server and work within the software
- Set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) so that users can access their work computer through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) from a home computer
- Install your software on a laptop or PC you can bring home and work using a backup of the data
- Note: If multiple people will need to access the data this may not be the best option because you would need to re-enter the data from all users when you are able to get back to the office.
Note: The U.S. Small Business Administration has compiled valuable guidance and resources for small businesses in response to COVID-19. Learn more here.
Sage University Training
You can get up and running faster with Sage Drive and Cloud Backup by viewing the free Sage 50—U.S. Edition: Using Cloud-connected Services learning package.
Additional free training and webinars that may be of interest:
- Get Started with Sage 50 Accounting
- Sage 50 Accounting Get Started webinar
- How Sage 50cloud can help you run your business remotely
- Sage 50cloud—U.S. Edition: Working with Sage Drive
- Ed Kless of Sage and Shayna Chapman, CPA discuss healing leadership and adapting during COVID-19
- How to Optimize Your Accounting During an Economic Downturn (hosted by Boostability)
Need help?
Visit the Sage Customer Resources page at www.SageCity.com/Resources for additional options, including links to Sage Knowledgebase, Sage City, and Sage University, as well as Live Chat and Online Case submission.