Software lifecycle policy

We adopt a policy to formalise our procedure of withdrawing support for software versions that are behind the latest release.

What does this mean for me?

This doesn't mean that your software stops working. You can still continue to use it, but we'll withdraw support, updates, and upgrades in a phased approach.

When we announce the withdrawal of support, if your version of the software is affected we'll contact you to advise you of the date on which support will cease, along with details of upgrade offers available to you.

Why do we do this?

It's standard industry practice for technology companies to withdraw support for older versions of software. Every year we invest in research and development to improve our software and services. We do this in line with regular customer feedback and to take into account new technology and changes in legislation.

We believe that using the latest software is the best way for us to help you run your business effectively. By concentrating our resources on looking forward, we can help your business move forward too.

We also want to ensure that we continue to offer the best level of support for our software that we can. We want you to be able to reach technical experts with the right level of knowledge to answer your questions quickly.

Sage 50 Accounts

TIP: Sage 50 Accounts v26.3 and above are currently supported where an active subscription and Sage Cover are in place.

We recommend always using the latest version to ensure you get the best experience of the 'Connected Services' elements of Sage 50 Accounts. These elements include, but are not limited to, Remote Data Access, Bank Feeds, and Invoice Payments.

There may be times when technical updates need to be made which will mean these become unavailable on older versions of the software.

You can find further information at https://www.sage.com/en-gb/legal/terms-and-conditions/product-and-service-terms-and-conditions/

The Sage Drive service is no longer available in Sage 50 Accounts v26 and below. Instead, you should use Remote Data Access in Sage 50 Accounts v27 and above.
In Sage 50 Accounts v24.1 and below, Microsoft 365 integration, Bank Feeds, and Invoice Payments are no longer available.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	1 June 2018	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	1 June 2018	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for v23 comes to an end	31 October 2018	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase a subscription.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	31 October 2019	No technical support is available after this date.

TIP: For more information about this software lifecycle policy and to discuss what options are available to help you upgrade your software to a supported version, you can contact our sales team on 0191 479 5955, option 3 (UK), or 014 470 806 (ROI). Or, if you'd like us to call you back, leave your details and we'll be in touch.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	1 June 2018	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	1 June 2018	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for v22 comes to an end	31 October 2018	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase a subscription.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	31 October 2019	No technical support is available after this date.

TIP: For more information about this software lifecycle policy and to discuss what options are available to help you upgrade your software to a supported version, leave your details and we'll be in touch.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	01 March 2017	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	01 March 2018	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for v21 comes to an end	01 April 2017	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase a subscription.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	28 February 2019	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	06 June 2016	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	06 June 2017	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for v21 comes to an end	01 April 2017	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase a subscription.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	05 June 2018	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	01 May 2016	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	01 May 2017	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for 2014 comes to an end	30 April 2017	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase Subscription or Sage Cover Extra/Online.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	30 April 2018	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	1 May 2016	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	1 May 2017	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for 2014 (v20) comes to an end	30 April 2017	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase Subscription or Sage Cover Extra/Online.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	30 April 2018	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	29 January 2016	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	29 January 2017	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for 2014 (v20) comes to an end	28 January 2017	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase Subscription or Sage Cover Extra/Online.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	28 January 2018	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	1 July 2015	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	1 July 2016	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for 2013 comes to an end	30 June 2016	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase Subscription or Sage Cover Extra/Online.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	30 June 2017	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	1 July 2015	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	1 July 2016	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for 2013 (v19) comes to an end	30 June 2016	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase Subscription or Sage Cover Extra/Online.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	30 June 2017	No technical support is available after this date.

What's changing	When	This means
No new Sage Cover contracts available	1 May 2015	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for these software versions	1 May 2016	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
All upgrade pricing for 2013 (V19) comes to an end	30 April 2016	If you want to upgrade after this date, you'll be charged the full retail sales price. Alternatively, you can purchase Subscription or Sage Cover Extra/Online.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	30 April 2017	No technical support is available after this date.

NOTE: Sage 50 and Instant Accounts 2012 (v18) and below, and Sage 50 Accounts Hosted, have completed their lifecycle and no longer qualify for support.

TIP: For more information about the Sage 50 Accounts the lifecycle policy and to discuss what options are available to help you upgrade your software to a supported version, leave your details and we'll be in touch.

Sage 50 Payroll

NOTE: All versions of Sage 50 Payroll below v25 have already completed their lifecycle and no longer qualify for support.

TIP: For more information about the Sage 50 Payroll lifecycle policy and to discuss what options are available to help you upgrade your software to a supported version, you can contact our sales team on 0191 479 5955, option 3 (UK), or 014 470 806 (ROI). Or, if you'd like us to call you back, leave your details and we'll be in touch.

Other software

Information about Sage 50 Accounts Mobile and Sage 50 Accounts Pulse

We're retiring Sage 50 Mobile and Sage 50 Pulse from our product range. Their apps were removed from app stores on 1 August 2014 and all support ended on 1 February 2015.

From August 2014 you're unable to download and install your app onto new devices and unable to use your app after February 2015 with your current version of Sage 50 Accounts.

Your app won't work with any new versions of Sage 50 Accounts available from August 2014.

Why are we withdrawing these products?

We're launching a new range of apps from August 2014, which are the perfect companion to Sage 50 Accounts. These apps have been designed for busy people who demand data and insight on the go, with the comfort of knowing your Sage 50 Accounts information is held securely in the cloud.

Both Sage 50 Accounts Mobile and Sage 50 Accounts Pulse need Sage 50 Accounts to be on in order to get the most up-to-date information, whereas our new range give you up-to-the-minute information at your fingertips.

All versions of Sage 50 HR are currently supported.

Sage Intelligent Reporting (SIR) hasn't been available for sale since October 2008 and the following measures were put in place:

From 1 October 2009 Sage Cover renewals stopped for existing customers.
Support for Sage Intelligent Reporting stopped on 30 September 2010.

We've contacted SIR customers to advise them of this. You can view the letters we've sent here:

Sage Personnel v6.1 hasn't been available for sale since July 2007 and the following measures were put in place:

From 9 July 2007, you could upgrade to Sage 50 HR 2007.
If your existing Sage Cover contract expired on or after 1 September 2007, you could renew it for one further year.
From 9 July 2007 Sage Cover renewals stopped for existing customers.
Support for Sage Personnel v6.1 stopped on 30 September 2009.

From May 2012 we're no longer offering the free Sage Invoicing download and the website www.sageinvoicing.co.uk has been replaced with www.sageone.com.

If you're an existing customer you can continue to use Sage Invoicing and although Technical Support has never been offered as a duty of care the Ask Sage Articles for Sage Invoicing will remain live.

As of the 30 September 2021 we will no longer be actively supporting this product.

We have taken this decision to focus on the development of our core accounts products – both Sage 50 and Sage Business Cloud. By investing in those products we are able to deliver an up-to-date, feature-rich experience that enhances the way you manage your business. By streamlining our services and support, we can focus on the products needed to help businesses get even more value from Sage.

For more information, please refer to our questions and answers article.

Sage 50 Manufacturing

As of 30 September 2021 we no longer actively support this product.

We've taken this decision to focus on the development of our core accounts products – both Sage 50 and Sage Business Cloud. By investing in those products we're able to deliver an up-to-date, feature-rich experience that enhances the way you manage your business. By streamlining our services and support, we can focus on the products needed to help businesses get even more value from Sage.

Sage Instant Payroll

As of 5 April 2022 we no longer actively support this product or issue compliance updates.

We've taken this decision to focus on the development of our core payroll products – both Sage 50 and Sage Business Cloud. By investing in those products we're able to deliver an up-to-date, feature-rich experience that enhances the way you manage your business. By streamlining our services and support, we can focus on the products needed to help businesses get even more value from Sage.

As of 30 September 2021 we will no longer be actively supporting this product.

We've taken this decision to focus on the development of our core accounts products – both Sage 50 and Sage Business Cloud. By investing in those products we are able to deliver an up-to-date, feature-rich experience that enhances the way you manage your business. By streamlining our services and support, we can focus on the products needed to help businesses get even more value from Sage.

For more information, please refer to our questions and answers article.

We no longer offer Sage Start-Up.

For an Accounts solution that helps small business owners who don’t have the time to learn accounting and need to control money in and money out, Sage Business Cloud is the product we now offer instead of Start Up. For more information about Sage Business Cloud please refer to www.sageone.com.

We no longer offer Sage Planning for Business.

What's changing	When	This means
No new or upgrade sales	1 January 2013	You can't buy this software after this date.
No new Sage Cover contracts available	31 December 2013	You can't buy a new Sage Cover contract after this date.
You can no longer renew Sage Cover for this version of the software.	31 December 2013	When your Sage Cover contract comes to an end, you can't renew your contract after this date.
Sage Cover support is withdrawn	31 December 2014	No technical support is available after this date. Guides for Winforecast are available for 12 months after this date.

Lifecycle policy