NOTE: In Sage 50 Accounts v28, all tasks can be done on every site, making things much easier to manage. Where possible we recommend installing Sage 50 Accounts v28 rather than following the steps below.

With Remote Data Access, your data is uploaded at the main site and then can be accessed remotely from remote sites. 

If you have limited access to your main site, normally your office, this may make it difficult to manage Remote Data Access, as some tasks you can only do at the main site. For example when upgrading and converting your data to a new version. Due to this you may want to change the location of your main site to one of your remote sites, or a brand new site.

TIP: If you're not sure, you can check if you are a main or remote site >

Things to be aware of

Returning to the office - when the restrictions have eased and you are able to return to the office, you will have to reverse this process and make the office your main site again, therefore you may want to bookmark this guide for later.

Loss of functionality - if you use any of  the following features, and you want to use them during this time, you'll need to set them up again:

• Scheduled backup.
• Bank Feeds
• Invoice Payments
• GoCardless
• Microsoft 365 integration
• Connected Cloud

Sage ID - the user who uploads the data, and any users that also need to reconnect to the data will need their Sage ID to do this.

If at all possible, if there are any tasks that need to be carried out at the main site, for example upgrading and converting your data, it may be easier to do these at the existing main site, rather than changing to a new site. If you still want to change to a new main site, please follow the steps below.

Steps to change your main site to a new location

Here we explain how to change a remote site to become the main site and reconnect your other remote sites:

• Take a backup of your data.
• Disconnect all sites from Remote Data Access.
• Restore your data at the new main site.
• Re-upload your data at the new main site.
• Reconnect your other remote sites to the new main site.

1. Take a backup of your data

Before continuing it's important you take a backup of your data. This will be the data you will restore and re-upload to Remote Data Access (formerly Sage Drive). You will need to transfer this backup to the computer which is going to be your new main site.

 NOTE: If you are unable to take a new backup of your data, you can either use a previous recent backup and re-process any transactions, or contact Sage support to see if we can recover your data from your remote site.

2. Disconnect all sites from Remote Data Access

 CAUTION: When you disconnect remote sites from Remote Data Access, the data at that remote site will be lost. Please ensure you have at least one recent backup of your data.

At all your remote sites, so you are no longer connecting to the data at the office/main site, you must disconnect all your companies from Remote Data Access:

1. Open Sage 50 Accounts.
2. On the Company Selection window, click the ellipsis (3 dots) to the left of the company name you want to disconnect.
   
   

   

3. Click Remove Remote Data Access, enter your logon name and password then click OK.
4. Click Yes then click OK.

Once your remote sites are disconnected, at the main site, disconnect the company from the Sage account.

3. Restore your data at the new main site

1. At the new main site, on re-opening Sage 50 Accounts after disconnecting from Remote Data Access, the Add a company window should appear, if the Company Selection window appears instead, click Add Company.
2. Click Restore, then click Browse and select the backup you want to restore.
3. Click Continue and click Restore.
4. Logon using your Manager logon and password.
   

 NOTE: If the computer you want to be the new main site does not have Sage 50 Accounts installed yet, you can download and install the version you need from the Installation Help Centre. All sites must be the same version number.

4. Re-upload your data at the new main site

At the new main site you can now re-upload your data to Remote Data Access or Sage Drive. Read more >

5. Reconnect your other remote sites to the new main site

At all other remote sites you must now connect to the data shared at the new main site. Read more >