Windows updates and required components Windows Updates We test new versions of Sage 50 Accounts on the latest windows updates. For any windows-related errors during installation, we recommend installing all windows updates. Once complete, reinstall Sage 50 Accounts and restart your computer.
Permissions and user profiles User profiles - Log on to the computer with a different or new user profile to help determine if there’s an issue with a specific user account
- Log in to a different computer with the same user profile to help determine if the issue is related to the actual computer or its registry as windows could be corrupt and need to be reinstalled
- If the accounts issues don't occur on the same user profile on a different computer then it could indicate an issue with the first computer
Data location If you store Sage 50 Accounts data on a server and access it via a mapped network drive, switch to a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path on each client accessing the data. Find the current path to the data in Sage Accounts by clicking Help then About and noting the data directory. How do I change to a UNC path? - Browse to the Company file:
| Version | Company file location | | v31 | C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2025 | | v30 | C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2024 | | v29 | C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2023 | | v28 | C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2022 | | v27 | C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2021 | | v26 | C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2020 | - Double-click the Company file and choose Open with Notepad.
- Change the paths in the Company file to go to the new data location on the server. Enter the relevant UNC path for this. For example, if your server is called Server and your shared folder is Sagedata, the UNC path is \\Server\Sagedata.
- Click File, click Save then click File and click Exit.
If you store data on a server and experience performance issues, move it to a different location to test and identify if the environment causes the problem. For example, if you move the data to the local computer and Sage Accounts works as expected, the issue isn't with the program or the data. What we would recommend is the following… - Relocate the accounts data to a different location on the same server
- Check user permissions to the server
- Do they need editing/heightened?
- Do users have access to all Sage 50 Accounts-related files and folders?
- Could you relocate the data to a different server or computer?
User/Administrator Access Rights and User Account Control (UAC) It’s recommended that the windows user needs to be the Administrator or needs to have full administrator rights. This is because Sage Accounts needs the ability to read/write to certain files in the main areas of the computer. Permissions issues can often prevent settings or favourites from saving. Check if you have Windows administrative privileges on your computer using this article.
Antivirus, firewall and security Unrestricted Access If your computer is running antivirus software, you must configure this so it doesn't conflict with Sage Accounts. Scheduled tasks If the issue occurs at specific times or days, review and adjust your scheduled tasks to avoid conflicts during those periods. - Click Start then type Task Scheduler.
- Adjust the time on any applicable tasks. Refer to Microsoft Support, or your local IT for help with this.
Timeout Issues There can be times when using Sage, that certain areas of the program take a long time to load or don't load at all. This behaviour usually indicates that something is interfering/blocking the program from carrying out what it needs to display data. Check the following: - Anti-virus/Firewall - try disabling this feature either local and/or network
- Some antivirus programs such as Bitdefender or Eset will still run in the background even when disabled
- Server/network connection – test the data on the local machine
- Third-party programs - close all non-essential programs when using Sage Accounts
- Background services - stop all non-essential services running in the background
- Open Windows Task Manager to see what is running on the PC
- Internet connection - if using a wireless connection try using a direct cable
- System Resources - does it meet the minimum requirements
Speed Issues To help troubleshoot speed issues, we recommend you test the network transfer speed outside of Sage 50 Accounts. How do I test this? Copy the Reports folder from the client computer to the root of the shared folder on the server and measure the time it takes to complete. - On the client PC, open Sage Accounts.
- Click Help, then click About. In the Program Details area, make a note of the Data Directory.
- Open Windows Explorer and browse to the Reports folder.
- Right-click the folder, then click Copy.
- Browse to the route of the local disk on the server, then click Edit, then click Paste.
- Time how long it takes to complete the process.
- Complete this process three times and calculate the average time taken.
Because the first transfer will take longer, only use the average of the second and third file transfers. On a network which runs at 100 Mbps, the folder should transfer in 30 - 40 seconds. On a network which runs at 1 Gbps, the folder should transfer in 15 - 20 seconds. Now repeat the process to time how long it takes to copy the file from the server back to the client PC. If copying the file takes longer than 80 seconds on a 100 Mbps network or 40 seconds on a 1 Gbps network, Sage Accounts' performance suffers. Until the network transfer speed improves, Sage Accounts will continue to run slowly. Unfortunately, we’re unable to provide any further advice about what is causing this and how to resolve it. Refer to your network administrator for further advice.
Clean installation Sometimes it can be best to remove all traces of the Sage 50 Accounts software from the computer and start off with a fresh installation. You can find help with this in the following guides:
Reporting issues Reports Running Slowly There may be times when running reports will take longer than usual to preview or print. To identify where the problem lies, we recommend trying the following: - Close all non-sage programs running on the computer
- End all non-essential processes in Task manager
- If you have installed Sage Accounts on a different computer, try on that one
- Database size – the size of the accounts data can affect the speed of reports. Reduce the data size by deleting old invoices and records and using the Clear Audit Trail option to remove old transactions
Printing Issues You can encounter printing issues due to a conflict between the printer and the Sage software. Outside of Sage Accounts, other documents can print but this is because other programs don't use the same driver or print services. If this happens, we recommend the following: - Installing or updating a compatible printer driver
- Changing the default printer and printing to something different, such as PDF creator, can help determine if the printer driver is the issue
Sage websites and servers within Sage 50 Accounts Website access Sage 50 Accounts tries to access various websites for different tasks, and therefore requires unrestricted access to all relevant URLs. If the software is unable to access these websites, it may return errors when performing tasks. Network monitoring We also recommend using a networking monitoring to run side by side with Sage 50 Accounts to see if there’s anything running in the 'background' that could conflict with the Sage software.  TIP: Contact your local IT for help with this.
Third-Party Applications We can’t control third-party applications that integrate with Sage Accounts, and issues can occur when installing a new version of Sage Accounts. These applications typically configure to work with the files and settings of a specific program version. When you install a new update, Sage files update, and new ones appear. Developers might need to reconfigure the third-party application to work with the new or updated Sage Accounts files.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) Issues A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel from your device to a VPN server, which then forwards your traffic to the website or service. Expect occasional speed hiccups due to this process. A slow VPN can indicate suboptimal settings or the need for more significant changes.  CAUTION: Sage has no control over VPNs and their settings or configuration. We recommend contacting your IT support for assistance with these issues.
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