How to create a new set of data locally

How to create a new set of data locally in Sage 50 Accounts and connect back to the server after.

You can create a new set of data on the local drive. For example, if you need to test the software works in a local environment or to create new data files to fix corruption.

 TIP: If you have a multi-company licence, you can Create a new company from a backup on the local drive.

Move the data to a local computer

1. Back up your data.
2. Close Sage 50 Accounts and browse to the following relevant folder and rename the ACCDATA folder to ACCDATAOLD

   Sage Accounts v32	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2026\Company.000
   Sage Accounts v31	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2025\Company.000
   Sage Accounts v30	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2024\Company.000
   Sage Accounts v29	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2023\Company.000
   Sage Accounts v28	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2022\Company.000
   Sage Accounts v27	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2021\Company.000
   Sage Accounts v26	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2020\Company.000

3. Create a new ACCDATA folder in the folder you browsed to in step 2.
4. Browse to the following relevant COMPANY file and rename it to COMPANY_SERVER

   Sage Accounts v32	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2026
   Sage Accounts v31	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2025
   Sage Accounts v30	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2024
   Sage Accounts v29	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2023
   Sage Accounts v28	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2022
   Sage Accounts v27	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2021
   Sage Accounts v26	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2020

5. Open Sage Accounts and complete the ActiveSetup Wizard.

The new set of data files create in the new ACCDATA folder and a new COMPANY file is created. You can now Restore a backup of your data that you want to use locally.

IMPORTANT: When you restore a backup of your data to a different location or computer and use connected services, you'll see a Manage Cloud Connection window in v30.1 and above. Click here for more important information about this >

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Move the data back to the server

If you only used the local data for testing or generating new files, then rename the COMPANY files. The backup and restore steps aren't required.

1. Back up your data and archive if required.
2. Close Sage Accounts.
3. Rename the new COMPANY file to COMPANY_LOCAL
4. Rename the COMPANY_SERVER file to COMPANY
5. Open Sage Accounts and Restore a backup of your data.

IMPORTANT: When you restore a backup of your data to a different location or computer and use connected services, you'll see a Manage Cloud Connection window in v30.1 and above. Click here for more important information about this >