Summary
Description
The Sage Accounts Data Service runs on the computer or server where your Sage 50 Accounts data is held. The service acts as a gateway and controls the reading and writing of data. Using this service increases the robustness of the system, improves data security and helps to optimise performance.
To maintain data integrity, the computer that holds the data can only use the windows operating systems stated in our recommended system requirements.
Resolution
Data is held on a different LAN/VLAN
This message can appear if your data server connects to a different local area network (LAN) or virtual local area network (VLAN) than your computer. To resolve this, we recommend you relocate your Sage 50 Accounts data to a computer using the same LAN/VLAN.If you're unsure how to check this, refer to your local IT support.
TIP: If your data is held locally on your computer, try relocating it to a different location on the same computer.
Internet security software
Internet security software, like F-secure, can block network traffic when accessing card processing portals, such as Barclaycard. This can cause Sage Accounts to lose connection to the data service, and closes the program unexpectedly. Try disabling this feature in your internet security settings. Alternatively, keep Sage 50 Accounts closed when accessing a card processing portal.
Rebuild the data
If you're using Sage 50 Accounts v31 or above, you can use the rebuild option.
- Ensure you have a backup of your data.
- In Sage 50 Accounts, go to File, then select Maintenance.
- Select the Rebuild option.
- Deselect all checkboxes apart from Column settings.

- Press OK then Yes on the confirmation message.
- Press OK on the Financial year message, then Yes on the confirmation message.
- Press OK on the successful message then Close on the File maintenance window.
Insufficient permissions
This can also be due to insufficient permissions on the data folder.
To resolve this, follow the steps in our Opening Sage Accounts shows 'Queue.dta is in use' article.
If the issue persists
You can also resolve this by deleting specific data files in the affected company.
- Check where your data is kept and note the relevant path in the company file.
- Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard, enter Services.msc then select OK.
- Right-click the required service and select Stop.
| Version | Services |
|---|---|
| v26 and above |
Where xx is the version of your Sage software. For example, v33. |
- Browse to your data path noted in step 1 then double-click the ACCDATA folder.
- Right-click and delete the colmndat.dta and colindex.dta files then close the window.
- Restart the service.
If these steps don't resolve the issue, follow the steps our Troubleshooting data service issues article.
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CAUTION: By default, the system can hide these folders. You can
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