Sage Developers - Getting Started and FAQ

Summary

This article covers how you can get started and obtain everything you will need to start developing for Sage 50 and Sage 200.

Description

Contents:
Sage 50 Accounts & Payroll
Accessing the Website

All the resources you need are held in the Developer Area of the Sage website. To access this, you will need to have a website login (Sage ID) linked to your Sage Developer Account.  Usually the website profiles are linked overnight so please allow 24 hours after subscribing to the Developer Programme for your access to be granted.

Installation and Deployment

To develop for Sage 50 Accounts or Sage 50 Payroll you can download and install the relevant Sage 50 Developer Edition and the SDK Tools from the Sage Developers Area of our website.

You can download the required program and SDK Tools by logging into your My Sage Account.

Once logged in with SageID if you navigate to:

  • Communities > Developer > Downloads > Select your Product > Select the required download.

You can find an installation guide and system requirements for Sage 50 Accounts here:

You can find an installation guide and system requirements for Sage 50 Payroll here:

Serial Numbers and Activation
Program Serial Number and Activation Key

You should have been provided with a Developer Account Number, product serial number and activation key after purchasing your membership subscription.  You can enter these into your Sage 50 Accounts or either Sage 50 Payroll program to activate your software. You can also find this information by logging into your my sage account. From the home page click My account, Products and Services, then click the serial number for the relevant product.

Sage 50 Accounts

In Sage 50 Accounts, third party integration is automatically enabled.

Sage 50 Payroll

Having installed and registered Sage 50 Payroll, copy the files PaySdoXXX.DLL and PAYSDOUIXXX.DLL (XXX depends on version of the program installed) from the root of the Developer Edition CD/ISO into the Payroll application folder (typically c:\program files\sage payroll). Once the files have been moved you need to register PaySdoXXX.DLL with REGSVR32.EXE passing the path to the file as the parameter.

Getting Help

For development related queries please submit your query via Case Manager.

There is also a Developer Forum available here.

Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 50 Payroll is accompanied by an extensive helpfile which can be downloaded from here.  The helpfiles contain hundreds of code examples in both C# and VB.Net as well as how to guides covering all the common developer tasks.

If you have any non-development related queries, please contact your Sage support provider.

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. Do I need to have a SageID?
    Yes. To be able to download the SDK you are required to link your SageID to your Sage Developer Programme subscription.
  2. What languages are supported?
    The SDO is supported for use in C# .NET and Visual Basic .NET. Although unsupported in these languages, it is compatible with VB6, PHP, Delphi, Java and many other languages as the technology is COM based.
  3. Can I download everything I require the day I sign up?
    Usually the website profiles are linked overnight so you would need to allow 24 hours after subscribing to the Developer Programme for your access to be granted. If you require the SDK sooner you can submit your query in via Case Manager, we can verify that you have joined the developer programme and send the required files the day you join
  4. I have downloaded the developer help files, but the content is blank?
    The most common reason for this is due to the CHM file being blocked, if this is the case it can be resolved by unblocking the file. To do this right click on the CHM file and select properties, at the bottom of the General Properties pane, click Unblock, then click Apply.
  5. Can I connect the SDO via a web service?
    Yes. Developer services don’t support setting up the web service or have any examples of doing this but the SDO can he used with a web service.
  6. Do I have access to the old versions of Sage 50?
    Yes. There is a select of older versions available to download in the developer area, some of these versions are not support by Sage any longer and Developer Services will be limited on the support that can be provided
  7. I require a SDO key for v20 or below, how do I get one?
    If you require a SDO key for v20 or below then please submit your query in via Case Manager, developer services can provide you with a personal SDO key for your required version.
  8. Can I install multiple versions of Sage 50 Accounts on the same machine for development/testing purposes?
    Yes. You can install one copy of each version (v21, v22, v23 etc.) on a single machine; each version must be installed into its own custom directory. You can’t have more than one copy of the same version on the same machine.
  9. Do I need to install the Sage 50 Accounts program on development machine to begin development?
    No. The Developer Help Files has the steps required to access data on a different machine.
  10. Does Sage 50 have access to a RESTful API?
    No. There currently is no RESTful API for Sage 50.
  11. Can I connect to data stored in Sage Drive?
    No. The Data is not accessible via the SDO, any changes made via the SDO to the data on a local machine that is connected to Sage Drive will transfer this information to another machine that is connected via Sage Drive once it’s synced.
  12. Can I Integrate with Sage 50?
    Yes. Sage 50 is the same program as Sage 50 Accounts. Sage 50 Accounts comes with new cloud features powered by office 365, but this has no impact on the SDO.
Useful Links
Sage 200
Accessing the Website

All of the resources you need are held in the Developer Area of the Sage website. To access this you will need to have a website login linked to your Sage Developer Account.  Usually the website profiles are linked overnight so please allow 24 hours after subscribing to the Developer Programme for your access to be granted.

On-Premise and Online Developer Edition Differences

Sage 200 has 2 distinct versions available.  An On-Premise version (Sage 200 Professional) and an Online version (Sage 200 Extra Online).  Sage 200 Extra Online is hosted on an Azure platform, therefore users do not have direct access to the database and application server.

With this in mind we have 2 versions available for developers:

  • Sage 200 Professional
  • Sage 200 Extra Online Developer Edition

To develop for Sage 200 Professional (on-premise), you need to download and install Sage 200 Professional and the Sage 200 SDK tools;

To develop for Sage 200 Extra Online you will need to download and install the Sage 200 Extra Online Developer Edition and the SDK Tools.  You will also need a Sage 200 Extra Online site configured with demonstration data (See Demonstration Data).

Downloads for these can be found in the Developer Area of the Sage website.

Installation and Deployment

Guides for installation and configuration of Sage 200 Professional and Sage 200 CRM can be found in Desktop Help Files.

NOTE: If you are installing Sage 200 Extra Online, please see the Sage 200 Extra Online Deployment and Installation Guide.

Serial Numbers and Activation

You should have been provided with a Developer Account Number and a product serial number after purchasing your membership subscription.  With Sage 200 Extra 2013 and later versions you can enter these into the Sage 200 System Administration to activate your software. With versions prior to Sage 200 Extra 2013, you will need to call Reseller Services on 0191 479 5933 to obtain your enable string.

Demonstration Data

For Sage 200 Professional you can download a backup of Sage's demonstration data here.

RESTful Web API

Sage 200 Professional and Sage 200 Extra Online have a RESTful Web API available which can be used to make GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE calls to exposed endpoints.

You can see the API documentation and sign up for a profile here on our API Portal. 

For information on the RESTful Web API for Sage 200 Standard Online, please see here.

Getting Help

Share your queries or access thousands of answered questions from our community of sage developers. Drill down on product and version to find exactly what your looking for on our forums. 

Each version of Sage 200 is accompanied by an extensive help file which can be downloaded from the Developer Area.  The help files contain hundreds of code examples in both C# and VB.Net as well as how to guides covering all of the common developer tasks.

The most recent version of the help files is also available online or for download within our developer portal. 

For development related queries submit your query via Case Manager.

NOTE: If you have any non-development related queries, please contact your Sage support provider.

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. Can I install multiple versions of Sage 200 on the same machine for development/testing purposes?
    No.  Each machine should only have a single install of Sage 200.  We would recommend using virtual environments to host multiple versions of Sage 200 on the same machine.
  2. I’ve download the helpfiles but the pages appear to be blank?
    You browser will have blocked the HTML content of the Helpfiles.  To rectify this, right-click on the file and select Properties.  To allow the content click the Unblock button.
  3. Is the Sage 200 Extra SDK compatible with Sage 200 Standard Online?
    No. Sage 200 Standard does not have an SDK available and so is not extensible in the same ways as Sage 200 Extra.  Sage 200 Standard has a Web API available (See Web API)
  4. 200cloud no longer installs into C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage\Sage200. Where is it installed?   
    You can find the install directory within your registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sage\MMS\ClientInstallLocaction.  
  5. Interested in upgrading to a developer licence?
    You can contact us using this email; [email protected].
Useful Links

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Solution ID
200619123729317
Last Modified Date
Wed Jul 23 13:05:36 UTC 2025
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