How to migrate from Sage 50 to Business Central
To migrate a client from Sage 50 to Business Central with superglue's AI agent, connect the client's Sage 50 company or upload its exports, and give superglue access to the client's Business Central account. superglue assesses the data in minutes, plans every phase, recommends an answer to each decision, and runs a trial load that reconciles to the cent before cutover. You review, decide and sign off with the client.
This guide covers Sage 50 US, formerly Peachtree.
What are the steps to migrate from Sage 50 to Business Central?
Migrating from Sage 50 to Business Central takes six steps: connect both systems, assess the data, plan every phase, decide the mapping, run a trial load and cut over. Each load repeats exactly what you tested, and every write waits for your approval.
- 01
Connect Sage 50 and Business Central
Connect the client's Sage 50 company read-only through the Sage 50 ODBC driver, or upload the standard exports. superglue writes nothing. The client then gives superglue access to Business Central.
- 02
Assess the Sage 50 data
In minutes, superglue counts every record, finds the open items and lists the data issues with examples. You know the size of the migration before you quote it.
- 03
Plan every phase
superglue drafts the plan from discovery to cutover, with tasks, owners and the Sage 50 specifics already in it.
- 04
Decide the mapping
superglue brings each decision below with a recommendation from the client's own data. You confirm or change each answer, and the client signs the mapping.
- 05
Run the trial load
superglue loads a Business Central sandbox environment and compares it with Sage 50: the trial balance per period, the open receivables and payables per customer and vendor, and the inventory value. superglue explains every difference before cutover.
- 06
Cut over
At cutover, superglue loads the final data with the same steps as the trial load, and you sign the reconciliation with the client.
How do you get the data out of Sage 50?
- The client sets a data access password in Sage 50, and the superglue gateway reads the company on a computer with Sage 50 installed. The standard exports work too.
- Ask whether old years were purged. Purged transactions are gone, so those years move as balances.
- Sage 50 keeps each company in its own folder, so ask for every company in scope.
The client installs the superglue gateway once: Connecting to on-prem systems
What needs to be configured in Business Central?
The client signs in to Business Central with superglue's Microsoft app. superglue configures Business Central and loads the data through that access, in a Business Central sandbox environment first, in this order:
- 01
The chart of accounts, then the posting groups and the setup that links them to the accounts.
- 02
Dimensions, with the two global dimensions.
- 03
Number series, VAT or sales tax, payment terms and the allowed posting dates.
- 04
Customers, vendors and items with their posting groups.
- 05
The opening balances and the open items, posted through journals.
What moves from Sage 50 to Business Central?
| In Sage 50 | In Business Central |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts | G/L accounts |
| Departments in the account IDs | Dimensions |
| Customers | Customers |
| Jobs, phases and cost codes (Premium and higher) | Projects |
| Vendors | Vendors |
| Inventory items | Items |
| Cash accounts | Bank accounts |
Open items
Open invoices and credit memos, open purchases and vendor credits, open sales and purchase orders, and inventory on hand with its cost.
Open items load as open customer and vendor ledger entries with their original document numbers and due dates, so the aging in Business Central matches on day one.
History
Sage 50 keeps every transaction that was not purged. superglue reads all of them and reports how far back the detail goes.
History loads as general journal lines per month, account and dimension.
Which decisions do you make when you migrate from Sage 50 to Business Central?
- 01
Where do the departments in Sage 50 account IDs go?
Business Central keeps one G/L account and adds the department as a dimension value.
superglue splits each account ID into the G/L account and a department dimension value.
- 02
Where do Sage 50 jobs go?
Business Central projects have project tasks and planning lines, and Sage 50 phases fit project tasks.
superglue maps jobs to projects and phases to project tasks, and keeps cost codes as a dimension where the client reports on them.
- 03
Which posting groups does the client need?
General business, general product, customer, vendor and inventory posting groups decide which G/L accounts sales, purchase and inventory documents post to.
superglue derives the posting groups from the accounts that each customer, vendor and item used in Sage 50, so postings stay the same.
- 04
Which two dimensions become global dimensions?
Business Central shows two global dimensions on every entry and offers six more shortcut dimensions on documents.
superglue recommends the two dimensions the client filters on most, measured from how often each one is used in Sage 50.
- 05
How much history moves?
Most clients need the open items plus one to two years of monthly balances in Business Central, and older years as yearly balances. The client keeps the older detail in an archive.
superglue recommends two years of monthly balances per account, and full transaction detail only where the client needs to look into single transactions.
What are the common challenges when you migrate from Sage 50 to Business Central?
Purged transactions leave gaps in the history
Sage 50 lets users purge old transactions, and the detail of those years is gone. superglue reports the first year with full detail, and moves the earlier years as balances.
Expect the chart of accounts to shrink
Many Sage 50 companies repeat each account per department, such as 6100-01 and 6100-02, so the chart often shrinks a lot once departments become dimensions. Show the client the new chart early, because their reports change with it.
Reported years still change
Sage 50 keeps two fiscal years open, and clients post into the earlier year after its figures were reported. superglue compares each reported year with the approved trial balance before the history moves.
Multi-company clients need an intercompany plan
Clients with several companies keep one company folder for each, with intercompany balances between them. Agree early which companies merge, which become entities, and how the intercompany balances settle. superglue reads every company and matches the intercompany balances.
Plan the time for the financial setup
The chart of accounts, dimensions and posting groups are the slow part of a Business Central setup. The standard API cannot create them, so consultants usually build configuration packages by hand. superglue builds this setup from the signed mapping and reads every value back before the first trial load.
Check posting groups on every new customer and vendor
Customers and vendors created by an integration start without posting groups unless a template sets them, and their first invoice fails to post. superglue fills the posting groups as each record is created, so the trial load posts cleanly.
superglue also runs the rest of the Business Central project. See the Business Central implementation
Frequently asked questions
Which data moves from Sage 50 to Business Central?
The chart of accounts, customers, vendors and items, the open items, and as much history as the client needs. The mapping table on this page shows where each record lands in Business Central.
Does superglue write to Business Central without my approval?
No. superglue only reads Sage 50. Before any write to Business Central, it shows the target, the connection and a transformed sample, and waits for your approval.
How do I know the migration is complete?
superglue reconciles the trial load and the final load against Sage 50: the trial balance per period, the open receivables and payables per customer and vendor, and the inventory value. You get a reconciliation report to sign with the client.
What happens when I start this migration?
You sign up and connect the client's systems. If you want to see a full migration run first, superglue can set up Pinecrest Supply, a sample client.
Start your Sage 50 to Business Central migration
Sign up and connect the client's systems, or let superglue set up Pinecrest Supply, a sample client, to see a full migration run first.