Data management is the cornerstone of your Sage 50 Accounts, enabling better business efficiency and predictions. However if Sage 50 Accounts data is not managed, this can also lead to unexpected software and performance issues, which is where data management becomes important. Understanding the causes of issues within data and their effects is vital to the efficient utilisation of Sage 50 Accounts and Cim50 Manufacturing.
Data Management – Limits:
Data within Sage 50 Accounts can be defined as various entities, including Transactions, Records, Invoices, and Orders. Technically, there is no limit to the number of records and transactions that can be stored in Sage 50; however, large volumes of data can lead to performance issues with the software. Sage provides recommended data limits to their users and Sage 50 has tools that will notify users when users reach 80% of these recommended limits and exceed them:
| Data Type | Recommended Limit | Notification Amount (80%) |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions | 250,000 | 200,000 |
| Invoices | 50,000 | 40,000 |
| Customer Records | 5,000 | 4,000 |
| Supplier Records | 5,000 | 4,000 |
Not included in the Sage 50 Data Management check, but equally as important to enable the smooth running of Sage 50 Accounts and Cim50 Manufacturing is the management of Products and their Stock Transactions.
Sage recommends that Products are kept under 20,000 records, and this number can be viewed from the Products list in Sage 50 Accounts or the Stock List in Cim50 Manufacturing. (Note: when Cim50 is being used, Stock Items should be deleted using the tools within Cim50, and a guide is included in the footer of this blog.)
As Sage 50 Accounts does not include a counter for the Stock Transactions held against Products, Cim50 Manufacturing includes a check within the overnight maintenance routine that will warn users when they have exceeded the recommended 250000 Stock Transactions.
Data Cleansing and Removing:
Before removing data from the Sage 50 Accounts , it’s important to ensure backups are taken, copies are saved, archived for compliance and future reference if required. To make this process easier CIM Software and Sage recommend that regular backups are done and added into an archive to prevent loss of data and enable future reviews.
Once a Backup is created, it is time to review the data. Sage 50 Accounts provides a visual indicator if you are reaching the recommended data limits: a green tick symbolises you are below the recommendation, a blue circle with an “i” symbolises you are approaching the limit (above 80%), and finally an Amber warning triangle symbolises the number of records exceeds the recommended amount.
For those areas requiring data management (nearing or exceeding the recommended limits), data management is required by removing the excess data
To achieve this, follow the guides provided by Sage and CIM Software on the processes for removing or archiving excess data:
Guide to Removing Invoices
Guide to Removing Transactions
Guide to Removing Customer Records
Guide to Removing Supplier Records
Guide to Stock Cleardown
Guide to Delete Stock Records in Cim50
Guide to Archiving Data
