Hi,

Can someone please tell me if Sage Instant Accounts can have multiple companies. I intend working as a self employed bookkeeper and the exam I am to do is based on Sage instant accounts, but I am not sure if the Instant accounts package is just for 1 company or if I can have several companies on it?

Thanks
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As far as i'm aware there isn't a multi company version of Instant Accounts ..... Sage Line 50 Client Manager, available through the Sage Professional Bookkeepers Club, has a 5 company version although I am sure you can upgrade it to 6, 7, 8 or 9 companies, etc

:)
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Having just been through this process myself I can confirm what Fernhurst has said above. The Sage Professional Bookkeepers club comes with a 5 company version. It cost me around ?70 including VAT and postage and arrived the day after ordering.:)

Oh, and it also has the accountancy Link which I don't think the Instants does. You will need to prove to them that you are a bookkeeper though, as it is obviously cheaper to buy the software this way.:)
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Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll have to buy the instant accounts to pass the exam and then Line 50 to actually work with! If I have experience of instant accounts do you think I'll be competent with Line 50, or equally if I learnt Line 50 do you think I'd be able to take the exam on Instant Accounts??
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I can't see there being a problem moving from Instant Accounts - Line 50 or from Line 50 - Instant Accounts.

If you need any further advice, feel free to PM me :)
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I can't see there being a problem moving from Instant Accounts - Line 50 or from Line 50 - Instant Accounts.

Agree, they are very similar. Line 50 has more features but Instant is pretty good and am sure will contain everything you need to learn on. good luck :)
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I think you might have difficulty transferring date from Line 50 to Instant. I've read recently on this forum that it can be done, so maybe I'm out of date, but I have tried it in the past and failed. maybe the software is becoming more user friendly.

Second point - how much proof do Sage want that you are a bookkeeper? If you have clients and are suitably insured shouldn't that be enough? After all, why would you want to but a multi company version if you didn't need it. Or is there some darker use for Multi Co line 50 that I have not heard of. Sage really ought to stop laying down the law.
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Second point - how much proof do Sage want that you are a bookkeeper? If you have clients and are suitably insured shouldn't that be enough? After all, why would you want to but a multi company version if you didn't need it. Or is there some darker use for Multi Co line 50 that I have not heard of. Sage really ought to stop laying down the law.

I had a copy of Instants registered with Sage that I did my accounts on. Then when I wanted to join the bookkeepers club and get the software for my clients books I had to prove I was a bookkeeper and not an end user. I told them to look at my website and things like that but they were having none of it. In the end I had to fax one of my AAT certificates to them. They were happy with this which I found a little strange. I did explain to them that just as I have an AAT certificate it doesn't make me a bookkeeper in practice, but they don't care.

Basically it is more expensive to buy a single user SL50 as an end user than it is to join the bookkeepers club and get the 5 coy software free. I paid ?70 inc VAT for membership and SL50 Accounts Professional 2008, single user, is on their website for ?208 inc VAT. Apparently people pretend to be bookkeepers get the software and then cancel their membership!
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Sage Instant isnt mult-company, Line 50 is, essentially they are the same product so can move data from Instant to Line 50 very easily.

Gary
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If you haven't already bought Sage, take a look at Quickbooks (http://quickbooks.intuit.co.uk/), their starter package does exactly what you want and is less than a third of the price.

Anthony.
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Hi thanks for all the replies, I would look at other software like quickbooks but the exam I am wanting to do is based on Sage.

I would prefer to learn Sage 50, as It will save me having to buy both Instant and then 50 at a later date as well as the cost of training.

Also does anyone know how much it is to add more companies to the Bookkeeping club version of Sage 50? ?70 for 5 companies - hopefully not that much!
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I've never asked about adding more companies to my 5 company version ..... i'm sure you could pick up a copy of Sage Instant Accounts for a very reasonable price :)
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cheers, can I just ask, as you are a bookkeeper/accountant, don't you need to have more than 5 companies on your sage 50??? or am I completely lost with how it works?
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well if you have 20 companies it would make sense to have more than a 5 company version ;) but i dont think there is any legal requiremnt as long as you dont go broadcasting it :)
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I'm getting lost now, so if I have a copy of Sage 50, and I want to provide bookkeeping for say 20 local businesses do I have to buy a copy of sage 50 20 company version or can I do their accounts on the 5 comapy version for example?? Very confused!!!
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you wouldn't need to buy a 20 company version, but it just saves the hassle of back-up and restore and any chance of backing-up or restoring the wrong company over each other ..... having said that if you are only just starting out this wont be a problem for a while and once you have used Sage for a while, the above comment will make a lot more sense. :)

Hope that makes sense, but fear it wont ..... (not your fault, just my inabilty to explain things properly)
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Thanks for your help!

So basically if I were to join the bookkeeping club with sage and get the sage 50 I can do as many campanies accounts as I want as long as I save each company properly etc every time, the multi company version is only if you want to have several company's accounts on your computer at the same time without having to close one set of accounts and open another!?
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pretty much ..... but i never told you that!
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Thanks very much! I don't know what for because you never told me anything! Cheers again.
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