How to purge data in Sage 50 Accounting

If Sage 50 is running slow, you may want to purge the old data - but what does purging data mean?

Purging is the process of eliminating inactive vendors, customers, jobs, employees, quotes, invoices, and others from within the records of a company.

Purging helps eliminate data clutter and decrease the size of the data file. A data file without clutter is easier for the system to process, leading to better system performance. You can purge data at any time, including after closing the fiscal year with the year-end wizard.

The main function of purging is to minimize the size of the data file and to eliminate some of the clutter that might be within the records. This process assists in improving the overall performance of the system. When it comes to the Sage 50, purging can be accomplished at any time. This also implies the time after you have shut the fiscal year and also the payroll tax year with the help of the year-end wizard.

When it comes to the Sage 50,  the Purge Wizard will guide you through the purge process, allowing you to decide the kind of records and how old the documents should be purged. Before using the Purge wizard, you are needed to create a backup before you start purging. Let us take a look at How to purge data in Sage 50 Accounting:
Note: The process of purging is not intended to eliminate or fix corrupt data. If you are facing some problems with your data or suspect that it is corrupted, you need to restore a backup of your company data.

Process of Purging

To start the process of purging, you need to:

1. Start by Selecting  Tasks from the Sage 50 menu bar
2. Next, click on System
3. NowPurge Wizard.
4. The Purge Wizard Welcome Screen displays.
5. Now Click Next.
6. The wizard needs a backup before continuing.
7. After the backup is complete, you will be returned to this window.
8. Now Click Next.
9. The Old Transactions window allows you to choose which non-required transactions you wish to purge.
10. Now Enter the date on or before which such transactions can be purged.
11. Within the Transactions group box, select the transactions you wish to purge.
12. Click on Receivables to delete transactions like quotes, invoices, and receipts.
13. Click select on Payables to delete transactions like purchase orders, purchases, and payments.
14. Click on Payroll to delete payroll transactions.
15. Click select on Inventory to delete adjustment and assemblies transactions.
16. Now click on General Journals to delete journals and their entries.
17. Next, select Audit Trails to delete company audit trail data. This is available only within Sage 50 Complete Accounting and higher.
18. Next, select Used Tickets to delete time and expense tickets used in payroll and sales. This is available only within Sage 50 Complete Accounting and higher.
19. Now select the Unused Tickets to delete time and expense tickets that have not yet been used. This is available only within Sage 50 Complete Accounting and above.After this enter or select a date on or before which such tickets can be purged.
20. Once finished, select Next to go ahead with the purge process.
21. The Account Reconciliation window allows you to specify if or not you use account reconciliation and if you do, which accounts need reconciling before the purge.
22. In case you select Yes, within the grid located at the bottom of the window, select the accounts that need to be reconciled before purging.
23. In the case of every category of account that needs reconciliation, such as Cash or Inventory, double-click the arrow to drop down a list of individual accounts. Any accounts that have been reconciled in the past will be marked by default.
24. Now select the check box for every individual account that needs to be reconciled. In case an account is selected here, any transactions that use the account but are not reconciled, irrespective of date, will not be purged.
25. Once finished, select Next to go ahead with the purge process.
26. The Inactive Maintenance Records window allows you to select the kind of inactive maintenance records you wish to purge. Here you can purge inactive records only if they are not used by any transactions and if they have a zero balance.
27. Now Select the checkboxes for every type of inactive maintenance record that you wish to purge:
    
    • Customers/Prospects
    • Vendors
    • Employees/Sales Reps
    • General Ledger Accounts
    • Inventory Items/Attribute Sets (attribute sets are available only in Sage 50 Complete Accounting and higher)
    • Jobs/Phases/Cost Codes
28. Once finished, select Next to go ahead with the process of purging.
29. After all the choices have been made, a summary of the options screen will display. This will allow you the ability to start the purge or to go back and make the required changes before starting the process of purging. 

Note: The process of purging allows you the ability to stop the purge at any time and to resume at the same point as and when time permits. Nevertheless, if the process had been stopped, some remaining transactions or maintenance records might not have been purged.

Once the purge process has been completed, click on the Log button to review what data has been purged.

Note: In case you stop the process of purging, you need to run the Purge Wizard once again at a later date to remove the remaining unneeded transactions and records

Conclusion

So, there you have it friends, these are some of the main aspects regarding How to purge data in Sage 50 Accounting. How did you like the article? Was it helpful? Do let us know in the space below and we would love to hear from you.

FAQs for How to purge data in Sage 50 Accounting

Q. How can you purge transactions within Sage?

A. To do this you need to:

• Go to the Transactions group box
• Now select the transactions you wish to purge.
• Next Select Receivables to delete transactions such as quotes, invoices, and receipts.
• Finally Select Payables to delete transactions such as purchase orders, purchases, and payments.

Q. Is it possible to clear the data within Sage?

A. Yes to do so, you need to:

• Start by going to the Home window.
• Now Click on Maintenance from the menu bar.
• Next, Click Clear Data.
• After this Click Automatically Clear Data.
• Finally, Select the type of data you wish to automatically clear and specify the age.

Q. Is it possible to get rid of the old data from Sage 50 Accounts?

A. To do this, you need to:

• Go to the Sage Accounts
• Next, open the Tools menu
• Now  choose Period End
• After this choose Clear Audit Trail.
• The Clear Audit Trail Wizard will appear.
• Now follow the on-screen prompts to clear the audit trail.
• With In the Clear Transactions up to and including box
• Finally, enter the date up to which you want to clear the audit trail.