Sage 50 Canada Data Setup Suggestions

Below are some general guidelines on how to setup Sage 50 Canada for an architectural, engineering or construction firm with the intention of integrating it with Sage Construction Management.

Contact Management - Vendors and Employees

Since Sage Construction Management can import Vendors and Employees from Sage 50 Canada, it is generally a good practice to review each list in regards to their status. For example, if a vendor is no longer used then it should be marked inactive in the system before syncing with Sage Construction Management.

Sage Construction Management and Sage 50 Canada Awarded Project Setup

Sage Construction Management does not offer a Project import option which is why existing Projects should be completed in Sage 50 Canada. However, newly awarded projects should be setup in Sage Construction Management and then exported to the accounting system. The client referenced in the Prime Contract form will become the Customer and the combination of the Project and Prime Contract numbers will be the Project number in Sage 50 Canada.

Recommended Chart of Accounts

Type of Account	Account Description	Comment
Asset	Checking Account
	Accounts Receivable
Liability	Accounts Payable
	Credit Card Payable	Potentially, there could be multiple credit card payable accounts: one for each type of card (ex. Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Home Depot etc).
	Sales Tax Payable	Potentially, there could be multiple sales tax payable accounts such is in the case or each region in Canada (ex. GST, PST, HST) or sales tax authority in the US.
Income	Construction Income	Cost Code Service Items would reference this account for the purpose of exporting Prime Contract Invoices.
Expense	Construction Expense	Cost Code Service Items would reference this account for the purpose of exporting Bills, Sub Invoices and Employee Misc. Expenses. Alternative to this account would be expense accounts for each resource: materials, labor, equipment, sub, and other.

Service Items - For Cost Codes

A general rule for contractors to follow is to have a master list of cost codes for categorizing work. These standard cost codes would be used by estimating, project management and accounting staff so information can flow easily between departments.

In Sage Construction Management, you can import industry standard cost codes such as CSI 2012 or a custom list from Microsoft Excel. To facilitate integration between Sage Construction Management and Sage 50 Canada, these cost codes would be entered as Service Items and reference an expense and income chart of account as shown in the image below. Rules can then be established in the AccountingLink Sync Preferences area to determine how items should be referenced.

Service Items - Importing Industry Standard Cost Codes

• Click here for options and instructions.

Tracking Expenses By Cost Code and Resource Type (Material, Labor, Equipment, Sub, and Other)

Service Items in Sage 50 Canada do NOT need to have a resource identifier (ie Material, Labor, Equipment, Sub, and Other) since Sage Construction Management will track financials by job cost code and resource type. Thus, in the example below cost code 02000 or 03000 would be the only item needed if construction expenses and income will be tracked by type of work.

Example Item with Resource Identifier:

• 02000 Sitework
  • 02000-M Sitework Materials
  • 02000-L Sitework Labor
  • 02000-E Sitework Equipment
  • 02000-S Sitework Sub
• 03000 Concrete
  • 03000-M Concrete Materials
  • 03000-L Concrete Labor
  • 03000-E Concrete Equipment
  • 03000-S Concrete Sub

Service Item - For Missing Cost Code in Sage 50 Canada

If a master cost code structure will be setup in Sage Construction Management and Sage 50 Canada, the AccountingLink needs to have a backup item just in case the Sage Construction Management project cost code does not exist in the accounting system. In addition, this item needs to be set as the Default Item for AP and AR within the Sync Preferences form. See image below for more details.

Item Name:   CCUnc: Sage Construction Management Unclassified
AP Account Reference:   Construction Expense
AR Account Reference:   Construction Income

Retainage (ie Holdback) Tracking

Tracking retention or holdbacks in Sage 50 Canada is not recommended do to some limitations in the accounting system.