Before continuing please ensure you've read completed the Sage Setup and read this.

When you select to run the Transaction Export, you'll see this screen:

Please note that you can select the level of compatibility that you want to use, for example, if you are using Sage Line 50 V12 then select that entry, for all other versions use 'Compatibility'.

By default Onyx exports each and every invoice line to Sage, this can mean that the 'Activity on Account' tab within Sage can become very congested.  Although this shouldn't really be an issue, you may prefer for Onyx to try and condense the export.  You can do this by selecting 'Merge Lines'.  When Merge Lines is selected you can then further set whether you want Onyx to 'Merge where possible' or to simply create a single entry per invoice.

Merge where possible, Onyx will merge any invoice lines that have the same department, nominal code and sage vat code, as the lines will be merged, the line description will be lost so you'll be asked to enter a description.

Single Row Per Record, in this mode Onyx will simply create a single entry per invoice, but of course it won't be able to determine the department, nominal code or tax type, so you'll need to enter these.  This is the least effective way of exporting data as much of the benefit of using nominal codes is lost, meaning Sage will not be able to drill down into your data.

So to illustrate the above, imagine an invoice with 5 lines:

Item 1 - MOT, Department 1, Nominal 4000, Vat T0

Item 2 - Oil Filter, Department 1, Nominal 4000, Vat T1

Item 3 - Spark Plugs, Department 1, Nominal 4000, Vat T1

Item 4 - Air Filter, Department 1, Nominal 4000, Vat T1

Item 5 - Labour, Department 2, Nominal 4001, Vat T1

Without merging the records, Sage will receive all 5 lines, which will result in 5 lines displayed in the 'Activity on Account' tab

If using 'Merge where Possible', the data would be condensed to:

Item 1 - MOT, Department 1, Nominal 4000, Vat T0

Item 2 - User Description, Department 1, Nominal 4000, T1

Item 3 - Labour, Department 2, Nominal 4001, Vat T1

And when using 'Single Row Per Record', the data would be condensed to

Item1 - User Description, User Department, User Nominal Code, User Tax Type

Once you've selected any options press ‘Ok’ and Onyx will start the export procedure which is:

• Ask you where you would like to save the exported files (please create a folder somewhere on your PC (call it ‘SageExport’) and then select this folder when asked by Onyx where to store the files)

• Check and convert where necessary all customer and supplier account names to ensure that they are compatible with Sage

• Create a list of accounts that relate to all exported invoices and refunds

• Create a list of Invoices

• Create a list of refunds

• Ask whether the export was successful or not (do not answer this until you have imported the data into Sage)

• If export was successful will mark all exported invoices and refunds as exported so that they won’t be included the next time you run the export

The import process from within Sage Line 50 (V12)

First step is to create a Sage Backup by going to Utilities - >Backup and then following the onscreen directions.

If you have created and used a new nominal code, VAT type or Department in Onyx then you must create the same in Sage otherwise Sage will refuse to import the data.

Now we need to start the import process which is to import Clients, Invoices and then refunds. It is important that clients and suppliers are always imported first as otherwise Sage may not be able to reconcile the invoice/refund transaction with an account.

To import the customers within Sage go to File->Import and then select ‘Customer Records’ for the import type, then press Run’. Sage will now ask you where the customer import file is located, browse to the SageExport folder that we created earlier and select ‘1_Customers.csv’ (depending on your PC setup you may not see the file extension (csv)), if all goes well you will see a ‘File Import Success’ dialog. Please be sure to look though this log to ensure that Sage has not detected any errors. Assuming all is okay, close the screen and now repeat the process for suppliers being careful to select the 'Supplier Record' import option.  Assuming that all is okay, close the screen and select ‘Audit Trail Transaction’ and then press ‘Run’. Now browse to the ‘SageExport’ folder we created earlier and this time select ‘3_Invoices.csv’, Sage will start to check the data and if all goes well will display the ‘File Import Success’ dialog, again please be sure to check for errors, repeat for any refunds, purchase invoices, and sales and purchase payments.

On newer versions on Sage you may see a screen asking for 'Field Mappings.'  This is Sage asking you to select which field within the Onyx export files should be used for each field in the Sage import.  It is pretty straightforward to complete, all you need to do is use the drop down and select the matching fields (i.e. "Account Name" = Account Name).

If you note any errors that you do not expect or understand, please be sure to abort the import, restore Sage to its previous state (File -> Restore) and then send the three export files to support@onyxsoftware.co.uk where we will do our best to determine the problem and create a fix.

We recommend that you export your data on a weekly basis and to always take a database backup first. We also recommend that you take a backup of your Sage Accounts™ data first too. Please also note that whilst we take every care to ensure that data is compatible with Sage, we cannot and will not be held responsible for any problems that such an export may create, it is Sage’s responsibility to ensure that data it accepts is of the correct format and integrity before it accepts it and also the user to ensure that a Sage data backup is created before importing data to ensure that any problems can be undone.