Available in Sage 50 Premium Accounting and higher.

Sage 50 in a Multiuser Environment

Multiuser Licenses

If you purchased a single-user license of the Sage 50 program, this license is for use of the program on the computer(s) by one individual. As stated in the Sage 50 Software License Agreement, you must purchase a license to use the program for each additional client (user) workstation on which the program will be installed or accessed. Get more information about purchasing Sage 50 multiuser site licenses.

Compatible Networks

Sage 50 will run on two basic types of networks: peer-to-peer and client/server. Before you install Sage 50 on your network, you must know what type of network software is installed.

Peer-to-Peer: This is a network that allows each connected computer to act as a server and/or a workstation. Each computer can share its hard drive, printers, or other devices with all other computers in the network. However, when you are sharing data, you want to designate one computer as the primary server for the data. In other words, you don't want the data on everyone's computer, only the primary server (such as the administrator's computer). Examples of peer-to-peer networks compatible with Sage 50 include: Artisoft's LANtastic, Microsoft Windows 2003 Network, and Invisible LAN. You must install Sage 50 on the server first.
Client/Server: This is a network with a traditional server acting as a central unit (the primary server) with several workstations connecting to it. The server is where you store the data that will be shared by the workstations. Examples of client/server networks compatible with Sage 50 include Microsoft 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, and Windows Small Business Server 2003. You must install the Sage 50 program files on the server as well as the workstations, and you must install Sage 50 on the server first.

Network Requirements and Considerations

Sage 50 can operate on any peer-to-peer network that supports Windows Vista or Windows 7. Sage 50 can also operate on client/server networks such as Windows 2003 Server.

However, there are certain considerations:

Your data must reside on a network drive (either on the server or the administrator's machine for a peer-to-peer network).
Installing Sage 50 program files on each workstation enhances performance. Make sure you have full access (administrative rights) to the drive where you are installing Sage 50. You must install the Sage 50 program files on the server as well as the workstations, and you must install Sage 50 on the server first.
Printing on a network requires that the name of a printer used on the server be the same printer name used on all client machines as well. This is important since different operating systems may identify printers differently. If the printers in your network do not have the same names on the server and on all client machines, customized forms set up to print to a specific printer may not go to the desired printer.
When you receive an update to Sage 50, you must install the update the same way as you installed the original program.
The SmartPosting posting method is recommended for better performance.

About Record and File Locking

If you install Sage 50 to run on a network, sharing data with more than one person, you could have more than one person entering invoices, payments, orders, and so on for the same company at the same time. Sage 50 uses record and file locking to ensure that data is properly protected and updated. A record is one group of information, composed of related fields. For example, the fields in one customer's window (Name, Address, Phone, and so on) go together to form that customer's record. Likewise, all customer records go together to form the customer file.

If two people were making changes to the same customer, without record and file locking, two things could happen:

The information could get jumbled, combining each person's changes.
Person #1, working on the same customer information as Person #2, saves his changes first. Person #2 finishes her changes and saves the record a few minutes later. Person #2's changes will be the only changes saved, since Person #2 was the last person to save the record.

To eliminate either possibility from occurring, Sage 50 uses "locks" to prevent a particular record or file from being saved by more than one person at a time. In the example above, when the second person attempts to change the customer record the first person is using, Sage 50 will wait for the first person to finish, then allow the second user to begin. In special cases when Sage 50 cannot wait, it will display a message, reading "The record in file 'Customer.DAT' is currently in use. Please try again when it is available."

Sage 50 uses two different types of locks: Record Locks and Exclusive File Locks.

Record Locks

A record lock prevents more than one user from saving the same data record, such as customer information, at the same time. This ensures that record information does not become jumbled and changes are processed correctly. Two or more users can access the same records and make updates. They just cannot save the record changes at the same time. In these special cases, you may receive a message indicating that the record is currently locked. Once the first user has successfully saved changes, Sage 50 removes the lock, allowing other users to save the record. Other users will still be able to perform functions such as entering invoices and printing reports, but no one else will be able to update the customer information until the first user has finished saving the record.

Exclusive File Locks

An exclusive file lock prevents more than one user from accessing the same file at the same time. During critical processes, an exclusive file lock is placed on all of your company's files. These processes include

Backing up or restoring company data (from Sage 50's File menu)
Changing accounting periods
Changing posting method in Maintain Company Information
Working in User Security
Working in Maintain Item Prices
Closing the payroll (calendar) year or fiscal year
Posting (From Tasks menu, System, Post only)
Unposting (From Tasks menu, System, Unpost only)
Purging data
Opening a company (while another user is doing one of these single-user processes)

When you attempt to perform any of these processes, if another user has the company open, even if only at the main window, Sage 50 displays the following message:

"You are attempting to access an area that another user is also using, or you are attempting to perform a process that requires single-user access. Please try again when no other users are attempting the same operation or accessing Sage 50."

When this message appears, select RETRY to attempt the process again, or select CANCEL to abort the process.