Sage 50 Departments

Sage 50 Departments

We get asked regularly how to handle Sage 50 departments. They get used in so many different ways that there is no right or wrong answer but hopefully this help article will add some context for you. 

Question

Do you use Sage Projects & Cost Codes ? Y / N 
If you answer yes, then skip to Option 3
If no then you have some options here. 

Option 1 

Cost Codes - Cost codes are a great choice for Sage departments. They are completely arbitrary and are a line level option. A cost code is easy to set up, and you can rename the label to match your requirements. The only thing to take into consideration is that there is no delivery address with a cost code. 

If you use the SmartSync Tool, you will be able to map the Cost Codes to Sage Departments. If you choose to export to a flat file, choose the Sage 50 CSV and edit your mappings file in Sage to point the Department at the Cost Code 
Line item level : Yes  | Has Delivery Address: No 

Option 2

Projects - Projects in Zahara are designed for the ring-fencing of spend - as the name suggests. A job, an Event, a Construction project. The refurbishment of a room. Here you can set a budget and visualise spend against target. You can use this line item value as a Department as well if you choose. Many people do use Sage 50 departments as projects / jobs so using this in Zahara makes good sense. Rather than one static analysis code though, we'd recommend you populate the Project fields and get great value out of the feature. 


Projects are line item level and have a delivery address. 
Line item level : Yes  | Has Delivery Address: Yes 


Option 3 

Divisions - So you use Sage Projects and therefore Costs codes. This means you now have a limited option on the Sage departments. The only spare value left to map to is the Zahara Division. The Division has a field called the Division ID - Populate this with the Sage department ID - ie 101. 


Usually a Division is a "above the line item" value but you can have a separate Division per line item as well on both Invoices and Purchase Orders. 
If you opt to use our SmartSync tool, this value is made available and in the settings of SmartSync you have the option to set the Department of Sage to the Division of Zahara. 
The Divisions are used primarily for workflows / approvals and in our world are the natural groupings of people in the organisation - ie Sales team. A Division can have a budget as well. 


Line item level : Yes  | Has Delivery Address: Yes 


Summary 

So you have some choices here how you handle the Sage 50 Department. It's really down to the overall structure and what will be compromised by the choice you make - if anything. Reading this together with the Business Planning guide should help you make the right decision. 

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