Sage 50 is a set of
accountancy and payroll products developed by
Sage Group aimed at small and medium enterprises. Sage offer different products under the Sage 50 name in different regions. The product name originally derives from the UK and Ireland version of the product where the number 50 indicated that it was aimed at companies with up to 50 employees. The products are described as
cloud-connected reflecting the remote working and online capabilities of the range.
UK/Ireland version
In the UK and Ireland there are currently four products under the Sage 50 banner; Accounts, Payroll, HR and P11D. Sage 50 Accounts was the market-leading accounting solution for many years.
The product currently known as Sage 50 Accounts has its origins in some of the earliest solutions that Sage produced. A direct relative of the current product is the Sage Sterling range which became available in September 1989 as a replacement for Sage's successful Businesswise Accounts range. Sage Sterling was available for DOS and in the early 1990s for Microsoft Windows. The product was re-branded as Sage Sterling +2 and in 1993 a version of the product became available for Apple Macintosh. By 1993 Sage Sterling was market leader having accounted for 62.5% of the integrated accounting software market. In the late 1990s, Sage Instant, a cut-down version of the product line was introduced.
Later, the product was rebranded as Sage Line 50, a reference to the target market of the product, and in the 2000s was rebranded to simply Sage 50. In the 2010s cloud-connected functionality was added to the product line and the 50c and 50cloud name began to be used as part of the wider Sage Business Cloud portfolio of products. In 2023 the product branding was simplified again back to Sage 50. The UK/Ireland Sage 50 products are developed in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, England.
US version
![Peachpak Ad, InfoWorld, November 29, 1982](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Peachpak_Ad%2C_InfoWorld%2C_November_29%2C_1982.png)
The US version of the product was previously called Peachtree Accounting. A conversion to the Peachtree/Sage 50 data format was made available when Simply Accounting was taken off the market. In 2013 it was brought under the Sage 50 banner.
Peachtree Accounting was originally sold by a
software publisher
A software publisher is a publishing company in the software industry between the developer and the distributor. In some companies, two or all three of these roles may be combined (and indeed, may reside in a single person, especially in the case o ...
founded in Atlanta in 1978 by Ben Dyer, Ron Roberts, Steve Mann, and John Hayes. The company was carved out of The Computersystem Center, an early
Altair
Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql or ...
dealer founded by Roberts, Mann, Jim Dunion, and Rich Stafford, which Dyer had joined as the manager and where its first software was published in 1977. Peachtree was the first successful business software made for
microcomputer
A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...
s, supplanting the General Ledger programmed with CBASIC and distributed by Structured Systems Group. It is the oldest microcomputer computer program for business in current use.
The company expanded its offerings with its acquisition of
Layered, an accounting program designed for use on the
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
. The company's products were included in the initial launch of the
IBM Personal Computer
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
, and it was acquired by
Management Science America
D&B Software (Dun & Bradstreet Software Services) was formed by the merger of the Management Science America and McCormack & Dodge companies in June 1990, under the ownership of the Dun & Bradstreet corporation. In 1982, ''McCormack & Dodge'' wa ...
(MSA) in June 1981.
By early 1984 ''InfoWorld'' estimated that Peachtree was the world's seventh-largest microcomputer-software company, with $21.7 million in 1983 sales.
After several subsequent changes of ownership ending with ADP, Peachtree was eventually acquired by the
Sage Group in 1998 for million.
In the US, many schools utilize this program in their Accounting classes.
Canadian version
The Canadian version of Sage 50 was previously known as Bedford Accounting and later renamed to Simply Accounting. In 2013 it was brought under the Sage 50 banner.
Bedford Software developed Bedford Integrated Accounting for
DOS in 1985 and for
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
in 1988, then naming it Simply Accounting. Bedford Software was acquired by
Computer Associates in 1989. Simply Accounting became an Independent
Business Unit
A strategic business unit (SBU) in business strategic management, is a profit center which focuses on product offering and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition, and marketing campaign, even though ...
of Computer Associates in 1996 and subsequently
incorporated as
ACCPAC International, Inc. in 1998. ACCPAC was acquired by The Sage Group in 2004 for integration with its
ERP products. It is developed in
Richmond, British Columbia.
French version
The French version of the product, known as Sage 50 Ciel, was originally developed by Ciel, the French software business, founded in 1986 that Sage acquired in 1992.
German/Austrian version
The Austrian and German versions of the product were formerly known as Sage GS-Office. It came under the Sage 50 banner in 2015.
Polish version
The Polish version of the product was known as Sage Symfonia 50, until it was acquired by
Mid Europa Partners
MidEuropa is an independent private equity player in Central and Eastern Europe focused on Central and Eastern Europe with approximately €5.3 billion of assets under management.
Strategy
MidEuropa seeks to take controlling stakes in its inve ...
in 2021 and rebranded as Symfonia.
Spanish version
The Spanish version of the product was formerly known as Sage ContaPlus. First offered in the early 1980s by Grupo SP, it gained incredible popularity in 1990 by using news stands as point of sale and was offered at very low prices at a time where professional accounting was very expensive. ContaPlus also took advantage of the Spanish accounting reform of 1990. Nowadays, ContaPlus is the "accounting standard" in Spain with more than one million customers. Grupo SP was purchased by Sage in 2003.
South African version
South African version, Sage 50 Pastel, was formerly known as Pastel Accounting
and has been available since 1989. The product was initially developed by Pastel Software who were purchased by
Softline in 1999. The product then became known as Softline Pastel. Sage acquired Softline in 2003 and the product eventually became known as Sage Pastel and later Sage 50 Pastel. It is widely used in industry, with job advertisements frequently requiring proficiency in the software, and training courses are available by third-party providers.
Cape Province University of Technology Pastel Short Course
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References
External links
Sage 50 Accounting
US
Sage 50 Accounting
Canada
Sage 50 Accounts
UK
{{Sage Group
Accounting software
50