Learn everything about 2022 Sage 300 CRE Year-End Update and Upgrade process in this video.

Need Sage 300 CRE Year-End Support?

Complete the form below and we will be in touch.

Did you know? Year-End is covered in Bangert’s Pro Plan for Sage 300 CRE.

What is the Sage 300 CRE Year-End Process? 

Let’s discuss preparing for the year-end upgrades for Sage 300 CRE. This is going to be separate from closing your financial year or anything like that, although we’ll touch on kind of how that affects the timing of your Sage Software upgrade. So, we’re going to be able to break down the preparations for year-end into four different pieces that we’re going to look at. 

  • We’re going to look at what are the system requirements 
  • What you need to do to prepare your environment for the upgrade 
  • What is the upgrade process 
  • Key events that are going to affect the timing of the upgrade steps 

1. Server and Workstation Requirements

 

Server 

For both Sage 300 CRE and Sage 100 Contractor, the server needs to be on Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019. Any one of those three is an acceptable option.

Workstation 

When we get to the workstations as a generality, you shouldn’t have any issues excepting Windows 11. Windows 11 is not supported for any of the various Sage CRE suites. So that’s going to be Sage 100 Contractor, Sage 300 CRE, and Sage Estimating. 

Compatibility 

As you think about your system requirements, you are going to want to confirm that your integrated products such as Sage Estimating, Sage Paperless MyAssistant, Office Connector, Procore, HH2, etc. are compatible with the new version. Make sure that those are ready for the new version before you upgrade. You’re also going to need a local data storage drive with as much free space as you have for accounting data. That way you can make your backup before the year-end process. 

2. Preparing For Your Upgrade

To prepare your environment, you’re going to 

  • Make sure that you have the Windows updates installed for all of your workstations as well as your server. 
  • You’re going to want to make sure that your Sage Accounting software users are notified that they need to be out of the software during the upgrade process. 
  • You’re also going to want to make sure that you can provide Windows administrative access for any workstations that will be updated as well as the server.

A note about server admin access: The server could be through remote or direct access to that Windows desktop, but that is the Windows desktop, that’s not just your file share. You’re going to need access to the start menu. If you can get to the server start menu, that’s what we need access for. 

  • You also want to make sure that you have Sage Accounting system or application administrative user access in order to upgrade that data towards the end of the process, as well as potentially make backups. Specifically for Sage 300 CRE systems, you need to be prepared for the server and any workstations that are having the software installed to be restarted during that upgrade process. 

3. The Upgrade Process

What’s the upgrade process look like for Sage 300 CRE? 

  • We’re going to backup the application data, so that’s your Timberline Office 9.5 folder as well as any company data folders 
  • Then we’ll install the server software on the server 
  • We’ll upgrade the data 
  • While that data’s upgrading, we’re going to go ahead and start work on those workstation installs and potentially upgrade any other Sage software that might need upgrading. 
  • Once the upgrade for the data has been completed, we need to make sure you open up – if you have it – Service Management and/or Purchasing and Inventory. 

4. Sage 300 CRE Year-End Update/Upgrade Key Events

What are the key events that you need to think about during this period? 

Fiscal Year Close 

You want to make sure that you pay attention to the close of the year. So, if you’re doing a fiscal year close, that can happen about the same time with Sage 300 CRE. Any version can close that fiscal year, so that’s not going to affect when you need to upgrade your Sage software.

Payroll Tax Tables 

The same goes for your payroll tax tables. As far as which version, any of our clients that have been engaging with us are going to be used to that update for the payroll tax tables and should be on a version that can accept them. Certainly, any version from 18 and forward can accept the payroll tax tables, and it could be some of those older versions are able to as well. With Sage 300 CRE, Payroll Tax Table updates are disassociated from the software upgrade because those versions can upgrade their tax table separately. 

Sage 300 CRE Payroll Tax Table Update Timing 

The only thing you need to pay attention to there is you want to make sure you get that done after the last payroll of 2022, but before you run the first payroll of 2023. Now your W2s and 1099s are going to have an effect on your software upgrade. You’ll want to make sure you get that software upgrade completed in time for the government deadline for those W2s and 1099s, which is January 31st, 2023. Ideally, you want to make sure you get your software updated by the end of January, but really it can be any time after the newest release is out. Right now, we know the Sage 300 CRE year-end version is going to be 22 point something. 

The Bottom Line 

You should be able to close your fiscal year at any point. And then the main thing is you want to make sure you’ve got your software updated before the deadline for the W2s and 1099s. It’s a little bit tighter window. You want to try and get it updated as soon as it’s reasonably possible. But if you run a payroll with the 2022 tax tables, in general, it’s not going to cause much of an issue. There is some concern about the payroll archive that may need to be done before running that software upgrade, and we’ll have some more news on that moving forward. And a generality though, the takeaway should be that you’ll need to aim for after the last payroll of 2022 and prior to the W2 and 1099 deadline for 2023. We’ll have more information for you move forward. So, always keep a lookout for more information on our BUG portal as well as on our YouTube. 

Want to get a free preview state of the latest version of Sage Intacct?