1. Click File, New Company.
2. Click Next.
3. Choose a Sage 50 product; this will determine which features are available in the company (if not using Sage 50—U.S. Edition Accountant Edition, skip to Step 5).
4. Click Next.
5. Enter your company information.
   
   Note: All of the information on this screen can be changed after the company is created, if necessary
   
   
6. Click Next.
7. Select a method to create your company:
   • Use a sample business type that closely matches your company will provide a list of business types with predefined charts of accounts to select from after click Next
   • Copy settings from an existing Sage 50 Accounting company; if this option is selected, a list of companies that can be copied will be provided after clicking Next
   • Convert a company from another accounting program creates a blank chart of accounts that will later be built via import or manually
   • Build your own chart of accounts creates a blank chart of accounts that will later be built manually
   • Consolidate Existing Sage 50 Accounting companies (Premium and Quantum only) creates a parent company that pulls account balances from subsidiaries for financial statement purposes
     
     
8. Click Next.
   • If Use a sample business was selected, Select a business type and click Next
   • If Copy settings was selected:
     1. Choose a company from the list.
     2. Click Next.
     3. Select which parts of the company to copy.
        Note: If you will be importing maintenance records from the copied company, check all options; if wanting to use a different fiscal year structure, uncheck Accounting Periods
     4. Click Next
   • If Build your own chart of accounts was selected, Define Account Segments if desired (this can be done later; see Related Resources), then click Next
   • If Consolidate was selected:
     1. Select the company or companies to be consolidated, and click Add, then click Next
        
        Note: Subsidiary companies must use the same general ledger account structure, have the same retained earnings account number, and have the same fiscal year structure.
     2. If a selected company has security enabled, you will be prompted to enter a User Name and Password for it; after doing so, click Next.
        
        
9. Choose an accounting method:
   • Accrual: income and expense are recorded when the invoice is created, regardless of when payment occurs
   • Cash: income and expense are recorded when invoices are paid
     
     Note: if unsure which accounting method is correct for the company, consult an accountant before continuing; the accounting method cannot be changed once the company is created
     
     
10. Choose a posting method:
    • Real Time: transactions post as soon as they are printed or saved (recommended)
    • Batch: transactions are added to a posting queue when saved or printed, and will not effect the general ledger until manually posted
    • SmartPosting: transactions are added to a posting queue, which will automatically post when there is a lull in system activity (Quantum only); this is only recommended for companies that will have 10 or more simultaneous users
      
      Note: Posting method can be changed at any time; see Related Resources
      
      
11. Choose an accounting period structure, then click Next; if copying accounting periods from another company, skip to Step 14.
12. Set the fiscal year structure (this cannot be changed once the company is created):
    • If 12 monthly accounting periods was selected, set the month and year for period 1; periods 2-12 will follow from the selected month (for example, if January 2014 is period 1, February 2014 is period 2, and so on)
    • If Accounting periods that do not match the calendar months was selected:
      1. Set the number of periods per fiscal year (1); there is a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 13.
      2. Set the start date of period 1 (2).
      3. Set the date range of each period.
13. Click Next
14. Click Finish
15. When the creation process completes, the new company will open

How can I change my company's posting method?
How to update or change company information

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