Sage 100 to QuickBooks conversion without losing history

When does your Sage 100 version stop being supported?

Sage’s supported versions article says: “For Sage 100, we officially support the current version and two previous versions.”

• Supported now: Sage 100 2026 (released April 16, 2026), 2025 and 2024.
• Retired: 2023, “with the version 2026 release in April 2026.”
• Next to go: 2024, which “will retire with the version 2027 release.”

QuickBooks Online Advanced, Desktop Enterprise, or stay on Sage 100?

Option	Good for	Watch for
Upgrade to Sage 100 2026	Costing by lot or serial cost tiers	Each new release retires the oldest supported version
QuickBooks Online Advanced	Simple stock, sales and purchase orders	One cost method (FIFO or moving average) that Intuit says “can’t be changed later”; manufacturing orders need Intuit Enterprise Suite
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise	A Windows server, sales order fulfillment (Platinum and Diamond), up to 40 users (Diamond)	Intuit says Enterprise 24.0 was among its “final annual platform releases”
Bring in an outside team (Cleanups & bulk changes)	Years of history or open orders that can’t pause	A cutover date agreed with your accountant

How do you keep your history without importing every transaction?

• In detail: every open invoice, bill, purchase order and sales order, with its original date and number.
• As a summary: an opening trial balance on the cutover date, plus one journal entry per past month for monthly comparisons.
• As saved reports: general ledger detail, invoice history, sales by item and purchase history, kept as Excel and PDF files.

The IRS record retention page gives 3 years in most cases and says to “keep employment tax records for at least 4 years.”

Cut over on the first day of your fiscal year if you can; mid-year, you also bring over year-to-date income and expenses.

How do you move from Sage 100 to QuickBooks Online yourself?

1. Export from Sage 100.

• Reports: in the report window, set Printer/Output to Export (PDF or Excel) or Data Only Export (no header information), then select Print.
• Lists: from the Business Insights Explorer menu, select a view, then File > Export Options > Microsoft Excel.
• Visual Integrator: Visual Integrator Main menu > Export Job Maintenance sets up repeatable exports, though not of CRM fields in Sales Order and Accounts Receivable files.

2. Value your stock. Run Inventory Management Reports menu > Inventory Valuation Report with Print Inactive Items selected. Sage recommends the Inventory Trial Balance Report to reconcile to your inventory account.

3. Choose the QuickBooks cost method. Go to Settings > Account and settings > Sales, select Edit in Products and services, turn on Track inventory quantity on hand, then choose FIFO or moving average cost. Sage 100 sets the method item by item; QuickBooks Online uses one for every item.

4. Import the lists. Go to Settings > Import Data. Intuit’s order is chart of accounts, customers, vendors, employees, classes, locations, then products and services. Split any file of 1,000 rows or more.

5. Post the opening balance. Import one journal entry from your Sage trial balance on the cutover date, leaving out receivables and payables (step 7 builds them), with the difference in Opening Balance Equity. Our journal entry import checker flags account names that don’t match before you upload.

6. Enter starting stock. Under Settings > Products and services, select Edit on each inventory item and fill in Initial quantity on hand, As of date and Cost from step 2. Intuit’s conversion steps then zero the inventory balance from step 5 with a journal entry: credit that account, debit Opening Balance Equity.

7. Bring in open items. Intuit recommends leaving each profile’s opening balance blank and adding “your customer’s unpaid invoices or your vendor’s unpaid bills” instead. Invoices and purchase orders can be imported; bill import needs QuickBooks Online Advanced or higher. Sales orders aren’t on Intuit’s import list, so enter them under All apps > Sales & Get Paid > Sales orders.

Ask your accountant which account those old invoice and bill lines should use, so last year’s sales and costs aren’t counted twice. Have them check steps 5 and 6 too.

How do you check the conversion worked?

• The balance sheet on the cutover date matches Sage’s trial balance, account by account.
• Receivables and payables aging match Sage’s, name by name.
• Stock on hand matches item by item. Our inventory count variance report lines up the two exports and lists the differences.
• Open sales orders and purchase orders match by count and total.
• A test invoice for your largest customer picks up the right item, price and tax.

Keep entering in Sage until these agree. Our guide to moving from Desktop Enterprise to Online covers what Online drops.