If you're a Sage 50 desktop user, you may want to get invoices from FlexiBake into your Sage 50 system quickly and smoothly. Good news! This can be easily accomplished with the Sage 50 IMP file export, reducing the time needed and the risk of data entry errors.
This guide will walk you through the process of configuring both FlexiBake and Sage for the best data transfer experience.
Please note that the IMP file import in Sage only supports invoices. Credit Notes and Payments are not supported.
Configure Sage 50 for importing
Set Up Customers
To successfully import IMP files produced by FlexiBake into Sage 50, the customer name in both systems must match exactly.
Though it isn't required, it's also highly recommended that the customers in Sage have the This customer uses my item numbers on orders setting enabled in the Import/Export tab of the customer record. If this setting is not enabled, then Sage will ask the user importing the IMP file to match each line item to an inventory item in Sage.
Set up Products
Requirements
To start, your Sage 50 will need to have products set up in it as inventory and/or services. You'll need to set up the following information at minimum:
- Item Number - This must match the Product Code in FlexiBake exactly
- GL Accounts - These can be found in the Linked tab of the item. Sage only requires that COGS and Asset accounts be set for Inventory-type items, but it is highly recommended to also set the Revenue account for all items. Items that do not have a revenue account assigned will ask which account to use for each instance in the import file.
Importing products into Sage
If you do not currently have products set up in your Sage, you can quickly add some through an import. The steps below will cover how to fill out the import sheet and import it into Sage.
Step 1
Fill out the attached sample import CSV file with your products.
The first row of the import file is the version, country code, document type. The available country codes are:
| Country | Country Code |
| Canada | 1 |
| USA | 2 |
| France | 3 |
| Australia | 5 |
| International | 7 |
Row 2 must be left blank.
Rows 3 and onward are the products. Each product should be on its own line. The Products import fields are: Code, Description, Type (Inventory/Service), Unit, Price 1 (optional), Price 2 (optional), Price 3 (optional), Revenue Account, Expense Account.
Step 2
In Sage, open the File menu and select Import/Export, then Import Records.
Step 3
A pop-up will open. Select the Sage 50 import format, then click Next.
Step 4
If you would like, click the Back Up button to save a backup of your Sage datafile before proceeding. Click Next to continue with the import.
Step 5
Click on the Browse button next to the Inventory box, and locate your import file. Click Next to import
Step 6
A summary window will appear indicating if the products were successfully imported or if there were errors. You can print this if there are any errors you need to resolve. Click OK to continue.
Another pop-up will appear to let you know that the import was complete successfully. Click Finish.
Configure FlexiBake for exporting
Set Accounting Module Preferences
This step requires that you log into FlexiBake as a user with Administrator privileges
To start, we'll want to let FlexiBake know that we plan to use the Sage 50 IMP file export format and set up some information specific to this export format:
Step 1
In the upper menu bar, select Administration and then click on Accounting Module Preferences.
Step 2
A pop-up will open. Use the Accounting Software used drop-down to select Sage 50 IMP Format.
Step 3
Add the following information:
- Export Version - By default, this is set to 12001. You may need to update this to match the version number of your Sage 50 installation, which can be found in File > Properties as the version number in brackets. Do not enter the periods, e.g. "Release 2025.2 (32.1.0.2)" will need to be entered into FlexiBake as "32102"
- Country Code - Select the Country that your Sage 50 is set to operate in
- Invoice Prefix - The text entered here will be added before the FlexiBake invoice number in the export, e.g. "ABC" will result in invoice 123 being exported to Sage as ABC123
- Invoice Suffix - The text entered here will be added after the FlexiBake invoice number, e.g. "ABC" will result in invoice 123 being exported to Sage as 123ABC
The Invoice Prefix and Invoice Suffix fields are optional, but it is recommended to set one of these so that transactions from FlexiBake can be easily identified in Sage.
Step 4
Once this information is entered, click OK to save your changes. You will need to log out of FlexiBake for this change to take effect
Setting up Customers
In FlexiBake, ensure that the the customer name matches the one in Sage exactly. The name is used to map the customer from the import file to the customer record in Sage. If the customer doesn't already exist in Sage, no worries! Customers without a match can be mapped to an existing customer during the import (though this selection is one-time only and would need to be repeated for each import) or the user can choose to have the import create the customer in Sage.
The Sage 50 IMP import format does not support discounts or surcharges, so ensure that any discounts are removed from the Discount/Surcharge grid in the Billing tab of the Customer record.
If you need to record a discount or surcharge, consider using a service product instead. To learn more, please see Create a Service Product
Exporting an IMP File from FlexiBake
Now that you're all set up, you can export your invoices from FlexiBake into an IMP file for Sage using the steps below.
Step 1
In the Accounting centre, click on Export to Sage 50 IMP button.
Step 2
Set your desired date range, or check the Export All box to export all invoices currently in the system that have not yet been marked as exported. Optionally, select the Customer Category you would like to export.
Step 3
Click Export. A window will open to select where you would like to save the IMP and how you would like to name it. Once you click Save, FlexiBake will go through and export the invoices.
Step 4
Once the export has been completed, FlexiBake will ask if you would like to mark the transactions as exported. This will prevent further edits to the invoices and they will not be available to be exported again.
While testing the accounting export, we recommend choosing No when asked if you would like to mark the transactions as exported so that you can make adjustments and re-export as necessary until you're happy that Sage and FlexiBake are communicating as desired.
Once you're using the export regularly for live data, we highly recommend clicking Yes to mark the invoices as exported. This will prevent FlexiBake and Sage from becoming out of sync due to edits to the invoices.
Step 5
Another pop-up will appear asking if you would like to view an export report. You can select a Summary report which indicates the total value of the invoices exported, a Detail report which lists the individual invoices exported, or None to skip viewing a report.
Importing an IMP into Sage 50
Once you've exported your IMP file, it's time for the final step: to import it into Sage.
Step 1
Open Sage, then in the upper menu bar, open the file menu, click File, then select Import/Export and click on Import Transactions.
Step 2
Select Import purchase invoices, purchase quotes or sales invoices, sales orders, then click Next
Step 3
(Optional) Take a backup by clicking the Back Up button and following the instructions. Click Next to continue.
Step 4
Select the IMP file exported from FlexiBake, the click Next.
Step 5
A summary will appear after the import is complete. Make note of any errors and respond accordingly, click Ok to continue.
Step 6
Another pop-up will indicate that the import has completed successfully. Click Finish
