Preparation

The link with Sage sits in each sales channel integration you have created in the software. Before linking Sage with Tradebox you will need to:

• Create your Sales Channel(s) (integration with eBay, Amazon, Websites etc)
• Configure Sage for use with Tradebox

The Sage Accounts Link is created and configured in each individual Sales Channel, allowing each channel's data to be passed to Sage on a channel by channel basis. Within the sales channel list, the Accounts Link icon  will be ticked or blank to indicate which channels have been linked to Sage.

Before setting up your first Accounts link, make sure your accounts software in Configuration > Preferences > Accounting is set to Sage 50. This covers Sage 50, Sage 50 Professional, Sage 50C, Sage 50 Essentials and Sage Instant Accounts.

To set up a link to Sage, double-click on the sales channel and select Sage 50.

Connection

In the Connection screen, you'll choose which Sage Company you want to connect to from the dropdown at the top of the screen. Tradebox will attempt to find your Sage company by reading your Sage company file, if it can't then you'll see a prompt to browse for the data; click the icon and browse to the setup.dta file in your Accdata folder of the Sage data directory - you can check this via Help > About in Sage. The connection will work the same regardless whether Tradebox automatically finds the Sage data or you have to browse for it.

You should have created the logons names specifically for Tradebox One; TBUSER in the Company Selection section and TBSERVICE in the Service Logon section. If you assigned passwords to those logons in Sage, enter those now. Click Connect to Sage.

You're now in the Accounts Link setup wizard which starts in the Postings page. Use Next and Back in the lower right of the screen to navigate through the wizard.

Postings

Many of the settings in the Postings page won't be relevant to every business. We'd expect every user at a minimum to review their Create Sales As and Don't Post Orders Dated Prior to settings, as well as the Posting Currency if the channel imports foreign currency orders.

Currency

If your sales channel is set up in a currency other than GBP, you have the choice of posting to Sage in that currency or converting to GBP. Please note that choosing to post in a foreign currency requires you to have Foreign Trader enabled in Sage and to have customer and bank accounts set up in that currency. See our guide to multi-currency processing in Tradebox One for details. Once the accounts link has been set up, the posting currency is locked and cannot be amended without deleting and recreating the accounts link.

Sales Postings

Create Sales As: If you require each order to be posted to Sage as an individual transaction, you have the choice of posting either Service Invoices, Product Invoices or Sales Orders, depending on your preference.
Alternatively, if you prefer less transactions being created in Sage, you can choose Summary Transactions, Summary Service Invoices, or Summary Product Invoices. These options are more fully explained here. 

Your Create Sales As choice will impact on the options available to you throughout the rest of the accounts link; any options that don't apply to your type of sales posting will be greyed out.

Invoice/Order Date: The date that will appear on the invoice or sales order. There is a choice of Date Order Placed, Paid, Shipped or Downloaded. Some marketplaces do not supply all date variations.

Default Carrier: If you have couriers set up in Sage's Settings > Internet Resources, a default can be set up here which will appear in the Courier field on the Sage invoice/sales order.

Global Postings (optional)

If used, these details will override all other settings including information normally taken from the product record. Sage's Global Details section is designed to bounce all item lines on an invoice or sales order down to a single transaction when it's updated to ledgers; if you're happy for each item on a 30-line order to be processed using the same nominal code, department and tax code, you can keep your audit trail and activity screens tidy by amalgamating into a single ledger transaction. Global becomes active if the Nominal Code in this section is set; a global posting is valid with blank Details, and a blank Department will use the default department. If you activate global by setting the Nominal Code, the details and/or department will be used if populated, the selected Tax Code will also be used for every transaction. 

To turn off global postings if activated in error, use the  icon next to Nominal Code and Department.

Note - use of the Global Tax Code will impact the tax code appearing on the Sage postings but will not affect the VAT calculation. Invoices with global postings in Sage still take the tax treatment (i.e. how much is net and how much is VAT) of the individual item lines from the product record or customer record depending on settings. Global postings determine the tax code used but have no impact on the amounts, or on the Net/VAT split; in other words it's entirely possible to have a global posting using the T0 tax code which still contains 20% VAT if the product records are set to T1. See How Does Tradebox One Determine Tax? for more detail.

Options

Create Purchase Orders: Tradebox can be configured to create purchase orders for specific products, if these are Drop Ship or Just in Time items. The product record in Sage must be linked to a supplier record with the details filled out in order for this to work. 

Create Product Records: If using Tradebox stock control, Tradebox can create skeleton product records in Sage based on the information on the order. This option is not available if you are using stock control in Sage 50.

Create Product Records as Non-Stock: If Tradebox is set to create product records in Sage, it can also be set to create them as 'Non-Stock', a full product record but which does not carry a stock level.

Process BOM Transfers: If you use BOMs (Bill of Materials) in Sage, and don't hold stock of the 'end product', tick this option to have Tradebox bypass the end product and adjust stock out of the component parts of the BOM when it's sold. This option only applies to the first layer of subcomponents; it's not possible to have Tradebox adjust out components of components. 

Post Order if BOM Transfer Fails: If you have opted to have Tradebox process transfers for your BOMs, and Tradebox comes across an order where there is not enough stock to make the transfer, that order will not be posted to Sage until the stock is available. Selecting this option will allow that order to post without stock being available; the transfer would then need to be made manually in Sage.

Allocate Stock When Creating Sales Orders: If you have opted to post sales orders to Sage, selecting this option will automatically allocate stock to the sales order as it's posted into Sage. This is useful if you want to use Tradebox to automatically upload stock levels back to your marketplaces as it allows the stock to be adjusted as soon as the order is created in Sage.

Use Marketplace Product Name: By default, Tradebox will populate the invoice or sales order with the description from the Sage product record. Selecting this option will use the online product name from the marketplace instead.

Update Invoices to Ledgers: By default, when Tradebox creates an invoice in Sage it is unposted to the ledgers, and will need to be manually posted. If this option is selected, Tradebox can do that automatically for you. This is useful if you want to use Tradebox to automatically upload stock levels back to your marketplaces as it allows the stock to be adjusted as soon as the invoice is created in Sage.

Don't Post Zero Value Item Lines: Suppresses free of charge item lines on the Sage invoice/sales order. Zero value lines don't cause any problems in Sage but Check Data will flag them as Comments requiring no action. Stock adjustment won't run on free of charge items if they're suppressed.

Don't Post Zero Value Orders: Ignores free of charge orders for Sage posting. Zero value orders don't cause any problems in Sage but Check Data will flag them as Comments requiring no action. Stock adjustment won't run on free of charge orders if ticked.

Don't Post Unpaid Orders: This instructs Tradebox not to post any orders to Sage that don't have a payment date. This is useful if you want to download unpaid orders from your sites, but don't want them to post to Sage until they have been paid for.

Don't Post Orders Dated Prior to: This is, effectively, the start date for Sage posting through this sales channel. Note that orders from earlier dates may download as far as Tradebox but will not post to Sage. 

Customers

Customers

Customer Creation Options: You can choose between the options Create Individual Customers For Each Unique Buyer and Use an Existing Single Default Customer. This will allow you to either have an account for each buyer or have just one account. Whichever option you choose, all invoices will always display the individual buyer's details. For more information, see our individual vs. generic customers guide.

Default Sage Customer: This is the customer account which will be used if you have Use an Existing Single Default Customer selected. It must also be filled in if you're generating individual customers, as there may be instances where Tradebox cannot create an individual account (e.g. the customer's name has a character that Sage will not allow as part of a customer account reference.) If you do not have a default customer already set up in Sage, you can use the  symbol on the right to create one.

Specify Customer For Countries: If you've chosen to Use an Existing Single Default Customer, you can also specify a different generic customer dependent on which country the order is shipped to. This setting can only be applied after you have fully set up the link to Sage. Once that's done, you'd need to go back into the channel, select the Sage 50 tab and then, on the Customer tab you can specify which customers you want to use per country.

Account Reference Generation

If you've chosen to create individual customers in Sage, this section deals with how the customer account reference will be generated. The Mask is made up of @ representing letters, and £ representing incremental numbers. You can also choose your preferences in order of which field you would like to use to generate the reference. 

The default mask shown above would give you the first five letters of the buyer's company name followed by three incremental numbers. For example, if you process an order for StationeryCo they'd be created as STATI001. If you then process an order for StatisticsInc they'd be created as STATI002. If no company name was provided, it would use the surname, if no surname then the first name. You can also choose whether to use the billing or shipping address to generate the reference.

If you have your own system for Sage customer account references, key directly into the Mask field; typing alpha or numeric characters will use a fixed value, so for example a mask of AM1@@@££ would create all customer accounts through this sales channel as 'AM1[first three letters of company name][two-digit incremental number]'.

Use Magento Customer ID as Reference: This only appears on Magento channels. This can be used to take the Magento customer ID and populate the Sage account reference with it. If using this option, any guest customers without a customer ID will be posted to the default customer account selected in the channel.

Options

Auto Match to Existing Sage Customer: Each time Tradebox downloads a new order, it can search through your existing Sage accounts and look for a matching customer. This is based on email address (email 1 in Sage) and billing post code. If Tradebox finds a match it will automatically allocate the new sale to the existing Sage customer. This can potentially slow down the operation of the software. 

Manually Match/Create Sage Customer: If you have existing customers in Sage that you would like Tradebox to map to, but they are unlikely to have matching email and postcodes, you can use this option to manually select which orders go to which customer account in Sage. These relationships will then be remembered for future orders. Note that this will cause the first order by each new online customer to go into Query status in Tradebox and not post to Sage until it is actioned by a user. To match a customer, once the order has downloaded, go to Logs > Issues >Customer Validation.

If neither option is ticked, Tradebox will always create a new customer record in Sage even if one already exists with a matching billing name and email address. Once the customer exists in Tradebox, future orders from them will use the Sage customer record created with the first sale.

Use Billing Address from Sage Customer Account: If an order is placed by a customer that already exists in Sage, this will instruct Tradebox to ignore the billing address on the order itself and instead populate the billing address on the Sage invoice or sales order from the Sage customer record.

Use Shipping Address from Sage Customer Account: Will use the Shipping Address from the Sage customer account instead of the address from the order on the Sage invoice/sales order.

Set Terms Agreed Flag: Sets the terms agreed flag in the Credit Control section of the Sage customer record to yes. 

Use Tradebox Customer Tax Code: This instructs Tradebox to create a customer account in Sage using the tax code from the Tradebox customer account as the default tax code on the account in Sage.

Nominal Codes

Nominal Codes

Sales Nominal: Default nominal for sales to be posted to.

Sales Department: Default department for sales to be posted to.

Shipping Nominal: Default nominal for shipping to be posted to.

Shipping Department: Default department for shipping to be posted to. 

Other Nominal (optional): Default nominal for any other values, for example insurance. 

Non UK Sales Nominals (optional)

EU Sales: To be used if EU sales go to a separate nominal, based on shipping address.

EU Sales Department: To be used if EU sales go to a separate nominal, based on shipping address.

Rest Of World Sales: To be used if ROW sales go to a separate nominal, based on shipping address.

Rest Of World Sales Department: To be used if ROW sales go to a separate nominal, based on shipping address.

Specify Nominal Codes for Countries: If you want sales from a particular country or countries to go to a separate nominal code and/or department, other than your default, you can specify those by using this option. This setting can only be applied after you have fully set up the link to Sage. Once that's done, you'd need to go back into the channel, select the Sage 50 tab and then, on the Nominals tab you can specify which nominals and departments you want to use per country.

If any of the optional settings are set by mistake, using the   icon next to it will reset it back to blank.

Options

Override Product Nominal Code: If you are usingProduct Invoices or Sales Orders, Tradebox will by default always use the nominal code on the Sage product record. If you wish all sales to go to the default nominal you've specified on this screen, tick the Override Product Nominal Code option.

Fees - Posting

This option only appears in eBay channels. It allows you to choose whether you would like to post your eBay fees as a summarised transaction for a period of your choosing, or individual transactions that are posted immediately upon download. 

Marketplace Fees

This option appears in Amazon and eBay channels, where Tradebox can pick up the fees and account for them in Sage. You are able to choose which nominal code, bank account, and department (optional) you want them to be posted into, and with what tax code. See our fees guide for more information.

Ebay Order Fees

This option only appears in an eBay channel. Ebay order fees can be downloaded and accounted for in Sage by Tradebox. You can choose which nominal code, bank account, and department you want them to be posted into, and with what tax code. See our fees guide for more information.

Receipts

You will have different options on the Receipts page depending on whether you have chosen to post product/service invoices or sales orders to Sage.

Invoices

Tradebox can automatically post a sales receipt for every order when it's posted to Sage. This takes effect when the invoice is updated to ledgers. If you take different payment methods and these are provided to Tradebox by your site, payments for different methods can be sent to different bank accounts. You can also turn off payments per payment method by unticking the Post Receipts column. Alternatively, if you choose the option None, Tradebox will post no payment at all. 

Sales Orders

There are two options for receipts when you are posting sales orders. The first is to choose sales receipts, which will allow Tradebox to post a payment into the bank account when the sales order goes to invoice and the invoice is updated to the ledgers. You must only select this option if you always fully despatch your sales order. If you sometimes or always partially despatch orders, you should choose the other option, Payment on Account, which will raise a payment against the customer account which will then need to be manually allocated to the sales order. If you take different payment methods and these are provided to Tradebox by your site, payments for different methods can be sent to different bank accounts. You can also turn off payments per payment method by unticking the Post Receipts column. Alternatively, if you choose the option None, Tradebox will post no payment at all. 

Shipping

Shipping can be posted to Sage in several different ways. Everything can be posted to a single default nominal, or can be split out into several different nominal codes for reporting purposes. These can be specified within the Shipping screen.

Alternatively, if you prefer to have the shipping presented as a line on the invoice, Tradebox can post it as a product on to the body of the invoice if the Map Shipping Methods to Products option is selected. This requires the user to have products set up in Sage for each different type of shipping, and to select a Default Shipping Product from the drop down menu. The Add Shipping Line Even if FOC tick box will add the line regardless of the value. If this is unticked, the shipping line will not be shown on the invoice if shipping is free of charge. 

Regardless whether you're using nominal codes or products, the shipping methods list will built itself over time. The first time an order with a new method is downloaded, it'll automatically be added to the grid in this screen.

Tax Codes

The Tax Code screen of the Sage 50 link shows the tax codes that have been set up in Tradebox, their rates and the Sage tax code they've been mapped to. If you need to set up a new tax rate in Tradebox, you'd go to Configuration - Tax Rates to do so. Once that's done it will be automatically added to this list for you to be able to map it to your Sage code.

Fields

The Fields screen within the accounts link set up process allows you to choose which parts of the order information you want to be posted to which fields on the Sage customer account, invoice or sales order.

Customer Record - Registered Address: If using individual customers, this allows you to configure how the registered address appears when the account is first created.

Customer Record - Contact Information: This allows you to configure how the contact information appears when a customer account is first created.

Customer Record - Email Settings: This fills out the Email Settings & Addresses section in the Sage customer account. This can be populated with up to two email addresses and Tradebox can also fill out the email and transaction email tick boxes.

Invoice/Order - Billing Address: This allows you to configure the billing address as it will appear on the Sage invoice or sales order.

Invoice/Order Shipping Address: This allows you to configure the shipping address as it will appear on the Sage invoice or sales order.

Purchase Orders - Notes: Allows you to choose what fields appear on the notes of a purchase order.

Invoice/Order - Customer Order Details: This configures the Customer Order Details section that appears on the Order tab of the Sage invoice or sales order. 

Invoice/Order - Notes: This allows you to choose three fields to fill the notes section on the Order tab of the Sage invoice or sales order.

Invoice/Order - Lines: This allows you to choose what, if anything, you would like to appear on the Comments fields on the individual order lines of the Sage invoice or sales order.

Invoice/Order - Custom Fields: This fills in the custom analysis fields that appear on the Order tab of the Sage invoice or sales order. 

Invoice Numbering: When posting to Sage, Tradebox will automatically pick up the next available invoice/sales order number in the list. However if you have, for example, separate ranges of numbers specified for invoices and credits, ticking this box will allow Tradebox to follow those rules.

OSS/IOSS Reporting: If you use the OSS/IOSS reporting feature in Sage, Tradebox can set that flag on your invoices or sales orders, including the country of VAT and Report Type. This should only be used if you have set up your EU tax codes in Sage and marked them as an OSS/IOSS code. (Only available from Sage v28 onwards). 

 

Once you've set your preferences here, click the Finish button to complete the set up process.