Sage 100c

Sage 100cloud Premium ( SQL ) Frequently Asked Questions

January 16, 2020 by Wayne Schulz Leave a Comment

Sage 100cloud Premium is a version of Sage 100cloud which runs on a SQL database. The primary benefits to this are (a) more secure data files and (b) faster reporting through external tools connected via native SQL drivers.

With Sage 100cloud subscription licensing there is no longer an additional cost for a user on Sage 100cloud Standard or Advanced to move to Premium ( SQL ).

To make the move to Sage 100cloud Premium you request new registration keys from Sage ( allow up to 7 days for this to process ). You can either contact Sage directly at 800-854-3415 or through your Sage partner.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sage 100cloud Premium

Note: This info is supplemental in nature and not intended to replace Sage’s official supported platforms or the advice of your Sage partner. These FAQ items were generated in 2019 and may not have been updated for subsequent changes to either Microsoft or Sage products. Use this information to supplement and not replace your own technical resources.

Sage OEM Runtime Version of Microsoft SQL

Sage promotes its OEM version of Microsoft SQL Server Runtime Edition as optimally configured.

The SQL Server Runtime license is a license that lets an independent software vendor (ISV) embed the complete SQL Server code into a solution for use only by the ISV application. The customers of the ISV cannot use this SQL Server product to run other applications or to develop new applications, databases, or tables.

The “optimizations” are actually listed on pages 99 and 100 in the Admin guide and it basically saves checking the right components and clicking Next a few times during the install.

“Optimized” is a bit misleading. It really means “configured for basic compatibility with Sage 100 Premium”. The installer defaults to Mixed Mode Authentication (required for Premium and prompts to create a ‘sa’ password) and uses the default collation method (basically it chooses Case Insensitive for you) and default language of English.

Sage recommends tempdb database should be at least 1/3 the size of largest database. Here is more information on best practices for tempdb sizing.

It does not “optimize” for performance since it does not, for example, ask you where to create the Sage 100 databases (like on a drive with more disk space), what setting to use for Database Recovery Model, etc. You have to move/set those things AFTER installing.

The OEM license is running SQL Server 2014 (2016, 2017 and now 2019 are available) and cannot legally use that SQL Server instance for anything other than Sage. If SQL Server is hosted in a data center there are license restrictions on the OEM SQL license.

ISVR licenses/Licensing Mobility Eligibility

The ISVR restrictions are outlined in the ISVR Agreement. It is not currently an option with ISV Royalty Licenses because LM (License Mobility) is a benefit of Software Assurance and ISVR does not offer Software Assurance, only Embedded Maintenance. The End Customer can have the Unified Solution running on Outsourced Servers, but not on shared (Cloud hosted) servers.

Several reports from consultants that the OEM download link only goes to the end-user.

How Many Microsoft SQL Licenses Are Required To Run Sage 100 Premium?

The short (and safest) answer is one for each Named user (not just the concurrent count) of Sage, plus the service account. The official Microsoft response is that any user that could access the environment (even temporarily) should be fully licensed.

Per Sage – Sage 100 Premium requires two licenses; one for the MAS_User account and another for the MAS_Reports account in SQL. You will need more licenses depending on individual needs: Administration, other databases or 3rd party methods of accessing Sage 100 data, etc.

However, the consensus among consultants seems to be:

I’m not sure the exact licensing for the Sage run-time, but as far as Microsoft’s concerned with SQL Server Standard or Enterprise, you either license by the processor core (all physical cores on the box or at least 4 if SQL is virtual) or per-User, and per-User means any user that could ever potentially touch the SQL server for data. If you have more than 30 users, per-core is usually cheapest. If you have less than 30, per User is the way to go.

So for per-User licensing, any Sage user would require a SQL CAL.

Additional Server recommendations:

Sage has the following MS SQL server configuration recommendations.

Server RAM:

A rough estimate for amount of RAM could be calculated as 1 GB for each concurrent user or size of database (in GB) whichever is higher but not less the 32 GB. There are more sophisticated ways to monitor this but minimum should be 32 GB or even 64 GB RAM.

SQL Server Memory Allocation:

SQL Server will allocate all the RAM to itself until the server is rebooted or the service restarted. To prevent the operating system from being robbed of RAM use the “Memory Allocation’ setting.

In Object Explorer, right-click the Server and select Properties.

Click the Memory node.

Under Server Memory Options, enter the amount that you want for Minimum server memory and Maximum server memory. Microsoft recommends the Maximum to be set from ½ to ¾ of the Server’s total RAM.

Tempdb:

The tempdb is a temporary global workspace for storing tables and processing queries. If your application is causing the tempdb to grow larger this will cause bottleneck until the tempdb is increased. Instead it is wise to bump up the size of this table.

The tempdb database should be at least 1/3 the size of largest database.

Hard Drives:

Hard drives with optimum speeds should be considered ever Solid State Drives. Also, the .mdf log files are competing for read and write access to the hard drive. There will be separate .mdf file for the data, transaction, and backup logs. To eliminate the competition these .mdf files can be place on separate physical drive letters. The location of these logs can be determine from Server Properties -> Database Settings.

Consultant Provided Additional Recommendations:

· Windows 2012 R2 Server or 2016.
· SQL Server 2014 or 2016 standard
with mixed mode authentication enabled.
Be sure to set the server collation method as SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS (if not, there will be data integrity issues).
This collation method is normally set by default when the server is setup with a default language of US English.
If using a different language setting, be sure to set this collation method as part of the SQL Server installation.
Default SQL data path should have sufficient space for the databases / log files.

Required access:
Full administrator control over the server.
SQL “sa” password.
Remote access using a method that allows us to reboot the machine and reconnect afterward.
We run the services under a Windows login. If there is a password policy that involves expiring passwords, we’ll want a utility Windows login with admin access over the server and a password that does not expire.

Recommendations

Work with your Sage partner to developer a list of current requirements – the information on this page has likely been updated as both Microsoft and Sage release new versions of their respective solutions.
Consult Sage’s Supported Platforms Matrix for Sage 100 which outline the very latest supported hardware and operating systems for each of the Sage 100cloud editions ( Standard, Advanced, Premium)
Most third-party integrations will work without change however you should verify with each ISV whether they are compatible with Sage 100cloud Premium ( SQL )
In order to upgrade to Sage 100cloud Premium all of your Sage modules MUST be at framework. Please discuss this FIRST with your Sage partner.

Support for Sage 100 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Ends Today

January 14, 2020 by Wayne Schulz Leave a Comment

On January 14, 2020, Microsoft ceased active support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Due to this change, Sage will also stop supporting these platforms for Sage 100 and Sage 100cloud. Users are urged to upgrade to a compatible operating system as outlined in Sage’s Supported Platforms document.

After January 14, 2020, if your PC is running Windows 7, it will no longer receive security updates. Therefore, it’s important that you upgrade to a modern operating system such as Windows 10, which can provide the latest security updates to help keep you and your data safer. In addition, Microsoft customer service will no longer be available to provide Windows 7 technical support. Related services for Windows 7 will also be discontinued over time. For example, certain games such as Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers as well as Electronic Program Guide for Windows Media Center are scheduled to be discontinued in January 2020.
Microsoft

Your existing Sage 100 and Sage 100cloud system will continue functioning on these platforms however you may have trouble loading Sage patches or obtaining future technical support related to these platforms.

Microsoft expected to patch major Windows security flaw today, and may NOT patch Windows 7
MSPoweruser

We recommend you upgrade your operating system to a supported level and avoid potential costly interruption in service.

Many existing users of Windows 7 might qualify ( still ) for a free upgrade to Windows 10 by using these instructions – How to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 free.

Sage 100 Payroll 2.20 Download Links ( Including Hot-Fixes )

December 24, 2019 by Wayne Schulz Leave a Comment

Sage just released Sage 100 Payroll 2.20 which includes important updates required for your first payroll of 2020.

Note: You’ll be able to see these new filing statuses in Employee maintenance after installing the payroll tax update that will be released in mid-December, 2019.

However, the withholding tax will not calculate correctly until you have upgraded to Sage 100 Payroll 2.20.

HH1 — Head of Household 2020 or Later
HH2 — Head of Household 2020 Ckbx (checkbox) 2c
MJ1 — Married FJ (filing jointly) 2020 or Later
MJ2 — Married FJ 2020 Ckbx 2c
NR1 — NR (nonresident) Alien 2020 or Later
NR2 — NR Alien 2020 Ckbx 2c
S1 — Single 2020 or Later
S2 — Single 2020 Ckbx 2c

Sage 100 Payroll 2.20 Upgrade Links

Documentation:
Sage 100 Payroll 2.20 Tax Tables 12/24/2019 – Read What’s New

Sage 100 Product Documentation – Visit Website

Downloads:

Sage 100 Payroll 2.20 – Download Link

You do NOT need to upgrade your core Sage 100 2018 or 2019 modules. The payroll update installs independently of core modules.

Tax Table Updates:

These are all delivered over the web. To install a tax table update follow these instructions:

To verify whether you have the latest tax update installed:

Select Payroll > Utilities > Payroll Tax Update.
Click Proceed to download and install the latest tax update.
To access this task, the Allow Payroll Tax Update security event check box must be selected for your role in Role Maintenance. Select Payroll > Utilities > Payroll Tax Update.

Download and apply these hotfixes:

Payroll 2.20.0 Program Fix PR6016T – Download
Tax Calculation—A New Property is Required (-10424) For New Jersey Employee Disability Capped Wages to calculate correctly. Note: Install Payroll Tax Table dated 12/24/2019 as well in order to calculate properly.

Payroll 2.20.0 Program Fix PR 6017T – Download
This addresses an issue where Social Security wages and taxes are not calculating for new tax profiles after installing Sage 100 Payroll 2.20 and the Tax Update deployed 12/12/2019.

Payroll 2.20.0 Program Fix PR6018T– Download
When renumbering employees from one department to another and using an alpha character in the department code (i.e., A1, A2, 3C, 4F, etc) a message will pop-up: 3C is not numeric.

Payroll 2.20.0 Program Fix PR6019T– Download
NJ Family Leave Insurance tax do not pull into boxes 18 and 19 on W2 form.

Open Reported Issues:

Renumbering Employees ( RESOLVED WITH PR6018T – link above )
Payroll 2.20 may prevent renumbering an employee from one department to another with the error ” the employee number already exists in department xx”

Payroll 2.20 Quarterly Tax Report Missing Employee Medicare Tax Rate ( INFORMATIONAL ONLY ) – Engineering is currently reviewing. This does not affect the calculation; it is calculating correctly at the 1.45%. It is just showing 0.00% under Tax Rates – Link

2020 Sales Tax Changes for Sage 100 Users ( Free Webinar )

December 11, 2019 by Wayne Schulz

Join Sage on December 18, 2019, for a 90 minute overview of upcoming sales tax issue which may impact your business during 2020.

Users of Sage 100cloud have access to Sage Sales Tax which is a version of Avalara Sales Tax with deep integration to Sage 100cloud sales tax processing.

Avalara offers:

Computation of sales tax for multiple states
Processing and tracking of sales tax exemption forms
Sales tax reporting on your behalf
More

The agenda is listed as:

What you need to know about the new tax rules going into effect

2019 brought dramatic changes in sales and use tax rules: 43 states adopted economic nexus laws, requiring out-of-state sellers to collect sales tax, and 36 of those states also enforced marketplace facilitator laws. Businesses of all sizes have had to scramble to keep up with changing tax liabilities, and it’s not expected to slow down.

As 2020 nears, now’s the time to prepare for even more sales tax changes to go into effect.

Attend this webcast as our strategic partner, Avalara, will again provide in depth insight to arm you with knowledge on the biggest sales tax changes that went into effect in 2019 and what changes you can expect in 2020.

Scott Peterson, Vice President of U.S. Tax Policy and Government Relations for Avalara, will cover:

The current state of sales and use tax in the U.S.
Which states have enacted economic nexus, and what’s expected to change in 2020.
New requirements for marketplace sellers (Amazon, Etsy, etc.)
A look at cross-border ecommerce and what international sellers must know about sales tax.
Answers to your questions.

The webinar is geared to both Sage partners and end-users. To register follow this link.

Sage 100 Package Tracking Site Down

December 10, 2019 by Wayne Schulz

Several users of Sage 100 have noted the functionality which displays package tracking information from within Sage 100cloud Package Tracking Inquiry screen appears to be down.

Update December 11, 2019: Sage has issued a notification that they are aware of this issue.

Clicking on the tracking number icon from within Sage 100 Invoice History presently results in either a ” 404 – File or directory not found ” or “HTTP Error 500 – Internal Server Error. The requested page cannot be accessed…” when clicking on the Package Tracking button in Summary Package Tracking Inquiry in A/R or S/O.

At present Sage suggests going directly to this URL to track shipments until their server returns to normal.

https://iship.com/trackit/track.aspx