Archived: Remote Data Access - Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Remote Data Access?

A. Remote Data Access is a service that allows you to access your Sage 50 company data from anywhere you have Sage 50 installed. You can access your Sage 50 data from the office, your home, or your accountant's office through the cloud without bringing your data on a USB drive or implementing a VPN setup or using third-party cloud-based hosting services that could lead to damaged or corrupted data.

Q. Is Remote Data Access a hosted solution?

A. No. You still need to run the Sage 50 desktop software. Remote Data Access allows a user to access his data in the cloud from anywhere Sage 50 is installed and with an active Internet connection. This will allow you to continue to use your Sage 50 Accounting desktop solution and gain some of the flexibility and workflow improvements that the cloud can offer. At any point, the Remote Data Access data owner can terminate the sharing component and continue to access the data on their desktop.

In a hosted situation, both the data and the software are moved to the cloud. Remote Data Access is not putting your Sage 50 data permanently in the cloud.

Q. Is Remote Data Access the same thing as Sage Drive?

A. Remote Data Access is the integrated sharing functionality that replaces Sage Drive since version 2020.2 of Sage 50 Accounting CA.

Q. Can I use the multi-user mode with Remote Data Access?

A. Yes. Remote Data Access handles the multi-user mode (contrarily to Sage Drive which was a single-user solution). Several users can log in and make changes to the shared company file at the same time. It only takes a few seconds to see the change another user made. The synchronization is almost in real-time (it takes a few seconds).

Reminder: Sage 50 Premium Edition and Quantum Edition handle the multi-user mode, but not Sage 50 Pro Edition (even with Remote Data Access).

Q. Can I access Remote Data Access from a mobile device, like a smartphone or tablet?

A. No. You can access Remote Data Access from anywhere you have Sage 50 Accounting installed. Because you cannot install Sage 50 on a mobile device or tablet (Sage 50 runs on Windows OS only), you cannot access your data using Remote Data Access from a mobile device. You can access Remote Data Access from your office, your home computer, your accountant's office or anywhere you have Sage 50 installed and have an active Internet connection.

Q. If I use Remote Data Access, will I still need to back up my company data?

A. Yes. You should always back up your data. Remote Data Access is not a cloud backup solution, it is a sharing solution. In case of data damage, customers who use Remote Data Access will not be able to call Sage and ask for a functioning copy of their database. Also, Remote Data Access is controlled by the “data owner,” who can turn off the sharing and continue to update the data locally. You want to ensure that you have a backup of your data in all scenarios and will achieve this with a backup routine.

Q. Is Remote Data Access free?

A. Remote Data Access is included in the Sage 50 Cloud service plan. See Is Remote Data Access free?

Q. Will my accountant or bookkeeper need to pay for Remote Data Access?

A. No, if your accountant or bookkeeper is a member of the Sage Accountants Network, they will already be entitled to Remote Data Access. You will need to invite them to access your data before they have access to your particular file. At any point in time, you can terminate access to your accountant, or any user assigned if you are the data owner.