Getting Started with Sage One Start

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Sage One Start is a very simple online tool designed for cash based micro businesses, to record money in and out of their business. It’s perfect for start-ups, sole traders, freelancers and entrepreneurs, helping them track their income and expenditure, while you, the accounting expert, manage their final accounts. Because it’s online, it gives your clients the freedom to manage their money, and helps you stay in touch with their finances effortlessly. All you need is an internet connection and you can access it from any smartphone, tablet, PC or laptop.

With Sage One Start you can

• Manage your customers and suppliers easily; store important details and view them at a glance. • Record your money in and money

out of your business.

• View the cash position of your business using the Summary screen.

• Get a snapshot of your money in, money out and bank balance. • Pay cash into the bank mirroring your

real life bank deposits. Show your bank deposits as you pay them into your bank rather than by each transaction. • Transfer money between bank accounts. • Automate the import of your bank

transactions via Bank Feeds.

• Check the bank against your actual bank statements to keep track of your balance. • Submit your VAT return to HMRC

electronically in just 3 simple steps. • Track your cash flow and

profitability via simple reports. • Collaborate and work effectively

with your accountant.

Introduction

Introduction ...3

Sage One Start in more detail...4

Getting started – setting up the business ...5

Configuring the Chart of Accounts ...5

Importing and creating contacts ...8

Manually creating contacts ...9

Creating Bank Accounts ...10

Adding Opening Balances ...10

Setting up Automated Bank Feeds ...13

Recording money in and money out...14

Entering recurring transactions ...16

The Summary screen ...17

VAT Returns ...17

Sage One Start reports ...20

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Getting Started with Sage One Start Getting Started with Sage One Start

Contacts

Keep track of your customers and suppliers and search for individual contacts to find important information quickly using the search option. Record specific information about your contacts and view their records with just one click.

Manage your Money

Stay on top of cash flow and end the need for a shoe box full of receipts. Your clients can accurately record money in and money out of their business and even link these transactions directly to their contacts. If they have regular, recurring expenses, they only need to set them up once, and then they’re entered automatically each time. • Easily track bank and cash

transactions and the movement of money between bank accounts. • Record card transactions as well as any

cash deposits that are paid into the bank. • Check the figures against your bank

statement to ensure they match and be reassured that balances in Sage One Start are accurate.

Automated Bank Feeds

Save time with free, secure automatic bank feeds. Get an accurate and up to date view of finances without the need to manually add figures or download data.

Effortless VAT returns

If your client’s business is VAT registered, then they can manage and submit their VAT online using Sage One Start. It’s simple and straightforward to submit to HMRC in just 3 steps.

Summary

Each time your client signs in they can view the Summary screen to see how their business is performing at a glance. Get a quick snapshot of money coming in and out of the business for the current month or on a year-to-date basis. They can also quickly see the health of their business bank account.

What kind of client would use Sage One Start?

• New start ups.

• Cash-based sole traders e.g. window cleaner, mobile hairdresser.

• Clients moving from Excel. • Clients moving up from

‘Shoebox bookkeeping’. • Clients who only need to record

incomings and outgoings.

What information will your client need in order to start using Sage One Start?

• Bank balances.

• Existing data e.g. income and expenses (even if that’s just receipts in a shoebox).

After signing-up to Sage One Start, you’ll see a Business Basics screen where you can enter the type of company and the relevant VAT Tax scheme.

Sage One Start uses a standard Chart of Accounts layout designed for small businesses. If required, you or your clients can customise this to suit the needs of their business. To view, amend or add to the Chart of Accounts:

1. Navigate to the More tab and select Settings.

2. From the Financial Settings section select Chart of Accounts.

3. The Chart of Accounts shows in list format, displaying each Category Code, Category Name and where it will appear on the Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet.

Getting started – setting up the business

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4. To create a new Category, click the New Category button and complete the required information.

Note: If there are any Category Codes/Names

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Once your CSV file has been imported you will be informed that the import has been successful.

Manually creating contacts

1. Select the Contacts tab and choose Create Customer (or alternatively Supplier). 2. Enter the required information

and select Save.

Note: Any field marked * is a mandatory

field and must be completed before you can save the contact record.

Manually creating contacts

If your client deals with the same customers or suppliers on a regular basis, you should set up contact records for them. Setting them up now saves time when entering transactions. You can either import contacts from a CSV file, or create them manually.

Importing contacts

To save time and effort when setting up records, you can import contacts in to Sage One Start from a CSV file. Importing contacts is quick and easy and is particularly useful if your client has a lot of contacts or if you already have their information in a spreadsheet elsewhere. To import Customer or Supplier Contacts:

1. Navigate to the Contacts tab.

2. Select >> New Customers and click the Import Customers button.

3. From the Import Customers screen select Choose File and browse to your CSV file containing your customer details.

Note: With Sage One Start you can

download a template CSV file and use this as a guide to the fields that must be completed before importing the file.

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When you first sign your client up for Sage One, they will have a Current Account and a Cash in Hand account by default. If necessary, you can create more accounts – for example, you might want to create an account for your client’s credit card. To create a new account: 1. Navigate to the Banking tab.

2. Select Manage Bank Accounts. 3. Select Add a New Account. 4. Add the details, and Save.

Tip: You can also add an opening balance

at the point of setting up bank account.

Note: For certain bank accounts you can

set-up Automated Bank Feeds which can reduce data entry and help speed up bank reconciliation by up-to 80%.

Now that you’ve set up your client’s records, you’re ready to enter the bank and category opening balances.

Opening balances represent the financial position of your client’s business on the day before they start using Sage One Start. Without accurate opening balances, the reports produced by Sage One Start can’t give you a true picture of your client’s financial position.

When you enter your opening balances, Sage One Start will always default them to one day prior to the Accounts Start Date. For example, if their financial year starts in January, Sage One Start will automatically post the opening balances using 31st December, in other words, the last day of the previous financial year.

Creating Bank Accounts

Adding Opening Balances

If you’re starting to use Sage One Start part way through the financial year, and you’ve entered the Accounts Start Date as 1st June (i.e. the date you want to start processing in Sage One Start), Sage One Start automatically posts the opening balances using 31 May. To enter opening balances for your client’s bank Accounts:

1. Navigate to More >> Settings 2. Select Bank Opening Balances

Note: You may be prompted to enter your Accounts Start Date. Enter the day which

you will start to record transactions from for example 1st January and Sage One Start will default all opening balances to 1 day before this i.e. 31st December. 3. From the Bank Opening Balances screen, select your relevant

Bank Accounts and enter the opening balance value.

Note: If your opening balance is in a positive position, choose Receipt (debit). Or

alternatively choose Payment (credit) if your bank’s opening balance is in the negative.

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Getting Started with Sage One Start Getting Started with Sage One Cashbook

Bank feeds easily downloads your latest bank account transactions into Sage One Start. This saves time manually entering transactions, simplifies your bank reconciliation and ensures

The bank feeds service connects directly to your bank account via a secure service and displays the transactions in Sage One. You can then match them against your Sage transactions

Setting up Automated Bank Feeds

To enter opening balances for your client’s Categories: 1. Navigate to More >> Settings. 2. Select Category Opening Balances.

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The Cashbook section of Sage One Start is where most of the processing will take place. To help your client keep track of the money coming in and going out of their business, you can use this Cashbook option. From here it’s possible to record sales receipts and income (Money In) and purchases and expenses (Money Out) and you can also use this option to process refunds. To record money in to the business:

1. Navigate to the Cashbook tab >> New Entry >> Money In. 2. Enter the following information:

• Contact – select the relevant Contact Record.

• Paid into Bank Account – select the relevant Bank Account the money is being paid into. • Date Received – enter the date

the money was received. • Reference – record a reference if

applicable to the transaction. • Amount Received – enter the full

amount of the money received. • Category – select the category that

best fits the income or receipt. • VAT Rate – if the business is VAT

registered select the relevant VAT rate. • Amount – enter the gross

amount of transaction.

Recording money in and money out

Important: We strongly recommend

that your client sets up their own Bank Feeds as it contains important personal security information that should not be shared with third parties. To setup Bank Feeds:

1. Navigate to the Banking tab. 2. Select your relevant Bank Account

>> click Connect to Bank.

3. Read the terms and conditions >> select I accept the Terms and Conditions check box and click Continue. 4. Enter the name of your bank >> Search.

5. Select your bank and enter your online banking credentials. 6. Click Add.

7. Sage One verifies your credentials and lists your online bank accounts. 8. Select the account you want to connect to and click Continue. 9. Enter the date you want to download

transactions from and select Finish.

Your transactions are automatically downloaded.

Tip: For further information about Bank

Feeds and how to import transactions, please refer to the online support.

Note: you can enter multiple transaction

lines, but they must total the amount entered in the Amount Received field. 3. Select Save. Or alternatively, select Save

>> Add Another to record more money in.

Note: Money Out is recorded in exactly

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Entering recurring transactions

In Sage One Cashbook, you can set up recurring transactions to save your client time if they have regular payments or receipts. You can use this to automatically repeat the transactions after a set number of days, weeks or months.

Note: Before you can set up a recurring

3. Complete the required information to set how often the transaction repeats. 4. Select Save.

Note: You can clearly see recurring

Money In or Out transactions by the 2 arrows icon in the repeat column.

transaction, you must manually enter the first Money In or Money Out transaction. 1. Navigate to the Cashbook area. 2. Select the transaction you want to

repeat and click Create Repeat Money In (or Create Repeat Money Out).

The Summary window shows the performance of your client’s business at a glance. They can view their Money In, Money Out, Balance, Bank Balance and Sage One Balance. You can toggle between “This Month” to view calendar month and “This Year” to view financial year to date balances.

• Money In – this shows the total income. This

is a gross value and includes VAT.

• Money Out – this shows the total expenses.

This is a gross value and includes VAT.

If your clients business is VAT registered they can use Sage One Start to submit their VAT return electronically to HMRC. Or, you as the Accountant can assist them with this.

• Balance – this shows the current balance

and is calculated from subtracting the Money Out from Money In.

• Banking – this shows the Current Account

bank balance.

• Cash – this shows the balance of your Cash

Bank Account.

The Summary screen

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To submit a VAT Return:

1. Navigate to the More menu and select VAT Return. 2. Select Create VAT Return.

3. Enter the VAT Period From and To dates of the VAT Return and click Calculate.

4. Choose how your clients wants to manage their VAT return.

Tip: If you want to save your VAT Return

as draft and come back and complete finish it later, select the Save this return and submit it later option. 5. To submit electronically to HMRC, select

the Submit online to Government Gateway option and enter the client’s or your agent’s HMRC User ID and HMRC Password. 6. Click Save to submit your VAT

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Sage One Start comes with a number of reports to help you and your clients with their cash-based accounts.

Journal Entries

Journals are a key feature of Sage One Start and allow you to post values between Category accounts. When you create a journal entry you must follow the principles of double-entry

bookkeeping: for every debit total there must be a corresponding credit balance. This can be made up of several credits as long as the overall total balances.

Journal entries don’t normally affect the VAT Return and are used to move values from one nominal account to another. But if required, you can choose to include them on your VAT Return. How it affects the VAT Return depends on how you enter the journal. To post a journal entry:

1. Navigate to the more tab and select Journals. 2. Select Journals.

3. Complete the relevant information and select Save.

Sage One Start reports

Essential Reports

Profit and Loss How much profit made, including Income, Expense and Profit over a given date range.

Balance Sheet How much Assets and Liabilities are worth including Equity up to a given date.

Cash Reports

Cash Flow Statement Looking at the cash flow in and out of the bank accounts (including PAYE and VAT liabilities) over a given date range.

Income & Expense Daybook What payments and receipts did I make or receive through my bank accounts over a given date range.

Unreconciled Bank

Transactions What bank transactions have not been matched and reconciled over a given date range.

Advanced Reports

Trial Balance The balances for each of your Categories over a given date range

Trial Balance including prior period values (periodic)

The balances for each of your Categories

including brought forwards for your Balance Sheet accounts only over a given date range.

Category Activity The balances for your Categories including the ability to drill to the transactional level over a given date range (including Opening and Closing Balances).

Audit Trail A summary record of all transactions recorded within Sage One Start. Also available in a Detailed View.

Chart of Accounts A summary of all of the Categories setup within Sage One Start.

VAT Reports

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Sage One Start will not allow your clients to: • Support Standard VAT.

• Handle accruals based accounting. • Produce Aged Debtor or Creditor reports. • Produce sales or purchase invoices. • Create sales or purchase credit notes. • Sage Pay Integration.

If your clients need any of these features, we recommend upgrading to Sage One Accounting.

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Getting Started with Sage One Start

Sage (UK) Limited North Park

Newcastle upon Tyne NE13 9AA

Getting Started with Sage One Start

Contents

Introduction

Getting started – setting up the business

Manually creating contacts

Creating Bank Accounts

Adding Opening Balances

Setting up Automated Bank Feeds

Recording money in and money out

Entering recurring transactions

The Summary screen

Sage One Start reports