Import departments

How to

Create a department import file

You can import departments using a CSV Comma Separated Value (CSV) file format. Sage 200 can import and export data in the CSV file format. file.

  1. Download the import information and example file:

  2. Create your import file in the format of the CSV example file.

  3. Read the information in the import format file (XLS), and make sure your information is correct and all mandatory fields are included.

    • The Code is mandatory.
  4. Save your import file.

Check the import file is correct

  1. Click Validate Records.

  2. Browse to your import CSV file, select it and then click Open.

    The file is checked and two reports are generated:

    • The Update Report - lists the valid records that would be successfully imported into Sage 200.
    • The Update Report (Invalid) - lists the records that would not be imported into Sage 200. For each record Sage 200 prints a single reason for the failure. Remember that there could be more than one reason for the failure.

    Note: The reports are displayed, printed, or sent to the spooler; depending on the Output mode you have set.

  3. Check both reports to ensure that your records are complete and correct.

  4. Make any required corrections to the records in your import file.
  5. To re-validate your import file, repeat this process.

Import your departments

  1. Click Import File.

  2. Find the file you've saved, select it and then click Open.

    The validation checks are repeated and reports are produced showing the records have been imported and second report (if required) showing those that can't.

  3. Check both reports to ensure that your records are complete and correct.

  4. Make any required corrections to the records in your import file.

    Tip: Remove the details of records that were successfully imported. This prevents erroneous errors when you re-import the file.

  5. Repeat this process to import those corrected records.

Useful info

About using departments

Departments are codes that you can add to profit and loss nominal accounts, to help keep track of your income and expenses.

Each nominal account has the same code but with different departments.

Each of John's branch offices has two departments, Sales and Administration. As he also wants to record income and expenses by department, he creates two department codes, ADM and SAL. He also applies these to his profit and loss nominal accounts.

His nominal accounts for stationery purchases are shown below:

Nominal Account Code Cost Centre Dept
7502 LON ADM
7502 LON SAL
7502 MAN ADM
7502 MAN SAL
7502 BIR ADM
7502 BIR SAL

Departments are additional codes that you can add to profit and loss nominal accounts, to help keep track of your income and expenses in a particular area.

For example:

  • A primary school might set up a department for each year, from Nursery to Year 6.
  • A secondary school might set up a department for each teaching subject area, such as English, Mathematics and Art.

Each nominal account has the same code but with different departments.

  1. First you'll need to create a department code for each area. A standard set of departments has been created for you that represents the main areas in most schools, such as Maths and English for Secondary schools or Year 1, Year 2 for Primary.

    To change or add new departments:

    Open: Settings > Cash Book / Nominal Ledger > Departments

  2. For each nominal account code used to record income and expense, you'll need a nominal account plus cost centre plus department. The majority of our income and expense accounts will also have a cost centre, so your nominal accounts will look something like this:

  3. When you record transactions, you choose the nominal account with required cost centre and department.
  4. When you run your financial reports, you can group your balances to show income and expenditure by cost centre (fund) and by department.

Importing departments

If you want to use departments with your nominal accounts, you can import them from here. You won't be able to import a nominal account, if an associated department doesn't exist in Sage 200.

You can create or import additional departments once you've completed the configuration. However, we recommend that you do this before entering any transactions in Sage 200.

You must provide two pieces of information for each cost centre:

  • The department code - mandatory.
  • A description.

Questions

I have invalid records when I import

  1. Check the reason the import failed on the report and take the appropriate action:

    • If the record already exists: remove the record from your file.
    • If a mandatory field is missing: refer to the import file format (XLS file) and add the mandatory field to your record.
    • If a field is incorrectly formatted: refer to the import file format (XLS file) and amend the field so it adheres to the required format.
  2. Remove those records that were successfully imported from your import file, so they aren't imported again.
  3. After addressing all issues, import the file again.

What are the contact details used for?

The email address is used if you want to send the Budget Statement Breakdown By Cost Centre report to the person responsible for the cost centre.

The Budget Statement by Cost Centre report shows the budget, actual, committed and difference (Balance) for all nominal accounts with the same cost centre. The report is broken down into sections per cost centre so the report can easily be separated and sent to different people.

This report is configured so that the each cost centre section is attached to a separate email and sent to the email address specified against each cost centre here. If you have 10 cost centres then the relevant section of the report is attached to 10 separate email messages, which are sent to your out-box.

See How to report on your budgets.

You may see one of the following errors when importing departments. You then need to make the required changes to the import file.

The field is too long

This means that one of the fields has too many characters.

  • Code = 3
  • Name = 60
  • Contact Name = 200
  • Contact Details = 235
  • Email address = 200

The department code cannot be blank

Make sure all rows in the CSV file have a 3 character code.

The specified department is already in use

This means that a department Code has already been used.

Check the CSV file and either remove that row or use a different code.

What happens when

What happens when I validate a department file?

When you validate an import file, Sage 200 checks for the following:

  • Whether an item already exists.

  • All items contain the required mandatory fields.

  • All fields are correctly formatted.

The result of the validation is provided by reports.

  • A report lists the items that are valid and can be imported.

  • A separate report is produced to list any items that are invalid and can't be imported. The report will tell you why individual items are invalid.

Note: Depending on your selected output mode, the reports are displayed as a preview, sent to the spooler, or sent to the printer.

What happens when I import a department file?

  1. The import file is validated.

  2. The import file is processed.

    All valid items are imported, and any invalid items are ignored.

  3. The result of the import is provided by reports.

    • A report lists the valid items that were successfully imported.

    • A separate report is produced to list any items that were invalid and could not be imported.

    Note: Depending on your selected output mode, the reports are displayed as a preview, sent to the spooler, or sent to the printer.

See also

Related information

Import, export and update information

Other useful information

Creating your chart of accounts

Cost centres

Departments