Sage 100 Upgrades: 7 Crucial Reasons to Check Your System in 2023
Keeping your Sage 100 up to date in 2023 can save you time and headaches down the road. With lots of changes and updates coming, you can easily fall behind and run into various issues. Read on to learn more about seven critical reasons you should contact DSD Sage 100 Support today to get your upgrade scheduled before its too late.
7 Crucial Reasons to Upgrade Sage 100 in 2023
1. TLS Security Change Coming 10/1/23
Last fall we announced that TLS Security changes will impact Sage 100 subscription users who are operating with an unsupported version of Sage 100. If you fall into this group and do not complete your Sage 100 upgrade by 9/30/2023, you will not be able to enter new data into your Sage 100 system because it will go into read-only mode.
While October is 6 months away and the idea of delaying an upgrade seems appealing, the longer you delay your request, the the higher risk of not having your Sage 100 upgrade completed in time. Request a Sage 100 Upgrade call from DSD Sage 100 Support now because scheduling it appropriately will help you avoid any delay.
2. Sage 100 Payroll Year End Form Incompatibility
If you are running Sage 100 version 2020 or older and don’t complete a Sage 100 upgrade by the end of 2023, you risk the 2023 Sage 100 Payroll release being incompatible with your Sage 100 data. Effective with the release of Payroll 2.24, customers on versions 2018 and 2019 will need to be running versions 2020.x, 2021.x, 2022.x, or 2023.x to install the latest release of Payroll.
The year-end payroll release typically includes compliance changes so that the correct Sage 100 data flows to the correct Aatrix form fields. We have no control over when, which, and how the payroll forms change.
CRUCIAL NOTES: Aatrix will not be compatible with Sage 100 version 2019 and lower so users running payroll on those older versions won’t be able to generate their 2023 year-end tax reports including W-2s from within Sage 100.
Customers running unsupported legacy payroll versions do not have the option of a separate payroll installation and are not impacted by this change.
3. No 1099 Form Compliance for Year End Processing
While no one can predict how the 1099 forms might change, the Sage product development team typically releases the Sage 100 Year-End Interim Release Download (IRD) in mid-December to modify the system according to any changes announced by the IRS. As a result, the Sage 100 Year-End IRD contains compliance changes to ensure that the correct Sage 100 data flows to the correct forms and boxes within Aatrix for 1099 and other year end form processing.
Customers not running a compatible version of Sage 100 of version 2020 or higher will not be able to install the 2023 IRD. In addition, Aatrix will not be compatible with Sage 100 versions prior to 2020 and will be unable to generate the 1099 forms.
4. Current Maintenance Plans Already Have Upgrade Access
Sage 100 Upgrades are available to all Sage 100 organizations who stay current with their Sage 100 subscription maintenance plan. The Sage 100 subscription maintenance plan provides access to new versions of the software which include many new improvements, new features and highly requested updates to the system functionality.
By not upgrading Sage 100 to a current version, your organization is not receiving the full benefits and ROI of your software subscription cost. When you don’t upgrade, you are not taking advantage of the new features and functionality that might make a huge difference in the way your people and processes interact with the Sage 100 solution.
5. Sage Only Issues Fixes for the Latest Three Versions
As a rule, Sage only services and supports the latest 3 versions of their products. At the time of this writing in 2023, the supported versions are 2023, 2022, and 2021. As a result of this rule, Sage will not provide support or release any fixes to security compliance and the like to non-supported versions.
While DSD is able to support clients on many versions, there are often limitations to this because information about old issues is often unavailable. On the brightside, there are many situations where an issue in an unsupported version has been fixed in a more current version and so the fix is as easy as upgrading to that supported version.
6. Security Changes like TLS Standards May Impact You
Technology changes may cause issues if you have not upgraded your Sage 100 to a supported version.
A current example is the retirement of the older version of TLS. This is not technically a change for Sage 100 software, but it affects the way you access your Sage 100 software so it does matter. As previously stated, Sage only issues fixes for supported versions – even in the case of technology compatibility changes.
7. Hardware and operating system compatibility
If you have delayed your Sage 100 upgrade for years, have most likely delayed updating your server hardware and operating system software as well. This is risky because at any point these may need to be replaced for any number of reasons: end of life, failure, and/or discontinued support from those vendors.
Because your old version of Sage 100 is likely not compatible with a new server or cloud hosting for Sage 100 users with Sage Partner Cloud (SPC), upgrading Sage 100 is a necessity and will modernize your organization in many ways.
Next Steps for Your Sage 100 Upgrade
Overall, upgrading your Sage 100 software is important because it ensures that you have access to the latest features and functionality, as well as bug fixes and security updates. This can help improve your business processes and productivity, while also keeping your data safe and secure. Additionally, upgrading can help you stay compliant with any regulatory requirements that may have been introduced since your last software update.
In 2023, scheduling your Sage 100 upgrade is more important than ever because of the TLS security vulnerability deadline (October 1st 2023) and the year end form processing compliance incompatibilities. At DSD, we’re actively pursuing every client who falls into the vulnerable group to make sure all goes smoothly. Now that you know the risks, please request a Sage 100 Upgrade call with DSD Support now so scheduling it appropriately will help you avoid delays.
