Archive for March, 2012

Sage Manager Password

Company Preferences -> Parameters

When you first install single user Sage 50 and Instant Accounts Plus and you get straight into the software with no security set up at all.  If you wish to create alternative logon ID’s for different users however – even in a single user environment – then you have the choice in Company Preferences->Parameters to switch on Access Rights.

If you tick this box then you will then need to use the default Sage logon name when you log in, even if you have not set up individual user names. Every Sage 50 Accounts and Instant Accounts software has a default logon name of MANAGER with a blank password. This includes the demo data.

Sage 50 User List

The mistake many users make however is to set up user names for staff members with passwords associated with them, but never actually change the MANAGER password to something secure. It also needs to be a memorable password – as you may not use it very often – but selected tasks can ONLY be done from the MANAGER logon – such as the Delete user button on the new View User List page in Sage 50 Accounts 2012. This allows you to remove users from the user list who are no longer logged in to Sage as their computer has crashed or network stopped working. (This replaces the method of deleting the queue.dta file in older versions of Sage).

The option for changing the password is the Settings Menu, but you should make sure you use something you will never forget as retrieving the manager password is not an easy thing to do. For all other users however if they forget their passwords then the MANAGER logon can view these in the Settings->Access Rights area of the program. Even users given Full Access cannot view this when logged in.

So the moral of this blog post is change your Sage MANAGER password to aid security, but don’t forget it as you may need it some day!

For more useful Sage Instant and Sage 50 user tips then check out the Sage Tips tag on this blog.

ACT! 2011 – Unable to cast object of type

Do you use ACT! Standard 2011 or ACT! Premium 2011, and have you ever experienced the error starting “Unable to cast object of type …” when you try to customise the columns view?

ACT Error Message

This error occurs if you have included tick boxes in your view, and it means that you probably do not have the latest patch/upgrade of ACT!  This error can be removed by returning the list view to default settings, but really your software should be updated to prevent the problem occurring.

Another side effect of having tick boxes in your view is you are also unable to export the data in the window to Microsoft Excel.

If you ‘check updates’ in the software, it may say your software is up to date.  However if your version number is 13.0 then you should still check the updates section of the Sage website as there are possible other updates which you need to apply manually.  You need to have a Sage website login to check the page.  If you email us your full version number, we can check for updates for you.

If you require assistance with this or any other problems with your ACT! software then do let us know.  For more ACT! tips, take a look at my previous posts tagged with ACT!

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