This guide explains how to set up an ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) connection to Sage 50 Accounts, enabling you to extract data directly into Power BI or Excel.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that:

You direct network access to the Sage 50 Accounts data files that contain your company data (this will be the case if Sage 50 Accounts is installed on the computer and you can open the target company in Sage).
The ODBC driver is installed for the version of Sage 50 Accounts that you are running (this is installed automatically by default when you install Sage, but you can also download the correct driver here).
You have valid login credentials for the Sage 50 company you wish to connect to.

Step 1 - Open the ODBC Data Source Manager

Open the Windows Start menu and search for ODBC
You will see two options: ODBC Data Sources (32-bit) and ODBC Data Sources (64-bit)
Select the 64-bit version, as Sage 50 Accounts is a 64-bit application

Step 2 - Create a System Data Source Name (DSN)

Within the ODBC Data Source Administrator, you have two options: a User DSN (accessible only to your user account) or a System DSN (accessible to all users on the machine). For shared environments, a System DSN is recommended.

Note: if you wish to access the DSN using the Microsoft Data Gateway, it needs to be a System DSN

Navigate to the System DSN tab
Click Add to create a new data source
From the list of available drivers, select the Sage 50 Accounts driver e.g. “Sage Line 50 v 30”
Important: Match the driver version to your installed Sage 50 version (e.g., if you have Sage 50 version 28, select the version 28 driver)
Click Finish

Step 3 - Name your DSN

Choose a clear, descriptive name for your DSN. Consider these tips:

Include “Sage 50” in the name – This makes it easy to identify the connection when browsing data sources
Include the company name – Sage 50 supports multiple companies, and each DSN connects to a single company. If you have multiple companies, you will need a separate DSN for each
Avoid including the Sage version number – Your Power BI reports will reference this DSN name. If you upgrade Sage 50, you won’t want to update all your reports just because the version changed
Avoid spaces, to minimise the chance of spelling mistakes in your code

Example: Sage50_CompanyName

Step 4 - Locate your Sage 50 company data path

To complete the DSN setup, you need to specify the location of your Sage 50 data files:

Open Sage 50 Accounts
Go to Help → About
Under Program Details, locate the Data Directory path
Click the link to open the folder in File Explorer
Navigate into the ACCDATA subfolder
Copy the full path from the File Explorer address bar
Paste this path into the Data Path field in the DSN configuration window

Click OK to save your new data source. You should now see it listed in the System DSN tab

Step 5 - Test your new Sage 50 ODBC connection

To verify your ODBC connection is working correctly:

Open Excel (or Power BI Desktop)
Go to Data → Get Data → From Other Sources → From ODBC
Select your newly created DSN from the list
Click OK
Enter your Sage 50 login credentials when prompted
If successful, you will see a list of all available Sage 50 tables that you can import