— SAGE PASTEL SPECIALISTS
Sage Pastel Bookkeeping Services for Small Business
A bookkeeper who already knows your software. Cashbook capture, bank reconciliations, VAT201 and management reports, done directly inside Sage Pastel, no learning curve, no re-explaining your chart of accounts.
— WHAT IS SAGE PASTEL
Sage Pastel, explained
Sage Pastel is one of South Africa’s longest-standing accounting platforms, and one many established small businesses have used for years, sometimes decades. “Sage Pastel” today usually refers to one of two products: Sage Pastel Partner (now branded Sage 50cloud Accounting), a desktop-installed system strong on stock and inventory management, and Sage Business Cloud Accounting, its lighter, browser-based sibling. Both are common in South African SMEs. As a fully remote bookkeeper, I work directly inside Sage Business Cloud Accounting. For businesses still using the desktop-installed Sage Pastel Partner, I can’t access that software directly since it isn’t cloud-based, but I can manage a full migration of your data into the cloud so we can work together from there.
Sage Pastel Partner vs Sage Business Cloud
| Sage Pastel Partner | Sage Business Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Installed on your PC | Browser-based, any device |
| Best for | Businesses with stock, multiple users on one network, or detailed inventory needs | Service businesses, remote teams, simpler bookkeeping needs |
| Multi-user | Yes, licence-dependent | Yes, cloud login based |
| Backups | Manual or scheduled local backups | Automatic, cloud-hosted |
Not sure which one fits your business, or whether it’s time to move from the desktop version to the cloud? We can walk you through the trade-offs during your free consultation.
While desktop backup files cannot be opened directly in the cloud, I can fully manage the data migration process for you. I will safely convert your desktop lists, opening balances, and history into your new remote cloud environment so you can transition seamlessly.
What we handle inside your Sage Pastel file
- Daily and monthly cashbook capture, reconciled to your actual bank statements
- Debtors and creditors: invoicing, credit notes, and accurate payment allocations
- VAT201 review, reconciliation of the VAT control account, and submission to SARS
- Monthly management reports: trial balance, income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, exported straight from Pastel
- Stock and inventory reconciliation, for businesses that hold and sell physical stock
- Clean, audit-ready handover to your accountant at year-end, no scrambling in February
Common Sage Pastel problems we fix
If you’ve inherited a Pastel file, switched bookkeepers, or haven’t looked at it in months, these are the issues that show up most often:
| Issue | What’s usually behind it |
|---|---|
| Bank account won’t reconcile | Usually a missing or duplicated entry, or a transaction posted to the wrong period |
| VAT control account out of balance | Often caused by manual journal entries bypassing the VAT module, or an incorrect tax type on a transaction |
| Opening balances don’t match after a migration | Common when moving between accountants or from another system; needs a line-by-line reconciliation against the prior trial balance |
| Duplicate customer or supplier accounts | Cleaned up by merging accounts and re-checking historical allocations before they cause reporting errors |
1. Review your file
We go through your existing Sage Pastel data, chart of accounts and outstanding reconciliations before touching anything.
2. Set up or clean up
New to Sage Pastel? We configure it from scratch. Migrating or messy? We reconcile opening balances and fix what’s broken.
3. Monthly upkeep
Ongoing capture, reconciliations, VAT and reports, delivered every month so your Pastel file stays accurate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Already on Sage Pastel? Let’s put it to work properly.
Book a free consultation. We’ll review your current Pastel file and put together a monthly package that fits your business.