If you’re wondering about using reporting services with Sage 200, this can easily be done. Sage 200 uses a Microsoft SQL Server to store the data now anyway so adding reporting services functionality is easy as it will either already be installed or be available to download and install from either microsoft.com or your SQL server CD.

Why use reporting services over the standard reports? For a start you can create reports that make use of additional field information in S200 (analysis fields for example), you can easily export reports to excel, CSV or PDF and you can also provide data to users who are not S200 users and save yourself the license costs in the process. A good example is an aged debt report, you could have a credit controller who doesnt actually need a user licence but give them access to a report which gives them all they need to chase money!

OK, technically it isn’t actually ‘broken’ but it is missing a small piece of functionality that more and more sites are flagging up. That is you can raise a PO and record it against a project but you cannot raise any sales orders and record them against a project. All that happens is that field where you enter the project reference is greyed out, simple fix you would think? I heard the current estimated fix date is many, many months away, o dear!