Sage 50 US vs Canadian: Peachtree and Simply Accounting explained
Why Sage 50 US (Peachtree) and Sage 50 Canadian (Simply Accounting) are different products under one name, and why it matters for a conversion.
“Sage 50” is one brand covering two genuinely different products, and knowing which one you have saves time on any conversion or downgrade.
Two lineages
- Sage 50 US grew out of Peachtree. Under the hood it stores data in a folder of Btrieve/Pervasive-style data files, and a backup is a
.PTBfile. - Sage 50 Canadian grew out of Simply Accounting. It stores a company as a
.SAIfile plus a.SAJfolder, and a backup is a.CABfile.
They look similar on screen, but the data formats, the tax handling, and even some terminology differ. A tool or technician that handles one isn’t automatically set up for the other.
Why it matters for your conversion
When we scope a job, the lineage tells us:
- Which backup to ask for (
.PTBvs.CAB). - How tax and payroll map into QuickBooks, which differs between the US and Canadian editions.
- How multi-currency behaves – a bigger factor on Canadian files (see Sage multi-currency to QuickBooks).
We handle both lineages for conversions to QuickBooks and for Quantum downgrades, so either way you’re covered – we just need to know which one you’re on. Each lineage has its own downgrade page, with the pre-flight steps that apply to it: US Edition (Peachtree) and Canadian Edition (Simply Accounting).
How to tell which you have
If your backups end in .PTB, you’re on the US (Peachtree) product. If they end in .CAB, or you see a .SAI file for your company, you’re on the Canadian (Simply Accounting) product. Still unsure? Send us a note with your version and we’ll confirm.