Your company data cannot be prepared successfully - errors in the data have been detected
Sage 50 is refusing to prepare your company file because it found data errors inside it, usually from file damage.
You are seeing this message:
“Your company data cannot be prepared successfully - errors in the data have been detected.”
In plain terms, Sage 50 tried to get your company file ready for use and stopped partway. It is not telling you what is wrong, only that something inside the data failed a check. This is almost always a sign of damage or inconsistency in the company database itself, not a settings problem you can tick away.
What the message actually means
Sage 50 runs internal checks when it opens, verifies, or prepares a company file for a task such as a backup, an archive, or a conversion. When a record fails one of those checks, the process halts and this generic message appears. The wording gives no error number and no hint of which records are affected, which is why searching for it is frustrating. The underlying fault is typically a damaged transaction, a broken link between records, or corruption introduced by a crash, a power loss, or an interrupted update.
Why it happens
Common triggers include Sage 50 closing unexpectedly while writing to the file, a network drop while the file was in use on a shared drive, a workstation shutting down mid-save, or a version update that was interrupted partway through. Simply copying a company file while it is open can also produce inconsistencies. Older, larger files are more prone to this because there is more data to fall out of step.
What to try first: restore a backup
The safest option is to restore your most recent backup from before the message appeared. Open the backup, confirm your balances and recent transactions, and re-enter anything posted since. This avoids working in a file you already know is damaged. If your backups are old or also fail, move on rather than forcing the file.
Can the file be repaired in place?
Sage 50 has limited built-in ability to repair a company database that fails its own checks, and it will often report the same error again after any retry. Repeated attempts to open or convert a damaged file can make things worse, because every pass writes to the same data. Our engineers advise stopping after one or two retries and keeping a copy of the file exactly as it is, before anything else touches it.
When the file needs professional attention
If the backup route is not available and the error repeats, the file needs to be examined and repaired at the data level. That is what we do: our Sage 50 database repair service works directly on damaged Sage 50 and Simply Accounting databases to locate the failing records and rebuild them. If your goal was actually to move the data to QuickBooks, see our Sage 50 to QuickBooks conversion service; a conversion can often be completed from the damaged file even when Sage 50 itself will not prepare it.
A useful next step
Make a copy of the company file now, while it is still in its current state, and note roughly when the message first appeared. Then send it to us for a free evaluation and quote. We will tell you what is damaged, whether it is repairable, and what the work involves, with no obligation.