Can you use Sage 50 cloud on a Mac?

Sage 50Cloud Accounts is the UKs best-selling accounting software and is designed for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Apple Macs account for just over a quarter of all desktop operating systems sold in the UK in 2021, so you would think that Sage would have written a Mac version. Unfortunately, not. There are no versions of Sage 50 Accounts compatible with Apple Macs or that run natively on the Mac OS X operating system.

There are still number of ways you use Sage 50 software on a Mac, some work better than others. In this article I will discuss some of the ways people have used Sage on a Mac, and also show you the best way to run Sage 50 on Mac OS X, especially if you are a small or medium business and are looking for a robust and supported solution that doesn’t require you to swap your Macs for PCs.

How can you run Sage 50 Cloud Accounts on a Mac?

The methods most frequently suggested are:

Apple Boot Camp utility

Boot Camp is a utility included on a Mac that enables you to install Windows on your Mac as well as Mac OS X. At start up you choose whether to boot into Mac or Windows. On booting into Windows you can install Sage 50.

This will technically work but there are a number of good reasons not to use the Apple Boot Camp utility to run Sage:

• Firstly, it is only partially supported by Sage, i.e. they will support the application but not the environment.
• Secondly, you bought a Mac because you wanted to run Mac OS, not Windows. By using Boot Camp you may as well have saved your money and bought a Windows PC
• Thirdly, you will have to purchase a Windows 10 or Windows 11 licence at around £110 for Windows 10 home, or £127 for Pro.
• Finally, how do you get to all your Mac applications? It will be a pain rebooting your Mac all the time to swap from Mac to Windows.

Parallels – VM Ware Fusion

You can use a “Virtual Machine” running on your Mac that has Windows installed. Both Parallels and VM Ware can facilitate this. This is probably a more convenient way of running Sage on a Mac as you don’t have to come out of your Mac operating system, you can simply switch between the two.

As above, this method also has support risks from Sage support, and you will still need to purchase a copy of Windows.

Both of these methods will drain some of your Macs resources such as memory (RAM) and CPU to run the operating system as well as Sage itself.

Hosted Remote Desktops – Hosted Desktops – Desktop as a Service

A hosted desktop solution is a more professional way of using Sage 50 Cloud on a Mac. With a hosted desktop your copy of Sage is running on a Windows based, cloud hosted remote desktop server, that you connect to over the Internet. This is an ideal solution for small businesses with Mac users, and all the Sage 50 users in that business will run Sage 50 Cloud on the remote desktops.

Users can access the remote desktops using different devices, including Apple Macs, but also iOS and Android devices. As nothing runs on the Mac itself, everything runs on the cloud servers there is almost no impact on your Mac device’s resources. It will genuinely feel like you’re running a Mac version of Sage.

As a Desktop as a Service solution all aspects of the infrastructure are supported by the provider, including backups, antivirus, managed updates, monitoring and alerting. There are no IT issues to get your head round, the provider will look after everything. They will install Sage 50 and help with copying your database over.

From a cost point of view a typical Hosted Desktop service for say 5 users will generally cost less than the electricity alone required to run your own server.

How do I run Sage 50 Cloud on a Mac using Hosted Desktops?

Your Office Anywhere have been hosting Windows based applications, including many versions of Sage 50 software, on Hosted Desktops since 2006. Speak to one of our friendly sales consultants who will explain how everything works, show you a demo if you want, or send you your own demo account to try on your Mac device if you prefer. Simply get in touch using the form below or call 01282 500318.