Sage and CT600 Filing

Sage is one of the UK's most widely used accounting platforms. Whether you use Sage 50 or Sage Business Cloud, this guide shows how to get your figures ready for CT600 filing.

Sage Products Overview

Sage offers several products for small businesses:

Product	Best For	CT600 Filing
Sage 50	Established businesses	Export TB, file separately
Sage Business Cloud	Cloud users	Export TB, file separately
Sage Accounting	Simpler needs	Export TB, file separately

None of Sage's small business products file CT600 returns directly. You'll need specialist software like TinyTax.

Exporting from Sage 50

Trial Balance Export

1. Open Sage 50
2. Go to Reports > Financials
3. Select Trial Balance
4. Set the period end date
5. Click Export > To File
6. Save as CSV or Excel

Detailed Profit and Loss

For additional detail:

1. Navigate to Reports > Profit and Loss
2. Set your full accounting period
3. Export for reference alongside your trial balance

Exporting from Sage Business Cloud

Trial Balance

1. Log into Sage Business Cloud
2. Click Reports in the menu
3. Select Trial Balance
4. Choose your accounting period end date
5. Click Export and save as CSV

Other Useful Reports

• Profit and Loss: Income and expense summary
• Balance Sheet: Assets and liabilities
• Aged Debtors/Creditors: Outstanding balances

If Your Version of Sage Cannot Export to CSV

Some older Sage versions — including Sage V9 and other legacy desktop releases — do not offer a trial balance CSV export. In that case, you can enter your figures manually in TinyTax.

TinyTax does not use nominal codes. The form has descriptive labelled fields rather than numeric codes, so there is no code-to-code mapping to set up. You work through your Sage trial balance, group the lines by category, and type each total into the matching field.

Profit and Loss Fields

Sage Nominal Code Range	Sage Category	TinyTax Field
4000–4999	Sales / Turnover	Turnover
5000–6999	Cost of sales / Direct expenses	Cost of sales
7000–7999 (excl. wages)	Overheads	Administrative expenses
7001–7006 (wages nominals)	Wages and salaries	Staff costs
8100–8299	Bank interest / other income	Other income
8000–8099	Depreciation	Enter in the Depreciation field — TinyTax adds it back automatically for tax purposes and applies capital allowances instead

Balance Sheet Fields

What to enter	TinyTax Field
Net book value of fixed assets	Fixed Assets
Debtors, prepayments, stock, cash at bank — totalled	Total Current Assets
Trade creditors, accruals, VAT, PAYE — totalled	Creditors due within one year
Long-term loans	Creditors due after one year
Face value of shares issued	Share Capital

Share Capital is typically £1, £2, or £100 for small companies. Retained earnings are calculated automatically from your figures.

For a trial balance with 85–90 lines, most entries will consolidate into a smaller number of category totals — the grouping is the main task.

Year-End Preparation in Sage

Before exporting your trial balance:

Complete Reconciliations

• Bank accounts matched to statements
• Supplier and customer balances verified
• VAT returns filed and reconciled

Post Adjustments

• Depreciation journals
• Prepayments and accruals
• Stock adjustments
• Bad debt provisions

Review Nominal Codes

Ensure accounts are categorised correctly:

• Sales codes in revenue section
• Expenses in appropriate categories
• Fixed assets recorded properly

Importing to TinyTax

With your Sage export ready:

1. Start your CT600 in TinyTax
2. Click the Import button next to the Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet heading
3. Select Sage as your accounting software
4. Upload your exported file
5. Review the account mappings
6. Confirm and proceed to tax calculation

TinyTax understands Sage's standard nominal code structure.

Sage Nominal Code Mapping

Sage Code Range	Category	CT600 Treatment
4000-4999	Sales	Box 145 Turnover
5000-5999	Purchases	Cost of sales
6000-6999	Direct expenses	Cost of sales
7000-7999	Overheads	Deductible expenses
0010-0059	Fixed assets	Capital allowances
1100-1199	Debtors	Balance sheet
2100-2199	Creditors	Balance sheet

Common Issues and Solutions

Nominal Code Mismatches

If TinyTax doesn't recognise a code:

• Check if it is a custom code you created
• Manually assign it to the correct category
• Update Sage's default code if appropriate

Depreciation Treatment

Sage calculates accounting depreciation, but:

• This is added back for tax purposes
• Capital allowances replace it
• TinyTax handles this automatically

Multi-Currency Accounts

If you have foreign currency transactions:

• Ensure balances are converted to GBP
• Exchange gains/losses are taxable/deductible
• Check Sage's revaluation is complete

Sage 50 vs TinyTax

Some users wonder about Sage's tax products:

Feature	Sage 50	TinyTax
Day-to-day bookkeeping	✓	✗
CT600 filing to HMRC	✗	✓
iXBRL accounts	✗	✓
Companies House filing	✗	✓
Capital allowances calculation	Limited	Full

Best approach: Use Sage for bookkeeping, TinyTax for tax filing.

Workflow Summary

1. Throughout the year — Maintain Sage records
2. Year end — Complete adjustments and reconciliations
3. Export — Generate trial balance from Sage (or prepare figures manually for older versions)
4. Import or enter — Upload CSV to TinyTax, or enter figures manually using the category fields
5. Review — Check mappings and add tax adjustments
6. File — Submit CT600 to HMRC and accounts to Companies House

Filing Solely to HMRC (CT600 Only)

If you already file your accounts with Companies House separately and only need TinyTax for the CT600 and HMRC submission, choose CT600 only when starting your filing.

This means:

• TinyTax submits your CT600 and iXBRL accounts to HMRC (HMRC requires accounts with every active-company CT600)
• Nothing is sent to Companies House — you continue to file your Companies House accounts through your existing route

Filing Deadlines Reminder

Deadline	Time After Period End
Companies House accounts	9 months
CT600 to HMRC	12 months
Corporation tax payment	9 months + 1 day

Key Takeaways

• Export trial balance from Sage Reports menu, or enter figures manually if your version cannot export CSV
• Sage does not file CT600 directly — use TinyTax
• TinyTax uses descriptive category fields, not nominal codes
• Complete year-end adjustments before exporting
• TinyTax maps standard Sage nominal codes automatically when importing
• Depreciation is replaced by capital allowances for tax
• Choose CT600 only to submit to HMRC without filing to Companies House