Sage 200 licence expiry & TLS 1.0 update

The deadline to upgrade using older versions of the Sage Licence Service is changing.

Sage has decided to retire the use of the TLS 1.0 protocol as of 30th September 2022 rather than September 2023.

The retirement affects Sage 200 2013 up to, and including, Sage 200 Spring 2019. It additionally affects  historical licensing, and those who use invoice payments and/or bank feeds up to version 2021 R1, as these use a version of the Sage Licence Service which operates using the TLS 1.0 protocol. The main driver behind this date change is to reduce and remove security risks for users of the older versions of Sage 200 and as such, the TLS 1.0 protocol as quickly as possible. You can read more about this below.

What is TLS and why is this happening?

TLS is a security protocol required for a variety of services, including the Sage Licence Service, which enables products to communicate securely.

It’s important to note that TLS is not a protocol provided by Sage, it is only utilised and implemented by Sage. This change will affect Sage 200 2013 up to and including Sage 200 Spring 2019, as well as historical licensing, and those who use invoice payments and/or bank feeds up to version 2021 R1. As this security protocol is now retired, with no future security updates scheduled, it presents a risk to all Sage users if it is continued to be used. So, to remove this risk, Sage made the decision to retire the use of this variant as soon as possible.

What does this mean for my business?

Sage has advised that the deadline date by which all customers need to upgrade to versions of Sage 200 that operate using the new licence service (operating the TLS 1.2 protocol) is now 30th September 2022. However, if this is not actionable for you by the deadline specified, Sage is providing a licence patch in the new year for the following versions:

• 2018.00 (Summer 2018)
• 2018.01 (Winter 2018)
• 2018.02 (Spring 2019)

This patch gets applied to your Sage 200 Server and results in a minimal amount of disruption for you as it is a change to the admin area of Sage 200 not the front end application.

NOTE: If you are on a version of Sage 200 that is subject to these changes, your licence will NOT be able to be extended from the next renewal date after 30th September 2022.

You can find out what version of Sage 200 you operate by going to the cog icon located in the top right corner of Sage, then click ‘About Sage 200’. Use the table below for more information on what your version means.

Sage 200 Historical Licences

If you operate a Sage 200 historical licence, using Sage 200 2013 up to and including Sage 200 2019, you will also need to take action. One of your options would be to discontinue the use of your historical licence if it’s no longer required, however other options are available. If you would like to find out more about your options then please discuss this with your Account Manager.

What happens now?

Your Account Manager will be in touch to discuss what options are available to you and your next steps. If you are not a PKF Smith Cooper Systems customer please contact us via the details below and we will be happy to discuss this in more detail. You can also find out more about our Sage support service via this link.

If you would like to discuss the Sage 200 licence expiry & TLS update in more detail then contact us on 01332 959008 or email [email protected].