Equation Tech Blog

Updating Item Prices in Sage 300 to Reflect US & Canadian Tariff Changes

Written by EQ Tech | Mon, Jun 16, 2025

 

Tariffs aren’t just a behind-the-scenes accounting concern - they directly affect the prices you charge customers, much to everyone’s dismay. Especially in North America, as costs fluctuate due to shifting US & Canadian tariff rates, it's important for Sage 300 users to keep their item pricing in sync. Fortunately, Sage 300 provides flexible tools to help you do just that, whether you need to adjust prices for a few items or a few hundred.

Why Update Prices Due to Tariffs?

Not that anyone wants to, but when US & Canadian tariffs increase your product costs, you need to adjust your prices in order to maintain your profit margin. Although less common, but always appreciated by the customer, if tariffs are lifted or reduced, you may want to pass on savings to stay competitive.

Making sure to adjust your pricing appropriately, and not randomly, helps maintain transparent communication with your clients, continues a healthy margin for business growth, and let’s you maintain accurate cost-plus pricing.

Price Update Options in Sage 300

There are three main options in how to update pricing in Sage 300 depending on how many items you need to adjust. Sage has a manual price edit ability for a small number of items, a bulk update for larger edits, and an Excel export/import that is great for more granular control or collaborative editing with pricing teams. We’ve created the following chart to make it a little easier to know when we recommend which method:

Use Case Recommended Method
Fewer than 10 items Manual edits
10-100 items, same increase rate Update Item Pricing tool
100+ or mixed adjustment types Excel Export/Import or automation

If you’re not sure which would be the most appropriate for managing US & Canadian tariffs for our organization, or if you run into any hiccups along the way, please feel free to reach out to our Sage 300 experts. We’ve been helping clients with this for a long time!


1. Manual Price Edits
  • Navigate to Inventory Control > Item Pricing
  • Select an item and manually change its base price in the appropriate entry for the price list(s) needing update.
  • Best for small numbers of items (under 10)

2. Bulk Updates with "Update Item Pricing"

  • Use Inventory Control > Update Item Pricing to make broad changes
  • Filter by: 
    • Price list code
    • Item number range
    • Category
    • Optional field (e.g.: an HS or Harmonized System Code)
  • Choose how to update:
    • Fixed amount
    • Percentage markup or markdown

Example:

Apply a 25% price increase to all items with HS Code 6459.

Tip: Use Optional Fields to Target Items

If you’ve already assigned a Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code to your items using optional fields, you can use this to filter the affected items in bulk updates.

3. Excel Export/Import Method

  • Export item pricing to Excel
  • Edit prices in a spreadsheet
  • Re-import into Sage 300

What to Watch for with This Method:

  • Sage 300's default export has multiple tabs and many columns
  • Use the Pricing Details tab to modify prices
  • Remove unused columns before reimporting

If this seems like too much, don’t worry, a lot of companies work with a Sage partner to simplify this with a custom import template tailored to their business. If you would like help, our team can provide you with a template that has a simplified column structure, and multi-currency options.

Pro Tip: Automate Price Changes

Using Orchid Extender or custom scripts, it’s possible to auto-adjust prices based on cost changes from tariff updates. This helps your cost-plus margins stay intact without manual intervention. Orchid products are well tested throughout the Sage 300 ecosystem and we’ve worked with them for years. If you would like more information, please reach out.

Final Thoughts

Whether we’re dealing with a new round of US & Canadian tariffs or preparing for ongoing trade shifts, updating customer pricing in Sage 300 is essential. By using Sage’s built-in tools or working with a partner for automation, you can ensure that your margins stay healthy and your pricing stays fair.