Scott Gregory, QuickBooks Expert

My QuickBooks File is Too Big. Now What?

So QuickBooks tech support just told you your QuickBooks file is too big.

Can that be true?

Indeed it can!

HOW BIG IS TOO BIG?

While there are no hard and fast rules (or even any printed documentation from the makers of QuickBooks on the topic), my experience has shown that QuickBooks Pro and Premier data files are "too big" once they move past the 150 megabyte size.

If your business is using the Enterprise version of QuickBooks, my experience shows that a file is "too big" once it hits the 1 gigabyte level.

You'll know when your file is too big when:

• It takes forever to run reports
• Your QuickBooks crashes or locks up for no apparent reason
• Strange error messages begin appearing when you work in QuickBooks

HOW DO I KNOW JUST HOW BIG MY FILE IS?

That's easy. Tap the F2 key on your keyboard (or CTRL + 1 also works). Look for the line that says "File Size" on the left hand side of the window that appears.

For reference purposes, a file size of 150,000 as it appears in this window is equal to the 150 megabytes mentioned above.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS NOW?

Some businesses will simply decide to forge ahead and continue using a data file that is too big. This is a really bad idea, as their business runs a significant risk of having their entire file become corrupted and even unusable at some point in time in the future. I wouldn't want to be around the office the day that happens!

Others will take a more thoughtful approach and give careful consideration to this issue, as they realize their critical accounting and financial data may be at risk.

GET THE UNBIASED INSIGHT YOU NEED! DOWNLOAD MY FREE GUIDE

Since this issue tends to creep up on thousands of businesses each year (after all, there is no early warning system built into QuickBooks!), it is essential you understand the pros and cons of each option available to fix the problem.

Learn more about the options available when your QuickBooks file is too big in my special guide.

QUESTIONS? CONFUSION?

Feel free to post a comment in the box below or contact me to further explore the specifics of this issue within your business.

RELATED INFORMATION:

• QuickBooks Enterprise Resource Center
• QuickBooks Data File Shrinking Service
• QuickBooks New File Creation Service

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How Do I Find the Location of my QuickBooks Data?

Been scratching your head trying to figure out where QuickBooks hides your company data file and information?

Here are two easy ways to see exactly where your QuickBooks information is located:

• While working in your QuickBooks company file, click File > Open Previous Company (in the menu bar). Once there, you'll see exactly where your data file is located. You'll see something like c:\Program Files\Intuit\etc. This is called the "path", so if you were trying to find this via the My Computer icon, you would just follow the "path" to get to it (i.e. click the C: drive icon, then click the Program Files icon, etc.)
  
  Note that if you work on multiple QuickBooks company files, you'll see up to four of them listed when you use this method to find your file.
  
  
• Tap the F2 key (or use CTRL + 1). A screen will pop up that shows a LOT of information about your QuickBooks data file, and among that will be a box that shows the location of your file.

MORE HELPFUL QUICKBOOKS INFORMATION

• QuickBooks Training Videos Now Available
• The One QuickBooks Tip that Will Save Your Business Thousands of $

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Why Does My Sales by Rep Report Show "No Sales Rep"?

This question was recently submitted, and it may be the same question many of you may be asking:

Q: Dear Scott: "How come my Sale by Rep report shows "No Sales Rep"? I know I entered the rep for each customer on the customer screens."

A: The Sales by Rep report is actually looking to your sales documents (i.e. invoices and/or sales receipts) to pull the proper information. If the rep field is not showing up on either of these documents, QuickBooks will substitute the "No Sales Rep" as the salesperson.

The fact that you have entered the sales rep on the customer screen allows QuickBooks to remember the association between that customer and that sales rep on each future transaction. However, it is essential to make sure the sales rep field is also showing up on your sales forms as shown in the example screen shot below:

 

Once it shows up there, it will then be included in any totals on the Sales by Rep report:

 

If there is no sales rep listed on the sales form, QuickBooks will default to the "no sales rep" as shown in the report above.

RELATED INFORMATION:

• Running a Sales by Customer Summary Report in QuickBooks
• Running a Sales by Item Report in QuickBooks

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Is Your Bookkeeper Up to No Good With Your Checkbook?

Have you double-paid your vendors by accident?

Is your bookkeeper up to no good with your checkbook?

Are there other potential "irregularities" in your QuickBooks financial information?

It is essential to know the answers to these questions so you can maintain financial control over your business.

SO MANY FINANCIAL CONCERNS, YET SO LITTLE TIME

You'd like to do some further investigation on these questions, but don't know where to start, right?

Enter AuditMyBooks.

YOUR OWN INTERNAL AUDIT TEAM - EFFORTLESSLY

AuditMyBooks software helps put a team of auditors and fraud investigators to work on your behalf. Not literally of course. The team goes to work digitally.

Once you connect AuditMyBooks with your QuickBooks data file, a complete scan of your financial information is performed.

A handy Excel report is created that recaps potential problems or areas for further investigation via 20 different reports as listed below:

Be sure to take a close look at the comprehensive list of reports above that AuditMyBooks provides. All of which come at the click of a mouse.

THE DASHBOARD HELPS YOU KEEP SCORE

AuditMyBooks keeps a handy dashboard front and center so you can see what is going on at all times (click the image for a larger view):

From the dashboard, you can run a scan of your QuickBooks file at any time, set a reminder for future scans, fine tune the settings and rules used by AuditMyBooks, and find answers to your questions in the support center.

As you can see, AuditMyBooks can be used as a tool to spot irregularities. In addition, it can be used as a great training tool for your accounting department - use the information it provides to help reduce mistakes and costly errors.

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL OF AUDITMYBOOKS

Want to "try before you buy"? Download your free trial copy of AuditMyBooks today so you can begin the crucial evaluation of your finances and uncover potential problems before they get out of hand.

AuditMyBooks is the recipient of the "Best New App" award from the Intuit Cloud Jam, a Sleeter Group "New Product to Watch" and other awards as well.

LIKE THE IDEA, BUT DON'T HAVE THE TIME?

I offer consulting services to businesses that see the value of putting a tool like this to work in their business, but don't have the time or manpower to get it going. Contact me and drop me a line. We can connect and figure out the details from there.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The median loss from occupational fraud is $160,000. How much does your business stand to lose?
• Fraud lasts an average of 18 months before it is detected. Is your business at risk?
• Small organizations are disproportionately victimized by fraud. Might that include your business too?

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Stop QuickBooks from automatically applying customer payments

Do you find yourself constantly making changes on the receive payments screen in QuickBooks?

Wish there was a way to get QuickBooks to stop automatically assigning customer payments to invoices?

Good news!

There is an easy fix for this.

HEAD OVER TO THE PREFERENCES AREA

To make this problem go away, click Edit (in the menu bar), then Preferences, then Payments. (In older versions of QuickBooks, the Payments preference does not exist. You'll need to go to the Sales and Customer preferences area instead).

From there, you will want to uncheck the box that says "Automatically Apply Payments" and click OK as shown in the screen shot below:

Once you do that, you will want to manually select which invoices are being paid each time you enter a customer payment. QuickBooks will no longer automatically assign the payment to the invoices.

ALERT: If you don't manually apply payments to invoices, QuickBooks will simply create a credit memo on the customers account for the value of the payment. This is not a habit you want to get into either.

RELATED ARTICLES:

• What the heck is Undeposited Funds in QuickBooks?
• How to remove the IPN (Intuit Payment Network) information showing up on your invoices

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Some Hilarious QuickBooks Comments from the Twitterverse

We're taking a break from our normally scheduled QuickBooks tips and insights this time and adding some humor to your day.

I just have to share some priceless comments that I've seen passing through the world of Twitter over the last couple of months. I set up to monitor the #QuickBooks tag in Twitter and these gems passed over the wire. Believe me, there are plenty of additional tweets that can't even be published!

PICK YOUR FAVORITE QUICKBOOKS TWEET

• "Tonights headache is sponsored once again by Quickbooks but there's light at the end of the tunnel... beer"
• "I'm going to open a category in Quickbooks called "Ignorance" and label it a revenue stream."
• "Note to self: Let's not have another dream about QuickBooks tonight, ok?"
• "Quickbooks is making me pull out my hair. Soon = bald."
• "I am not an accountant, I only play one on TV."
• "The intern we paid did everything wrong in quickbooks #awesome I'm now going to re-enter every single transaction since 1/09" (Editors' note: ouch - this hurts bad!)

I am positive I'll be adding to this list again...

GOT ONE TO ADD? PLEASE SHARE IT!

Post your favorite tweet about the pain you or your clients' are having with QuickBooks in the comments box below. I look forward to them!

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Don't Let Your IT Services Provider Do This to You

I was recently helping a client upgrade the QuickBooks software on their network and wanted to share an important observation from that installation with you.

As part of the tasks to be done, QuickBooks had to be installed on their server, which is perfectly normal. In order to start the installation, we needed the password to the Windows administrator account on the server. That is also normal.

I looked to the client for the password - they had no idea what it was, "because their IT provider took care of it". Uh oh...

So they called their IT provider and left a message to get the password. And we waited. And waited. And waited. Two days elapsed before they responded with the needed information. This is definitely NOT normal.

IT'S YOUR NETWORK - GET THE DOCUMENTATION

Situations like this are really infuriating to me and they don't need to happen.

When your business contracts with an IT services provider to set up new hardware or software, they owe it to you to provide a full set of documentation, including all passwords and settings that were put in place as part of the installation. The local IT guys I work with are great at getting this important task accomplished every time they are on site.

Said another way - it's your equipment they are working on and you have a right to know how to access it and how it was set up. Granted, you may never have a need to use any of these details except for the passwords. Then again, you might. More likely, the new IT provider you eventually hire to replace the ones who are not responsive to you would sure benefit from it.

PUT IN THE REQUEST TODAY

Take a moment right now and consider your computer setup. Do you know the critical passwords for the various software and hardware in place?

If you do, that's great.

If you don't, take time to request that information now and make sure your IT provider gets it to you.

You'll be glad you did!

OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST

• Put on your hardhat and rebuild your QuickBooks data file
• Did you check your QuickBooks backup today?

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How Do I Know Where My QuickBooks Data File is Stored?

It is always a good idea to know where your QuickBooks data file(s) are stored. One main reason this is essential is to ensure that the file is being backed up every day (and it should be!). In addition, in the event any troubleshooting of your QuickBooks has to take place, knowing the location can save a lot of time.

If you ask your IT person where your data files are located, you may get some type of cryptic answer that provides more confusion than resolution.

Take control and see for yourself where your QuickBooks data is stored. Simply click File (in the menu bar) and then click Open Previous Company. The information you see here will tell you exactly where the data is stored.

If you see the letters C, D, or E at the beginning of the listing, this likely means that the data is stored on the hard drive of your computer. If you see letters like P, Q or higher, that likely means that the data is stored on another computer (likely a server or other desktop) and you have connected to that computer through your internal network.

BONUS TIP

When working with QuickBooks for Windows, your data files will end with the letters .QBW. This is shorthand for "QuickBooks for Windows". This is the main data file that contains all the financial transactions of your business since you began using QuickBooks.

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Can't Start QuickBooks - It is Already Running. Huh?

Have you ever encountered this problem in QuickBooks?

You think QuickBooks is shut down. Yet, your computer thinks otherwise the next time you try to start QuickBooks and it boldly tells you "QuickBooks can't start because it is already running". Huh?

What's going on here?

THE FIX FOR THIS IS EASY

Starting with the 2011 version of QuickBooks, a special feature (Instant Start) was built in to allow QuickBooks to start up faster. However, this feature sometimes causes QuickBooks not to shut down properly and then give you the message that it is already running.

You'll find an excellent recap of this problem and the steps needed to fix the "QuickBooks is already running" dilemma from the QuickBooks support site.

RELATED POSTS

• See what's new in QuickBooks 2012
• 7 critical steps to provide some TLC for your QB

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Dude - Where are My Customers? My QuickBooks Customer List is Blank!

Did you open QuickBooks today and find that your customer list has disappeared?

While I can't assure you that your customer list will reappear, here are some steps to try and get it back:

• Shut down all open programs and reboot your computer. Has the list now reappeared?
• Open QuickBooks, and then open your customer list. Click View > Re-sort list. Did this do the trick?
• Click Banking (in the menu bar), then Write Checks. Place your cursor in the "Pay to the Order of" field and press CTRL + L. In the name window that appears, head to the bottom left hand corner, click the Name box, then click the Re-sort list option. Here's hoping this did it for you.

As a final step to try and recover your customer list in QuickBooks, click File (in the menu bar), then Utilities, then Rebuild data. Follow the prompts to create a backup copy of your information and then rebuild your database.

My hope is that one of these steps above brings your customer list back to life.

BUT WAIT, MY CUSTOMERS STILL ARE NOT THERE!

If you have tried all the steps above and your customers are still missing, chances are VERY good that there is some damage to your QuickBooks data file.

You'll want to connect with the great folks at QuickBooksUsers.com and enlist their help to fix the problems with your QuickBooks data. They have helped a number of my clients with problems just like these!

RELATED POSTS:

• Did Your QuickBooks Barf on Itself This Morning?
• Put on Your Hard Hat and Rebuild Your QuickBooks Data File

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