QuickBooks 2012 introduced a new approach to condensing large QuickBooks data files. How well does the new condense feature work? And how does it compare to the results given by third party data condensing services, like those of AccountingUsers, Inc.?
We did some tests to find out.
We used the new condense function in QuickBooks 2012 (using either QuickBooks 2012 Premier Accountant Edition, or Enterprise Accountant 12) and recorded the results. We then ‘supercondensed’ those same original files. We tested “apples to apples” for seven separate QBW files. Some files were QuickBooks Pro and some were Enterprise.
Results? For 3 of the 7 files we tested, the QuickBooks condense function performed pretty well. Those files were reduced in size by 57%, 58% and 73%. When we supercondensed those same (original) files, we reduced the size of the files by 85%, 69%, and 75% respectively.
For another 3 files, the condense command in QuickBooks crashed and could not complete. For all 3 of those files, we were able to supercondense the files, with file size reductions of 74%, 83%, and 87%.
Why did the built-in condense command in QuickBooks crash for those files? We don’t know. We were watching the Windows performance monitors of CPU and memory usage during the attempted condense, and QuickBooks had plenty of computing headroom during the attempted process. Of the files that crashed, one was a 1.6GB Enterprise file, one was a 2.4GB Enterprise file and one was a 400MB Pro file.
In one case, the error message said to rebuild the file and try again. We did. When we tried the condense command afterwards, it crashed again with the same error.
Our last test file had quirky results. The QuickBooks condense command reduced the file size by only 15% but our supercondense method reduced the file size by 95%. Somehow the built-in condense command could only remove 2K transactions, whereas our method removed 131K transactions. This was for a QuickBooks Pro file. The difference in outcomes was extreme but the client was happy with the results we provided — that’s the main thing.
Bottom line: The new condense feature in QuickBooks 2012 definitely works better than the previous versions’ Clean Up command, and in some cases works well. But with some data files it runs into problems and the need remains for third party QuickBooks data condensing services.
QuickBooks 2012 has both good and bad pop-up messages – just like any other version of QuickBooks, but there is nothing more annoying than having an ad pop-up when you are working in QuickBooks. Let’s be honest, getting rid of the message is another mouse click that you have to make and if messages and ads are popping up frequently we get into the habit of not reading what they have to say and miss something that could very well be important. This article discusses how you can turn off most of them in QuickBooks 2012.
Ok, I get it – Intuit is a business that makes it’s money selling software and services to it’s customers; but as a customer/business owner I have already purchased the software and probably have the services that I need already in place; so to be honest I get really annoyed with pop-up messages and ads. I bet you do also.
To be fair, there are actually some good pop-up messages in QuickBooks – for example:
- those that prompt or remind you to add a class to a transaction when you’ve forgotten and you’ve turned on the class tracking feature
- the one that warns you when you are posting a transaction directly to Retained Earnings – which is something that you really do NOT want to do
- the warnings that appear when you accidentally select a date that is 90 days in the past or 30 days in the future
- the warning that will appear if you enter duplicate bill numbers for the same vendor
- the warning that will appear if you enter a check number, invoice number, estimate number, etc. that has previously been used
For the most part messages & pop-ups can be controlled through settings in the Preferences section {Edit menu -> Preferences}; where you will find both personal and company preference settings. Only the QuickBooks Administrator can make changes to the settings in the Company Preferences tab when they are logged into QuickBooks in single-user mode; yes, another inconvenience but one that is well worth the effort. I highly recommend that the QuickBooks Administrator take the time to check out the Company Preference tab for each of the 22 different sections and choose which types of messages should and should not appear.
Individual users also have some control over what messages appear. For experienced users, I recommend that they to to the Edit menu -> choose Preferences and:
- select Desktop View -> My Preferences tab and uncheck the Show Getting Started Window
- select General -> My Preferences tab and uncheck the Bring back all one-time messages, Turn off pop-up messages for products and services, and Show ToolTips for clipped text
- select Sales & Customers -> My Preferences and uncheck the Show Payment toolbar on Receive Payments and Sales Receipts forms if your company does not wish to add Intuit credit card or eCheck processing
- select Service Connections -> My Preferences and uncheck Give me the option of saving a file whenever I download Web Connect data and If QuickBooks is run by my browser, don’t close it after Web Connect is done – if you do not use Online banking
Many pop-up windows and messages have a “Don’t show this again” checkbox option, checking this option instead of just clicking the OK button will rid you of the annoying box for good; so taking a minute or so each time a window pops up can help you to make informed decisions and rid you of wasted mouse clicks later. I know, sometimes it’s just “easier” at the moment to click the OK button just to get rid of the window – but that is a bad habit to get into.
Some advertising messages, you just can’t get rid of, for example the Do More with QuickBooks block on the Home page, but you can close it.
In QuickBooks 2012, Intuit has added a new “advertising” message to printed Employee Pay Stubs – you’ll now find a Powered by Intuit logo on each pay stub that you print for your employees. I found this to be quite annoying. Only the QuickBooks Administrator can remove this logo by going to the Edit menu -> Preferences -> Payroll & Employees -> Company Preferences -> Pay Stub & Voucher Printing -> and uncheck the Print Intuit logo option.
Are you annoyed with pop-up messages and ads? If so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this article with others on your favorite social networking site.
Best practices and tips for installing a QuickBooks 2012 upgrade on a computer that already has an existing version of QuickBooks in place.
Remember, QuickBooks MUST be installed using a Standard User Account when you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 AND you use QuickBooks integrated 3rd party programs – see Windows, QuickBooks & 3rd Party Apps – The Struggle Within.
If you have Intuit do the upgrade, DO NOT let the Intuit rep install the new version from within your computer’s Administrator account and DO NOT let them choose the “upgrade” option when they do the installation. Also, make sure that your computer IT person is aware of the requirements and best practices – many do not.
Make sure that you watch and understand what is being done to your computer – don’t let others simply do “whatever”
Installing/upgrading QuickBooks is a fairly straightforward task, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things that can trip you up along the way. Below are some “best practice tips”, based on technical support calls from our customers, that will help you to ensure a smooth installation/upgrade:
PLAN AHEAD and make sure that everything is in order – DO NOT install the new version of QuickBooks 2012 on the day that you need to run payroll, do billing, or perform any intensive task that requires access to your computer/company data file.
- Perform some basic file maintenance in your current QuickBooks version – backup your file, rebuild the data, check the current file size and number of database file fragments.
- If you use 3rd party integrated applications, make sure that you contact the software developer (if they haven’t already contacted you) about compatibility with and update procedures for working with QuickBooks 2012 – Gold and Silver Developers {those who have applications listed on the Intuit Marketplace} did not have access to a final release copy of QuickBooks 2012 until 9/12/2012; for other developers – well they might have access to the new version today.
- Start with the computer that houses your QuickBooks data file – paying close attention to the following screens.
- On the “Choose Installation Type” window select the “Custom and Network Option“
- On the “Custom and Network Options” window, select whatever the current settings are on your computer
- On the Upgrade or Change Installation Location window, choose the Change the install location option. This installs QuickBooks 2012 in a new folder and when the installation is complete you will have BOTH your current {old} QuickBooks version and the new QuickBooks 2012 version installed on the computer.
- When the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to reboot your computer. After the reboot, start QuickBooks 2012 and open your company file.
- Rebuild your data file, check your file size and number of database file fragments.
- Install the new version of QuickBooks on each of your other computers; repeating Steps 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Once the new version of QuickBooks is installed and running properly on all of your computers, remove the old version by going to your Control Panel -> choosing Add/Remove Programs {Windows XP} OR Programs & Features {Windows Vista & 7}, find the old version in the list of programs and choose Uninstall or Remove.
We hope that you’ve found these best practices and tips for installing a QuickBooks upgrade to be helpful. If so please take a moment to leave a comment or share it on your favorite social network.
QuickBooks 2012 will include batch timesheet creation as an enhancement to the current “Use Weekly Timesheet” feature, allowing you the option to select multiple employee or vendor names for time entry. From the information that I’ve seen, Intuit is marketing this feature to contractors as a timesaver, and it may be for some businesses, BUT THERE IS A CATCH……
Each group of employees or vendors that you select MUST work on the same Job, under the same Service Item AND the same Payroll Item MUST be used during timesheet creation – additionally, they must ALL work the same number of hours each day!
See the Batch Timesheet function in action on our YouTube video
In order to successfully use the Batch Timesheet feature in QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2012 and Enterprise 12.0:
1. You MUST enable timetracking
- Logged into QuickBooks as the QuickBooks Administrator in Single-User Mode
- From the Edit menu -> choose Preferences -> scroll to Time & Expenses {the last preference} -> click on the Company Preferences tab
- Under the Time Tracking – Do you track time option -> select Yes and set the FIRST day of your work week
Right click on the image to enlarge it
- Click OK to save your changes
2. The Use time data to create paychecks option MUST be enabled for each employee
- From the Employee menu -> choose Employee Center -> click on the Employees tab -> double-click on an employee name OR click the Edit Employee button
- From the Change tabs drop down menu -> choose Payroll & Compensation Info
- Make sure the Use time data to create paychecks option is checked.
Right click on the image to enlarge it
- Click the OK button to save the changes for this employee
- Repeat for each employee in your employee list
3. You MUST use the Weekly Timesheet function
- From the Employee menu -> choose Enter Time -> Use Weekly Timesheet OR from the Home Page -> click the Enter time icon -> Use Weekly Timesheet
- In the Name field, click the drop down list and select either Multiple Names (Payroll) OR Multiple Names (Non-Payroll)
Right click on the image to enlarge it
- In the pop-up window, select multiple names, by placing a checkmark next to the name, and click ok to finalize your selections
 Select multiple employees |
 Select vendors |
- Enter timesheet information, selecting the Job, Service Item and Payroll Item
- Click on the Save and Close button to enter the information
Be aware of a potential problem:
A potential problem that I see with this feature, is let’s say that there are 4 employees {or vendors} who worked on a Job Monday through Thursday; on Friday, only 3 of these employees {vendors} were there. When you enter multiple timesheets, I forsee most people selecting all 4 employees/vendors and automatically entering ALL of the the time for the entire week. Using the batch timesheet option, you would need to be very careful when entering hours in this type of situation – as it could result in an employee or vendor being paid for erroneous hours worked and no one catching it. On the flip side, for employees who worked overtime, additional entries would be required on their individual timesheets to record overtime hours – if not this would result in underpayment.
NOTE: If you really need this type of functionality, investigate our Crew/Overtime Entry Solution program, which allows you to enter “exceptions” {the 4th employee not working on Friday} prior to posting the time data to QuickBooks.
Your QuickBooks file just like you, your car, or your equipment benefits from some basic maintenance. Most people don’t periodically check the health of their QuickBooks file to help prevent data corruption – mainly because they don’t realize that they should or even how to go about it. Below are some best practice tips for some basic file maintenance tasks that you should perform on a regular basis – but more importantly before and after you upgrade your company file to a new version of QuickBooks.
The instructions found in this article are a list of “best practices” for people who have an existing version of QuickBooks currently installed on their computer who wish to “upgrade” to QuickBooks 2012. While this list may seem like an overkill, anyone who has been working with and using QuickBooks for any length of time knows that sometimes things do not always go smoothly.
DO NOT plan to install the new version of QuickBooks on a day when you need to run payroll, do your billing, or perform any task(s) that will require extensive access to your company data file.
Before you upgrade:
1. Make sure that your current computer meets QuickBooks 2012 requirements, by clicking your Start button -> choose Computer -> select System and compare the information displayed to that shown below.
Operating System:
- Windows XP, all versions – Service Pack (SP) 2 or later strongly recommended
- Windows Vista, all version with User Account Control (UAC) turned on {installed under a Standard User Account if using 3rd party add-ons}
- Windows 7, all versions with User Account Control (UAC) turned on {installed under a Standard User Account if using 3rd party add-ons}
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008
Processor, RAM, Hard Drive Requirements:
NOTE: You’ll be better off with the recommended requirements.
- 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 Processor {2.4 GHz recommended}
- 1 GB RAM {2 GB recommended} for a single user or client machine
- 2 GB RAM for multiple, concurrent users for Pro & Premier
- 2 GB RAM or more strongly recommended for Enterprise on a server
- 2.5 GB free disk space for the actual QuickBooks program – additional space required for the data files
- 250 MB disk space for Microsoft .NET 4.0 Runtime {provided with the installation}
Screen (monitor) resolution:
- QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise is optimized for a 1024 x 768 screen resolution, 16-bit or higher color
Database Server Requirements:
- Windows XP, all versions – Service Pack (SP) 2 or later strongly recommended
- Windows Vista, all version with User Account Control (UAC) turned on
- Windows 7, all versions
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008
2. Rebuild your QuickBooks Data file:
You’ll need to be logged into QuickBooks as the Administrator. If you have a large file, this could take quite awhile – so plan to run this process at lunch time, or gear it up just before you leave for the day.
- From the File menu
- Choose Utilities
- Rebuild Data
The first thing that the Rebuild will require you to do is to make a backup of your data file, go ahead and do that.
As soon as the backup has completed, the rebuild function will automatically start. This tool will take two passes through your file, looking for problems, organizing your data, and trying to fix any problems with your data that it finds. If you sit an watch the process, don’t be concerned if QuickBooks seems to stop responding or stop working at 99% on the first pass and 50% on the second. This just means that it’s found things that are wrong, is attempting to fix them, and then going back to check that everything it found on the first pass has been fixed.
For more information on the rebuild function, read this article.
3. Check your current file size and health
To check the size of your own QuickBooks file – with QuickBooks open press the CTRL and the 1 keys at the same time OR press the F2 key at the top of your keyboard – this will open a Product Information window; similar to that shown below, paying close attention to the circled areas – file location, file size and DB (database) file fragments:
Right click on the image to enlarge it.
NOTE: File size and DB (Database) File Fragments are crucial! During beta testing I found that file size increased 20-25% on a consistent basis – and database file fragments also increased. Typically a QuickBooks data file that has over 15-20 DB File Fragments is NOT a healthy file. Our blog post for Wednesday September 14th will provide you with some tips for making your file healthy again. To get a basic idea of how big your file will be after upgrading, add 20-25% to your existing file size.
4. Back up your QuickBooks data file
If you use a remote backup service, save this backup to your computer or an external drive.
After you upgrade
1. Rebuild your QuickBooks file
2. Check current file size and health
Check back tomorrow for a complete list of best practices for upgrading to QuickBooks 2012 when you already have an existing version on your computer.
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