QuickBooks File Integrity

Overview

QuickBooks uses the SAP SQL Anywhere database, which is robust, mature, secure - and handles huge data sets.  There is no QuickBooks file on the planet will breach its limits.

However, the larger and older the file, the higher probability that your data is inaccurate. Sometimes it is obvious through inaccurate inventory balances, or an unbalanced Balance Sheet; sometimes you can't even see it - even with a QuickBooks Rebuild or Verify.

How File Integrity Affects the QQube extraction Process

The Intuit Desktop SDK is the ONLY way to extract data from QuickBooks (even so-called raw connectors must use it) and it is the authority on data corruption.  The SDK may be antiquated, slow, and kludgy, but there is one thing it does that is beyond reproach: it finds data corruption - and it never lies.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS ONE CONCEPT ABOUT QUICKBOOKS DATA INTEGRITY

The Intuit SDK can find errors a QuickBooks Verify or Rebuild may not

Contributing Factors

• Each user opens and closes the database hundreds of times a year. Additionally, a user might need to abnormally close the file due to freezes, etc.
• File size:
  • QuickBooks Premier files approaching or larger than 350 Meg
  • QuickBooks Enterprise file approaching or larger than 1.25 Gig
  • Inactive classes, accounts, names that must remain, but add to the bulk.
  • Condense feature in QuickBooks just turns transactions into Journal Entries - and has a small effect on file size.
• Level of Detail:
  • Number of lines on a transaction
  • Payroll - especially for job cost details
  • Time Tracking
• Multiple deletions and list merges.
• Intuit changes to data, field structure, and functionality from year to year.  If you have a file from 1995 or 1996, the chance of corruption is virtually 100%

Lastly, we extract more detail data than any 3rd party application, and as a result, we might invoke an SDK call that nobody else would even contemplate.

Try a Rebuild

Rebuild the QB file, and load into QQube.

If the SDK finds no corruption, then your data in QQube should be 100% accurate

If a Rebuild Doesn't Work

The QQube log will throw several error messages, each with linked instructions to fix them. Sometimes a simple rebuild and reload from scratch will fix the problem.  Sometimes, it requires sending the file to Intuit to fix.

Options to Consider

If your file size has several decades of data in it, or is 1 to 6 gig large, then we strongly urge you to consider the following options:

1. QQube Version 10 allows you to retrieve just the last few years. Extraction Start Date. This lessens the probability.
2. Start with a brand-new file (usually at the beginning of a new quarter, or year)
3. Split the file into two files - old and new. We highly recommend someone like Matt Clark at www.qbornotqb.com to split your file into two files:  (1) with old data, that you can open - or store in QQube, and (2) a current file for everyday use.  DISCLAIMER: We do not receive kickbacks from this company - we recommend him because he has successfully taken care of hundreds of customers over the last decade.
4. Consider 3rd Party Applications to hold the detail. There are great applications in the Intuit marketplace for inventory, job costing and manufacturing that can store all of the details, while sending the accounting information to QuickBooks.