How to Clean up Company File

Douglas

My company file is experiencing more than 100MB capacity due to the file been using for more than 10 years, how am I going to perform financial cut off? Let say I am doing financial year 2013-14, but I would like to have financial cut off at Year 2011-12, so the data before year 2011-12 will be deleted so that I can run Reckon smoothly without heaps of data that I don't want. 

Tony - Systems Consultant

Hi Douglas,

Thank You for your post.

You can perform a process known as  "Clean up Company Data" This creates an archive copy of your company file for your records after which it removes old transactions (These transactions will not be deleted but will be processed as a journal transaction to "Tidy" up the company file to work at it's optimal level)

*Important: Please perform a backup of your company file before proceeding with this process.

- Click on File > Utilities > Clean up Company Data to access this feature

You will then have the option to "Remove transactions as of a specific date" - Please read the description carefully before proceeding. You will then simply follow the Prompts through to remove the transactions that you have allocated to be archived.

If you require more information on this feature, you can press F1 on your keyboard to access the Help Menu then search for "Cleaning up data".

Regards,
Tony

Kerrie Mew

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled How do I speed up my thinking time in quickbooks 2011/12?. I'm having slow issues with my computer.  Each time I go from one customer to another it seems to take forever.  Is there a way I can archive 7 years of information but still have access to it?  Please help

Mirko

Hey Kerrie, please see existing thread on this matter and have a read through Tony's great suggestions for 'Cleaning up your Company Data'. Thanks!

Kerrie Mew

We run in multi user mode and from a server. Do I have to be in single user mode and do this process from the server??

Mirko

Hey Kerrie, a lot of the functions which needs to be done in single user mode. (You really don't want anyone updating the file whilst you are performing some of these steps).

Important: Please perform a backup of your company file before proceeding with this process.

Sally McIntosh, Accredited Consultant

Hi Kerrie & Douglas,

You may actually find that my cleaning up your data it does not actually reduce your file size.

You will need to create a portable company file, restore it, run a rebuild and verify and see if then it is smaller.

However rather than archiving there are other things you could do.

Like create a brand new file as of the 1st July so that way you can start from fresh and then be able to do a big clean up on your file and get rid of old items, customer, suppliers, etc.

Change your default date range in customer and supplier centres to this financial year rather than all, go into your preferences for reports and graphs and tick the box for the modify report option to appear when opening a report.

I hope this may give you something to think about. Feel free to contact me directly if you need further assistance.

Kind regards,

Sally McIntosh

[email protected]

Douglas

Hi Sally and Tony,

Thanks for your advice. I would like to know if we start a new file, is there any possible way to import the staff record from the old file?

Sally McIntosh, Accredited Consultant

Hi Douglas,

I apologise for the delayed response.

If you go to File drop down menu > Utilities > Export - you will be able to see what you can export and then import into your new file.

Like with any imports, make sure you take regular backups along the way in case anything goes wrong and you need to start again.

And you should always check your data imports correctly - i.e. leave accruals don't import correctly and need to be adjusted.

Kind regards,

Sally McIntosh

[email protected]

Kerrie Mew

Hi Tony,

I am about to "Clean up Company Data" and want to know if the data that has been cleaned up is actually deleted. I understand that it archives the files in a 'read only' format.  Am I still able to see what my customers history is? . I need to see all items my customers have purchased from the beginning of their trade with us ( this could go back to 2000.  Is this still possible??

Looking forward to your reply.

Kerrie Mew

Mirko

Kerrie have you considered starting a new company file and use the existing one for records?

Stephanie Johansson

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled large company file - everything very slow.

I have just got a new laptop. It is running windows 8.1, a brand new install. As my old laptop is quickbooks 2003, I decided to also buy the new version of reckon accounting 2014 and install that clean as well. I upgraded on my old laptop first to bring my company files up to the current version, then installed reckon fresh on my new laptop and copied my company files across.

The problem I have is one of my company files is running soooo slow. Reports, verifying, opening, anything I try to do takes 1 to 2 minutes. Windows say program not responding, but if I leave it long enough it eventually finishes and displays the relevant report, etc.

I have 4 company files. 3 are working great and are small files around 10mb. My main and most important file is the slow one and it is 75mb. This is not the online version, it is single user with the company files on my local hard drive, not skydrive, so I don't think internet speed is an issue.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Steph

Mirko

Hey Steph, try to run through this thread, Best option is to create a portable backup on 2014 and restore that see if it does the trick. It's the easiest way to reduce the file size and to increase the performance is to take portable backup and restore this over your current file. This also helps to reduce file fragmentation, another cause of speed issued

Stephanie Johansson

HI Mirko, I tried your suggestion. After the portable backup and restore my file is now down to 61MB but it is still running just as slow. Any other ideas please ?

Robyn Kelly (Partner)

Hi Stephanie these are some steps you could try:

1. Resort all the Lists (under lists menu click on each list & then click "View" and "Resort List").
2. Do a complete verification of your data file including backup (File > Utilities > Verify)
3. Do 3 x Rebuilds (File > Utilities > Rebuild)
4. Do a portable backup again
5. Restore the portable backup again

Hopefully that helps, if not you may need to get help to check the QBWin.log file to see if there are underlying errors in the data file.

Regards, Robyn Kelly

ARC BookKeeping

also... 
look at the tlg file (located beside the company file) how big is it?

a simple verify (thru utilities) does not reduce the size of this file, you have to do a verify before backup (look in the options when doing a back up) this will reduce  the size of the tlg file and speed things up.

also...
look into the batch print & email lists, (file print invoices, etc ) if these are long it can slow things down. (print to a pdf printer will clear this)

also...
the first supplier and customer in respective centers do they have a long list of transactions? if they do create a customer and supplier with names like '.' & '..' with no transactions.

hope these help..

Cheer
Angie Carlyle

Stephanie Johansson

Hi Robyn, Thankyou for your reply. I did all these steps and unfortunately still no faster :-(

Stephanie Johansson

This is my log file, I am not actually sure if these are errors or just status updates, I would love if you could have a look please.

QBWINDLL.c (255) :  MESSAGE: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 LVL_ERROR--Returning NULL QBWinInstance Handle
QBWINDLL.c (255) :  MESSAGE: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 LVL_ERROR--Returning NULL QBWinInstance Handle
QBWINDLL.c (115) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 CQBWinApp::InitInstance -- Initializing QBWinInstance Handle
QBWINDLL.c (145) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 CQBWinApp::InitInstance completed
QBW.c (221) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 CQuickBooksApp::InitInstance Initializing Quickbooks (AfxOLE)
QBW.c (225) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 Operations Started
QBW.c (443) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:30 Calling MauiMain for further initialization
fsd.cpp (93) :  MESSAGE: Mon Sep 01 13:30:31 LVL_ERROR--FSDInitMod ServiceManager.SetCurrentChannel HRESULT = -2147467259
DBManager.cpp (3863) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:31 Database Server cache size = 64M
DBManager.cpp (3865) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:31 Database Server initial cache size = 32M
DBManager.cpp (3659) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:31 Database Server starting. Startup String = C:\PROGRA~2\Intuit\RECKON~1\QBDBMgr.exe -n QB_ReadOnly_engine_23 -qs -gd ALL -gk all -gp 4096 -gu all -ch 16M -ti 0 -c 4M -x none -ct- -qi -qw  -tl 120 -oe "C:\Users\Steph\AppData\Local\Intuit\QuickBooks\Log\23.0\DBStartup.log" -r
QBW.c (450) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 MauiMain finished successfully
QBW.c (632) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 Initializing Add-Ins
QBW.c (471) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 Initializing COM-dependent components
QBW.c (498) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 CQuickBooksApp::InitInstance exiting
QBW.c (568) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 QuickBooksApp::Run
load.c (2173) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 InitSystem
DBManager.cpp (3863) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 Database Server cache size = 64M
DBManager.cpp (3865) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 Database Server initial cache size = 32M
DBManager.cpp (3659) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 Database Server starting. Startup String = C:\PROGRA~2\Intuit\RECKON~1\QBDBMgr.exe -n QB_data_engine_23 -qs -gd ALL -gk all -gp 4096 -gu all -ch 64M -ti 0 -c 32M -x none -ct- -qi -qw  -tl 120 -oe "C:\Users\Steph\AppData\Local\Intuit\QuickBooks\Log\23.0\DBStartup.log"
DBManager.cpp (3451) :  MESSAGE: Mon Sep 01 13:30:33 LVL_ERROR--Service Error:5 from file:'.\.\src\DBManager.cpp' at line 2148 from function:'DBMgr::DBManager::EnableWindowsService'
load.c (10352) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:34 In not hosting mode, opening in single user mode - no hosting change needed.
load.c (2330) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:34 InitSystem Check file location and move
load.c (2401) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:34 InitSystem Open DB Session[4]
load.c (8774) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:35 Max users is the default for Basic/Pro and the value is = 5
DBManager.cpp (3375) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:35 Current Database Server version = 9.0.2.3267
FileMgr.cpp (274) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:35 Company file C:\Users\Steph\Desktop\Chrystal Haze Pty Ltd2.QBW is open using database server:QB_data_engine_23.
load.c (2408) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:35 InitSystem Open DB Session[4] Succeeded
QBPRINT.c (2522) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:35 Detecting if Terminal Service is running.
PermissionManager.cpp (4294) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 A new permission context is added for QuickBooks
load.c (3954) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 InitSystem: Open System
load.c (3962) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 InitSystem: Open System succeeded
load.c (4307) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 InitSystem: successful completion
formwin.c (2520) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 Creating form: formID=2551, itID=0
oaerror.c (110) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 OAstdMethodRet (80040600)
oaerror.c (110) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:30:36 OAstdMethodRet (80040600)
formwin.c (2520) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:47:13 Creating form: formID=2300, itID=1
formwin.c (2520) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:47:13 Creating form: formID=8800, itID=2
formmgr.c (604) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:47:13 Creating a MODAL form: formID=8800, itID=0
formwin.c (2520) :  CHECKPOINT: Mon Sep 01 13:48:06 Creating form: formID=900, itID=3

Stephanie Johansson

Hi Angie, Thanks also for your reply.
My TLG file is 192kb, I think this is pretty small ?
I have done a full verify with each backup, probably about 8 or 9 times now in all.

I'm not sure how to look at the batch print and email lists sorry, can you help me please ?

My first supplier in the list only has 1 transaction.
My first customer has 3 transactions against them.

Thankyou so much for any help you can give me.
Steph

Robyn Kelly (Partner)

If you click Ctrl & 1 on your keyboard how many accounts, names and items do you have please Stephanie?

Stephanie Johansson

I was just re-reading through the upgrade PDF and can anyone shed light on this instruction please ?
Step 4. Check your Tax Codes and Tax Items Check that your tax Codes have correctly had tax Items associated with them.

So I checked this a little more closely and will try to explain what I found.
For example, I have a Tax Code called GST. This has a section called "Taxable Information" where the tax items are associated. This is different to my old version. In the old version it just had tax codes, not tax codes which in turn have tax items associated with them.
Anyway under the taxable information there is "Purchase Tax Item" which is associated with "GST-P" and Sales Tax Item which is associated with "GST"
If I click on the drop arrow next to "GST" I see my list of tax items and GST is ticked.
Now here is where the problem might lay. If I click on the drop arrow next to "GST-P" there is no GST-P item in my tax items list. If I try and change it to something else, for example NCG off my list, it returns an error "This tax code has been used, you cannot change it unless you change all transactions, items, accounts, customers and suppliers associated with it"
I tried to get smart then and create a new tax item and call it "GST-P" since that was what it was looking for in the first place, but it tells me this name is already in use, even though I cant see it on my list of tax codes or tax items.
I find a similar issue with tax code FRE which now has FRE-P associated with it for "Purchase Tax Item". Same again for NCG and NCF. The are all pointing to tax items that didn't exist in my previous version and don't appear in the lists now.

Does this help at all ? Could it be the cause of my issues ? 
I really hope I have explained this clearly.

Thank you all so much for your assistance.
Cheers, Steph

Stephanie Johansson

Hi Robyn,
Accounts = 152
Names = 675, broken into 12 customers, 621 vendors 25 employees & 17 other names.
Items = 50.

ARC BookKeeping

192 is as small as it gets. you have been doing a great job so far...

to clear print batch lists...
1st do you have a PDF printer on your pc? if not down load & install something like cutePDF or PDF creator.

go file<print forms< invoices (or any on the list given) select all< select print< choose the PDF printer (note printing to a QuickBooks or Reckon Accounts PDF printer wont work) you can of course choose to actually print every thing on the list but if you dont need it actually printed....why waste the paper?

to clear email lists
go file< email forms  not sure how to clear this list other then to remove each one individually. (did you know that the space bar works like 'clicking'? if the correct option has a dashed or dotted line around it  or is highlighted use the space bar instead of moving your mouse to click)

ARC BookKeeping

What you describe sounds about right...

in years gone by there was only TAX codes (GST codes) in NZ we had/Have E=Tax Exempt, I=Imported, N=Not Registered, S=Standard, Z=Zero Rated. (you will/would have had the Aussie Equivalent)

Now each of these has a TAX items linked to it one for sales and one for purchases ... P=Purchase, S=Sales
so in your TAX item list you should see E-P & E-S, N-P & N-S, S-P & S-S, Z-P & Z-S. (or equivalent in Aussie GST terms)

Open each of these items and check that each is assigned to the TAX Return Line (GST free or Goods and services tax etc)

Also 

I would also check that none of the Tax codes or items are inactive.. go to respective list and tick include inactive & then activate all that look relevant.

Robyn Kelly (Partner)

Hi Steph, another thought - maybe check Australian Taxation Office (full wording) is the Tax Agency linked to all of those codes / items & the only Tax Agency.  Hope you are able to find how to do that in lists and in Tax Preferences?
Robyn

Stephanie Johansson

Hi Angie,
I checked the print batch lists and also the emails lists, they were all empty, there was nothing waiting to print or email....

Stephanie Johansson

Hi Robyn,
Yes Australian Taxation Office is correct on all of them. I think I'm going to have to create all new tax codes and the assign them in the tax items. Its going to take a bit of time, I'm so frustrated at the moment, going to step away for tomorrow and come back at it with a clear head tomorrow night. Wish me luck :-)

Robyn Kelly (Partner)

Stephanie - have you tried this KB:

http://kb.reckon.com.au/issue_view.asp?ID=3793

Is that data file used in a multi-user environment?  Or on a server?

Also I would try that same company file on another computer to eliminate the computer being the problem.

If all that fails it may be time to telephone Reckon support + / or start a new data file.

Regards, Robyn Kelly

ARC BookKeeping

double check the file fragments again as this can increase with opening a portable company file....

other then that...unfortunately...

it looks like you have done all on the KB3793 

some times it just is a case that the file has gotten to big or... and as KB3793 says...

"If after all these steps the company file is still operating too slowly, then you may need to start a new company file.  Some issues that may force you to create a new company file earlier than you would normally want to are:

• A large number of daily transactions. 
  
• Complex invoices, bills, sales orders and purchase orders; that is, many line items to each form. 
  
• Large lists of inactive items 
  
• Inability to repair corruption"

unless someone else knows a way to get a file going smooth again...

ARC BookKeeping

donot forget to look at the inactive codes & items before you go creating new ones...

George_6983860

HI All:

Does anyone know of a company that can help reduce the file size or examine the file and correct any issues ?

We are running Accounts Enterprise with a file size close to 1GB and it is very slow.  We have tried pretty much all the suggestions given above and it has not helped. 

We have tried cleaning up the old data and just keep 3 years worth but it does not seem to delete anything, apparently because we use items.

Does anyone know a third party that can get rid of or summarise the data older than 3 years AND reduce the file size ?  It is worth a try to speed things up.
  
Starting a new file is not really an option because we do need to have quick access to older data.  In essence that would be like going to a new system and if forced down that path we would be forced to go to another product.

Thanks. 

Datarec_ReckonLtd

Reckon can assist with the removal of transactions in order to reduce the physical size of the data file via the "Data File Size Reduction Service".

This process simply removes transactions older than a nominated date and does not create any summary adjustments or journals to bring account balances, customer or supplier balances, or inventory quantities to represent the transactions that have been removed.

It is different to the built-in "Clean Up Company Data" functionality of the software.

How to reduce data file sizes larger than 500MB for Reckon Accounts Business range - Reckon Help and Support Centre