Thinking about using QuickBooks (Pro, Premier or Enterprise versions) on a VPN (virtual private network)?

You may want to rethink that plan - and fast.

QUICKBOOKS IS VERY PARTICULAR

When it comes to optimizing QuickBooks for use on various types of networks, only three types of networks get the job done:

• Wired networks
• Terminal services/remote desktop
• Hosted networks

VPNs, wireless networks, network attached storage (NAS), DropBox and other setups for QuickBooks are NOT recommended for a number of reasons.

INTUIT SUPPORT WEIGHS IN ON RECOMMENDED NETWORKS

You will want to take a read through this support article from Intuit that provides some excellent background on recommended and non-recommended network types for use with QuickBooks.

CLICK A BUTTON. TAKE A NAP.

As those who have tried to use QuickBooks on a VPN have found out, the concept works - but only from a technical standpoint. It is technically true that you can connect to QuickBooks using a VPN.

The reality of trying to use this setup is this - EXTREMELY poor performance. Some businesses are literally reporting wait times of 5+ minutes for a screen to appear once they click a button inside of QuickBooks. Not too many businesses I know of will tolerate wait times like that.

SAVE YOURSELF A LOT OF TIME

If your IT provider is mentioning QuickBooks and VPN in same sentence, stop the conversation right there and have them review the Intuit support article above. You'll be glad you did!

RELATED INFORMATION

• What are the benefits of using a hosting service for QuickBooks?
• Attention IT geeks: information on QuickBooks and remote access

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Have you been scratching your head trying to figure out exactly how (and where) QuickBooks posts the information contained in purchase orders and sales orders?

Good news - you don't have to look very far. Neither of these transactions post anywhere in your QuickBooks accounting records. And by that, I mean into your ledger.

THE NON-POSTING DESIGNATION

Even though the purchase orders and sales orders contain items, amounts, and other details, they are really designed to be informational only.

This concept is better defined when you look at your chart of accounts and see them listed at the bottom with the "non-posting" designation (estimates are non-posting too!):

REPORTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE

You can run various reports that pull together information on sales orders (i.e. open sales order report) and purchase orders (open purchase orders by item) to quickly and easily check status on them.

However, if you try to run any of the transaction detail reports (Reports > Custom Transaction Detail), you'll come up empty, since only "posting" transactions appear on these type of reports.

RELATED INFORMATION

• Automatically create purchase orders in QuickBooks
• How to close an open sales order in QuickBooks

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Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid it - QuickBooks has bad days, just like people do sometimes.

To minimize the chances that QuickBooks is going to develop a bad attitude and cause you to have a bad day as well, take these three steps to help avoid an Oh-$H#% moment with your QuickBooks:

1. Make doubly sure your QuickBooks is being backed up EVERY DAY that you work on it AND that the backup process is working properly. I can't tell you how many businesses I have visited over the last fifteen years that "thought" their backup was working, but alas, it was not.
   
   Need a reliable backup service? Download and install Carbonite. It will be the best $59 investment you'll ever make.


2. If your QuickBooks data is being stored on a server, make sure the person responsible for the backup of the server downloads and reads "insider tip #3" from my QuickBooks backup guide. If this step is NOT done, it is very likely your QuickBooks performance will suffer (or may already be suffering a lot!)


3. Download and install the latest patches/fixes to all installed copies of your QuickBooks - yes, that includes the server too! When QuickBooks presents what I like to call these "nag messages" (as shown below), you'll want to proceed with the installation:

Keep in mind that the installation of these patches will tie up your computer for 5-15 minutes or so. However, it will be time well spent to ensure that your QuickBooks is up-to-date with the latest bug fixes and patches.

YOUR TIPS TO AVOID A QUICKBOOKS MELTDOWN?

Let us know what your favorite tip is to minimize the chances of QuickBooks giving you grief. Just drop your comments in the box below - thanks!

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What if you need a dashboard for QuickBooks that has more power and functionality than is offered in the Company Snapshot tool?

Enter WebKPI!

POWERFUL, CUSTOMIZABLE DASHBOARD FOR QUICKBOOKS

WebKPI provides the ability to choose from a predefined library of dashboard templates or you can even build your own.

KPI is the acronym for Key Performance Indicator and this tool lives on the web as a service - hence the name WebKPI.

Here is a list of some of the features found within WebKPI:

Starting at $30/month for the base package, consider how much time WebKPI can save you when it comes to capturing and reporting the KPI for your business or organization.

WANT TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT WEBKPI?

Just fill out this quick contact form and I'll be sure to connect with you to provide some additional details and insights.

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This particular question has popped up no less than five times in the last two weeks, so let's take a moment to see how to handle it in QuickBooks.

Scenario:

• You create a bill to pay a vendor within QuickBooks
• You pay that vendor with an online payment rather than cutting them a check from your internal check stock
• You need to tell QuickBooks that you paid it online, but don't see any selections that fit the need

HOW IT WORKS

You will enter the bill in QuickBooks and go to your bank's web site to pay it just as you normally do.

From there, you'll return to QuickBooks and go to the Pay Bill screen. Check the vendor bill that was paid online, and head to the bottom of the Pay Bill screen (click the image for a larger view):

To show that the bill for Middlefield Drywall above was paid online, be sure the "Method" option is set to "Check" and the option directly to the right is set to "Assign Check Number". Ensure all the other information on this screen (i.e. date, bank account, etc.) is correct and click the "Pay Selected Bills" screen.

From there, you'll see this window:

In the window above, type in Online, Online Pmt, or some other term you prefer to reflect this particular bill was paid online, then click OK. The bill will now be marked as paid, and it will show it was paid online instead of by a check.

Repeat this process for any and all other bills you have queued up in the Pay Bills screen that are being paid online.

AN ALTERNATIVE FOR YOU TO CONSIDER...

Why not take care of all this at once - pay the bill and get the online payment done all in one step?

With the Bill.com service, you can easily accomplish that and so much more, including the ability to store copies of your vendor bills and other important documents directly with your transactions. Get your free trial of Bill.com today to see how you can simplify things in your business...

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QuickBooks Enterprise 2013 contains many features that the QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Premier versions don't have.

Here is a closer look at five of those features...

1. The ability to have more than 5 users working at the same time - QuickBooks Pro is limited to 3 users at the same time. QuickBooks Premier maxes out at 5 users at the same time. QuickBooks Enterprise can have up to 30 users (even some remotely) logged in at the same time.
   
   
2. The ability to store more than 14,500 items or customers - QuickBooks Enterprise allows for you to have up to 100,000 customers or inventory items (though I wouldn't plan on having that many). QuickBooks Pro and Premier max out at 14,500 of each. Keep in mind - there is no "early warning system" in QuickBooks Pro or Premier to let you know about getting close to these limits. You'll need to monitor your situation by pressing the F2 key to know how many you have.


3. A deeper set of user security and permission settings - QuickBooks Enterprise 2013 does a much better job in allowing or restricting access to QuickBooks data at a lot deeper level. Be sure to check out my QuickBooks User Settings and Security Guide for more information
   
   
4. The ability to keep more history in a larger company data file - QuickBooks Enterprise 2013 can handle a data file that is usually 5-7 times larger than the biggest file size that QuickBooks Pro and Premier can handle. While these aren't hard and fast numbers, ten years of hands-on experience with Enterprise shows them to be good reference points.
   
   Many businesses don't even know they are at risk because their QuickBooks Pro or QuickBooks Premier data files are too big. Be sure to download my guide that talks about QuickBooks file size limits and what the options are for more insight on this critical QuickBooks issue.
   
   
5. The ability to connect remote offices easily - Working hand-in-hand with Windows Terminal Services/Remote Desktop software, QuickBooks Enterprise 2013 can easily be accessed by remote road warriors, as long as they have a connection to the internet. No messy VPN's to worry about (QuickBooks doesn't work with them anyway). Just connect to the internet and then to your QuickBooks company data.