SBFM97: Resolving Problems with the QuickBooks Accounting Filter

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Small Business Financial Manager 97 for Microsoft Excel 97

                                  SUMMARY
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                             MORE INFORMATION
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FILTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE ACCOUNTING FILE

If the accounting file you want to import does not appear in step 3 of the Import Wizard, verify the information in the following sections.

Determine Which Version of QuickBooks You Are Using

The Small Business Financial Manager filter is written for a specific version of QuickBooks. The current filter for QuickBooks 5.0 supports releases 1 through 4. To determine the specific version of QuickBooks you are using, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, click Programs, and then click Windows Explorer or Windows NT Explorer.

2. Open the folder in which QuickBooks is installed. Right-click the QuickBooks program file, Qbw.exe, and then click Properties.

3. In the Qbw Properties dialog box, click the Version tab.

   NOTE: If you have question about your version of QuickBooks, contact Intuit technical support.

   For information about how to contact Intuit, query in the Knowledge Base for one of the following articles:

         ARTICLE-ID: Q65416
         TITLE     : Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List,
                     A-K
   
         ARTICLE-ID: Q60781
         TITLE     : Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List,
                     L-P
   
         ARTICLE-ID: Q60782
         TITLE     : Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List,
                     Q-Z
   
   

Verify That You Are Selecting the Correct Folder

To verify that you are selecting the correct folder or folder level for the QuickBooks accounting data file, follow the steps in the next two sections.

Searching the Entire Computer for the File:

To search the computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Import Wizard on the Accounting menu and click Next. In step 2 of the "Import your Accounting Data" dialog box, click "Look on My Computer."

   By clicking "Look on My Computer" you are specifying that you want to search all hard disks that are attached to the computer.

2. Click Next to go to step 3 of the wizard.

   The file that contains the accounting data you want to import should appear in the list of files to import.

To search specific folders, follow these steps:

1. To specify the hard disk and folder in which to search, click "In specific folders" in step 2 of the "Import your Accounting Data" dialog box. Under "In specific folders," click the hard disk drive letter for the disk that contains the accounting file.

2. To select a folder, click the folder in the list. To select a subfolder, double-click the parent folder in the list, and then click the subfolder. After you select the folder that contains the accounting data, click "Add folder to list."

3. Click Next to go to step 3.

   The accounting data should appear in the list of files to import.

RESPONDING OR AN ERROR MESSAGE APPEARS

Determine whether the words "Stopped responding" appear next to Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks in the Microsoft Windows Close Program dialog box. To display the Close Program dialog box, press CTRL+ALT+DEL one time only. If the words "Stopped responding" appear next to Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks in the dialog box, follow these steps:

1. In the Close Program dialog box, click Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks and click End Task.

   If an error message subsequently appears, click End until the program quits.

2. After you close Excel or QuickBooks, open the Small Business Financial Manager Database folder and delete any files that end with a .tmp file name extension.

   This folder is located by default in the following location:

         C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\SBFM\Database
   

3. Start the QuickBooks accounting program and do the following:

       - Determine whether QuickBooks is registered.
   

         For Excel to import the accounting data, QuickBooks must be
         installed on the computer and QuickBooks must be registered with
         Inuit. This is necessary because the Small Business Financial Manager
         exports the accounting transactions by communicating with QuickBooks
         through dynamic data exchange (DDE). When QuickBooks is not
         registered, dialog boxes appear and interfere with the DDE channel
         between Excel and QuickBooks.
   

       - Determine whether the file uses a password.
   

         Remove all passwords in the QuickBooks accounting file. To remove
         passwords, click Passwords on the File menu. In the Passwords dialog
         box, click Clear Password for each category.
   

       - Determine whether memorized transactions are entered.
   

         Before you import the accounting data, run (enter) all memorized
         transactions.
   

         To determine if the accounting file contains memorized
         transactions, click Memorized Transactions on the Lists menu. If
         information appears in the Memorized Transaction List dialog box,
         transactions have been recorded.
   

         To run memorized transactions, click the transaction you want to run,
         and then click Enter Transaction.
   

         NOTE: To delete a memorized transaction, click the transaction you
         want to delete, click Memorized Transaction, and then click Delete.
   

       - Determine Whether Reminders Are Active.
   

         Before you import accounting data, make all reminders unavailable. To
         make reminders unavailable, follow these steps:
   

          a. On the File menu, click Preferences. In the window to the left
             of the Reminders dialog box, click Reminders.
   
          b. For each option in the Reminders dialog box, click Don't Remind
             Me.
   
       - Determine whether a transaction should be closed.
   
         QuickBooks accounting allows you to keep a transaction open over
         different accounting periods. Although QuickBooks allows this
         behavior, it is considered unconventional by most accounting
         programs and causes the Small Business Financial Manager filter to
         stop responding. Verify that no transactions with a date that is 12
         months prior to the current date are open.
   
         For example, if the current date is in October 1997, and the
         accounting year is based on a calendar year, close all transactions
         for the entire January to December 1996 period.
   
         To check the Closed Transactions date, follow these steps:
   
          a. On the File menu, click Passwords.
   
          b. Look under Transaction Password in the Passwords dialog box.
   
             The "Date through which books are closed" box indicates the date
             for which a transaction is closed. This date must not be greater
             than 12 months before the current date.
   
   

THE PROCESS OF IMPORTING DATA IS SLOW

The time that is required for Small Business Financial Manager to import QuickBooks accounting data is proportional to the number of accounts that contain transactions and the total number of transactions in the file. Because the Small Business Financial Manager exports the accounting transactions by communicating with QuickBooks through DDE, the time that is required may range from a few minutes to several hours.

When you import data from QuickBooks into Excel by using the Small Business Financial Manager, the data is exported from QuickBooks to a temporary file as text. Then the data is inserted into a Microsoft Access database file. This process may also require a considerable amount of time depending on the number of transactions and the number of accounts to process.

USER INPUT IS NOT AVAILABLE WHILE IMPORTING

Because the Small Business Financial Manager exports the accounting transactions by communicating with QuickBooks through DDE, you cannot interact with the program. This includes mouse movement and keyboard input.

ERRORS APPEAR AFTER IMPORTING

When you use the Small Business Financial manager to analyze or update data, you may receive an error message. For more information about error messages that may appear when you use the add-in, query on the following words here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   sbfm97 quickbooks error

1. Connect to Support Online at the following Internet address:

         http://support.microsoft.com/support/default.asp
   

   NOTE: If you've never visited this site before, you will be required to register.

2. In the My Question Is About box, select All Products.

3. Type your question in the question box.

4. Click Find (next to the My Question Is box).

   This search will return from one to several article titles. The Article ID appears in the upper-left corner of the article. You can see the Article ID only after you click to view the article.

5. Click the title of the article to view it.

   http://www.microsoft.com/