When company ledgers were
made of paper, you had to be careful not to tear the pages or spill coffee on
them. Today’s electronic books require their own sort of care and feeding.
Protecting your QuickBooks files is essential, not only because they tell the
financial story of your company, but also
because computers are notorious for
chewing up data in all sorts of ways. QuickBooks files have a few advantages
over their paper-based relatives.
Most importantly, you can make copies of them
for safekeeping. (QuickBooks can also create a special copy of your company file
so you and your accountant can both work on it at the end of the year;) If
several people work on your QuickBooks file simultaneously, you’ll learn when
and how to switch from multiuser mode to single-user mode so you can perform
the housekeeping tasks that require dedicated access.
This chapter focuses on the
most important things you can do with your QuickBooks files: back up and copy
them. It also explains why and how to verify, condense, and delete your files,
which you’ll do less often—if ever.
Switching Between
Multi- and Single-User Mode
In QuickBooks, some
maintenance tasks require that only one person have access to the company file.
If you tell QuickBooks to set up your company file in multi-user mode when you
create it, you have to change to single-user mode for these tasks. You have to be in single-user mode to merge or
delete accounts and items, export data from a company file, and save or open an
accountant’s copy of your company file. Singleuser mode can also speed up
time-consuming tasks like running humongous reports.
Tip: To see which mode the file is in, display
QuickBooks’ File menu. If you see “Switch to Multi-user Mode” on the menu, you
know the file is in single-user mode. If the file is in multi-user mode, the
menu includes the command “Switch to Single-user Mode” Instead.
╉╉Backing Up Files
Some tasks that required
single-user mode in QuickBooks 2008 and earlier versions, such as backups, now
run contentedly while several people work in a company file. You can verify
data while a company file is in multi-user mode, but others can’t work on the
file, and the verification isn’t as thorough as one you perform while in
single-user mode.
The good news is that you
don’t have to remember which tasks demand single-user mode; QuickBooks reminds
you to switch modes if you try to perform a single-usermode task when the
company file is chugging away in multi-user mode. Because everyone else has to
close the company file before you can switch it to single-user mode, you may
find it easiest to wait until no one else is working on the company file (early
in the morning or after business hours, say). Here’s how you switch from
multi-user mode to single-user mode:
1. If your single-user
task can’t wait until off hours, ask everyone else to close the company file
you want to work on. They can choose File➝Close/Logoff or simply exit QuickBooks to close the company file.
2. When everyone else has
closed the company file, open it in QuickBooks by choosing File➝Open Previous File, and then selecting the company file in the
submenu. If the company file doesn’t
appear on the Open Previous File submenu, choose File➝“Open or Restore Company”.
In the “Open or Restore
Company” dialog box, select the “Open a company file” option, and then click
Next. In the “Open a Company” dialog box, navigate to the folder where you
store the company file, and then double-click the filename.
3. Choose File➝“Switch to Single-user Mode”. In the message box that appears telling
you the file is in single-user mode, click OK. QuickBooks
closes all open windows before it switches to single-user mode. After you click
OK, it reopens the windows and you’re ready to work solo on the company file. 4
.After you finish your
single-user task, switch back to multi-user mode by choosing File➝“Switch to Multi-user Mode”. When the message box appears telling
you the file is in multi-user mode, click OK. You’ll
see all the windows in QuickBooks close. After you click OK, they reappear and
the company file is back in multi-user mode.
5. Don’t forget to tell
your colleagues that they can log back into the company file.
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