Keeping Fit: 3 Steps to a Stable, Healthy QuickBooks for Mac File

Few things pay off more in life than keeping fit and staying healthy. Keeping your QuickBooks file healthy pays off big too; a file full of broken links and miss-matched transactions will eventually crash, and it’s never going to happen at a good time.
How do you keep your QuickBooks file stable and healthy? In my work I see expensive disasters that could have been prevented at almost no cost if someone had done a 3-step “work-out” on the file at least once each year.

I make it an essential part of my routine in April, after the taxes are done and I've posted the final adjusting journal entries from the CPA and "locked down the books" (changed the closing date), and I’m making a back-up for the finalized tax year. You can give your file this work-out every year too, it’s easy and it will keep your QuickBooks file stable and healthy. The 3-step work-out takes about 5 minutes.

Expert Tip: Always do these steps before upgrading a data file.

Step 1 Make sure total debits and credits equal

1. Run a Trial Balance report and check the bottom line on both cash and accrual basis.
2. Go to Reports > Accountant & Taxes > Trial Balance. Click the "Option" icon, set the dates to "All dates" and toggle between cash and accrual basis.
3. Look at the bottom of the report: do the total debits equal the total credits? They should equal when you run the report on accrual or cash basis. If they don't equal, don't panic: the next 2 steps will most likely fix the problem, but run the reports again when you are done just to be sure.

Expert Tip: When total debits don't equal total credits, the accounts causing the problems are usually related to Inventory, Sales Tax, and COGS, and usually on cash basis.

Step 2 Re-sort the master Names List

1. Open “Write Checks”
2. Move cursor to “Payee” field
3. Enter “Command-l”. This opens the master list of all names From the “Edit” menu chose “Re-sort List”

Use Command "L" in the Payee field on a Check to re-sort the master Names list in QuickBooks



Expert Tip: The master Names list needs re-sorting if when the Open Invoice report won't run in alphabetical order

Step 3 Verify and Rebuild the data file

1. Rebuilding the data file connects transactions that have lost their links repairing and fixing damage.
2. Go to File > Utilities > Rebuild Data. The utility will tell if you to make a back up, and then it will check for damage and repair it.
3. Go to File > Back Up. Now that you have a stable, healthy QuickBooks file, back it up to an off-site location.

Completing the Rebuild: The final step in my QuickBooks work-out



Expert Tip: To find out what the Rebuild detected and what it fixed, read the QuickBooks.log file. If you don’t know how to find the QuickBooks.log file, read Find QuickBooks.log

My last piece of advice is to connect with your peers to stay abreast of new threats to QuickBooks data stability, and new ways to repair damaged files. If you see a problem with your data post a message on the Intuit QuickBooks for Mac Community form; the QuickBooks for Mac technical staff responds quickly to any reports that sounds like new bugs- they will walk you step by step to a solution. And if you are a professional who supports QuickBooks such as a bookkeeper or trainer, connecting with your peers is even more important. Find a QuickBooks Meetup group to make long-lasting relationships with professionals like you and I who are always doing our best to keep our clients' QuickBooks files stable and healthy.