Many a time, due to heavy file sizes, network errors and several other bugs, the performance of QuickBooks eventually degrades. Degradation in QuickBooks performance is generally observed when you host QuickBooks on your in-house servers.
If you are using QuickBooks 2006 or higher editions on an in-house network then, this blog post will help you boost QuickBooks performance. Issues that we discuss here apply to QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Enterprise.
5 Recommendations to Enhance QuickBooks Performance
1. Verify the Database Engine in Use
This recommendation to enhance QuickBooks performance applies to anyone who is hosting 5 simultaneous sessions between a server computer and other clients on the same network.
It is important to know that QuickBooks Pro and Premier use the same database engine. If the database engine for Pro or Premier is tuned for the use of maximum five concurrent users then, the database engine may start showing unwanted results that may lead to slowdown of QuickBooks performance. .
If you want that a large number of simultaneous users have access to a QuickBooks company file located in the central server, then, it is always safe to enhance the database engine for Pro or Premier to the one that is used for QuickBooks Enterprise version.
By using the database engine of QuickBooks Enterprise, you will always have the feasibility to enhance numbers of users, which at the end will result to the seamless and smooth functioning of QuickBooks.
In addition to the database engine enhancement, it is also advised that users always launch QuickBooks via a shortcut to the QuickBooks data file, rather than launching the QuickBooks program first.
The frequent launch of QuickBooks program can possibly crash the database engine.
2. Check and Reduce File Size
Another recommendation to tune up QuickBooks performance is to reduce the size of QuickBooks data file.
First of all, try to find out the size of QuickBooks data file by follow these steps:
- Open QuickBooks Company File
- Press Ctrl+1 or F2
- Product Information will be now displayed on the screen
- To check the file size, click on the information section of the screen
Usually, for QuickBooks 2007 and above, Premier and Enterprise files should not exceed 250 MB and 300 MB respectively.
As you keep growing the file size beyond these limitations, the overall speed and performance of QuickBooks, will however, start declining.
If you want to reduce the size of QuickBooks data file to have seamless QuickBooks experience, you have two options:
- Use Clean Up Data Utility to remove or archive older data
- Use Clean Up Data Utility to remove ALL data
3. Take a Round Trip to Portable Company Files
After removing QuickBooks data files by using Clean Up Data Utility, if you still find that data files are heavy sized, then, this recommendation can be quite helpful.
To further reduce the size of a company file, save the working data file as a portable company file, and then restore the portable company file to a working data file.
This “round trip to portable company file” will strip down all the database indexing and then, rebuild the indexing for the reduced number of transactions.
4. Confirm Network Setup
In addition to upgrading to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise data manager and reducing the data file size, you need to confirm that network for QuickBooks hosting is properly setup.
Description of QuickBooks Network Environment
QuickBooks users rely on network environment for:
- A client-server network where the server runs on Microsoft Windows 2000 server, Microsoft Windows 2003 server or peer-to-peer networks running on Windows 2000 and above server.
- If you install QuickBooks on two or more workstations to open and have simultaneous access to QuickBooks company files from multiple workstations. After understanding QuickBooks network environment for QuickBooks hosting, you need to verify that you meet the following requirements:
- At least one QuickBooks license for every user.
- QuickBooks Pro edition and above
- Server should be above Windows 2000
5. Embrace QuickBooks Hosting
If you want to be free from all technical glitches and network errors that slow down QuickBooks performance, it is always a wise decision to get QuickBooks hosting from a reliable QuickBooks hosting provider.
By adopting cloud technology, and hosting QuickBooks on the cloud server, there is a guaranteed seamless access to QuickBooks, safe network environment and flexibility to scale up the resources as your business grows.
The Way Forward
If you want to fully concentrate on core business goals and want to have the most advanced and comprehensive QuickBooks experience, QuickBooks hosting is always a safe choice.
It is, however, important to know that the standard of QuickBooks performance always depends on the quality of QuickBooks hosting service offered by a QuickBooks hosting provider. Therefore, always have a detailed analysis of different QuickBooks hosting providers and then, only select the best one.
Techarex Networks is the US-based QuickBooks hosting provider, excelling in delivering sophisticated and most advanced QuickBooks Pro hosting, and that too at an economical price. If you want to know more about us, contact us right now.