Summary: Find out the reasons that contribute to QuickBooks® (QB) downtime in this post. We will also discuss the top 7 ways to avoid QuickBooks® downtime.
Note: Accidents happen and issues may crop up occasionally in QuickBooks®, often resulting in unplanned downtime and corrupted data files. If you can’t afford any downtime due to data file corruption, use Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software to quickly repair the data file and recover all the file components in a few simple clicks. The software is capable of repairing files created in all QuickBooks® versions, from 2007 through 2020.
If you have been using Intuit’s QuickBooks® for managing your finance or accounting needs, sudden or unplanned downtime of your QuickBooks® application can be dreadful.
Before QuickBooks becomes up and running again, the business continuity and productivity may slow down or come to a halt. Unfortunately, unavoidable errors and issues such as damaged/corrupt QuickBooks® data files, network connectivity issues, etc. may cause the QB application to go down (or stop responding). However, there are ways you can follow to avoid QuickBooks downtime.
How to Avoid QuickBooks® Downtime?
Below are simple yet useful tips which can help you safeguard your QuickBooks® application from going down:
1. Backup Regularly and Test the Backup
Intuit recommends backing up QuickBooks® file regularly. You can schedule automatic backup, or create a daily backup of QB files manually, right after quitting the application or at the end of the day. This can save you any last-minute hassle if something goes wrong with data in the QB file.
Once you have set up a backup routine, you must also test your backup to ensure that it works correctly. That is because many users have reported getting QuickBooks® restore failed error when trying to restore data from backup files.
2. Keep QuickBooks® Up to Date
With each minor or major release of QuickBooks® software, new features, enhancements, and software fixes are added. Though you may find upgrading to a new version of QuickBooks® a costly proposition, you should not neglect to upgrade it. That’s because keeping QB updated to the latest version can save you from incompatibility issues. Also, running software patches can help fix bugs that may be causing QB downtime, which can be worse and more costly down the line.
3. Be Careful When Choosing a Network
Poor network connectivity is one of the most significant factors behind unexpected QB downtime. And so, you must choose a network with a good service connection. It is also important that the network on which QuickBooks® is installed, is capable of handling large-sized data files.
TIP: When running QB on a server, always log out of the QB application while moving away from your desk. This is important because you might lose connection to your QuickBooks® data file if it is left open (but inactive) for a longer duration. Even if you re-establish the connection to the data file, QuickBooks® may remain unresponsive and crash.
4. Verify Data Often, but Rebuild When Needed
Run QuickBooks ‘Verify Data’ tool regularly for early detection of errors or data damage in a QuickBooks® Company File (QBW). However, use the ‘Rebuild Data’ tool only when you have found error or damage in the QBW file.
Read this: How to Rebuild QuickBooks Data File to Fix the Corruption?
Don’t forget to back up your company file before rebuilding it to prevent data loss during the repair process.
5. Transfer Accountant’s Copy to Your Accountant
When working with a QuickBooks® company file, sometimes you may feel the need to share data from the file with an accountant or any other third-party source. It is not a feasible choice to give them your data file and wait for them to make any changes to it, as it can cause extended downtime.
Luckily, QB comes with an Accountant’s Copy file transfer feature that lets users continue working with the QuickBooks® file and allow the accountant to make changes to the file at the same time – without any interruption.
Once you have created an Accountant’s Copy, you can send it to your accountant by using the Accountant’s Copy file transfer feature.
6. Updating QuickBooks® Application for Windows and Mac
When working with QuickBooks® on Windows, always keep the system up-to-date. However, as per the QuickBooks support team, the application seems to have run into issues (crashes or freezes) when using 4.8 .NET framework on a Windows 10 machine. If you’re using this version of the .NET framework on a Windows 10 PC, uninstalling the 4.8 version and installing a lower version of the .NET framework might help prevent QB crashing/freezing issues.
Suppose you’re a macOS user and using the new Catalina OS, chances are that you might experience incompatibility issues between macOS Catalina 10.15 and QuickBooks® Desktop for MAC (QBDT for MAC) data files. This may happen, if you’re using an unsupported version of QBDT for MAC (2016 or earlier) on Catalina OS or when you’re not using the latest supported QBDT for MAC versions 2019 and 2020. Intuit has identified that the incompatibility issue may result in data loss and application crash. You can avoid such a situation, by upgrading your QuickBooks® Desktop for MAC to the latest 2019 (R7) or 2020 (R2) version.
7. Be Prepared with the Right Tools
QuickBooks® Company File (QBW) can become inaccessible, damaged, or corrupt due to abrupt system shutdown, virus attack, oversized QBW file, and other reasons. Luckily, QuickBooks® offers several free tools to diagnose and fix issues with company files, like QuickBooks® File Doctor, Verify and Rebuild utility, etc.
Knowing the right tool can help you resolve errors in the company file and make it accessible again. But, free tools cannot fix all problems associated with a QBW file. In such a case, keeping the right QBW file repair software from Stellar®installed beforehand can save you significant time and effort in making the data file accessible.
The software serves as a better alternative to QuickBooks® Auto Data Recovery and Intuit Data Services for repairing corrupt files.
Also Read: QuickBooks Company File Repair – All There is to Know
Conclusion
Power surges causing errors in QuickBooks® data files, network connectivity issues, not updating QB are some reasons that may result in QuickBooks® downtime. Such a situation can have an adverse impact on businesses using QB for business-critical tasks. But, you can prevent QuickBooks downtime by following the tips covered in this blog.
In case you’re facing challenges resolving QuickBooks® errors such as error H202 or other random errors caused due to data file corruption, using Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software can come in handy.
