How to Fix QuickBooks Company File Data Damages?

QuickBooks is a trusted and reliable accounting software that provides a complete accounting solution for your business. It allows excellent and easy management of the financial activities while delivering desired performance results. However, like other databases, it also encounters problems every now and then. A corrupted QuickBooks Company file is one of the issues that you may encounter. This article will look at the various factors, signs, reasons, and solution to this problem.

Signs to look out for to identify corruption in QuickBooks Company file

It might look that there is some problem with the QuickBooks Company file, but you might not be able to confirm whether it is file corruption or it is some other issue.

Below are some points that will indicate that there is a file corruption:

• If you encounter an error like data issue that hinders QuickBooks from continuing in the Verify Data Utility or Verify target if the values in minor do not match on the screen or the Qbwin.log file.
• The abrupt, sudden shutdown of QB when trying to save or delete a transaction.
• Faulty reports are generated such as Balance sheets where you encounter that total assets are not matching the total liabilities & Equity.
• You have missing transactions and entries from “Lists.”
• You observe “accounts names” preceded by an asterisk (*). QuickBooks created these accounts because the original accounts were missing.
• QuickBooks is slow, and all operations are taking more time than usual to get completed.
• The “paid bills and invoices” are reflected as unpaid.
• The “Transaction History” shows a negative balance remaining.
• When you open the “send feedback online” and go to “Bug Report window,” you see an HTML code in the window.

If you view any of the above signs in your computer, it could be a case of corruption in the company file.

Reasons for data damage in QuickBooks

• The data file size has expanded beyond a healthy limit.
• There is a lack of resources such as RAM, Virtual memory, network interface cards, routers, network cables, etc.
• There is a sudden power surge or drop, and this could trash your entire hard-drive if you don’t have a proper UPS.
•  Improper shutdown of the system due to technical or other factors
• Virus attacks to the hard drive on which the database is stored can also be the cause.

How to prevent QuickBooks file corruption?

It is annoying, confusing and time-consuming. Let’s look at the method on how you can to solve or avoid this issue.

Update patches- You can find your release number in the first line in the “Product Information window.” Using the latest patch can solve your problem.

Keep the file size in limit- QuickBooks Pro and Premier work smoothly with the file as large as 250 MB and might slow down once it reached the 500MB or higher limit. Though QuickBooks Enterprise works perfectly fine till 500 MB and issues might occur once you reach around 750MB limit. Keep the file size to the recommended limit to avoid problems. You can use “condense” to reduce the file size.

Monitor your database file fragments monthly- Fragmentation occurs, as your computer gets filled up with data over-time. You are putting in data without doing a clean-up in it. You have to keep the number below 10;100 to have smooth functioning.

Monitor the list size- You need to watch the list limits in QuickBooks Pro and Premier. There will not be any warning sign to if you are about to reach the upper limit. Inactive list items do not count in this list.

Create a back within QuickBooks- Most of us these days have our data files backed up automatically in QuickBooks. This is a helpful option but might not be good enough. When the “Log file” is created and continues to grow in size, its performance starts getting affected and there is always a risk of corruption unless you create a backup. This is the same file that intuit uses if you ask for “data recovery.” It is advisable to make a verified backup within QuickBooks on a monthly basis.

Choose a Hard-wired network over wireless- If you have a wireless network; it increases the risk of dropped connections, which will create problems with your data file. These problems can be avoided more stringently in a hard-wired network.

How to fix Corruption in Company File?

Before proceeding you must ensure that you are following the below steps on the computer where your Company File is located.

• Log-in to the Company File as an Administrator
• Switch to Single User Mode
• Go to File
• Click on Utilities, then Verify Data (Note: The verification might take time depending on the file size)
• Now, you will see a list of Errors identified by the Verify Utility, Click on Rebuild.

Note:  A complete rebuild takes more time that verifies the process to complete. Therefore, not to interrupt the process until its finished.  In case it takes longer than usual for the process to finish or if Rebuild fails to fix the problems, then you must talk to a Certified Expert.

We hope that the solutions provided above are helpful to solve these problems. However, if the problems are not resolved it is recommended that you talk to a Technical Expert in such a case to avoid any further discrepancies.