• Solarsys
• July 24, 2009

Upgrading company file to QuickBooks 2009/10

Last week was a busy week for me. I was having two full training classes and doing few data files migration for QuickBooks. Since the launch of QuickBooks 2009/10, I did many company files migration. To migrate from previous version to QuickBooks 2009/10 was not an easy task.

There were some patterns developed in the data file migration process. The basic way that most of the QuickBooks consultants used to track the migration was comparing reports before and after the migration. Usually, they will compare the Trial Balance and Balance Sheet report.

These two reports usually are sufficient to track the migration for the previous version. For QuickBooks 2009/10 these two reports are just the basic requirement.

Where were the errors after the data file migration?

Balance Sheet report

After the companies file being migrated to QuickBooks 2009/10, if you discovered that the Total Assets was not balanced with the Total Liabilities and Equities, the problem could be due to the error in multicurrency calculation in the Tax Payable (GST) account.

Edit those transactions that causing the problem and re-do your data file migration. Before you did any editing to your transactions, you have to consider whether these editing will cause any effect to your previous financial year closing. It may be complex for a layman to understand, best is to consult a certified QuickBooks technician if you have encounter this problem.

There is no guarantee that your company file can be migrated if the problem is too complicated to be resolved.

Accounts Receivable Ageing Reports

If the Accounts Receivable Ageing report was different from your previous version, it could be due to damage to the original Invoice, Adjustment Note or Payment Received from customer. This problem usually can be resolved by editing those damaged transactions in the previous version before migrating to the newer QuickBooks 2009/10.

GST – tax code error

Tax (GST) code error could be complex. Go to the Lists menu and select Tax Code. In the Tax Code list, edit the tax code to open up the tax code profile window. Check your tax code profile:

• Tax Code:  This is your GST code name.
• Description: This is your GST code description.
• Purchase Tax Item: Tax item code for purchases.
• Sales Tax Item: Tax item code for sales.

Note: Both the Purchase Tax item field and Sales Tax item field should not be blank. If it was blank without a valid reason, you should consider to re-do the data migration.

This is a major error and you have to ensure that it is resolved. If you don’t resolve this issue, it may cause a “Side Effect” at the later stage. Example, if the Purchase Tax Item field is blank, how are you going to use this code during the Enter Bills?

GST – missing list

GST code list was missing after file migration. This was a rare case, it happened to one of my customer. The original data was migrated from QuickBooks Pro 5. After migrated, the whole GST code list was missing and Accounts Receivable Report was different from the previous version.

This case was very complex and very technical to resolve. I will not be discussing over here. Besides, this was a very rare case. I don’t think there were many QuickBooks Pro 5 users around in Singapore or rather in Asia.

My advice is before you decided to purchase your QuickBooks upgrade, send in your company data file for an evaluation. If you don’t have any qualified QuickBooks Consultant in mind, you may contact Solarsys for a QuickBooks Consultant.