How to Make Quickbooks Run Faster

Many small businesses use Quickbooks to manage their bookkeeping. At first, the software performs wonderfully and really simplifies many tasks. Over time, however, the performance of Quickbooks will begin to noticeably degrade, leaving users with lots of questions and frustration. Here are a few tips that will help to speed things up.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• PC
• Copy of Quickbooks
• Server (optional)

1. The first suggestion for speeding up Quickbooks is to upgrade the version that you are using if you have not in several years. Quickbooks 2007 and 2008 include a "Quickbooks Server" utility that drastically improves performance for those using Quickbooks in multi-user mode over a network with the company file hosted on a shared server.
2. Upgrading the computer that you access the Quickbooks company file from is also recommended. Install more memory, defrag your hard drive, and clean up unused files on your PC. This will not only improve your experience with Quickbooks, but with all other applications. If the Quickbooks company file is located on a file server, verify that the server isn't too busy processing other tasks to handle Quickbooks requests. If possible, host your Quickbooks company file on it's own dedicated server.
3. For Quickbooks versions prior to 2007, archive and condense the data in your Quickbooks company file at least once a year. This option is located under the "File" menu. The larger the company file grows, the slower the performance will be. For versions 2007 and newer, look under "File> Utilities" for the "verify data, rebuild data, and clean up company data" options. Use them as needed, but only during down-time when other users won't need access to the company file.
4. If your accounting department and sales department are using Quickbooks simultaneously, try to designate a time for the accounting department to do their billing tasks when the sales team is least busy. This slows Quickbooks down greatly and is frustrating for sales personnel who are on the phone with a customer and trying to search for information in Quickbooks.
5. Invest in a gigabit network switch and compatible network cards. This equipment will allow the transfer of more data across the network in less time for all users on the network. Also look at the network bandwidth usage of each employee. If several users, for instance the graphic artists in your marketing department, are using constant heavy loads bandwidth all day long to move large images back and forth from their PC to the file server, try purchasing a network switch and a separate file server dedicated for them to use and remove them from the network that your sales and accounting team uses.

Tips & Warnings

• Add memory to your PC and file server.
• Invest in Quickbooks 2007 or newer. (It's worth the cost!)