Knowledge Base

SBFM97: Resolving Problems with the QuickBooks Accounting Filter

Article ID: 176533

Article Last Modified on 10/23/2002

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q176533

SUMMARY

This article contains troubleshooting steps you can use to resolve problems that may occur when you import accounting data from QuickBooks for Windows, version 5.0, into the Small Business Accounting Manager 97 for Microsoft Excel 97.

MORE INFORMATION

FILTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE ACCOUNTING FILE

If the accounting file you want to import does not appear in step 3 of the Import Wizard, verify the information in the following sections.

Determine Which Version of QuickBooks You Are Using

The Small Business Financial Manager filter is written for a specific version of QuickBooks. The current filter for QuickBooks 5.0 supports releases 1 through 4. To determine the specific version of QuickBooks you are using, follow these steps:

On the Start menu, click Programs, and then click Windows Explorer or Windows NT Explorer. (In Windows 2000, on the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.)
Open the folder in which QuickBooks is installed. Right-click the QuickBooks program file, Qbw.exe, and then click Properties.
In the Qbw Properties dialog box, click the Version tab.

NOTE: If you have question about your version of QuickBooks, contact Intuit technical support.

For information about how to contact Intuit, query in the Knowledge Base for one of the following articles:

Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K 65416

Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P 60781

Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z60782

Verify That You Are Selecting the Correct Folder

To verify that you are selecting the correct folder or folder level for the QuickBooks accounting data file, follow the steps in the next two sections.

Searching the Entire Computer for the File:

To search the computer, follow these steps:

Click Import Wizard on the Accounting menu and click Next. In step 2 of the "Import your Accounting Data" dialog box, click "Look on My Computer."

By clicking "Look on My Computer" you are specifying that you want to search all hard disks that are attached to the computer.

Click Next to go to step 3 of the wizard.

The file that contains the accounting data you want to import should appear in the list of files to import.

Searching Specific Folders for the File:

To search specific folders, follow these steps:

To specify the hard disk and folder in which to search, click "In specific folders" in step 2 of the "Import your Accounting Data" dialog box. Under "In specific folders," click the hard disk drive letter for the disk that contains the accounting file.
To select a folder, click the folder in the list. To select a subfolder, double-click the parent folder in the list, and then click the subfolder. After you select the folder that contains the accounting data, click "Add folder to list."
Click Next to go to step 3.

The accounting data should appear in the list of files to import.

WHILE YOU IMPORT DATA, THE PROGRAM STOPS RESPONDING OR AN ERROR MESSAGE APPEARS

Determine whether the words "Stopped responding" appear next to Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks in the Microsoft Windows Close Program dialog box. To display the Close Program dialog box, press CTRL+ALT+DEL one time only. If the words "Stopped responding" appear next to Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks in the dialog box, follow these steps:

In the Close Program dialog box, click Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks and click End Task.

If an error message subsequently appears, click End until the program quits.
After you close Excel or QuickBooks, open the Small Business Financial Manager Database folder and delete any files that end with a .tmp file name extension.

This folder is located by default in the following location:
```
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\SBFM\Database
                        
```
Start the QuickBooks accounting program and do the following:
- Determine whether QuickBooks is registered.
  
  For Excel to import the accounting data, QuickBooks must be installed on the computer and QuickBooks must be registered with Inuit. This is necessary because the Small Business Financial Manager exports the accounting transactions by communicating with QuickBooks through dynamic data exchange (DDE). When QuickBooks is not registered, dialog boxes appear and interfere with the DDE channel between Excel and QuickBooks.
- Determine whether the file uses a password.
  
  Remove all passwords in the QuickBooks accounting file. To remove passwords, click Passwords on the File menu. In the Passwords dialog box, click Clear Password for each category.
- Determine whether memorized transactions are entered.
  
  Before you import the accounting data, run (enter) all memorized transactions.
  
  To determine if the accounting file contains memorized transactions, click Memorized Transactions on the Lists menu. If information appears in the Memorized Transaction List dialog box, transactions have been recorded.
  
  To run memorized transactions, click the transaction you want to run, and then click Enter Transaction.
  
  NOTE: To delete a memorized transaction, click the transaction you want to delete, click Memorized Transaction, and then click Delete.
- Determine Whether Reminders Are Active.
  
  Before you import accounting data, make all reminders unavailable. To make reminders unavailable, follow these steps:
  1. On the File menu, click Preferences. In the window to the left of the Reminders dialog box, click Reminders.
  2. For each option in the Reminders dialog box, click Don't Remind Me.
- Determine whether a transaction should be closed.
  
  QuickBooks accounting allows you to keep a transaction open over different accounting periods. Although QuickBooks allows this behavior, it is considered unconventional by most accounting programs and causes the Small Business Financial Manager filter to stop responding. Verify that no transactions with a date that is 12 months prior to the current date are open.
  
  For example, if the current date is in October 1997, and the accounting year is based on a calendar year, close all transactions for the entire January to December 1996 period.
  
  To check the Closed Transactions date, follow these steps:
  1. On the File menu, click Passwords.
  2. Look under Transaction Password in the Passwords dialog box.
  The "Date through which books are closed" box indicates the date for which a transaction is closed. This date must not be greater than 12 months before the current date.

THE PROCESS OF IMPORTING DATA IS SLOW

The time that is required for Small Business Financial Manager to import QuickBooks accounting data is proportional to the number of accounts that contain transactions and the total number of transactions in the file. Because the Small Business Financial Manager exports the accounting transactions by communicating with QuickBooks through DDE, the time that is required may range from a few minutes to several hours.

When you import data from QuickBooks into Excel by using the Small Business Financial Manager, the data is exported from QuickBooks to a temporary file as text. Then the data is inserted into a Microsoft Access database file. This process may also require a considerable amount of time depending on the number of transactions and the number of accounts to process.

USER INPUT IS NOT AVAILABLE WHILE IMPORTING

Because the Small Business Financial Manager exports the accounting transactions by communicating with QuickBooks through DDE, you cannot interact with the program. This includes mouse movement and keyboard input.

ERRORS APPEAR AFTER IMPORTING

When you use the Small Business Financial manager to analyze or update data, you may receive an error message. For more information about error messages that may appear when you use the add-in, query on the following words here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

sbfm97 quickbooks error

The Microsoft World Wide Web server named support.microsoft.com, contains technical support information about the Microsoft products. To access the Microsoft Knowledge Base on the World Wide Web, follow these steps:

Connect to Support Online at the following Internet address:

http://www.microsoft.com/support

NOTE: If you've never visited this site before, you will be required to register.
In the My Question Is About box, select All Products.
Type your question in the question box.
Click Find (next to the My Question Is box).

This search will return from one to several article titles. The Article ID appears in the upper-left corner of the article. You can see the Article ID only after you click to view the article.
Click the title of the article to view it.

QuickBooks is manufactured by Intuit, Inc., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

Additional query words: XL97 sbfm tshoot

Keywords: kberrmsg kbhowto kbtshoot KB176533

Microsoft KB Archive/176533

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