Bigger bug
Advanced functionality (inventory or pricing) data issues continue to plague QuickBooks Enterprise users. Despite Intuit implementing several ‘fixes’ over the last few years in various releases and new versions, as well as changing the way that some of problems are ‘reported’, Users are seeking answers to specific problems with their data.
Recently an Advanced Inventory/Advanced Pricing user sent me a QBWin.log file with the errors, like those shown below (collective referred to herein as Example 1), was experiencing inability to perform an internal QuickBooks back-up because the file would not fully verify:
verify.c (14785): CHECKPOINT: 2128: Thu Apr 03 15:50:08 A record (rule: .65 Multiplier - 35% off List) referencing deleted item with RecNum 1650 found in price_rule_scope_detail.
verify.c (14785): CHECKPOINT: 2128: Thu Apr 03 15:50:09 A record (rule: .50 Multiplier - 50% off List) referencing deleted class with RecNum 51 found in price_rule_scope_detail.
verify.c (14785): CHECKPOINT: 2128: Thu Apr 03 15:50:09 A record (rule: 5% off List) referencing deleted site with RecNum 10 found in price_rule_scope_detail.
verify.c (14785): CHECKPOINT: 2128: Thu Apr 03 15:50:09 A record (rule: .85 Multiplier - 15% off List) referencing deleted customer with RecNum 65 found in price_rule_scope_detail.
There were literally ‘hundreds’ of these errors reported in the log. The problem, not a single one of the referenced Items, Classes, Sites or Customers were ‘deleted’ records. While Rebuild appears to solve these problems, there is just one more issue, when Rebuild is run, all of the ‘connections’ between the Price Rules are lost. Their prior associations with Customers, Sites, Items and Classes are all missing at the end of the Rebuild routine. I am not sure which is worse, inability to back-up even though your Price Rules function, or loss of your Price Rule ‘guts’ when you Rebuild to permit your file to Verify so it will Back-up!
Another QuickBooks Advanced Inventory user sent me a QBWin.log file to review just a day or so prior when their file would not Verify completely. In that case, some of the following errors (collectively referred to as Example 2) were present:
verify.c (408): CHECKPOINT: 11712: Thu Apr 03 19:09:46 (Real line # 5497):Item site rec num 839 qtyOnPO does not match (item 206, site 0)
TaskTracking.cpp (764): CHECKPOINT: 11712: Thu Apr 03 19:09:46 Cumulus:'acisneros' Form ( ) VERIFY:(Real line # 5497):Item site rec num 839 qtyOnPO does not match (item 206, site 0)\n
ItemHistUpdateEngine.cpp (1601): MESSAGE: 11712: Thu Apr 03 19:11:28 LVL_ERROR--Error: Verify Item: Item history Item Value on Hand mismatch error. Item ID 507, expected value: 1,238.84, found value: 1,322.12
ItemHistUpdateEngine.cpp (1601): MESSAGE: 11712: Thu Apr 03 19:11:28 LVL_ERROR--Error: Verify Item: Item history Item Average Cost mismatch error. Item ID 507, expected value: 56.31077, found value: 60.09692
I am not even going to mention how many of each of these two different types of errors were present in that log.
I guess I am somewhat confused, perhaps by the fact that Intuit’s information regarding ‘fixes’ contained within new product and maintenance release notes is so limited. For example, in Maintenance Release 11 for QuickBooks 2013/QuickBooks Enterprise-13, the release notes specify:
“Verify and Rebuild utility have been updated to resolve the error Verify Item: Invalid inventory data.”
Intuit doesn’t bother in their release notes to specifically define either ‘the error’ in any greater detail, or discuss the specific ‘errors’ (by number or additional details) included in this fix. It might seem that this ‘fix’ could be interpreted to include the last two errors shown in Example 2 above; but either the ‘fix’ doesn’t apply in this situation, it isn’t working, or the errors are ‘something new’ since the fix was released.
In Release 5 for QuickBooks 2014/QuickBooks Enterprise-14 there is an interesting release note for Advanced Pricing:
“Validation has been added to custom fields used in price rules.”
Could the implementation of this ‘validation’ be the cause of the types of errors shown in the first few errors of Example 1? Even so, why would the ‘Rebuild Utility’ undo the tedious work of configuring ‘Price Rules’? It would seem that validation would occur as part of set-up of the Rule, and if there is a problem then the User should be notified and given the opportunity to correct the issue(s) before saving a rule that either generates an error, or results in corrupted data.
I have been seeing more and more of these Advanced Inventory and Advanced Pricing issues in my own practice. If you have been experiencing the same ‘quantity’ of irregularities, the actual number of problems out there can only be estimated to be voluminous. Please let me know if you are dealing with these, or other Advanced Inventory/Advanced Pricing issues in your clients' files by posting your information in the 'comments' to this blog.
In the past I have found that the ‘Advanced Inventory’ Product Development Team at Intuit is very interested in hearing about these kinds of problems, and in fact that team has made some significant strides to identify the causes of problems and develop solutions (both long term and on a more immediate ‘fix’ basis).
Hopefully problems such as these will not go unnoticed by the Enterprise Advanced feature Team, and they will once again crank out the necessary changes and fixes to resolve these and other related data issues plaguing the users of their subscription products.