Aged Receivables & Customer Statements

[cyndescc]

Last month we were training a new employee on Peachtree and left her alone with the computer. At the end of the month when I looked at the aged receivables report, all the sudden information from 1997 and 1998 appeared. It hadn't been there before and I don't know how to get rid of it. Invoices that have already been paid appear on customer accounts. When I print statements some customers print info from 97 and 98, then it skips to the current year. I don't want to just issue credits to clear them off but I really want my aged receivables cleaned up. Any suggestions?

[Jim Dale]

i would run data verification. which version are you using? make a backup first and make sure the situation doesn't get worse.

[cyndescc]

I am using Complete Accounting 2004. To run data verification on a networked computer do I have to be in single user mode rather than multi user mode? And if so, how do I switch to single user mode?

[Jim Dale]

as long as everyone else is off, you can run data verification.

[cyndescc]

i'll give it a shot...thank you!

[cyndescc]

I ran the data verification and my problem still occurs. Its wierd. When you look into some customer ledger accounts it shows they have a balance, even though they have paid and at one point their balance showed zero. It is like the receipt entries got delete or something. I tried to go in and delete the sales journals just to get rid of them and clean up our aged receivables since they are all from '97 and '98 but peachtree won't allow it. Do you have any other suggestions?!

[trudyto]

I am experiencing a somewhat similar problem. Our Aged Receivable Report is showing invoices as being unpaid that are actually paid. (Additionally, some of the invoices show as being outstanding on the Customer Statement.) I can 'double-click' on the line item in the Aged Receivable Report; however, I cannot do anything to it from there to correct the problem. I have tried backing the transaction completely out of our system, but, that too, is not successful. It is very frustrating!

[cyndescc]

That sounds like exactly what my problem is...can anyone help us?!

[prufener]

Similar problem-a receivabel written off as a bad debt in 2003 shows as on the aging report, but no invoice for this customer still exists in the system. When I try to access it by double clicking the magnifying glass, nothing happens. Where does this data live that the aged receivables report finds it?

[Jim Dale]

This is data corruption. unmatched records can sometimes be fixed by DV as I mentioned B4, but when not, data can often be repaired. check with this forum for the data checker

[TheWolf]

The data checker seems to only check for physical damage, not broken links in the data base. I have seen this problem before and it usually happens after a close or purge. The correct integrity check to run is the invoice/payement sync test and select the invoice is correct. You may have to do this on preclose or prepurge data and then close or purge afterwards.

I am not sure what exactly causes this but I have seen it many times and usually on larger databases.

[trudyto]

We have done all data checks and nothing seems to help. It is quite frustrating not to have reports and customer statements that are correct!

[Jim Dale]

Originally posted by trudyto
We have done all data checks and nothing seems to help. It is quite frustrating not to have reports and customer statements that are correct!

Have you done an inventory/journal synch? I don't like to tell people to run this option, because if you have any corruption, this can really mess up your data. It is best to have a backup that you know you can restore first. It is also best to run the data checker first.

Sometimes data gets corrupted. Here is what Robert Walraven wrote as one explanation:
"Occasionally users of Peachtree Accounting for Windows and Peachtree Complete Accounting for Windows find one or more of their data files have been corrupted. It is important to realize that the Peachtree program itself cannot cause the corruption; corrupted files result from some underlying problem in the resources that the Peachtree program uses – the computer network, other software or the computer hardware itself. It is also important to realize that corrupted data can occur on a perfectly healthy system; a corrupted Peachtree data file does not necessarily indicate that there is ANY problem with the hardware or software - it is just a fact of life. Despite what our myth about computers tells us they DO make mistakes sometimes and we must simply consider these to be an “act of god.”
The wisest approach is to assume that sooner or later you are going to encounter corruption of Peachtree data files and plan appropriately. What does that mean? BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP! You can easily perform a backup of your data right from the Peachtree menu bar.
It is very easy and quick to do. The backup procedure creates a single compressed file with the extension PTB. (This file is actually a standard Zip file.) The backup file is, by default, created with the date in its filename. If you perform the Peachtree backup each morning, then if you do get data corruption all you have to do is restore that morning’s backup and re-enter the activity for the day. The Peachtree backup gives a first line of defense against problems. An additional problem you should worry about is a disk crash on the system where your data resides. You can easily protect yourself against this by copying the Peachtree backup to another computer on your network where you have a few spare GB of disk space. Finally, you can protect yourself against disaster by backing up on tape or CD and taking this backup off site.
That being said, there are several hardware and software problems that we know can contribute to corruption of Peachtree data files on an ongoing basis. In fact, Peachtree file corruption almost invariably occurs when the Peachtree program accesses its data across a network—it is very rare for corruption to occur on a stand alone computer.
If you are experiencing recurring data corruption here are some things to look for:
o Use of home versions of Windows (95, 98, me, XP Home). These systems are designed to accomodate games and old versions of programs. In order to do this, however, they can allow applications to step on each other - a perfectly functioning program can have its data walked over by an idendependent malfunctioning program. For a business environment it is best to stick with the professional versions of Windows: NT, 2000, and XP Pro.
o Flaky computer hardware. Computers are very complex with many components that must all work together perfectly. All it takes is one problem component to cause the computer to crash occasionally or simply start acting strange until the system is rebooted. These types of problems can easily lead to corruption of files. If you have a computer that has problems, replace it - otherwise you are just begging for trouble.
o Recurring natural events. Recurring power brownouts, power outages, or lightning storms can play havoc with a computer. Your best line of defense here is to make sure all systems are running on a UPS.
o Mismatched brands of network cards. Different brands don’t always play together well; documentation shows that this can lead to a high incidence of Peachtree data corruption. Network cards are very cheap - if you suspect problems, replace them with identical cards from a name-brand vendor such as 3COM.
o Cabling. Network cables can get crimped, stepped on, or bent at a sharp angle. Any of these problems can cause the cable to reflect signals at the problem point and cause communication problems. Also home-made cables at 100BaseT can cause problems—the connectors must be crimped on very carefully. If you have suspect cables, replace them with new commercial cables or have an expert ring out your cables with test equipment.
o Network Hubs and Switches. Sometimes these can act up. (Switches are better than hubs because they have more throughput.) If you suspect a hub or switch and have a spare port, try switching ports. You might also consider replacing the hub or switch—they are very cheap.
o Fragmentation. When Windows is installed on a new computer it badly fragments itself. That means that files that should be contiguous on the disk are cut up into small pieces and scattered across the disk. As you install applications and use the system the fragmentation problem gets worse and worse. Eventually you reach a point where the system becomes very sluggish and error rates soar as the computer starts thrashing itself to death. The only cure for this problem is regular defragmenting of the disk(s). All versions of Windows except NT have a light-weight built-in defragmenter that can be run manually. However, you are better off using a commercial defragmenter such as Diskkeeper that has more features and that can be scheduled to run automatically on a regular basis.
o Overburdened servers. Don’t ask an individual server to do several different server tasks. If possible you might want to devote a single server to doing nothing but supporting Peachtree data.
o Viruses, worms, bots. There are many nasty things out there that can infect your computer and cause strange problems. Be sure to protect your systems with anti-virus software. Also make sure you have firewall protection - ZoneAlarm is an excellent inexpensive choice for this."

Occasionally we get into the mindset of thinking that software can operate perfectly... Sometimes it doesn't.

[Sharon Farquhar]

Is there a way to make a one-sided entry to correct customer ledgers and accounts receivable? I have 1999 & 2000 files that are corrupted and didn't realize it when it must have happened. The aging report appears to be accurate and Accounts Receivable reconciles to it. These files are presenting a problem because we are sending out statements on a regular basis.