A few weeks ago I started a new series intended as a guide for more frequent QuickBooks Online Errors. While many QBO errors have 'numeric identifiers, there are also a variety of errors that are identified by 'messages' only, which are included in this Part 2 article.
Error, “A Network Problem Has Occurred.” QuickBooks Online displays this message when a portion of a page has not been fully downloaded to your browser. This problem can occur if there is a communication breakdown between the Intuit servers and your browser.
To resolve: click Reload (F5) to download the entire page. If the problem still occurs, close your browser, open a new browser window, and log in again. If refreshing Internet Explorer does not work then check with your system administrator to see if you are running any firewall software. If a firewall is present have your administrator configure it to allow access for QuickBooks Online: http://accounting.quickbooks.com.
If you are unable to resolve this error, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error, "An Internal Error Occurred. Please Try Later" can occur when using the Internet Explorer (IE) browser due to the default settings under Browser History. This error can come up when attempting to connect your bank account under Banking > Transactions.
To clear this error: (1) From IE, click Tools > Internet Options, (2) Click Browsing History > Settings, (3) Under "Check for newer versions of stored pages" select Every time I visit the webpage, (4) Click OK, (5) Restart your browser session, and (6) Go back to Banking > Transactions and continue setting up your bank account connection.
If you are unable to clear this error, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error, Another Customer, Vendor Or Employee Is Already Using This Name. Please Use A Different Name. This error occurs when you have duplicate names.
To resolve this error you must change the display name. Examples of the same name include Jane Doe, Jane D Doe, Jane Diane Doe. If you have more than three employees with the same name you can also utilize periods to differentiate between the employees; for example: Jane D. Doe, Jane Diane. Doe. If you start making these changes Intuit recommends using extreme caution when creating transactions as the names can easily be confused.
If you are unable to resolve this error using the steps above, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error: This Customer Cannot Be Deleted Because There Are Unbilled Charges For This Customer. If you're receiving this error you will need to find the unbilled charges and either add them to an invoice, delete the charges, or if it's a bill or time entry you will either delete them or unmark the Bill/Billable option.
To find the Unbilled Charges: (1) Choose Reports on the left navigation panel. (2) Search for "Unbilled" - you will see Unbilled Charges and Unbilled Time as options. (3) Click the report to run. (4) On the top left click Customize. (5) In the Customize Unbilled Charges box, click Lists. (6) From the Customer drop down menu select the customer you're trying to delete. (7) On the bottom click Run Report. You'll now see the unbilled charges. Click on each one, one at a time, and depending on the charge, either delete it or just uncheck the bill/billable box. (8) Once you've run this report, follow the steps below to delete or unmark billable charges.
To delete or unmark billable charges, go through each charge on your Unbilled Charges report: (1) If you see Charge or Credit, you can either add it to an invoice; or click on the Charge or Credit and then on the bottom left click on the Delete button. (2) If you see Time Charge, you can add it to an invoice; or click on the Time Charge and on the left click on the Bill box to uncheck as billable and click Save; or in the Time Charge on the bottom left, click on the Delete button. (3) If you see any Billable Expense Charge, you can add it to an invoice; click on the Billable Expense Charge and on the top right click on View/Edit Bill, Check, Credit Card Charge, etc. and then on the right under Billable, click to uncheck the billable option and click Save; or in the Billable Expense Charge on the bottom left, click on the Delete button. (4) Repeat these steps for the remaining unbilled charges that you want to remove.
Once all of the unbilled charges are removed you will be able to delete the desired customer. If you are unable to resolve this error using the steps above, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error Message: "This Employee Cannot Be Deleted Because It Is Associated With A Time Tracking User" Or "Is Used In Unbilled Time Activities (Unbilled Charges)." If you receive the error you must make sure there is no unbilled time.
To find all unbilled time tracking activities or unbilled charges: (1) Click Reports on the left menu. (2) Search for "Time Activities by Employee Detail" (3) In the Time Activity Date field in the upper left, select All Dates and click Run Report. (4) Click on any line that has a Yes in the Billable column. (5) Clear the Bill check box on the Single Activity Time Sheet and click Save. (6) Once you save, you'll be brought back to the report. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for every line that says billable.
Once all the activity is gone you may delete the employee. If you are unable to resolve this error using the steps above, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error Message: "You May Only Work On One Company At A Time." This Error appears if you press Ctrl+N, open a new tab within the browser or choose File and then New from within the browser to start the second company. When the new window opens it shares all session information with the original window, including authentication information; as such you can only be in one company at a time if you launch the additional window this way.
To work around this error you must use a different browser: (1) Stay logged in to the original company, (2) On the Windows desktop, click the Start menu in the lower-left, (3) Select a different browser than you are currently using [for example, if you have QBO currently open in IE, open the second company using FireFox or Google Chrome], (4) Log in to an additional company.
If you are unable to resolve this error using the steps above, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error Message When Trying To View or Pay a QBO Invoice. In most cases, the error message explains what to do next. If not, there may be a problem with the network or web site, in which case you’ll have to try again later.
If the error is not related to the network or web site, your email service may have a problem handling the payment link and you should follow these steps: (1) Right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac) the View/Pay now button in the invoice email to copy the link to the invoice. (2) Paste the link directly in the address bar of your browser. (3) If you still have trouble, try the same steps using a different browser.
If you are unable to resolve this error using a different browser, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
Error When Trying To Change Uncategorized Income And Expense Accounts: "You Can't (Merge, Delete, Change Type) This Account Because It Is Reserved For The Online Banking Feature". You may receive this error message when trying to modify either an uncategorized income or expense account. When downloading transactions from the banking page, these special accounts are used if it cannot figure which account you'd prefer from your transaction history. Since the banking feature needs these accounts, you are limited in what you can change about them. You Can NOT Delete, Merge or Change the account type for these accounts. You Can Change the name, Add a number, Set the account as a sub-account, or Add a Description for these accounts.
Insufficient Data for Image Error Message When Opening Pdf Attachments. If you see this error message when trying to open any PDF document(s) that have been sent as email attachments, it is because you have an older version of Adobe Reader installed. To resolve the problem, you must upgrade Adobe Reader using the installer found on Adobe's web site.
Internet Explorer Script Error When Printing (or attempting to print). This is another PDF related problem. Complete the following steps one at a time in sequence: First - Check to see if there are any recent Adobe Reader updates. If so, then update or repair Adobe Reader. Second - Deselect the Display PDF option for your browser preference: (A) In Acrobat or Reader, go to the Edit menu. (B) Click on Preferences. (C) Click Internet. (D) Click Display PDF in Browser to Unmark it. (E) Click OK. (F) Close Adobe Reader, and (G) Log back in to your company and print. The document should now open in a regular window instead of your browser window.
If you are unable to resolve this error using the steps above, then contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care.
In future additions to this series we will deal with other QBO errors.