Growing up I loved to play games, I can remember several of them that are still around today. I don't know how many different renditions of Monopoly there presently are, it seems that every few years the makers bring out a new version but while the game pieces get changed to something a little more modern, and the squares on the board get re-named, the concept is still the same, 'to make as much money as possible and essentially bankrupt your opponents.'
Risk was another board game I thoroughly enjoyed, the concept was to simply 'concur the world'. And then there was Clue, a murder mystery in which your job was to try to figure out "who done it."
The game of Clue is really an adaptation of a number of stories which were later turned into numerous plays, and then into a series of movie versions under different names including Charades, 10-little-Indians, and of course 'Clue'. The story version are compounded by the problem that 'the body' soon disappears after it is initially discovered, while the intent of the game is centered on 'where (what room) the murder actually took place', 'with which weapon' and 'who committed the crime'.
About now you may find yourself asking, "why is Murph talking about the game of Clue?" Well if you haven't attended my Super-Geek 201 course at Scaling New Heights sometime in the past few years, then you simply 'don't have a clue.' The reality is that I learned a long time ago that investigating the cause of major QuickBooks problems is just like investigating a 'crime scene', and ProAdvisors need to develop the skills of a 'Data Detective' if they are going to sleuth out the truth.
Considered by many to be the ‘quintessential’ detective, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is but one in a line of crime sleuths that has provided the basic role model of the truth seeker, not to mention the ‘crime novel’ genre. Sherlock was clearly a major influence in the development of my own 'Data Detective' character responsible for more than 50 articles since Insightful Accountant first started.
But Sherlock is not only the basis of the Data Detective stories but also the 'detective methodology' I have personally used in analysis of QuickBooks cases over my entire sleuthing career. The characteristics personified by Sherlock provide the methodology for interpreting 'the clues' as instructed in Super-Geek 201.
We will learn how to use Sherlock's 'powers of observation' to see that which an untrained person either does not see by failing to see at all, overlooks by not taking the time to examine thoroughly, or looks beyond without giving any consideration to something so small but critical. We will then learn to apply Sherlock's profound reasoning and deductive abilities to find the truth.
We will then use these methods and apply them to our own 'game of Clue' as we attempt to ferret out the culprit in our QuickBooks crime. Because, just as in the game of clue, which had 6 potential suspects, we also have 6 suspects when it come so the cause of QuickBooks problems.
Our suspects being, the QuickBooks Server, the QuickBooks Workstation, the Network Components, the QuickBooks Company (Data) file, the QuickBooks Application, and of course, the QuickBooks ‘Users’.
We will work our way through 'the clues' just the way Sherlock did, in several different cases each time tracking down the culprit.
Here are some highlights from the class:
- Why you should treat QuickBooks problems like a crime scene
- Interpreting the clues of QuickBooks problems
- Deferentially diagnosing QuickBooks issues
- Interpreting the QBWin.log, not only errors, but the key indicators and timing
- Identify specific ways to resuscitate your QuickBooks data file
The course will provide an in-depth look at the QBWin.log file and the various diagnostic and error messaging the log provides. Potential resolution and repair steps for data corruptions identified in the QBWin.log file will also be discussed.
If you have an unsolved QBWin.log file, bring it for discussion during Q&A or after the session. Who knows, you might even have the opportunity to "stump" the Data Detective himself.
Click on this link for details about QuickBooks Desktop Super Geek 201, or check out the website for more information about Scaling New Heights 2018 being held in Atlanta June 17-20, 2018.