Quickbooks Enterprise 2013 unrecoverable errors

[etherealfocus]

We have a 10-user license of Quickbooks Enterprise 2013. Last week we suddenly had a rash of rash of problems hit 8 of our 10 users (so far). Symptoms are the same: user enters password; QBE loads then immediately crashes with an Unrecoverable Error message, code 00000 00000. Deleting and recreating the user acct fixes the problem temporarily, but it tends to reappear within 1-2 logins. We don't have the support package so no calling in the cavalry.

We're using the Manufacturing and Wholesale version if that makes any difference. All our computers are Win 7/8 Pro x64.

Found this: https://community.intuit.com/questions/354662-unrecoverable-error-code-00000-00000 but the linked support article doesn't exist anymore, and the ticket applies to Premiere 2009 anyway so solution is likely not the same.

I don't deal with accounting at all, but office support is kind of my unofficial side job.

Another question: how does FrontAccounting compare to QBE? Are there other FOSS/low cost solutions that might suffice to get us off QB? We don't do payroll in it, just accounting and warehouse parts management. We may be moving away from using it for parts mgmt at some point. A web-based solution would be particularly appealing - we considered using the cloud version of QBE but the hosting expense is crazy. $50/user/mo = $500/mo.

 

[imagoon]

I would call support. Do you want to "lose" the accounting databases because you were "screwing around with it?"

As for the FOSS question: "Is your business's accounting functions worth that little?" I am not against FOSS but it sounds like anything you "save" will be lost the first time you have an issue and the only support is some random web forum where it can takes days to get an answer if any. Do you want to "pay" for all that downtime?

 

[etherealfocus]

Nope, our goal is specifically to avoid a) downtime and b) getting hosed on ridiculous Intuit fees. We used to have Intuit's full service plan and they were still slow as hell about resolving issues, so from our perspective a FOSS solution at least means we wouldn't be paying a heap of cash for dodgy support. We apparently canceled our full service plan last year because our accountant was able to resolve some issue before the Intuit service could figure it out. So it's not so much that we won't pay for quality as that we don't want to pay for quality and still get crap.

Again though, the ideal solution would be web-based. We're outgrowing QuickBooks anyway - at least, so sayeth the money people familiar with such things.

I just talked to an Intuit rep; apparently it'll cost us $5850 to upgrade to QBE 2014 with 10-user license, then 1650/yr for support. QBE in our experience requires substantial support time to deal with random issues even on clean, limited-permissions machines running minimal other software. Our database is certainly large, but we keep up on regular maintenance.

 

[imagoon]

Nope, our goal is specifically to avoid a) downtime and b) getting hosed on ridiculous Intuit fees. We used to have Intuit's full service plan and they were still slow as hell about resolving issues, so from our perspective a FOSS solution at least means we wouldn't be paying a heap of cash for dodgy support. We apparently canceled our full service plan last year because our accountant was able to resolve some issue before the Intuit service could figure it out. So it's not so much that we won't pay for quality as that we don't want to pay for quality and still get crap.

Again though, the ideal solution would be web-based. We're outgrowing QuickBooks anyway - at least, so sayeth the money people familiar with such things.

I just talked to an Intuit rep; apparently it'll cost us $5850 to upgrade to QBE 2014 with 10-user license, then 1650/yr for support. QBE in our experience requires substantial support time to deal with random issues even on clean, limited-permissions machines running minimal other software. Our database is certainly large, but we keep up on regular maintenance.

I get it. Sadly, that is "cheap" when it comes to financial software. I came from an JDEdwards shop. 30 users was nearly $40k / year and we didn't have all of the modules.

The problem with potential database errors is that trying to fix them can cause a lot of information to "vanish."

 

[etherealfocus]

Yikes! That's an @ss kicking.

Sounds like getting back on the full service would be pricey at least by our standards though: they require $5850 to get us on the latest version which comes with a year of support, then 1650/yr after that to stay on support.

The company president is apparently a minor Quickbooks ninja; he's gonna hop in single user mode tomorrow morning and try to work some magic. Anything else we could do short of getting steamrolled for support?

The good news is we have robust backups so hosing one copy of our data file in the fixing process wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Lifted]

Support is included for the first year when you purchase QB Enterprise. Are you positive it's expired?

You certainly shouldn't pay the full $5,850 just to get caught up on maintenance. At most they should be asking you to catch up on the few months you missed on top of the annual $1,650. Prices are negotiable, especially with Intuit. Just call them to discuss. The only problem I see is that they have you down in their system as having a major issue and requiring support, so no matter who you call to speak with they will see that and try to squeeze you for every cent possible figuring you're desperate and will pay anything. Everyone who answers the phone there is on commission.

TBH it sounds like you'd be better served in this instance by getting in touch with a local QB consultant, but if your employer thinks $1,650/year for software maintenance and support of their accounting system w/ 10 user licenses is "getting hosed", then that's probably out of the question. I think you should talk some sense into these people. They are being unreasonably cheap about something so critical.

 

[etherealfocus]

Yep, we're positive. Apparently we canceled our support contract and demanded a refund on it last year because their support was so bad the company president figured out some major problem before support could. Took them a week of downtime before the prez stepped in and figured it out in an afternoon.

Again, 1650/yr would be fine if we got quality support and fast, reliable resolutions. The problem is we've never had good luck with their support: the incident I mentioned was just the straw that broke the camel's back. 1600/yr for a valuable service is one thing; 1600/yr for crummy service is just throwing money away.

Am I actually being crazy thinking that a week of downtime on a mission-critical app is unacceptable (especially when the prez could resolve the issue in an afternoon)?

Also, any recommendations on a quality web-based accounting solution (with good support)? I checked the Wikipedia entry for accounting software but their detail table doesn't really tell me how everything stacks up beyond a broad feature list.

We don't need payroll, but we do need most of the other features of QBE Manufacturing and Wholesale.

 

[Lifted]

The $1650 gets you software maintenance as well, which makes you eligible for annual upgrades.

I don't know anything about web / SaaS accounting solutions, other than most companies have one or had one. Not sure if SAP Business One has a hosted option. I think SAP and Oracle didn't have much luck with their cloud solutions. QB might have had better luck with theirs as they target smaller businesses who probably prefer not needed to support an system in house.

 

[etherealfocus]

Yeah it may have been a mistake on our part to cancel. I wasn't involved with that decision. The sad thing with intuit's hosted biz is that a) it's stupid expensive... 50/mo/user means 500/mo for our 10 user license - on top of their other fees. And b) my understanding is you still have to install the crummy client app that causes all the problems. They just take the database off your server. For 500/mo we can do our own backups, thanks.