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Factors that can impact sync performance in QuickBooks Desktop

Sync performance with QuickBooks can be determined by a variety of different factors such as QuickBooks version. For a explanation about the factors that impact the speed of your QuickBooks sync, check out this article.

There are multiple ways to improve the performance of the QuickBooks sync. Some of which are simple changes that can be made such as remedying sync errors. See below for a guide on how you can improve the performance of your QuickBooks sync:

  1. Acctivate uses a 24-hour buffer within the sync logic. What this means is that all records for the past 24 hours will be reviewed for synchronization. This ensure that no records are skipped due to a user working on a record while another user runs a sync. For higher volume companies, we recommend using QuickBooks Enterprise as it is faster than QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Premier.
  2. Record updates are faster when syncing in single user mode. If you're updating a large number of records, then it's best to temporarily switch QuickBooks into single user mode and perform the sync.
  3. Sync errors will lengthen the time that it takes to synchronize with QuickBooks, especially if there are a large amount of sync errors and sync errors that are old. Acctivate syncs with QuickBooks by using timestamps to determine if a record should be synced or not. When sync errors occur, this prevents your sync time from advancing, resulting in QuickBooks reviewing more records than necessary. Sync errors should be taken care of as soon as they occur. For an index for guides to help resolve sync errors, please refer to here.
  4. If your QuickBooks file as a whole is slow then the sync will be slow. You may consider setting up QuickBooks to allow for more memory. You can find a guide on that here.
  5. A verify and rebuild can cause the QuickBooks sync to be slow due to timestamps for records being reset. We have a more detailed article here about that.
  6. Certain QuickBooks updates can also cause timestamps to be reset resulting in more records being reviewed. This is a normal process and is detailed a bit more in this article. It's best to sync in single user mode after an update. 
  7. QuickBooks file size can be another factor in the speed of QuickBooks as well as the sync process. If your QuickBooks file is large, this can cause QuickBooks to be slow and laggy, which in turn impacts how it syncs with Acctivate. Large QuickBooks files can also cause data corruption within the QuickBooks database, so it's best to condense a QuickBooks file that is too large. For Pro and Premier, this is about 500mb, while Enterprise this is about 1gb. For information about condensing and how it impacts Acctivate, please refer here.

If you notice that your QuickBooks sync is slow and none of the above apply to you, then consider reaching out to the Acctivate Support team. The Acctivate support team can review the sync process and find where things are going wrong. If necessary, the Acctivate support team can also refer you to a QuickBooks pro advisor if the cause of slow syncs is file size or corruption.