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Resolving "The name _____ of the list element is already in use" sync error.

This error is fairly common and easy to fix. Take these steps to resolve it.

If you receive an error in the sync log similiar to the message below, read on to learn how to resolve it:

Error Customer SubmitCustomerBatch: error while creating customer Mike Smith {640437EF-BB94-42AC-A59F-92EA45881892}: The name “Mike Smith” of the list element is already in use.

This message is received when attempting to sync a record to QuickBooks where the name already exists elsewhere within QuickBooks. QuickBooks doesn't support duplicate names, even if the duplicate name would be in different lists. For example, you can't have the same name used for a Customer and a Vendor.

There are three main parts to the sync log entry message:

  • The syne message type - The first part of the sync message indicates if it's an error or a warning. In this particular case, it's an error which indicates that records have failed to sync. Unlike a warning, this almost always requires some intervention from the user.
  • The affected table / record type - In the error message example above, this is a Customer error. However, you could see this error on another table, such as ProductClass 
  • The error message - The error message gives you the duplicate name, the internal id (GUID), and the message returned by QuickBooks. In the above example it tells us that "Mike Smith" is the duplicate.

The solution is to simply rename one of the duplicates. This can be done in either QuickBooks or in Acctivate.

You can resolve this sync error by following the steps below:

  1. Locate the duplicate name in QuickBooks in the following lists:
    1. Customer Center
    2. Vendor Center
    3. Employee Center
    4. Other Name List
    5. Item Name List (consider filtering to view inactive items)
    6. Chart of Accounts
  2. Rename the duplicate name in QuickBooks. You could add '-1', '(QB)', or '(DUP)' to the end of the name in Quickbooks, for example. As another example, if Mike Smith already exists as a vendor, change the existing vendor to Mike Smith (Vendor). This will not affect the name that prints on checks.
  3. Run a Synchronization. Once another sync is done, the sync error should be gone.
  4. If needed, merge duplicate names created from the sync following the steps listed in the linked article. 
  5. Run another sync.

Note: When it comes to customer names, QuickBooks treats “Mike Smith” and “Smith, Mike” as duplicates. QuickBooks prevents having the same name used in other lists. Please be sure there are no variations of the same name.