If this does not work after several attempts, choose the "Processes" tab in the Task Manager and find and choose QBW32.EXE and then click on the End Process button at the bottom of the Task Manager Screen.

This performance issue is only for the user using XR, the other users currently in QuickBooks should not experience any negative effects.

 
Note: QuickBooks may appear to be non-responsive (and the Task Manager may even say that) while the report is still being generated. To confirm if the system is really locked or not, on the processes tab look at the memory usage column for the QBW32.exe. If the number is changing, the system is not locked. Give it more time to extract the data needed.

Report takes a long time

XpandedReports for QuickBooks uses the Intuit Software Development Kit (SDK) that is provided to third party developers for the purpose of accessing the QuickBooks data. Due to SDK limitations, there can be speed issues in extracting the data from the QuickBooks data file. For this reason, we make the following recommendations:

When developing reports, use a limited amount of data. This will permit changes and a quick response to confirm the report looks appropriate, then the data set can be expanded. For example, many of the reports included in the software have the default date set for today. Look at the QuickBooks data to determine an appropriate data set that is a single day or two, a specific job, etc. Then once the report has been created and tested, the data set can be expanded.

When creating reports, use the QuickBooks filters: These include limiting the date range as well as filters listed at the top of the list with [QB] at the end. The filters that are available in this format are different for each report. See the screen shot below for an example from the Gross Profit report. For these specific filters, the data that is extracted from QuickBooks is reduced which will result in better performance. For all other filters, all the data is extracted, then the filter is applied before the report is displayed.

Note: Since the data is extracted based on the display columns and is only limited by the [QB] filters, if a filter is added or changed (for a column of data already included on the Display tab) once the report has been generated the first time, it will not extract the data again unless the Refresh button is used on the report itself.

Script Error with formulas

Error with Correct Formula

If there is a script error with a formula, all subsequent calculated columns will display as blank on the report and/or with a script error when adding or editing a formula. To clear this error, it is necessary to exit XpandedReports and then re-open the software.

Columns do not line up after adding a formula

Occasionally there may be an issue when adding computed columns, re-ordering columns, etc which results in either a blank column or the column headings and data not lining up correctly. Please go to Help > Report a problem to submit the log with non-confidential information (i.e. versions of the software, errors XR encountered, etc but no QuickBooks data). Then, right click on the column heading and choose to "reset to default" to clear the formatting and then re-organize the report.

Order Matters

An error will also occur if a previous calculated column is edited to include a subsequent calculated column as part of its formula. The order the formulas appear on the pull down list is critical since this is the order the columns will be calculated. The order they are displayed on the report does not matter.

Strange Symbols in Calculated Columns

If strange symbols appear (for example, a little box, or an infinity sign) this is an indication that there is a problem with the formula. The recommended solution is to use an IF statement with formula to test the data to be used in the calculations first. Here is an example to confirm that the quantity is not zero before computing the amount per each.
IF([Qty]!=0, [Amount]/[Qty], 0)


Column order changes when adding formulas

When adding a new calculated column, this resets the column order. This is a known issue with the third party component and the other developer has been contacted about the issue. Until it is fixed by them, the best solution is to add all the formulas to the report first, then work on the display for the order of the columns.

Lost Total and Subtotals when using column filters

Using the column filtering on the report (from the pull down on the top of the column or the filter at the top of the report) may impact the display of grand totals and subtotals.This is not an issue when the Modify Report Filters tab is used for filtering the report.

In the following example, filtering 12/14/2011 out still produces a total 30, and not 20 as you may expect. This is a known issue in Excel as well.

Invoice	12/14/2011	1094	10
Invoice	12/14/2011	1094	10
Invoice	12/15/2011	1094	20
Credit	12/15/2011	1104	-10
		Total	30

To avoid the above issue, XR hides subtotals when the data in the grouping is impacted.

SDK Limitations

Intuit provides a Software Development Kit (SDK) which is the way in which developers like XpandedReports LLC are given access to the accounting data in the QuickBooks software. The SDK does permit reading, and writing, to the QuickBooks data file, but XpandedReports will always only read the data. Due to the fact that the QuickBooks data is only available via the SDK, any limitations with that Intuit provided "window" into the data is beyond the control of the XR developers. Below are a few situations where this may directly effect the reports that can be created.

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 10 Custom Fields

With QBES 10, Intuit removed the limit on the number of custom fields that can be created in QuickBooks as well as providing the option to designate the type of data that can be contained in that field. See the example below.

While this is a wonderful addition to normalize the data entry and provide functionality not previously available, the SDK has not been updated to deal with this enhancement. For that reason, the number of custom fields that can be accessed for reports, as well as the data type, has remainder at 5 for items and text, respectively.

What this means for users of XR is that the custom field type will still need to be set via the Edit > Preference screen.

Note: Since there are several date type choices, it is recommended that the date custom fields be left as text, then create a computed column to convert the date appropriately using the DATE_FROM_TEXT formula.

Sales Order and Purchase Order report information

Sales Order and Purchase Order information is only available (due to a SDK limitation) for what is currently outstanding.

Gross Profit with SO & PO: The gross profit information changes when the date range changes, however the Sales Order and Purchase Order amounts will be not date specific, but rather what is currently open.

Cash Basis Report for Income By Customer Detail

Due to issues with the SDK, some of the reports could return incorrect results Basis=Cash.  Most noticeably when adding Rep, Debit, and Credit fields to 'Income By Customer' will cause some of the values to be incorrect.

Cash Basis Report for Transaction List by Date

Due to issues with the SDK, the Transaction List by Date report can only be created on an accrual basis.

Columns become hidden when adding a subtotal

The recommended order for creating a report is to:

1. Modify the report to include all the columns you potentially want on the report.

2. Add calculated columns

3. Group and subtotal the columns as needed

4. Re-organize column order

5. Hide the columns you do not wish to display.

Note: It is recommended you memorize the report each step along the way to make it easy to get back to where you were should you make an unintended change.