When syncing P3 to QuickBooks, there are times whenever you might receive an error when transferring your Customer List, Repair Task Items, or IIF file (invoices).

To view these errors, you will need to save the error log, open up the CSV file in Excel, and locate the error column, which is typically the second-to-last column of the spreadsheet.

Below is a list of the errors and what they mean.

Common errors when syncing the Customer CSV file:

This name is already in use in another list. Please use a different name.

• This means that the customer name is being used elsewhere in QuickBooks. For example, the name of the customer might also be an employee or a vendor. QB wants unique names at all times. To fix this, you will either need to modify the customer name slightly in P3, or locate that name in QB and modify the customer name there. This will ensure a unique customer name gets synced to QB from P3.

Job or Customer Name: The blank is not allowed in this field.

• Inside of P3 on the customer record, there is a field called Customer Name. When syncing to QB, this is required and is included in the CSV file. When this error occurs, you will need to look in column A, which is the very first column inside the Customer CSV file. The error is being thrown because this column is blank.

Terms: The specified Terms does not exist in the list.

• On the customer record, there are Billing Terms you can customize such as Due On Receipt, Financing, Net 10, etc. However, the mistake many people make is creating billing terms inside of P3 that have not been created inside of QB, and therefore does not exist. When this happens, this error is thrown. To fix, either add the billing terms inside of QB, or change the terms on the customer record to reflect what is in QB.

First Name: This field contains more text than is allowed.

• There is a limited number of text that QuickBooks allows in a given field. If you receive this error, you will need to shorten the amount of text in the field specified. In this case, it's the First Name field.

Job or Customer Name: The specified parent does not exist.

• When you receive this error, it typically means that someone edited the customer name inside of QB, which means the record is now different that its original. If the name was never changed in P3 to reflect the change in QB, then the 2 will not match, and this error gets thrown. The easiest way to troubleshoot this is to locate the Customer Name in QB and compare it to the Customer Name in P3, and then make sure the 2 match.

 The Name of the List Element is Already in Use

• This error actually means that customer has more than one location and that the location name is the same in both cases.  To fix, go to P3 and change the Location Name for one of the service location addresses.

Common errors when syncing the Repair Task Items CSV file:

Account/Income Account: The specified Account does not exist in the list.

• This means that the Income Account you have specified in your QuickBooks settings in P3 (found under the Dealer tab) does not match the Income Account you have set up in QuickBooks. The best way to fix this or if you're having a hard time knowing which Income Account to use, a good way to figure this out is to ask yourself, prior to P3, when inputting a repair for a capacitor in QB, which Income Account did you assign it to?

Tax Code: This field contains more text than is allowed.

• There is a limited number of text that QuickBooks allows in a given field. If you receive this error, you will need to shorten the amount of text in the field specified. In this case, it's the Tax Code field.

Error handling for IIF Files

If you receive an error when importing your invoice IIF file, you will need to write down the error and the line QB is telling you the error is occurring. This is the only way we can help you fix this problem.

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not write down every single error and the line the error is occurring on, then we will not be able to help you.

"Error on line X, You can't change the type of a name or add a duplicate name."

This really means that the customer that is associated with the invoice in the IIF file already exists in your QuickBooks Company File as another type of contact - employee, vendor, etc.  QB requires that all contacts have an unique name.  Therefore, to resolve the issue you will have to either change the name of the customer or change the name of the associated contact record.   One of the names will have to change.

Additional IIF Troubelshooting

If you have a sales tax code set in P3 but when it's imported into QB the tax code isn't being reflected, then it's more than likely the result of mismatching tax codes. The Sales Tax Code inside of P3 has to match exactly what's in QB all the way down to the spacing and capitalization. 

For example - in many cases for many dealers, the default tax code is set to non-taxable for residential customers, but you may charge tax for commercial accounts. Whatever the tax code is inside of QB for these commercial customers is what P3 has to match EXACTLY.

To add or edit your sales tax code to fix this problem, from the Flat Rate module, hover over the Dealer tab, then select Sales Tax. Make sure the Sales Tax Code matches.