Question Regarding MultiUser Feature in QuickBooks 2019 Pro

AaronG · ‎June 15, 2022

Good morning,

I have a few questions regarding Quickbooks 2019 and it's multiuser features.

Currently, we have one laptop at our home office that runs QuickBooks 2019 Pro and also stores the company file on the hard drive. In the next few weeks, we will open a satellite office. Ideally, we would like both the home office and the satellite office to have access to and be able to edit the company file. Is that possible to do with QuickBooks 2019 multi user features? If that isn't possible to accomplish with the multiuser feature, does QuickBooks have an alternative solution to the above situation? I've done some exploring on the topic here on the forums and it seems as though the multiuser features pertain to sharing between two computers on the same Wi-Fi network and not to computers operating at different physical locations, but I may be misunderstanding the answers to other Multiuser related questions.

Thank you for any insight and help

Pete_Mc · ‎June 15, 2022

Correct. Only one user at a time and you just send the file between the computers. I use a sync program between my Notebook and my Desktop computer and basically do the same thing every time I travel. I move all my User Data over to the Notebook for my trip and then move it back to the Desktop when I return.

You would stop working on QBs in the Office and copy the QBs Data Folder (not the whole program) up to Dropbox (MS OneDrive or whatever) and then the Remote User would download that info to their computer. They'd do the work and then upload back to the Cloud.

NOTE: Above I had said Company File, which would work. But I'd actually suggest you move the folder that has the Company Data in it. So if you have any logos for Invoices, etc. they will be on both computers and updated if they change.

Gotchas are if someone forgets and does work while the other user "owns" the file. But there are a couple of ways to get around that. When you copy the folder up to the Cloud you can put an X at the end of the folder which would keep QBs from opening it, but it would still be there if something happened to the data in the upload. Next time you go to update the data, delete the last X folder and rename the current folder with an X after it and the cycle continues.

Also, if you're using the Cloud for transfers, you can also set up a separate Folder for Backups and BOTH computers can backup to this Folder. With time/date stamp both users can make a Backup to this folder with no issues. (And there is the last folder on the other machine as another backup.) And yes, if you're thinking you could do a Backup and the other machine could do a Recovery, you could. Down side to this is the compression and decompression of the data. It's just not worth the chance of corruption.

Also, let's clarify that you are NOT in Multi User mode. Your are operating in Single User mode since you're just running one installation at a time. And yes, if you really needed to look something up, you could also remove the X on the end of the data folder and open QBs and it will work just fine (again,you're just in Single User mode). But you just have to remember NOT to do any additions, Bank Feeds, etc. while the Company File is "owned" by the other computer.

If you don't need to do a lot of work, generate Invoices all the time, etc. in both locations, this will work. And you can always try it and see if it works.

And... Always remember to run Windows and QB updates on all the machines, preferably the same day.

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Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎June 15, 2022

Two questions:

1. How many user license do you have? Single user or more?

2. Do you just need to update your data in turns or do you have to work on the same file at the same time?

Pete_Mc · ‎June 15, 2022

There are a couple of different paths you can go down, but they're not going to be Multi-User. Just multi access to the Company QBs file.

A number of people use Qbox to store their QBs file online and sync with the two computers. With Qbox only one person can be in the QBs file, but you should be able to schedule times where each person has access. You do need to remember to Log Out of QBs when you're done to allow the files to sync to the other machine.

There are also some "certified" Cloud providers that you can supposedly use the Multi-User feature, but I've heard way to many horror stories if if you don't have a full time IT person making sure there are no network glitches and that you're always backed up. So I'd shy away from this for your size business.

The other option which I like a lot is to just use Remote Desktop. There is a Remote Desktop App built in to Windows which works really well, but there are a lot of 3rd party Apps such as AnyDesk, TeamViewer, Splashtop, etc., which some people find a little easier to use. The down side here is that the remote person takes over the local computer (as if they're sitting in the chair). So again you'd need to schedule time not only for QBs, but the computer itself. You could have a separate QBs computer that all Users used Remote Desktop to access the QBs computer.

The least techie option would be to share the file manually using something like a Dropbox account. Again, scheduling involved and only one person can be making entries into the file, but the other could be looking things up if needed. But MAJOR issue if they both start entering - you'll loose one or the other's work. But it is pretty easy to just close QBs and then copy the file up to Dropbox for the other person to dowload. When they're done, they copy their file up and then it is downloaded to the other computer.

AaronG · ‎June 15, 2022

Thank you for the quick reply.

1) We have one license.

2) The two individuals could update the data in turn, they would not need to be logged in simultaneously.

AaronG · ‎June 15, 2022

Thank you for your quick reply.

1) We have one license

2) The two individuals could enter data in turn, they would not need to be logged in simultaneously.

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎June 15, 2022

@AaronG

You should purchase an additional license seat to your QBD 2019. Otherwise, consider to purchase the one time license for QB Desktop 2021 Pro for 2 users to upgrade your version. As mentioned by Pete_Mc, you can utilize QBox to access your data in turns. You will need another 3rd party solution to work on the same file in multiuser mode.

https://qbox.coraltreetech.com/?associate_code=FL-AF34

AaronG · ‎June 15, 2022

Pete,

Thank you for your reply. I had not considered using Dropbox for sharing the company file.

If I understand that solution, the home office would edit the company file, save the file, put the company file into a shared drop box folder. The satellite user would download the company file from the shared drop box folder to the hard drive on their laptop. The satellite user could then edit the company file, save any changes and then place the company file into the shared drop box folder. Is that the gist?

Thank you again for taking the time to help

Pete_Mc · ‎June 15, 2022