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M
Madcap
January 31, 2019
Question

One user, 2 computers Mac 2019, iCloud

  • January 31, 2019
  • 16 replies
  • 27 views

I purchased QB 2019 for Mac  in Nov 2018 and I am/was sharing my iCloud QB file with my desktop and laptop. The user manual says this is permitted and capable. I am the only user. I noticed today that accessing the the file from my desktop does not show the updates made on my laptop even though I am accessing the same file.  I remember a couple of times after I first set up, I got notification that changes had been made and asked which one I should keep. I have not gotten that message again.  I have installed the most recent updates on both devices. Did the updates disable this one-user sharing feature? I did forget to completely log out of the desktop before using the laptop. Did that permanently end my ability to share the file? How can I fix this?

16 replies

I
IntuitBrooks
Level 5
February 1, 2019

Just answered this question from you on another thread.

D
dave949
March 24, 2019

Just answered this question from you on another thread. - Well gzzz that really helps other users looking for the answer to this question! Care to provide the link @IntuitBrooks 

I
IntuitBrooks
Level 5
March 24, 2019

dave949 - I also answered it on this thread in quite a bit of detail.  You can search the threads for other answers (search for iCloud).   Sometimes the same people ask the same question on multiple threads and I don't really have time to answer them twice. 

    A
    Anonymous
    February 1, 2019

    Hey there, @Madcap,

     

    I want to make sure you get the answers you need with this company file issue.

     

    You're right, you should be able to work with your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2019 from multiple devices connected to iCloud. 

     

    In your case, since the file isn't updated, you can put your company file in an iCloud shared folder (Documents). Open the file through the shared file, this way you can access the updated file on all connected devices.

     

    However, if you're still getting the same issue, I'd recommend consulting our QuickBooks Mac Care Team. There they can check account and can help you verify what's causing this odd behavior with your iCloud sharing.

     

    Here's how you can get them:

    1. Open this link: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
    2. Choose QuickBooks Mac Desktop.
    3. Click on the Company File menu.
    4. Scroll-down and click either Get Phone Number.

    That should point you on the right track, @Madcap. Let me know how it goes. I want to ensure you're all taken care of.

      M
      MadcapAuthor
      February 1, 2019

      Thanks! Working on this. Not experienced with iCloud file sharing, so if you could provide a little more detail, that would be helpful.  I searched on how to do it, but still lacks some clarity.  I think a potential problem is that there is somehow "2" files, one with the updates and one without, because even though I access the SAME file on the 2 different computers, they have different information.  I'm pretty sure it is because I forgot to log out of the desktop before using the laptop. If I can get the sharing to work, it looks like I have to manually update the desktop file (my desktop has more transactions) with the newer transactions added on the laptop.  I may need to backup the corrected one. Delete or rename the other one and start over with the backup copy.  What do you think?  I am making myself nervous about the potential of making it all worse.

      I
      IntuitBrooks
      Level 5
      May 24, 2019

      Thank you, Intuit Support Team, and especially @IntuitBrooks , for the detailed feedback. Using QB for Mac 2019, the owner is trying to access one QB data file on an iMac during the business day and on a MacBook Pro laptop from at home. iCloud Drive is working fine on both computers. Without question we've only had Quickbooks open on one computer at one time but in the last ten days we've experienced the "conflicted copies" or two versions challenge. When we choose the latest version, we're still finding recently added work missing.

       

      My perception is that somewhere in our workflow local versions of the "cloud data file" are created on each Mac computer. If you start a QB work session by double clicking/ launching the app, the app might open the last used data file, which could be the local file, not really touching the data file stored in iCloud Drive.

       

      Page 24 of the User Guide states: "Now, whenever you want to open your company file, from any Mac to which you’ve signed in to iCloud, choose Finder > iCloud Drive, and navigate to your company file."

       

      I appreciate @IntuitBrooks explaining his workflow of keeping QB for Mac 2019 open on his laptop at all times, and opening and closing the laptop. That exact process probably wouldn't work well for us.

       

      For those for whom iCloud Drive syncing of one QB data file between two macOS instances is working very well, can you help me outline the best practices for success? 

       

      My initial suggestion might be:

       

      1. Confirm that no other user is actively working on the subject data file at the moment you wish to engage with it.

      2. Whether QB for Mac 2019 application is actually open or not on the 2nd computer does not matter.

      3. Wherever and whenever you initiate a work session with QB for Mac 2019, do not launch the app by double clicking the QB for Mac 2019 icon.

      4. The only way to initiate an active work session is to go to macOS Finder>iCloud Drive and double click on the QB data file.

       

      We are trying to improve the integrity of our workflow and appreciate your feedback. Thank you.


      The issue may be that the laptop hasn't been able to upload the file to iCloud after you make changes.  It takes a little time for iCloud to sync the file.  If the laptop is quickly shut down or if it is on battery and the lid is closed it may not have time to write the changed file up to iCloud.  That's my guess... 

       

      QuickBooks wasn't designed originally with iCloud in mind of course.  One of the side effects of that is QB will write out information to the file whenever it wants.  So even opening the file will cause some changes to be made (like updating the date, etc).  This means when you open it on the desktop you may have more recent changes on the desktop file than what is in iCloud from the work you did on the laptop.  But in practice I find I just choose whichever file I last entered data in - that's the one you want.   If you just got home and you were working at the office on the laptop choose the iCloud file.

       

      The other thing we've seen since shipping is that sometimes people have multiple copies of QB open on a single machine.  Usually its the QuickBooks Server and a QuickBooks client.  That results in some confusing circumstances when sharing the file in iCloud.  But if you aren't doing multiuser that probably isn't the case here.

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