Very large Database

I'm delighted to answer your concern, @AvonDM.

In QuickBooks Desktop, you have the option to reduce your file size by using the Condense Data utility. Please know that condensing data in your account is irreversible.

Here's how:

1. Go to the File menu, then select Utilities.
2. Click Condense Data.
3. Select the best option on how you want to condense your file, then click Next.
4. Choose what transactions you'd want to remove, then click Next.
5. Click Begin Condense.

You may also want to convert your data from QuickBooks Desktop to the Online version. Here's the link for your future reference: Move your QuickBooks Desktop file to QuickBooks Online.

Get back to me if you have additional concerns. I'll be there to help you again. 

Hi @katherinejoyceO 
Thanks for coming back to me.
When I checked how much the Db would be reduced by, when removing the Audit Trail, it was 90Mb, which is very small compared to the size after 12 months.
I would be worried about removing transactions on such a new Database. Can you explain the rationale behind this please? 
Can you outline the Advantages and disadvantages of moving to the Online solution. I need to find out more about this, as we use QBs as the accounting solution for our software.
Will the Online solution even work as I have 2.2 million Targets and less than 6000 items in 12 months (see attached)


Kind regards
Denis

I appreciate your immediate response, @AvonDM. I'm here to share a few details about QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) database.

You're on the right track in checking your client's list information and file size. QBDT is designed for small to mid-sized businesses. It's ideal to keep at least two years of detailed transactions in a company data file so that you can compare reports and have prior-year project information.

The rate of growth of QBDT company data files varies significantly from company to company. There's no "average" or "typical" data file size since businesses track different information. To learn more about this, please refer to this article: Maximum number of list entries you can make in QuickBooks Desktop.

When you encounter performance issues, you can resolve them by managing your data file. Then, you can opt to condense your company file data to keep your customer's old transactions.

On the other hand, each version of QuickBooks is designed to address specific business needs. To help you decide which one is best for you, here's an overview between our QuickBooks Online (QBO) and QBDT products, services, and versions:

• See which version of QuickBooks is right for you
• Compare QuickBooks Products

Also, to further guide you in managing your account and the growth of your business using QuickBooks, I would encourage you to check out one of our support pages: The QuickBooks Help Page. It includes help articles, Community discussions with other QuickBooks users, and video tutorials, to name a few.

Please keep me posted in the comments if you have other concerns about managing your QBDT company file. I'll gladly help. Take care, and I wish you continued success, @AvonDM. 

@AvonDM 

QuickBooks data files larger than 500MB need to be optimized every 6-12 months to ensure they run at top performance. There is no internal functionality in QuickBooks to optimize the data file other than running a condense. The optimize operation will copy all data into a new data file, remove unwanted temporary data, and audit trail data to bring down file size by 25-40%. This will improve the performance and stability of the data file.

If you consider migrating a data file with more than 750K Total Targets to  QBO Advanced, you need to purchase a 3rd party service.  

Thank you @Fiat Lux - ASIA 
Is QBO Advance a viable option for a company that has added 2.2 million Targets in 12 months of trading?
Can you provide me with some more detail about 3rd Party services who would be required to migrate this database please?
Denis

Thank you @Rea_M 
"You're on the right track in checking your client's list information and file size. QBDT is designed for small to mid-sized businesses".  
Would you classify this as a small to mid-size business?
The link to the maximum number of List entries doesn't say anything about 2.2million targets in 12 months. Is this typical?
How have you helped other people resolve an issue there a database is at 1.4Gb after 12 months? There is no opportunity to keep at least 2 years of transactions.
What would you recommend as the correct version of QB for a business that has generated these figures after 12 months trading please?
I know I am asking many questions,  but as you are QuickBooks Employees, you are in the best position to give me the correct solution going forward.  Or in your opinion, is QuickBooks the solution that I need for this business?

Kind regards
Denis

---

@AvonDM wrote:

Is QBO Advance a viable option for a company that has added 2.2 million Targets in 12 months of trading?

In terms of features, we still recommend QBD Enterprise over QBO Advanced. But I can't deny that they are working to improve QBO Advanced from time to time. Unless you need specific features and are looking for a third party app, you should stick with QB Desktop for now.

 

Can you provide me with some more detail about 3rd Party services who would be required to migrate this database please?

Contact us in private for details.

 

@AvonDM 

Thanks for coming back, AvonDM. 

There is no file size limit in QuickBooks Online (QBO) version so you don’t have to worry about entering too many customers, accounts or items, and there are no transaction limits. However, when converting a QuickBooks Desktop file (Enterprise, Premier, or Pro versions) to QBO, file size (MB) doesn't matter, however, targets do. To convert your Desktop data to Online version, the Desktop file must be less than the following limits:

• QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 2021 (with latest releases) and newer 750,000 targets.
• QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Premier 2018 (with latest releases) and newer 750,000 targets.
• QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 2020 and older 350,000 targets.
• QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 350,000 targets.
• QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Premier 2018 and older 350,000 targets.

For a company that has added 2.2 million targets, we'll need to look for a third-party application that can help you with this one. You can go to the QuickBooks Desktop apps website and find a third-party application that can help you with the software data conversion. Any questions about integrating the app into your Online account are best handled by the third-party app provider.

Let me share some resources that you can browse and use as a reference in managing and navigating around in QuickBooks Online: 

• Video Tutorials for QuickBooks Online - You can watch videos that can help you perform the most vital features of the program.
• Small Business Webinars and Trainings - Join our live QuickBooks webinars for more in-depth knowledge on how you can maximize the use of QuickBooks to manage your finances.

The Community always has your back, and I'm just a post away should you ever need anything. Just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you. Have a great day ahead.

Thank you @RCV for your response.
I need to know if QuickBooks Online is capable of handling this volume of transactions, before I investigate how to migrate from QBDT.
I have asked the question already, given the number of targets generated in 12 months, would you consider this a small or mid-size business? 

Kind regards
Denis

Appreciate you for getting back to us, @AvonDM.

QuickBooks Online can also handle a large number of transactions. We can't tell if the targets generated in the last 12 months are for a small or medium-sized company. As long as it's exceeding the minimum data size capability, QuickBooks Online is no longer recommended for you. If that's the case, you can remain using your current product.

Still, I recommend following the suggestion shared by my colleagues above. Also, you can check out this article for more details about moving data from QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) to QuickBooks Online (QBO): Learn how features and data move from QBDT to QBO. 

In case you're looking for more tips and information about QuickBooks Desktop, you can utilize this article: QuickBooks Desktop Help Articles.

We'll be around if you have a follow-up question about this matter or have any other QuickBooks concerns. Take care, AvonDM.

Hi @SarahannC Thank you for coming back to me.
" We can't tell if the targets generated in the last 12 months are for a small or medium-sized company"
With QB have so many users/customers, I would have thought that this type of question would be quite common.  What are the average number of targets generated in a year please?

Can you explain this please?
"As long as it's exceeding the minimum data size capability, QuickBooks Online is no longer recommended for you"

"If that's the case, you can remain using your current product."
From what I have read on various QB pages, the database does not operate very will when it exceeds 1Gb. My customers DB is already at 1.4Gb after 12 months and I do not want it becoming unworkable.

My apologies, if I am coming across quite short, but even with all the responses, I feel I still not have had a satisfactory answer as to how usual it is for a DB to grow so fast? and what direction I can give to allow QB to be used efficiently.

Kind regards
Denis

Thanks for reaching out to us again, @AvonDM.

I'm joining in this thread to share some insights about this data management concern for QuickBooks.

Regarding your concern about the average targets in QuickBooks Online, this data is only exclusive to our developers. We do not run this data here as we don't have any recording of our customer's daily records and transactions in QuickBooks.

A QuickBooks Enterprise company file exceeds 1.5GB (max), and QuickBooks Online have a different limit too. Theoretically, there isn't a specific limit for the file size but when you reach the maximum size, QuickBooks becomes unbearably slow and the database becomes more vulnerable to data corruptions.

For this, when you plan to move from QuickBooks Desktop to Online, especially for Enterprise versions, only files with less than 350,000 targets can be migrated. This is why shrinking the file size is required sometimes as these platforms doesn't have the same limitations to file sizes.

For more information about the file size or questions with migration we do recommend contacting our Support Team. They can share some advice about this and can guide you through the process.

To contact us: 

1. Open QuickBooks and click the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. On the pop-up screen select Contact us.
   
4. Click the Search for Something else button then type your concern in the Ask us anything box.
5. Hit Search then scroll down to get your contact options.

Refer to this article to learn more about our contact options and support availability: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support

Thanks for reaching out to us today. This forum is always open for your QuickBooks banking concerns and I am also here to help. Have a nice week ahead!

Hi @Jen_D 
Thank you for your response.
I will contact Support 

Kind regards
Denis

Hello,

did you figure this out? I am also wandering what is the limit for a database in QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop 2022? We plan to connect it to Fishbowl and Fishbowl exports a lot of data into QuickBooks.

Thank you.

@KB6012 

There is no definite limit at this time. How big is your file (before using FB) and how long have you been using it? When the last time you run the Condense Data utility?

Hello there, @KB6012. I'm chiming in to provide additional insights about your data management issue for QuickBooks.

The database limit for QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop 2022 is 1.5 GB. When connecting it to Fishbowl, it's important to consider the volume of data being exported. Fishbowl can export a significant amount of data into QuickBooks, so it's essential to monitor the database size to ensure it remains within the limit. 

If the data exceeds the limit, it may impact the performance of QuickBooks. Regular maintenance and archiving of historical data can help manage the database size effectively.

Moreover, I've included a link to an article that provides more information on how to reduce the size of your file and how to resolve performance issues in QBDT. You might also be interested in learning more about Fishbowl and how it works well with QBDT.

You can always visit our Help Articles page in case you need some ideas and references in managing your account and transactions.

If there's anything else that I can help you with, please let me know in the comments. Always around ready to help.

I never run the condensed data utility in this file.

The file was 280MB before using FB. We connected to FB a month ago and the file now is 428MB. Comparing it to yesterday the file increased by 10MB. This is a busy time for us.

You may need to run the Condense Data utility once a year. You may also consider purchasing a third-party audit trail removal service or file optimization service to lower your file size.