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Where there is a will there is a way – to blow your head off.
For those of you that have not seen this export error, the full text is:
(example)
Fatal: Account history error(s) found!
Dec 96 0.00
Dec 97 1000.00
Dec 98 0.00
Dec 99 0.00
Dec 00 0.00
Dec 01 0.00
Dec 02 0.00
Dec 03 0.00
Dec 04 0.00
Jan 05 0.00
Feb 05 0.00
Mar 05 0.00
Apr 05 0.00
May 05 0.00
Jun 05 0.00
Jul 05 0.00
Aug 05 0.00
Sep 05 0.00
Oct 05 0.00
Nov 05 0.00
Dec 05 0.00
Jan 06 0.00
Feb 06 0.00
Mar 06 0.00
Apr 06 0.00
May 06 0.00
Jun 06 0.00
Jul 06 0.00
Aug 06 0.00
Sep 06 0.00
Oct 06 0.00
Nov 06 0.00
Dec 06 0.00
Total 1000.00The history of these books is out of balance.
This error can only be corrected by Q.W.Page Support.
The books cannot be converted to NV2 until this error is corrected.The error indicates that the NV1 books have a fundamental problem –
the debits do not equal credits for one or more periods. This is
usually the result of data corruption in the past.This does occur in some books – and we can repair the data, for a fee.
Mr. Pope’s reccomendation is worrysome on several counts, only two of which we address below.
First, he counsels you to purge your books, but doesn’t suggest making a backup
first, or working on a copy of the books. Since purging is a non-reversable
operation, users will have permanenly lost transaction detail.Second, he suggests you alter the export procedures, and then manually edit the exported data files. This is undocumented territory, and the results are undefined. If NV1 Import fails, or you are not happy with the result then Q.W. Page cannot be held accountable. Also, any efforts we undertake on your behalf to sort out the result will be billable at the rate of $95.00/hour.
The final point regards the idea of consolidating multiple sets of books
during an import. Below is an excerpt from the NV2 Manual:Appendix A – Version History -> What’s Coming, point 4:
– NewViews for DOS Multi-books Merge
Q.W.Page has encountered situations where NewViews for DOS users have multiple databases say one per branch, department or store location. These NewViews for DOS databases are of course currently being used with single-user access. Often import/export facilities are used to transfer data between them.
Q.W.Page is currently testing a feature that allows these databases to be imported into the same NV2 database. The databases are merged in such a way that they are clearly partitioned in the resulting NV2 database, but extensive consolidation features become available. In addition, the resulting database will be multi-user and access will be controlled using the NV2 security system.
The vast majority of our users do not even know we have forums because they simply contact us via email or via phone if they have questions. Most users we speak to don’t even like forums, so they don’t use them. They’d rather speak to us directly, and do so. This is the reason you don’t see much activity.
As for the “read only”, we already discussed this above. It’s something we are looking into but this forum software is not as flexible as we would have hoped it would be.
The pre-release forum is only to our CCs who took part in the training before the release.
We are investigating ways to open both NV1 and NV2 forums to all users, or combine the two forums into one. We hope to have a solution to this issue in place as soon as possible.
NV2 is now facing EXACTLY the same reaction NV1 prompted. NV1 was, and still is, a complete departure from the norm. It offered a different way to organize and manage accounting data. Some people took to it immediately, but most took some time to get used to it. The users that did stick with it soon experienced a few key “ah ha” moments when everything came into place.
NV2 is very different, at first glance, but NV1 users should quickly recognize their own converted books and come over the initial hump. The biggest source of confusion seems to be NV2’s separation of accounts and reports. In NV1 all accounts were on a report, and nowhere else. In NV2, all accounts are typed (e.g. BANK, AR, AP, etc.) and can appear in two places – on a report just as in NV1, and in a folder of all accounts of a particular type. If you convert a set of books and go to the NV2 report folder, you will find all of your NV1 reports (exact duplicates). From the reports down, the converted NV2 books are identical to the original NV1 books.
Let’s examine the reason for separating accounts from reports. NV1 had an internal file of all accounts in the books, and these accounts could only be seen on reports. NV1 accounts used the notes views to store additional information in an ad hoc way. This additional information allowed NV1 procedures to process accounting activity with some intelligence (e.g. calculating sales taxes for invoices).
NV2 has exposed this internal file as folders of different types of accounts. This allowed us to take the ad hoc information off the notes view and build intelligence directly into the accounts. NV2 transactions are processed automatically, without the need to run procedures. We feel this is a clear benefit, and something new NV2 users get used to very quickly.
Another potential source of confusion is the presence of journals in NV2. In NV1 the only way to manage a “journal” was to add an account and use it as a journal (i.e. post to accounts in the books of final entry, bringing the journal account balance back to zero for every transaction). Talk about confusing! Many people in the accounting profession never accepted this, so journals were included in NV2. You can enter transactions in journals, specifying the accounts to post to, or you can enter transactions to accounts (just like in NV1), and select the journal to record the transaction in. We now have the best of both worlds.
As for the original license agreement, it has been replaced with a new, far less restrictive version. The requirement to register the program annually has been removed, and the requirement to register databases has also been removed. The only restriction remaining is the requirement to register/activate once at the time of initial purchase. Please download and install service pack 1, no re-registration is required.
A point to note about the NV2 license agreement… We like to think we have the right to be paid for our product, and now, even with a greatly relaxed registration/activation, we have some assurance that we will be paid. For the past 20 years we have been selling versions of NV1. Though it is difficult to be certain, our best estimate is that for every legitimate copy we sold, more that 100 copies were stolen and/or used in violation
of our NV1 license agreement. NV1 licensing was largely based on an honor system, and it didn’t work. Q.W. Page has millions of dollars invested in NV2, mostly coming from shareholders and sacrifices made by employees. We think one phone call to register NV2 is fair.CC’s that participated in NV2 training at our office were offered 3 days of training, 3 licenses (i.e. serial numbers), and free updates for those 3 licenses for the first year after the ship date (which turned out to be April 25, 2005).
Q.W. Page provided the training, pre-release versions for more than a year, and 3 serial numbers of the finished product.
We are not in business to “make extra money from the CC’s”, per se. But we are in business to make money from all NV2 users.
Three licenses was the number offered because this is the minimum number required to test, use and support multi-user NV2.
We suspect the biggest source of confusion is evident in the phrase “to service a client, 5 licences are needed”. Technically, no licenses are needed to service a client. If a client has NV2 (one, or more licenses), any assistance can be provided. If a CC wishes to access a client’s books, this can be done using any of the three licenses provided to CC’s (either on the client’s site, or via the Internet – as long as the client is running a server).
Let’s be perfectly clear about this point… Any serial number (running as a workstation) can log into any serial number (running as a server and offering databases). Therefore, a CC requires only one serial number to access every client’s database(s). A CC does not need a new serial number for each client serviced. In the example given, the client would purchase 2 licenses – the CC does NOT need to purchase anything. Ditto for the next client, and so on.
To push the point to it’s logical conclusion, a single user client can boot their serial number as a server and offer their database(s) via the Internet to the CC. The CC can work in the database(s), and after logging out, the client can shut down NV2 running as a server and reboot NV2 as a single-user system, and continue as normal on the serviced database(s).
As for larger clients, these companies typically have the resources to purchase several copies of NV2, and given the robust features and capabilities of multi-user NV2, it’s a bargain. NO technology we are aware of can do what multi-user NV2 does, at any price. And annual maintenance, though strongly recommended, and necessary to receive free upgrades, is not mandatory.
Given that it took 10 years to develop NV2, we had some time to ponder our licensing and business practices. We think they are fair and reasonable.
Q.W. Page
Post Edited (04-27-05 18:03)
