It’s been over a year since I discussed networking QuickBooks Shipping Manager, allowing many computers to share a single shipping manager database as well as facilitating a restorable backup. Well, I’ve discovered an entirely new twist.
This escapade involves UPS settings and UPS accounts. Seems that after I moved a business from one city to another, UPS required the business to open a new shipping account and close their old shipping account. No big deal, right? Wrong, turns out to be a very big deal.
Remembering from my previous article, the default shipping manager database in a hidden folder named “Shipping Manager” in a users profile on the local computer at C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Intuit\ShippingManager\
Adding a new account in the UPS settings requires one to carefully confirm the network path and default label printer remains correct. Again from my previous article, \\[host ip address]\[shared company files folder]\ShippingManager\Shipping Manager v4\Database.v4
The rub comes when one fails to setup all of the QuickBooks computers and the profiles in those computers and/or each profile in a Terminal Server environment. As soon as UPS cancels the old account number, all manner of destruction is wrought upon your QuickBooks Shipping Manager environment.
In many cases, QuickBooks Shipping Manager will not start, throwing all sorts of error messages. In most cases, QuickBooks Shipping Manager reverts the path back to the default local profile. The fix, though much work, needs to occur before the old account is cancelled.
Methodically add the new UPS account to each instance of QuickBooks, in each profile carefully confirming that the network path persists in the configuration and configure the new account as the default account. Leave the old account in place within the configuration so as not to damage any history.
Again, do all of this work before the old UPS account is cancelled.
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