January 2025

To get the new year off to a good start

Our latest releease DQB 1.76 for both the online and desktop versions of QuickBooks was largely focused on the latest security measures required by Intuit.    A number of you have already been updated.    These are important updates to prevent unauthorized access to your information and assure your security and priivacy.   If you have not already updated, we recommend that you contact us to plan and schedule getting this done. 

The About box in your software willl show your DQB release version as well as the components for which you are licensed. 

The weather, however, has not been helping.  Just as our local Chester County farmers predicted, January has been a brutal month with frigid temperatures, snow and ice with strong winds undoing many efforts to keep our roads clear and safe.  For those times when we cannot drive to work at our offices, we can continue to work from home as long as we have power for our phones, computers and internet services.   If you do not reach us, be sure to leave both an email and a voicemail with your request.  

Tackling the #1 issue we see in the weblog

Although the Microsoft Windows operating and network systems are designed to handle a number of concurrent operations at the same time, the number is not unlimited.    This can lead to errors such as "Out of Memory" or "Insufficient Memory" or sometimes a timeout or just an endless spinning while the system looks for resources.   Some of the leading causes we have found in our user group include:  

• Users not using but leaving tasks open for an extended time   
• Background tasks needing a high level of memory   
• Tasks loaded at startup not needed throughout the day 
• Use of software that does not release memory upon exit
• Software automatically loaded with updates but not needed     
• Defective memory that needs replacement
• Upgrades needed that include additional memory      
  

If you have been experiencing memory errors and would like to have our technical support remote in, please let us know.   We can explore the possibilities by reviewing the error messages, checking your task manager and startup menu, using the control panel to check your system resources, and reviewing with your users their daily practices in use of the system.

If you are required to collect sales taxes

It is important to understand that taxes are handled in QuickBooks, not in DQB.   In the desktop versions of QuickBooks such as Pro, Premier and Enterprise, calculating and adding taxation to the QB invoice occurs if the tax indicators in both the customer and item records have been set on.  This has changed in the online versions as taxation has become far more complex in some states and provnces.   In many, taxation is now based on the ship-to address and you must have the taxing authorities, rates, submittal schedules and chart of accounts set up for each possibility.   It is also important that you enter a correct ship-to address for each customer.  In some locations,  there are different taxation rates based on the specific item.   It is in the Sales Tax Center in QuickBooks that you need to assure that your settings match what is required.

We have added some enhancements in DQB to show both the bill-to and ship-to addresses in critical spots so that it is clear to the user should these two addresses differ.  When you request invoice history or want to modify an existing invoice,  DQB synchronizes with QuickBooks to transfer the invoice information, including the taxation, for display in DQB.  

To answer your questions....

Q: What happens when we click the Send to Mainstreet button? 

A: Upon receiving an alert or error message from DQB, Quickbooks or Microsoft, you can click the Send to Mainstreet button to send a message to our weblog with the technical details such as what actions were taking place and which software detected the issue.   To request our support, you should  also call and/or email.    If the issue is one you can easily solve yourself, you do not need to Send to Mainstreet. 

Q: Are there any tasks we should take care of to start the new year? 

A:  For DQB, if you  have not already entered your holidays/non-workdays for the upcoming year, these should be entered and reviewd as they can change from year to year.   These are needed for accurate scheduling.  

In general, however, activity and reporting in both QuickBooks and DQB are guided by the dates and date ranges you specify.   Default dates are accessed from the system clock in your station and governed by your Windows operating system with settings from your taskbar.     

Q: Do you have any recommendations for handling dual languages both for our staff and for some of our customers? 

A:  Yes, here are some proven ways to do this: 

• For your item descriptons, set a standard to use both languages with a standard character to separate them such as a slash /.  
• Request customization of your work ticket to include both languages. 
• You can also apply this standard to other records such as preferences, alerts, lab notes.
  
• Note that showing both can help a person learn the other language. 
  
• Set up a customer alert whenever needed to let your staff know language preference.
  
• Request customization to create a special invoice for those customers with language different from your standard.  Then in the DQB customer record for each of these, designate that in DQB this special invoice format is to be used for them.  
  

Anytime anywhere information for those who are not in the lab

For those in management who are travelling or out of the lab for other reasons or if you have personnel mostly working away from the lab, here is one simple solution to provide vital information to them.  This is quick and easy and does not require remembering technical details for access.  

Because there are potentially many situations involving cases, customers, production and sales, we think one of the best ways to assure that they receive the timely information is to set up for internal notifications via email   Here are some of the recommended steps: 

• Dedicate an email address to these that does not include a lot of advertisements or personal communications.   
• If you have not done so already, request a license for the DQB Notifications supplement.   
• In DQB Notifications, set up each dedicated email to receive internal reports on the schedule(s) you choose.  
• Select the DQB reports you wish to have them receive via email.  If desired, you can request customization of these or new reports. 
• In addition to their computer(s), they can also set up their mobile device(s) such as a smartphone or tablet to view these email notifications anytime anywhere.
  

Web-based services you can offer to your customers

These services incur a small initial fee to setup with internet security measures, but the ongoing services are included in your DQB service agreements:

• DentalRx Direct – for submittal of prescriptions, digital files, doctor preferences, pickup requests, case lookups, alerts to the lab when digital files are transmitted, and other communications with the lab
• Lab Lookup – to lookup current case status and histories and send messages to the lab, designed for both individual and group practices
  

These DQB supplements incur a license fee, which includes the initial installation and setup: 

• DQB Notificatons - to schedule automatic email notifications on cases received and recently shipped with shipment tracking information and marketing messages 
  
• DentalRx Custom - to implement the above DentalRx features as part of your website with customization
  

Intuit also offers options in both the desktop and online versions of QuickBooks for convenient customer access to invoices and payment methods.     

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