Using QuickBooks 2009 or later and online services? Then you’re using the Intuit Sync Manager.
One of the ten best things to ever happen to financial PC applications is the ability to download transactions over the internet. Banks and personal finance management software like Quicken started offering online banking and bill-pay in the second half of the 1990s, and small business accounting software was not far behind.
If you’re using QuickBooks 2009 or later in conjunction with any of Intuit’s online financial services, you’re using the Intuit Sync Manager to upload your company file when necessary and download data from other, related sites, thereby keeping them “in sync.” You could better understand this process by taking a QuickBooks training class, but here are some of the basics.
By launching and customizing the Intuit Sync Manager, you’ll be able to exchange data with other applications and websites.
How do I access it?
In QuickBooks 2013, open the File menu and select Set Up Intuit Sync Manager. If you’re using an earlier version, you would click on the Online Services or Online Solutions menu and then Set Up Intuit Sync Manager. Once you have gone through setup, that entry in your menu will be replaced by Sync, with submenus.
Note: You must be signed up with Intuit Online Services to use the Sync Manager.
What if I don’t see the Sync Manager?
There could be several reasons, including:
- You’re not logged in as the System Administrator
- You have a sample file open, or
- Your data file has been corrupted.
Is the sync process secure?
Intuit takes data integrity very seriously. Your data will reside in the Intuit Data Center, which is monitored 24/7/365 by security cameras and actual security personnel. The company employs state-of-the-art data safety systems.
How long does a sync take?
This depends on variables like the size of your file and the speed of your internet connection. Your first sync will be the lengthiest, and could take as long as 10 minutes for a 100MB file or be as brief as a minute. After the first exchange is made, syncs will take much less time. You can continue to use your computer during this process.
How often is the data synchronized?
You have two options here. You can set Intuit Sync manager to do a synchronization automatically every 5, 15 or 30 minutes, or 1, 6 or 24 hours. If you’d prefer to control this process, you can do manual syncs. Go to File | Sync |Edit Sync options to set this up.
You can either have Intuit Sync Manager perform syncs automatically or do them manually.
What if I don’t want Intuit Sync Manager to always load when I start my computer?
By default, Intuit Sync Manager runs in the background, accessible through an icon in the taskbar tray. If you want to keep it from launching every time you log on to Windows, go to the Task Manager (in any version of Windows, hold down the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys). Look for it in the Startup list and disable it.
It’s very important that you set up synchronizations correctly, important enough that you might want to learn how to use QuickBooks’ tools better by taking a QuickBooks tutorial or watching a video. As cloud computing becomes more common, you’ll be doing more of this.
