Check the health of your Peachtree data files with our free Data Checker. This non-invasive tool scans your Peachtree data files and reports any underlying data corruption. If the tool finds problems with your data, our repair service can help you resolve the problem.

Peachtree Accounting enables you to have two fiscal years open at any one time. Once you close a year it's difficult to access those transactions. The solution is to make an archive copy of your Peachtree data before you close the year. Need help? Purchase detailed instructions.

David Ringstrom's article on Peachtree Direct Deposit was published in PeachtreeExtra.

Peachtree Software no longer provides support for version 9 (Peachtree 2002) and below of their Windows-based products. The latest version is Peachtree 2005 (also known as version 12). Currently, Peachtree plans to support the latest 3 versions of their product. Thus, if youre still using Peachtree 2003 (version 10), support will most likely end later this year with Peachtree 2006 (version 13), assuming Peachtree continues with their history of an annual program upgrade. Learn More

David Ringstrom writes for Inside Peachtree (www.insidepeachtree.com) from time to time. Visit the Peachtree section (www.accountingadvisors.com/peachtree) of our web site, and click on the Articles tab to read two recent articles that discuss how to analyze your Peachtree data in Excel. The full text of both articles is available at no cost in Adobe Acrobat format

Just about every Peachtree user encounters this error at some point. Fortunately, it's usually easy to correct. Detailed instructions are available for a nominal fee.

Peachtree Software has a new third-party add-ons area: www.peachtreeaddons.com.

Due to a bug in Peachtree, the Excel button within the Reports dialog box is sometimes disabled when you install Excel 2000 or Excel 2002 on your computer. For now, the work around is to right-click on the report name, then choose Excel from the pop-up menu that appears.

What's New? - Many users don't upgrade their software. Sometimes there are valid reasons for not doing so, but in general, one should budget for period upgrades, particularly if you're using Peachtree Accounting. As discussed in the previous newsletter, users of version 7 and earlier can no longer receive technical support from Peachtree. You also will no longer be able to purchase the annual payroll tax updates! So, with that said, what will you gain from upgrading? Here's a quick synopsis of the best new features added in recent versions:
Version 8 - Major improvements in speed, a new "global search" feature on the find menu, preview for invoices and checks Peachtree 2002
Version 9 - Change accounting periods with 2 clicks via the status bar, ability to drill down to related invoices on the Receipts and Payments screens, new Year End Wizard Peachtree 2003
Version 10 - Ability to drill down on income statements viewed on screen (at last!), plus all of the annoying prompts that formerly appeared when you print a check or invoice are combined into a single screen, improved purge wizard. This isn't to say that these are the only new features in each release, but rather the features that most users will benefit most from. For a detailed version of what's new in your version of Peachtree, click Help, Contents, and double-click on What's New. Based on the pace that Peachtree includes compelling new features, many of our Peachtree clients find it best to purchase every other upgrade. No matter whether you get every other upgrade, or now every 3rd one, budget for it. Peachtree can't stay in business if no one upgrades their software, plus the new features often make life a bit easier.

If you're encountering excruciatingly slow performance in Peachtree, try temporarily disabling your antivirus software. If your Peachtree performance immediately improves, then the next step is to configure your antivirus software to not scan the data files within your Peachtree folder.

Peachtree software recently sent out a somewhat cryptic mailing that has confused some users. You probably received this letter if you're using Peachtree 2003. In essence, Peachtree has changed the calculation method for employees that wish to have additional state income taxes withheld from their paychecks. If you don't have any employees that request additional STATE withholding, you can disregard this mailing. However, if you need assistance configure payroll, or any other aspect of Peachtree, consider our technical support options.

If you find yourself locked out of your Peachtree company, we offer a easy to use Peachtree Password Recovery tool. You can buy online for $59.00.

To omit the accounts with a zero balance from your income statement, unclick the "Show Zero Amounts: field when you first run the report. To make this change permanent, set this option, then preview the report to the screen. Click the Save button, then assign a name of your choice to the report.

You've probably noticed that when you're paying numerous invoices that Peachtree will sometimes consume additional checks in order to list all of the invoice numbers. If this frustrates you, you can download a check form for Peachtree that enables you to list up to 50 invoices on a single check stub. The download is free. If you're not sure how to install this check form, instructions are available for a nominal fee.

By default, Peachtree presents a startup screen that shows recently used companies. If you only work with one Peachtree company, you really don't need to see this screen, which you can turn off by choosing Options and View Startup Screen. Turn this feature back on by making the same selection.

If you're using Peachtree 8.0 or later, pressing F3 provides instant access to the Find dialog box available on the Edit menu. The Find feature is a great way to locate transactions through through selecting specific criteria.

Need to add a new customer, vendor, inventory item, or account? Press the + sign on your number pad (or double-click on the field with your mouse) to access the corresponding Maintain screen from within any of Peachtree's transaction screens.

Save time entering dates in Peachtree by just entering the two digit month and day, e.g. 0415 for April 15. Peachtree will automatically add the current year.

You can e-mail reports directly from Peachtree 2005 or later by clicking on the E-Mail button that appears on the toolbar of any report that you've previewed to the screen. This automatically generates an e-mail with the report attached in PDF format.

Quickly determine how many customers, vendors, or inventory items you have by choosing Help, File Statistics (sometimes hidden under Customer Support and Service). The Number of Records column provides the item counts. (Sherri Yates got paid for submitting this tip! Learn how!.)

Get the most out of your version of Peachtree Accounting with our Peachtree Crash Course! This one-on-one format can be presented in our office, your office, or via the Internet. Our classes focus on what users should know, but often don't, about software packages. Learn more at www.acctadv.com/go.mv?id=pcwcrash.

It's possible to post a transaction into a prior month without changing the accounting period. To do so, enter the transaction in the current period and save it. Next, edit the transaction and then change the date to the desired date, and then click Save (or Post). Click Yes when the warning prompt appears.

Regardless of your other back-up methods, it's a good idea to make frequent back-ups of your Peachtree data on your hard drive. To do so, choose File | Back Up, and then click Back Up Now. Select a folder on your hard drive to store the backups, and then accept the default file name. Click the Save button, then click OK when Peachtree informs you of the back-up size. This generally only takes a couple minutes to carry out. Make sure to also continue your usual back-ups onto removable media such as floppy disks, CD-R, or tape. Having additional back-ups on your hard drive gives you additional options in case something unexpected happens.

This is generally the result of a user posting a journal entry to the accounts receivable account, or coding a Sales Invoice or Cash Receipt to the accounts receivable account. To identify the problem, run a general ledger for your accounts receivable account. Any transaction that doesn't have SJ or CRJ transaction types should be corrected to post to another account. If you're still off, run a Sales Journal or Cash Receipts Journal and look for transactions that debit and credit accounts receivable.

Get a graphical view of your outstanding receivables and payables by choosing Analysis, and then either Collection Manager or Payment Manager. You can toggle between numeric and graph views. Double-clicking on a number or a graph allows you to drill down all the way to the individual transaction level.

You can streamline certain input screens in Peachtree, such as Sales/Invoicing by creating a template that only shows the fields you need. To do so, click the Template button the toolbar and then assign a template ID, such as My Template. You can then click on any field not marked as required to toggle the Show or Hide setting. Select Set Template as Default to make this be the standard input screen.

You can also streamline printing custom forms in Peachtree, such as specialized customer invoices. To do so, click the Template button the toolbar and then assign a template ID, such as Special Invoice. Select the Always Print Using a Specific Form checkbox, and then select the form to associate with the template from the drop-down. You can select the custom template at any time by choosing it from the menu after you click the Template button.

We're pleased to offer a 9 page Instant Answer with step by step instructions, including screen shots. This document explains how to make an archive copy of your existing Peachtree company, and then safely close your fiscal year. The cost is only $9.95.

Office Depot is one of the best places to purchase W-2 and 1099 forms. As of this writing, a 50-pack of W-2 forms for laser printers is less than $15. Search their site for "tax forms".

We're pleased to announce that we now offer data repair services for damaged Peachtree companies.

Certain problems in Peachtree are easily resolved by keeping your software up to date. In Peachtree 2002 and later, select Check for Updates from the Services menu. Users of earlier versions can manually download any available patches from via this link: the Peachtree web site.

Certain problems in Peachtree are easily resolved by keeping your software up to date. In Peachtree 2002 and later, select Check for Updates from the Services menu. Keep in mind that if you're using an earlier version of Peachtree, e.g. version 6, 7, or 8, that patches for those versions are no longer available through Peachtree in accordance with their obsolescence policy.

A built-in spell checker was introduced with Peachtree 2004. You control this feature by choosing Options, Global, and then click on the Spell Checking tab.

In previous versions, the deposit ticket ID field on the receipts screen automatically populates. In Peachtree 2004, to enable this feature you must choose Maintain, Default Information, Customers, and then select In Receipts on the Pay Methods tab.

You can press F5 to save or post a transaction, instead of having to click the Save or Post button on the toolbar of Peachtree Accounting's transaction screens.

Need to set up additional state withholdings for an employee? It's not nearly as easy as simply entering the amount in the Additional Withholdings field on the Maintain Employees screen. Read PeachFact #33521 on the Peachtree web site to learn more.

Download Federal payroll tax forms (e.g. Forms 940, 941, etc) from the IRS Forms and Publications web site.

Peachtree's payroll tax service is an easy way to update your payroll tax codes each year. However, if you process payroll for states that don't have state income tax, e.g. Texas, Tennessee, Florida, you have to manually create a payroll tax code for the new year. The best way to do this is to edit the payroll tax table, then make a copy of the old code (for the previous year), but rename it for the current year. While you're there, make sure to set up new State Unemployment Insurance codes, too!

In the newsgroups, Jon Goldberg noticed a number of people having similar Peachtree network problems to his own, problems that could not be solved by Peachtree tech support's standard answers. This includes "lock table full" errors that persist after reboots and deleting the .lck files, "*.dat" file errors in the middle of a session, Error Number 35 in the middle of a session, and so forth. A Peachtree tech confirmed for him what he believed all along regarding Peachtree - it is designed for a single user, not a network, and any sort of network congestion will cause it to quit ungracefully, possibly resulting in database corruption. Moreover, Peachtree appears to have some sort of broadcasting mechanism that causes certain network configurations to create artificial network congestion, slowing down Peachtree and occasionally causing the above mentioned errors. In his case, the solution is to buy a network switch for about $100 to replace his hub. This eliminated his network problems, but also provided a significant speed boost to Peachtree over the network as well. (Thanks, Jon, for sharing your experience!)

To make printing W-2s easier, you can tell Peachtree to print multiple copies. However, before you do so, you must collate the blank forms in the proper order. For instance, to print six copies of your W-2s, stack the forms in order, copy 1 through 6. You can then place the collated sets in your printer, and tell Peachtree to print 6 copies. We've found that this is much easier than loading six individual sets of W-2s into the printer and going through the printing steps 6 times.

The keyboard shortcut Ctrl-P enables you to print invoices or checks without having to click the Print button on the toolbar of the transaction screen.

Peachfact #35865 provides additional information on networking on Windows NT.

By default, the Aged Receivables and Aged Payables reports default to the last day of the current accounting period. To overcome this, select the aging report via the Reports menu, and the click the Preview button. Change the Date to Today, and then click OK. Once your report appears, click the Save button and assign a unique name, such as My Aged Receivables.

Whenever you're operating in an accounting period different from the current calendar month, the date in the transaction screens defaults to the first date of the active accounting period. When your accounting period matches the calendar month, the date will default to today's date. Keep in mind that you can always override the transaction date as needed.

When running an aged receivables report in Peachtree, the date automatically defaults to the last day of the month. This can give you a false reading on your overdue invoices. To create a custom aged receivables report that will default to the current day choose Reports, Accounts Receivables, then Aged Receivables. Click the Preview button, and then click the drop down box next to Date and select Today. Click OK to display the report on the screen. To make this change permanent, click Save and assign a name to your report.

If you're using Peachtree 2004 or later, the Bank Reconciliation screen offers a Find button. This makes it easy to locate that one last check that you can't seem to find on the list if you have many transactions on the reconciliation screen.

Some versions of Peachtree Accounting have a default credit limit of $5,000 for customers. To increase this for all customers, choose Maintain, Default Information, Customers, and modify the credit limit amount.

If you use Act! as your contact manager, you'll be pleased to know that Peachtree Software has made the Act! link for Peachtree a free download.

Simplify the process of updating your inventory accounts in Peachtree with the Inventory Adjuster for Peachtree! Your inventory item list can be sent to Excel, whereby you input the physical count. The Inventory Adjuster automatically creates inventory adjustment transactions for any physical counts that differ from Peachtree.

You can e-mail invoices directly from the Sales & Invoicing screen of Peachtree 2004 or later by clicking on the E-Mail button. This automatically generates an e-mail prefilled with your customer's e-mail address. The invoice is attached to the e-mail in PDF format.

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Program Freezes when Adding Cost Code - Due to a bug in Peachtree 2002, the program will sometimes lock-up when you attempt to add a cost code via Maintain | Jobs | Cost Codes. If you experience this, choose Options | Global, then deselect the Hide Inactive Records option. It's our understanding that Peachtree Software is working on a fix.