How to Resolve Order Posting Error Due to Special Character in Customer Name
Issue Description:
When attempting to post orders into QuickBooks (QB), if you encounter an error stating, "Customer not found due to special character." This error typically occurs when a special character, such as an apostrophe ('), is in the customer's name or company name.
Reason:
The error occurs because QuickBooks and Webgility are unable to correctly match the customer if there is a special character in the customer’s name, as special characters can interfere with the data matching process. For instance, if a customer’s name is O’Connor, the apostrophe (') might prevent Webgility from finding the correct record in the QuickBooks posting process.
Resolution Steps: To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
Step 1: Remove the Special Character from the Customer Name in QuickBooks
Open QuickBooks and navigate to the Customer Center.
Find the customer record that is associated with the order that failed to post.
Open the customer details and check if the special character (such as an apostrophe, comma, or symbol) is present in the customer’s name.
Edit the customer name by removing the special character. For example, change O’Connor to OConnor.
Save the changes to the customer record in QuickBooks.
Step 2: Redownload the QuickBooks Customer Data
Now that you’ve removed the special character from the customer name, you need to update the customer data in Webgility.
Select the option to download QuickBooks customer data from scratch. This will refresh all the customer records and ensure that the updated customer name (without the special character) is now available.
It is recommended to clear the dates of the item and customer fields from the accounting side.
1). Navigate toConnection> Sales channels > Advanced Settings.
2). Click Clear for the Last download date for QuickBooks Item or the Last Download Date for QuickBooks Customers as per requirement and click Save and Close.
Note: We can also perform the same troubleshooting step to download sales channel items if all sales channel items are not downloading in the Webgility application. Reference the screenshot below on how to clear the sales channel items list.
2). Download the latest data and settings from scratch from the accounting software.
The option is available from Integrations> Get Latest Data & Settings if we need to update the customer's list, items, and settings individually, or all of it from the accounting software into Webgility.
Click on the drop-down associated with the Download Data button and click on Re-Download All Data.
The process of downloading data may take a few minutes depending upon the volume of data in your accounting file. If the issue is from the sales channel's end or sales channel data is not up to date then you can press the Download data button mentioned below which will download sales channel's settings. (Ideally, all dates should show today's date if not follow the complete process as advised.) than
Once this is complete you will be shown a message indicating that the download was successful.
3). Download only Items from scratch
To do the same, access the Products Module by clicking on the Products tab.
Next, select the Download Products from Scratch icon located in the top right corner of the QuickBooks All Products menu.
Note: You can also download the Sales Channel items from scratch from the Products module itself by accessing the All Products tab for the sales channel as shown in the screenshot below.
Step 3: Repost the Order to QuickBooks
After downloading the latest QuickBooks customer data, you should be able to post the order to QuickBooks without encountering a special character error.
Go back to the Orders section in Webgility.
Locate the order that was previously failing to post.
Try reposting the order to QuickBooks.
Ensure that the customer details have been updated correctly, and the special character has been removed.
The order should now post successfully to QuickBooks without the error message.
After downloading the latest QB customer data, try reposting the order to QuickBooks. The customer should be correctly matched, and the order will post successfully.
Step 4: Verify the Customer and Order in QuickBooks
After successfully reposting the order, open QuickBooks and check the customer’s record to verify that the order is reflected under the correct customer.
Verify that the customer name has been updated correctly (without the special character) and that the order has been successfully posted.
Additional Information:
The error was caused by a special character in the customer name (e.g., O’Connor), which was preventing Webgility from matching the customer to QuickBooks.
After removing the special character from both the order in Webgility and the customer record in QuickBooks, and redownloading the QuickBooks data, the issue was resolved.
By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the "Customer not found due to special character" error and successfully post your orders to QuickBooks.
If you find you need more help, please contact Webgility Support for assistance.