Method Community

After the Method QB sync, particular Method generated invoices are inserted into QB with just one line out of a multi-line invoice and the invoice is updated and replaced in Method. Some work perfectly but in this case the issue has been isolated to certain items and then to a particular custom pop-up screen that creates the entries.

There is nothing unorthodox about how the invoice line items are created in this custom screen but after digging into the InvoiceLine table we have discovered that the field InvoiceLineGroupRecordID is populated on the ones that are disappearing. The first line item (which is what QB ends up saving) has a blank value in that field; the 2nd line item has the InvoiceLine RecordID of the 1st line; the 3rd line has a RecordID value of the 2nd line, etc. Not sure why Method is populating this field as the item is a service item and there are actually no group items in their item table whatsoever. Coincidentally, this pop-up screen creates multiple line items with the same item name - each item has a different rate, description, Method specific fields, etc. Appears to be a bug.

Seems that QB treats them as Group items and consolidates them to a single line. It doesn't add up the total but uses just the value from the first line item and changes the invoice amount. Interesting but not what we want or expect. It takes a loooong time for the sync to happen and then nothing appears in the Conflict screen in Method and the invoice just looks like a one line item invoice in Method. Hmmm.

Not sure if this is kosher but went ahead and added a little loop through the InvoiceLine table after the entry of these particular invoice lines and removed the value in the InvoiceLineGroupRecordID field. That seemed to do the trick - invoices sync with QB as one would expect - all line items are created and in a timely fashion.

My concern is that until that is fixed in Method, not sure if there are any downstream impact when removing the value in this field on service items. It shouldn't be populated anyway and no issues have popped up as of yet but it has only been a couple of hours but I am not comfortable removing field values that Method controls.

Anyone experienced this before or have any thoughts on the ramifications of clearing that field?

Hi David - I've made a few comments below.

DavidGlantz:

after digging into the InvoiceLine table we have discovered that the field InvoiceLineGroupRecordID is populated on the ones that are disappearing. The first line item (which is what QB ends up saving) has a blank value in that field

Under normal circumstances this would suggest these items belong to a group item within QB. It also makes sense that the main item from QB would not have a value for this field since it does not belong to a group b/c it is the group item.

DavidGlantz:

the 2nd line item has the InvoiceLine RecordID of the 1st line; the 3rd line has a RecordID value of the 2nd line, etc.

It would be kind of strange for this to happen. I have not been able to replicate this on my stock accounts. Does this happen on our stock screens in your account? Can you try to test this there as well?

If the issue is isolcated to your custom screens we would have to schedule a consulting session to review what's happening there and then we can come back here and comment share our results. 

Hi Val.  

The issue is indeed isolated to a particular custom screen.  This one is a pop-up which prompts the user to add one or more invoice lines to the invoice.  It uses the action Save All Sections to save each line.  It just so happens that all the line items added via this pop-up use the same Item name but with a different description, rate, etc.  Other custom screens that add invoice line items work fine - custom version of the invoice and another poop-up screen.

Hmmm.  The pop-up is linked to  the InvoiceLineItem Record ID and this screen has the ability to update that line item and add additional line items .  Could it be that since this pop-up is linked by the InvoiceLinteItem RecordID that Method is automatically making this a group?  Maybe the pop-up should not be linked?  That would make sense.  

Interstingly, after removing the value in the InvoiceLineGroupRecordID field, the sync works fine and the invoice is no longer altered after the sync.

David - maybe that's the problem.

If you are trying to add invoice lines (children) to a particular invoice (parent), you should be using the InvoiceRecordID on the InvocieLine table to relate them. This would be the field that will associate the child to the parent correctly. Keep in mind the parent must exist before the child. :)