Summary
When syncing up with QuickBooks you might encounter the following error message.
The name supplied already exists. : Another customer is already using this name. Please use a different name.
It will then show you the Estimate, Invoice, or Payment number associated to this customer error.
Key Points
This message from QuickBooks occurs in three scenarios:
There are two or more customers with the same name
A customer name or location name in Fieldwork does not exactly match the name in QuickBooks
The name in QuickBooks no longer matches the name in Fieldwork
There are two or more customers with the same name. In this scenario add an extra character to one of the duplicate customer's name.
A customer name or location name in Fieldwork does not exactly match the name in QuickBooks. When QuickBooks stumbles upon a customer name that does not match what is in Fieldwork, the QuickBook sync stops and informs you that the name supplied already exists. The issue is the name in QuickBooks does not exactly match the name in Fieldwork.
Someone changed the name in QuickBooks so it no longer matches as described below. Either return the name in QuickBooks back to what it was, or update the name in Fieldwork to match the QuickBooks entry.
Sample Matching Errors
Here are some examples that demonstrate a mismatch:
Miss Mercedes Fields vs Ms Mercedes Fields
Country & Western vs Country and Western
A&W vs A & W <- extra spaces between the letters
Oscar Laverty vs Oscar Laverty
Note if you have a space after a name in either program and it's not in the other, this is a mismatch
To Fix This Issue
The names must match exactly. Find the customer by searching for the Estimate, Invoice, or Payment number that the error log reported. Either edit the QuickBooks customer name to match the Fieldwork customer name OR vice versa.