5 Troubleshooting Tips

The deadline of presenting the monthly accounting reports to the Controller is looming like a shadow over the office. The standard reports were run but the totals do not appear to be correct nor do they reflect a trend from last month. The reports cannot be submitted until the numbers are accurate and can be explained. What happens now?! Put the panic away and break out the troubleshooting!

Troubleshooting is not a skill that someone is born with, even if it seems that way at times! Troubleshooting is a set of procedures, priorities, recognition, and attitudes that anyone can master. Whether the problem is as simple as “Why does this pen not write?” or more complex like “Why do the numbers on the Rent Roll not tie to the Cash reports?” understanding troubleshooting basics can expedite the resolution to any issue. Using the standard six interrogative questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how) and some helpful troubleshooting tips, everyone will be on the same page so an issue is resolved quickly and correctly.

1. Have the right attitude: Problems can be (and normally are) annoying. Do not let the aggravation of the problem become overall frustration. Take a deep breath, relax, and then feel empowered because there is a solution. A problem is just an opportunity to learn something new and potentially a new way of running a process.
2. Know the answers to the obvious questions: The obvious questions may seem trivial but those answers can make a world of difference when analyzing a problem. Obvious questions include:

• What version of the software is being used?
• Where is the problem being experienced? Is the problem being discovered in the Web interface, Windows interface, or both?
• When did this issue begin to occur? When was the last time it worked correctly?
• Who is impacted by this issue? Does the issue occur for all users? A handful of users? One user?
• What changes have taken place in the environment? Have there been any upgrades to the environment since the last time this process worked? Examples of upgrades include MRI Software, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Internet Explorer, networks (ex. Cisco), connections (ex. VPN), or others?
• How does someone else verify the issue? If reporting the problem for co-workers, what is their connection method and are there available credentials to log into the environment?

3. Diagnose the details: Contacting someone for support with a problem of “it does not work” is equivalent to going to the doctor with the problem of “I’m sick”. A doctor would ask additional questions to narrow down the system (Stomach ache? Headache? Backache?) and based on those answers, move on to the next round of questions/tests until the issue is defined. Use the same methodology when troubleshooting a technical or application issue.

• A recap of “I cannot run AP journal entries for this month” can lead to a different conclusion than “When I run my AP journal entries in edit mode for entity 123ABC in Windows, I am receiving a message that I cannot run them for a closed period.” Use who, what, when, where, and how questions so that there is specific detail of the problem to ensure that additional troubleshooting is proceeding down the correct path. Otherwise, the next question could be why was an incorrect answer given to solve this problem?!

4. Capture the issue: Document the exact steps it took to arrive at the problem. Sometimes referred to as “click path”, knowing each step (or click) helps to narrow the available possibilities. If someone follows the same steps with the same information documented, they should arrive at the same destination. If they do not, was there a step missed or is it another clue to the problem? Continue asking who, what, when, where, why, and how until the steps to reproduce the error are clear. Recording the steps, either through text and/or taking screenshots, helps keep everyone on the same track.
5. Back it up before it breaks: When faced with a deadline, some users will try to solve the problem themselves. Sometimes, this can lead to a larger problem, especially if they have not diagnosed the details or captured the issue. This can become an even larger issue if the corrections involve incomplete/incorrect queries or the user cannot remember what the data looked like in the beginning! Whether the user is confident that they can correct the problem or want to test a theory, backup the data to a safe location. By having a backup, any mistakes made in the testing and/or correction phases can be overwritten.

Asking the right questions when faced with an issue helps to identify the exact problem (or at least close to it). While each issue may be slightly different, being consistent with asking interrogative questions and documenting the answers will provide the foundation for solving the problem or accelerating the time it takes for others to assist in the solution!

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