When you try to create a new company in Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008 or in Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2008, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:

This problem occurs if the company name or the user account name contains a special character. For example, this problem occurs if the company name or the user account name contains an acute accent (’), an ampersand (&), or a hyphen (-).

To resolve this problem, verify that the company name or the user account name contains a special character. Then, use one of the following methods to delete the special character.

Method 1: Delete the special character from the company name

1. Start Accounting Professional 2008 or Accounting Express 2008.
2. On the Welcome to Quick Start page, click Start a new company.
3. In the Company name field and in the Legal name field, type a company name that does not contain a special character.
4. Enter the relevant data for the company.
5. Follow the steps in the Company Setup wizard, and then click Finish.

Method 2: Delete the special character from the user account name

1. Create a new user account. To do this, follow the steps for the operating system that you use:
   • Windows Vista
     
     If the computer is a member of a domain, follow these steps:
     1. Open Microsoft Management Console. To do this, click Start, type mmc in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
        
        Note If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
     2. In the console tree, click Local Users and Groups.
        
        Note If you cannot see Local Users and Groups, Local Users and Groups is not installed. To install Local Users and Groups, follow these steps:
        1. On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
        2. Click Local Users and Groups, and then click Add.
        3. Click Local computer, and then click Finish.
        4. Click OK.
     3. Click the Users folder.
     4. Right-click Action, and then click New User.
     5. In the New User dialog box, type the appropriate information, and then click Create.
     6. Click Close.
     If the computer is a member of a workgroup, follow these steps:
     1. Open User Accounts. To do this, click Start, type User Accounts in the Start Search box, and then click User Accounts in the Programs list.
     2. Click Manage another account.
        
        Note If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
     3. Click Create a new account.
     4. Type the name that you want to use for the new user account, click an account type, and then click Create Account.
   • Windows XP
     1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
     2. In the Pick a task list box, click Create a new account.
     3. Type the name that you want to use for the new user account, and then click Next.
     4. Click an account type, and then click Create Account.
2. Log on to the computer by using the new user account.
3. Start Accounting Professional 2008 or Accounting Express 2008.
4. Create the company.
5. Log off the computer, and then log on to the computer by using your regular user account.
6. Open the company that you created in step 4.