Hello there, Janice DCL. I appreciate you for considering the steps shared by my colleague above.

Normally, you should not be prompted this error message since this is a new job for a new customer. There may be damages that need to fix by re-sorting your customers list. Before that, make sure to back up your company file.

Then, here's how to re-sort customer lists:

1. Go to the Customer Center.
2. Select Edit at the top left of QuickBooks.
3. Select Re-sort List.
4. Select OK.

If the same thing happens, we can run the verify rebuild to fix data-related issues on a company file. The steps below will guide you through the process.

1. Go to the File menu.
2. Select Utilities.
3. Click Verify Data then select OK to close all windows.
4. Then, go back to the File menu.
5. Select Rebuild Data under Utilities.
6. QuickBooks will ask to make a backup before rebuilding your company file, select OK.
7. Once the rebuild is done, click OK.
   

Please let us know if you have other concerns. Take care and stay safe always.