Overview

To authenticate QuickBooks Desktop, you will need to:

This guide will walk you through each of those steps.

Prerequisites

Please confirm the below requirements prior to setting up the integration:

You are at the correct computer.
- Ensure you perform these steps on the computer you want to set up the connection on.
- If your instance uses QuickBooks Desktop on multiple computers, set up the connection on the server or computer that stays on most often or where you use QuickBooks Desktop most frequently.
You have downloaded the QuickBooks Web Connector.
You are able to login with the Admin account.

You must have the QuickBooks Web Connector installed on your computer to proceed with the subsequent steps
1. It often comes with QuickBooks Desktop, so you may already have it
To check if you have it installed, search your laptop for QuickBooks Web Connector
1. If you do not think you have it installed, it does not hurt to re-install it
If you do not yet have it installed, follow Step 1: Install QuickBooks Web Connector in this Intuit guide
Proceed to the steps below

Open QuickBooks Desktop on your computer
Select the company file you would like to connect to
Login using the Admin user
1. This is only required for the initial setup process. After the integration has been set up, you can switch back to your regular user role.

Back in the linking flow, download the configuration file to your computer
Open the downloaded file, which will automatically open the QuickBooks Web Connector.
1. This can be done by finding the file in your Downloads and double clicking on it.
2. You do not need to save this file for the future. It can be deleted after it is the setup is complete.
3. The QuickBooks Web Connector will take a few seconds to load.
Navigate back to the linking flow and proceed to the next screen by clicking Next.

After opening the configuration file, a window will open in your QuickBooks Web Connector prompting you to connect (though it may take a few seconds). Click OK in the popup.
An additional access screen may appear if this is your first time authenticating. If it does, follow the steps below:
1. Select Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running.
2. A pop-up may appear at this time. Confirm your selection by clicking Yes in the additional pop-up.
3. A new Login as: dropdown will appear, allowing you to select a user. Select the user who uses this computer.
  1. Your connection will use the credentials of the user you select. If this user is signed in on another computer, then this connection will not work. Thus, it is important to select the user who uses this computer to avoid conflicts.
  2. If you are unsure, select Admin.
4. Finish granting permissions by selecting Continue and then Done in the Access confirmation pop-up
The QuickBooks Web Connector will reappear and should resemble the below

Navigate back to the linking flow and copy the password shown
Paste the password into the Password column in the QuickBooks Web Connector and click Enter on your keyboard.
1. A pop-up will then appear, select Yes in the pop-up
That's it! You can now hide the QuickBooks Web Connector by selecting the Hide button in the bottom right corner
Finish the setup process by navigating back to the linking flow and selecting Next
You will then see the below page in the linking flow. The connection could take up to a minute to establish. If it eventually fails, see the troubleshooting steps listed below.

If you are seeing an error that resembles the screenshot above after granting permissions in the QuickBooks Web Connector, follow the steps below:

Force quit QuickBooks Desktop
Reopen QuickBooks Desktop, select the company file you'd like to connect, and login
Reopen the configuration file (step 4.1) and continue with the setup process.