QuickBooks Ran Into An Error While Trying to Send Your Usage Data

QuickBooks encounters a problem sending your user data when you’ve selected the incorrect time zone for your system. The error may also result from pending accounting changes and pending paychecks.

Nothing can be more annoying than getting an error message in the midst of something, especially while working on the QuickBooks Payroll service. And kind for QuickBooks Payroll errors can cost you money and the same time your precious time, which certainly you can’t afford in order to keep running your business.

Therefore, in order to assist you in saving you time as well as money, in this article we have discussed one of the most common QuickBooks Payroll Errors “QuickBooks ran into an error while trying to send your usage data”. Here you can find out the reason behind the error and the most suitable solution to troubleshoot it.

Reason for QuickBooks Payroll Error “QuickBooks ran into an error while trying to send your usage data”

• When you have the wrong time zone on your computer or laptop.
• The accountant’s copy created by the user can also be a reason.

The solution to fix QuickBooks Payroll Error “QuickBooks ran into an error while trying to send your usage data”

Open your computer and check the date and time on the system the file is located on. (For instance, if you are using a server, check the date and time on the server too.)

1. To check if the date and time are correct in Windows 10 and 11-based systems, do the following

• Open your computer and on the bottom of the screen (in your computer system’s tray), double-click on the displayed date and time.
• In case, you are unable to change the date and time directly from the system tray then go to Start, select Settings, choose Control Panel, and select Date and Time.
• Then in the Date and Time windows, click on the Date & Time tab.
• Choose the correct date and time.
• Now click on the Time Zone tab.
• After that choose the correct time zone as per your requirement.
• And in case you are in a daylight saving time zone, don’t forget to choose the Automatically tweak clock for daylight saving changes tick-box.
• Once done, click on OK.

The date and time settings need to be correct because when QuickBooks connects to online servers, it has to verify its location. If the time zone is incorrect on your system, then the security verification will fail, and QuickBooks will not be able to send your usage data. You can change date and time settings, but only if you log into an admin user account in Windows.

PS- Make sure to Check if the changes has been don by double-clicking in your computer’s system tray.

2. To check the date and time in Windows 7, do the following:

• Open your computer and on the bottom of the screen (in your computer system’s tray), double-click on the displayed date and time.
• In case, you are unable to edit the time from your system tray, go to Start
• Then go to the Control Panel
• Select the Date and Time.
• Now click on Change date and time settings
• After that on the Date and Time tab, click on the Change Date and time button
• Choose the preferred date and time, and click on OK
• In order to change the time zone, click the Change time zone button.
  1. Click on the Time Zone drop-down arrow
  2. Then select the correct time zone
  3.  In case you are in a daylight saving time zone then click to select the Automatically adjust clock for Daylight Saving Time tick-box.
• Click on OK and then again on OK
• Now check that the time and date are correct in the system tray.

3. To check the date and time in Windows 8, do the following:

• Go to the Start menu
• Choose Desktop to click on the displayed time. (Or from Search, type Control Panel)
• Now click on the Control Panel app
• Then click on Clock, Language, and Region
• Now set the correct time and date
• Now click on Change date and time settings
• After that on the Date and Time tab, click on the Change Date and time button
• Choose the preferred date and time, and click on OK
• In order to change the time zone, click the Change time zone button.
  • Click on the Time Zone drop-down arrow
  • Then select the correct time zone
  •  In case you are in a daylight saving time zone then click to select the Automatically adjust clock for Daylight Saving Time tick-box.
• Click on OK and then again on OK
• Now check that the time and date are correct in the system tray.

In case the date, time and time zone were correct then toggle the time zone (correct, wrong, correct), and after that try again, here’s how:

• Step 1: Check if an Accountant’s Copy is in existence.
• Step 2: If yes then wait until the Accountant’s Copy is returned or manually remove the restrictions. However, removing the restrictions manually will cause you to lose all the changes the Accountant may have worked on in the file to this point. Therefore, before moving further, make sure to verify with your Accountant.
• Step 3: Once the restrictions are removed or the Accountant’s Copy is returned to QuickBooks, try to send it to Intuit.
• Step 4: And in case, the error re-occurs, before closing QuickBooks, get the qbwin.log to review for errors
• Step 5: In case, the problem persists then check for all the online transactions that are be sent and delete them.
  • Select Edit from the top menu bar
  • Now click on Find (or press CTRL+F on your keyboard).
  • Then Click on the Advanced tab.
  • In the Filter box, scroll down and choose the following options:
    • From the drop-down menu to the right, choose the filter Detail Level and select Summary Only.
    • From the drop-down menu to the right, select the filter Online Status and choose Online to send.
    • From the drop-down menu to the right, select the filter Posting Status and choose Either.
• Step 6: Now click on the Find button from the top right corner of the Find screen.
• Step 7: Review the results:
  • In case find any non-payroll transactions then complete their processing.
  • And if you find paychecks, immediately delete them. However, ensure to print or write the details. Once the paychecks are deleted then try to send to Intuit again. And if done successfully, recreate the paychecks.

Solution 2: Check for Pending Changes

QuickBooks cannot send usage data until you’ve resolved all the pending changes. If you see “Accountant’s Changes Pending”, then you have to resolve those changes. You can manually remove the changes, but that isn’t recommended because you’ll then lose all of the changes that your Accountant sends to you via the Accountant’s copy. 

Note: after removing the restrictions for Accountant’s copy, you cannot undo the action. Any changes sent through the Accountant’s copy to you by your Accountant will be lose permanently.

Steps to remove the restrictions for the Accountant’s copy.

• From the File menu, choose Send Company File.
• Click on Accountant’s Copy.
• Choose Client Activities.
• Click on Remove Restrictions.
• Choose Yes, I want to remove the Accountant’s Copy restrictions. Then click on Ok.

You’ve successfully removed the restrictions, and QuickBooks will not be able to send the usage data without interruption. However, before you make these changes, discuss it with your Accountant.

Solution 3: remove and recreate pending paychecks

If your company file contains paychecks that are still pending, meaning you haven’t sent them yet, then you need to delete these paychecks and recreate them, as these paychecks can cause QuickBooks to run into problems when sending usage data.

Steps to remove and recreate pending transactions in QuickBooks:

• From the Edit menu, choose the Find option.
• Go to the Advanced tab.
• From the Choose Filter section, click on Detail level from the Filter list dropdown menu.
• Choose Summary only.
• Click on the Filter List.
• Scroll down to view more options, and choose Online Status.
• Click on Online to Send.
• Print a copy of the paycheck, then delete the paycheck.
• Use QuickBooks payroll to send usage data once again.
• If QuickBooks can send the usage data without running into problems, then you can recreate the paycheck.

Solution 4: Switch to Single User mode

QuickBooks cannot send usage data when it’s running in multi-user mode. You need to switch to single-user mode before you can send the usage data. Before you switch user modes, you should ask all the logged-in users to save changes and log out in order to prevent data loss.

Steps to turn off multi-user mode, and switch to single-user mode.:

1. Go to the File menu.
2. Choose utilities.
3. Click on stop hosting multi user access.
4. For the confirmation of switching user mode click on yes. 
5. If you get the message the company file must be closed click on yes.

Steps to stop hosting multi-user mode in QuickBooks:

1. Go to the workstation and launch QuickBooks.
2. click on no company open window and choose the file option.
3. Go to utilities then select host multi user access.
4. In the new window choose stop hosting multi user access.
5. Then follow the instructions given by QuickBooks software to turn off the hosting. 

Solution 5: configure internet and security settings

Internet explorer, network and firewall settings also play an important role in this error. So you need to configure these components to allow QuickBooks to connect with the network and send usage data.

Here are the steps to configure the Internet Explorer options to fix error “QuickBooks ran into a problem when sending usage data”:

• Go to the Tools option in the Internet Explorer.
• Click on Internet Options.
• From the General tab, click on Delete.
• Click on Temporary Internet Files.
• Click on Delete.
• Go to the Connections tab, then choose the LAN settings.
• Checkmark the option Automatically Detects Settings.
• Remove any entries for a Proxy server.
• Click on Ok, then again on Ok.
• Go to the Advanced tab.
• Mark the two options SSL 2.0 and 3.0.
• Choose the option to ensure that Internet Explorer checks for the publisher’s certificate.
• Go back to the Advanced tab, and ensure that all versions of TLS are also checked.

Here are the steps to verify if a QuickBooks error is occurring because of cipher strength:

• Launch the Internet Explorer.
• Go to https://www.intuit.com.
• Press the ALT button to view the menu.
• Click on Files, then Properties.
• Look for information related to Connection. It should state 128 bit encryption.

Creating custom firewall rules is important when you’ve not configured the program to allow QuickBooks to access network connection.

Follow these steps:

• First Close QuickBooks desktop after saving changes made to the data.
• In the start menu, type in Windows Firewall.
• Go to the Advanced Settings.
• In the left panel, click on Inbound Rules.
• From the right panel, click on New Rule.
• Choose Port, then Next, then enter port numbers to enable access for QuickBooks desktop. (I’ve given the port numbers after the solution. So you can scroll down to find the required information.)
• Choose Next, then Allow the Connection, then Next again.
• Input a Name for the Rule, then choose Finish.

Now, choose Outbound rules from the left panel and follow steps 5 to 8 to create a new outbound rule for QuickBooks desktop.

Let’s discuss the port numbers. QuickBooks 2019 and above use dynamic port numbers. These ports are assigned when you install the software on your system.

So here are the port numbers:

• QuickBooks desktop 2017: 8019, 56727, 55373-55377
• QuickBooks desktop 2018: 8019, 56728, 55378-55382
• QuickBooks desktop 2019 and later: 8019, XXXXX

Here’s how to get the dynamic port number when hosting your company file on a separate server:

• Go to the start menu and type QuickBooks Database Server Manager.
• Launch the program.
• Select the Port Monitor tab.
• Note down the Port Number for your version of QuickBooks desktop.

Configure internet explorer properly.

I’ve seen many users encounter update errors because of incorrect preferences selected in internet explorer. While this browser is obsolete and useless, many versions of QuickBooks desktop still rely on it to connect to the internet. 

Disable security software

Disable any third party security software you’ve on your system and try to update the payroll once again. If you don’t get the same problem and the update process succeeds, then reach out to the provider of the security software for further information about dealing with this error.

Solution #6: fix .NET Framework

This is an essential dependency for QuickBooks Desktop. If .Net Framework is damaged, certain features in QuickBooks may stop working. You can either repair the software or reinstall it after downloading the setup from Microsoft’s website.

Here are the steps to fix QuickBooks error by repairing the .NET Framework:

• Go to the Control Panel from the start menu.
• Choose Program and Features, then Uninstall a Program.
• Choose Microsoft .NET Framework.
• Click on Uninstall/Change.
• Choose Repair and follow the on-screen instructions.
• Restart your system.

Need Professional Help?

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Read Also – Fix QuickBooks Payroll Update Error

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