Error: Unable to connect to QuickBooks or a QuickBooks company file

Overview

When Zed Axis attempts to connect to QuickBooks desktop or a QuickBooks company file you get an error message of "Unable to connect to QuickBooks" or "Please connect to a QuickBooks company file" (If you are trying to connect to QuickBooks Online click here, QuickBooks Point of Sale here, or Reckon Accounts click here) 

Steps to connect to QuickBooks desktop

1. Open your QuickBooks Company file, if this is the first time you are connecting you will need to log into the QuickBooks Company file with the Administrator login details as that user must grant permission for Axis to connect
2. Open Zed Axis and click the Connection tab, select QuickBooks desktop a select the connection type as either 
   1. Open File mode - Axis will connect to the company file that is open on your desktop.
   2. Unattended mode - Allows Axis to connect to a file that is not currently open in QuickBooks but note if this is the first time connecting in unattended mode you will need to have QuickBooks open  to provide permissions and save the connection details, then on subsequent connections QuickBooks does not need to be open in order for Axis to connect, ie Unattended mode.
3. Finally click the Connect button
4. 

   Connect to QuickBooks Desktop
5. Axis will then begin the connection process, if this is the first time connecting then you should see in QuickBooks a message box appear requesting you to give permission for Axis to connect, we recommend that you select the option to Allow Axis to connect whenever the QuickBooks company file is open.
6. If the connection is successful you will see a message box appearing saying the Connected successfully and in the Axis status bar you will see the Name and full path to the QuickBooks company file you are connected to.  You can now starting importing or exporting to QuickBooks.

Troubleshooting steps

If you encounter an error during the connection process please follow these steps to troubleshoot this issue:

Step One: Checking your QuickBooks setup

1. Ensure that you have QuickBooks installed, the latest QuickBooks updates have been applied, your company file open, and you log into QuickBooks as the Administrator or with Admin permissions.
2. When promoted by QuickBooks give Axis permission to access the QuickBooks company file.
3. If QuickBooks is running as Administrator or elevated mode (windows shield on the desktop icon) the please run Axis as Administrator too.
4. Check that you meet the minimum systems requirements to use Zed Axis System Requirements.
5. If you are using Microsoft Vista, 7 or 8, please ensure that you have User Account Control  (UAC) set to On or Always Notify. (if changing UAC you will need to reboot Windows for the change to take affect). However if you are using a 64bit version of Windows and you receive an unable to connect message you should turn UAC off, reboot and then try a connection.
6. End any crashed instances of QuickBooks (qbw32.exe), by using the Windows Task Manager
7. Ensure you have only one QuickBooks company file open.
8. If you have previously connected to QuickBooks and now are unable to, remove the old connection from QuickBooks Integrated Applications list (you will need to have Admin permissions) go to Edit > Preferences > Integrated Application list, select the Zed Axis listing and click Delete and then retry a new connection.

Step Two: Refresh your QuickBooks interface files

When Zed Axis attempts to connect to QuickBooks but is unable to establish a connection, it may be caused by a corrupt, unregistered or unsupported QuickBooks interface, to refresh the interface follow the steps below:

1. Back up and safely store your QuickBooks company file
2. Search for the file Reboot.bat (found in C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks) and run that file As Administrator (mouse over file and right click to select As Administrator) 
3. Reboot your PC and try to connect.

Troubleshooting specific QuickBooks Error messages:

Error: After upgrading QuickBooks Axis is no longer able to connect

After upgrading Axis cannot connect to QuickBooks.  Please try these steps:

1. Open QuickBooks and selected  the menu Company > Preferences > Integrated Applications
2. In the list of integrated application select Axis and delete it from the list.
3. Close QuickBooks and reboot your PC
4. Open QuickBooks and login as Admin and then open Axis and try to connect.

Error: QuickBooks already has a company file open. If you want to open another company file, close this one first.

Zed Axis can only connect to one company file at a time.  If you have more than one company file open then you will need to close those you do not want to connect to and try again.  If you do not appear to have more than one company file open it could be that there is another instance of QuickBooks open or crashed in the background. Try the following steps:

1. Close Zed Axis and QuickBooks
2. Use the Windows Task Manager to close all QuickBooks processes
3. Make sure that you have not got the Keep QuickBooks running for quick startups option checked in the QuickBooks Preferences > Company settings,
4. Reboot your physical machine and restart QuickBooks, Zed Axis and try and connect again.

Error: QuickBooks can't start because it is already running.

When Zed Axis tries to connect to QuickBooks it is unable to find a running instance of QuickBooks, and a new instance is started.  This error generally occurs when by default QuickBooks has been configured to Run As Administrator, and Zed Axis is running at a non elevated mode.  In order to make a successful connection both Axis and QuickBooks must be running at the same level ie As Administrator or in Non-elevated mode.  By default Zed Axis runs in Non-elevated mode so in order to run in Administrator mode please follow these steps:

1. Close Zed Axis and QuickBooks
2. Use the Windows Task Manager to close all QuickBooks processes
3. Open QuickBooks using the desktop icon
4. Browse to the Zed Axis.exe file that you can find in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Zed\Axis 16.0  
5. Right click on the Zed Axis.exe file and select the option to Run As Administrator
6. Once Axis is open then retry connecting to QuickBooks

Error: If the QuickBooks company data file is not open, a call to the "BeginSession" method must include the name of the data file.

When attempting to connect a second copy of QuickBooks is opened and the above error message is displayed.  Please check the QuickBooks preferences ,Edit > Preferences > General > My Preferences and make sure that the option to Keep QuickBooks running for quick startups is not selected

Error: qbXML components have not been installed.

This error indicates that the interface files that QuickBooks desktop uses to allow apps to connect are damaged or have been deleted. Try updating your copy of QuickBooks desktop and then restart QuickBooks and retry the connection.  If the problem persists then try renaming the QuickBooks .TLG files that you can find C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files\  then restart QuickBooks and retry the connection.

Troubleshooting Specific QuickBooks Error codes:

QuickBooks keeps a log of connections in this file C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QuickBooks\qbsdklog.txt you will find more details on the cause of the error here.  Once you have the code then the following steps can be investigated:

0x80040404 - indicates that the version of QuickBooks currently running does not support 3rd party applications connecting to it, please confirm that you meet the Zed Axis System Requirements
0x80040409 - indicates that the version of QuickBooks currently running cannot work with the provided data file
0x8004040A - indicates that the data file already open is different from the requested one. 
0x80040154 & 0x800401f3- indicates a permission error to access QuickBooks via an application
0x8004041c & 0x800401f3 - If you are running 64bit windows then please try with UAC switched off (a reboot will be required to take affect)

qbXML components have not been installed - please follow these instructions provided by Intuit.  Also when connecting to your QuickBooks company file can you please  use the network path instead of a mapped drive.

Other possible causes:

• Permissions on the folder that contains your QuickBooks company file - In some instances the folder that holds your QuickBooks company file may not have sufficient permission. Please ensure it has Full Access, right click on the folder and select Properties > Security and select Full control
• Running the QuickBooks application as Administrator - If you have run QuickBooks with elevated permissions (ie with the shield) then Axis will not be able to connect to QuickBooks, please close QuickBooks and run at a non elevated mode and try and connect.
• Running multiple releases of QuickBooks on one machine - If you are running multiple releases of QuickBooks on the same machine ie (2008 & 2009, or Canada and UK) then you may have installed an older version after the latest release, if you have you will need to follow the instructions on this article to resolve this issue.
• Mapped drives - If you have mapped a drive to the location of your QuickBooks company file, please retry opening the company file with the Full path.

Older versions of QuickBooks

If you are using an older version of QuickBooks, then you may not be able to connect to QuickBooks.  To correct this issue follow these steps (Intuit Support have an alternative approach listed in here):

1. Login to QuickBooks and your company file as Administrator in single user mode
2. Select the company preferences Edit > Preferences > Integrated Applications > Company Preferences
3. For each application listed we are going to uncheck the ability to login automatically:
   1. Highlight the application and click the Properties tab
   2. Un-check the box which says "Allow this application to login automatically".
4. Restart QuickBooks and reset the login automatically mode and a user with sufficient permissions
5. Login again as Administrator in single user mode
6. Select the company preferences Edit > Preferences > Integrated Applications > Company Preferences
7. For each application listed:
   1. Highlight the application and click the Properties tab
   2. Check the box which says "Allow this application to login automatically" and select a user with admin permissions
8. Restart QuickBooks.

By Steve Batten