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Desktop Accounting API

QBWC1039: Only the Admin can grant first access

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QuickBooks has never approved this app for this company file, and the person signed in to QuickBooks is not allowed to approve it. QuickBooks reserves first approval for the Admin user.

What you see

Section titled “What you see”

The Web Connector shows a QBWC1039 error that says the application has not accessed this QuickBooks company data file before, and that only the QuickBooks administrator can grant first access. The app’s support team may see the code 0x80040418.

The app, or the setup page under the title “QuickBooks needs the Admin user”, shows:

QuickBooks needs the Admin user to allow this connection the first time. Sign in to QuickBooks as Admin, in single-user mode, and run the Web Connector again.

Why it happens

Section titled “Why it happens”

QuickBooks keeps a list of apps allowed into each company file. Only the user named Admin can add an app to that list, and only while the file is in single-user mode. You see this error when the Web Connector tries to reach the file for the first time and:

  • the person signed in is a regular QuickBooks user, not Admin
  • the file is in multi-user mode, or someone else is signed in
  • QuickBooks is closed, so nobody is there to answer the approval window

It also appears after the app was removed from Edit › Preferences › Integrated Applications, because QuickBooks then treats it as new.

How to fix it

Section titled “How to fix it”
  1. Ask everyone else to close the company file or sign out of QuickBooks.
  2. On the computer that runs the Web Connector, open QuickBooks Desktop and the company file.
  3. If you are signed in as another user, choose File › Close Company/Logoff, then open the file again and sign in as Admin.
  4. Choose File › Switch to Single-user Mode if that option appears.
  5. Close any open windows inside QuickBooks.
  6. Trigger the approval again. In the Web Connector, check the box next to the app and click Update Selected. During setup, you can also open the connector file again.
  7. QuickBooks shows the Application Certificate window. Choose Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running, pick the QuickBooks user under Login as, then click Continue and Done.
  8. Switch back to multi-user mode if your office shares the file.

If you do not know the Admin password, the person who manages your QuickBooks file needs to do these steps. We cannot reset QuickBooks passwords.

How to check it worked

Section titled “How to check it worked”

The app now appears in QuickBooks under Edit › Preferences › Integrated Applications, on the Company Preferences tab. In the Web Connector, the next update for the app finishes without QBWC1039. During setup, click Check again and wait for QuickBooks opened the company file to tick off.

When to contact the app’s support

Section titled “When to contact the app’s support”

Contact them if the Application Certificate window never appears while you are signed in as Admin in single-user mode. Send the time, the exact message, your QuickBooks edition and year, and a screenshot of the app’s row in the Web Connector window.

Section titled “Related pages”

For developers, see QBD_ADMIN_REQUIRED.