Hosted QuickBooks (Rightworks and others)
Some businesses run QuickBooks Desktop on a hosting service such as Rightworks. You sign in to a remote Windows desktop, and QuickBooks runs there instead of on your own computer. The connection can work in this setup, with one rule: everything happens inside the hosted desktop, not on your own computer.
How it works when QuickBooks is hosted
Section titled “How it works when QuickBooks is hosted”The QuickBooks Web Connector has to run on the same Windows desktop as QuickBooks. For hosted QuickBooks, that is the remote desktop your provider gives you. The Web Connector there checks in with our server over HTTPS, exactly as it would in an office.
That means the connection only works while your hosted session is running and the Web Connector is running inside it. If the provider signs you out or closes the session, the app’s requests wait until the Web Connector checks in again.
Ask your provider first
Section titled “Ask your provider first”Hosting providers set their own rules for which programs you can run and how long a session stays alive after you disconnect. Before you start, ask your provider:
- Can the QuickBooks Web Connector run in my hosted session?
- Does my session keep running after I close the remote desktop window, or does it sign out?
- Can the Web Connector start automatically when my session starts?
If the Web Connector cannot run or cannot stay running, the connection will only work while you are signed in to the hosted desktop.
Set up inside the hosted desktop
Section titled “Set up inside the hosted desktop”- Sign in to your hosted desktop.
- Open the setup link inside the hosted desktop, in its web browser. If you open the link on your own computer, the connector file downloads to the wrong machine.
- Follow the setup steps as usual. See Connect QuickBooks Desktop. Open the company file as Admin in single-user mode in the hosted QuickBooks.
- When you download the connector file, open it from the hosted desktop’s downloads folder. If it does not open the Web Connector, use File › App Management › Update Web Services in the hosted QuickBooks, click Add an application, and select the file.
- Paste the password into the hosted Web Connector, check the box next to the app and turn on Auto-Run.
- Wait for the connection test to pass.
Keep it running
Section titled “Keep it running”- Disconnect from the hosted desktop instead of signing out, if your provider keeps disconnected sessions alive. Signing out stops the Web Connector.
- Leave Auto-Run on and Every-Min empty. See Web Connector settings to keep.
- If your provider restarts sessions overnight, check the next morning that the Web Connector is running in your session. Ask your provider whether it can start automatically.
Check that it worked
Section titled “Check that it worked”- The setup page shows QuickBooks Desktop is connected.
- After you disconnect and wait a few minutes, an action in the app still succeeds. If it fails with “not reachable”, your session stops the Web Connector when you leave.
When to contact the app’s support team
Section titled “When to contact the app’s support team”Contact them if setup passes but the connection drops often. Send the times it stopped working, the exact message, the name of your hosting provider and a screenshot of the Web Connector in your hosted desktop. If the provider blocks the Web Connector, only the provider can change that.