# Use the connection in a multi-user office
Source: https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/guides/multi-user-mode/

> Pick the right computer for the Web Connector when several people share a QuickBooks company file.

In many offices, the company file lives on a server or shared computer, and several people open it at once in multi-user mode. The connection works in this setup. The two things to get right are which computer runs the Web Connector, and how you handle the one-time authorization.

## Pick the computer that runs the Web Connector

The Web Connector talks to the copy of QuickBooks Desktop on its own computer. That computer must:

- have full QuickBooks Desktop installed, not only the QuickBooks Database Server Manager,
- be able to open the company file,
- stay on and signed in to Windows, with the Web Connector running,
- not go to sleep.

The best choice is usually the computer that hosts the company file, as long as it has full QuickBooks Desktop. It is on all the time and reaches the file directly, without a network share in between.

If the server only runs the Database Server Manager, choose a workstation with full QuickBooks that stays on all day. A dedicated office computer is better than someone's laptop, which leaves the office and sleeps.

> **Caution:**
> A server that runs only the QuickBooks Database Server Manager cannot run the connection. The Database Server Manager shares the file with other computers. It cannot show the Application Certificate window or answer the Web Connector, so authorization fails there.

## Authorize once in single-user mode

QuickBooks lets only the Admin user allow a new app, and only in single-user mode. You do this once, during setup.

1. Pick a quiet time and ask everyone to close the company file. QuickBooks needs them out before it can switch to single-user mode.
2. On the computer that will run the Web Connector, open the company file and sign in as **Admin**.
3. Choose **File › Switch to Single-user Mode**.
4. Run the setup link. On the **Allow access in QuickBooks** step, choose **Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running**, and pick the QuickBooks user under **Login as**.
5. Finish setup, then choose **File › Switch to Multi-user Mode**. Your team can sign back in.

After the first authorization, multi-user mode is fine. The connection works while other people have the file open.

## Pick the QuickBooks user for the connection

When the Web Connector opens the company file by itself, it signs in as the user you chose under **Login as**. QuickBooks does not let one user sign in twice at the same time. If the connection uses the same QuickBooks user as a person in the office, one of them can be refused.

Create a separate QuickBooks user for the connection to avoid this. See [Create a dedicated QuickBooks user for the connection](https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/guides/dedicated-quickbooks-user/).

If QuickBooks is already open on the Web Connector computer with the company file, the app's requests run through that open session and its signed-in user.

## Licenses

QuickBooks counts how many users are signed in at the same moment. When the Web Connector opens the file with the connection's user, that sign-in uses a seat for as long as the file stays open. If your office often uses every seat, someone may be refused while the connection is signed in. Leaving QuickBooks closed on the Web Connector computer when nobody uses it there keeps the seat free between requests.

## Records other people are editing

If someone has a customer, invoice or other record open for editing, QuickBooks locks it. The app's change to that record fails until they close it. See [A record is open or locked by another user](https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/connection-errors/record-in-use/).

## Check that it worked

- Setup ended with **QuickBooks Desktop is connected**.
- After you switch back to multi-user mode and people sign back in, actions in the app still succeed.

## When to contact the app's support team

Contact them if requests fail only while others have the file open, or if you need a new setup link after changing which computer runs the Web Connector. Send the time, the exact message and a screenshot of the app's row in the Web Connector.

## Related pages

- [Single-user or multi-user mode conflict](https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/connection-errors/single-user-multi-user/)
- [QBWC1039: Only the Admin can grant first access](https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/connection-errors/admin-required/)
- [Move the connection to a new computer](https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/guides/move-to-new-computer/)
- [Requirements](https://www.desktopaccountingapi.com/docs/help/requirements/)