Requirements

Check this list before you open your setup link. If one item does not match, setup usually fails at a later step with a message that does not point back to the real cause.

Computer

• A Windows computer that runs QuickBooks Desktop. Any Windows version that your QuickBooks release supports works for the connection too.
• The computer stays on and signed in to Windows while you want the app to reach your books. When it sleeps, shuts down or signs out, the app waits until it is back.
• The QuickBooks Web Connector runs on that same computer, under the same Windows user that added the app to it. The Web Connector keeps its list of apps and saved passwords separately for each Windows user.
• QuickBooks and the Web Connector run at the same permission level. Either both start normally, or both start with Run as administrator. See Run QuickBooks and the Web Connector at the same permission level.

In a multi-user office, run the Web Connector on a computer with the full QuickBooks Desktop program that opens the company file and stays on. A server that runs only the QuickBooks Database Server Manager cannot approve the app. Use the connection in a multi-user office explains the choice.

QuickBooks Desktop

Edition	Supported versions
QuickBooks Desktop Pro	2018 and later
QuickBooks Desktop Premier	2018 and later
QuickBooks Desktop Accountant	2018 and later
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise	Versions that support qbXML 13.0 or newer, about 2014 and later

Only US editions work. Canadian, UK and other non-US editions of QuickBooks Desktop are not supported, even when the version year matches.

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Point of Sale are different products and do not work with this connection.

Keep one QuickBooks Desktop version installed on the computer where possible. With several years installed side by side, the Web Connector can open the wrong one. See Keep one QuickBooks version installed.

QuickBooks Web Connector

• The classic QuickBooks Web Connector, version 2.2.0.34 or newer. Older builds cannot use TLS 1.2 and fail with QBWC1012.
• To see your version, open the Web Connector and choose Help › About. Upgrade the Web Connector covers updating it.

QuickBooks users and access

For the first approval only:

• Sign in to the company file as the QuickBooks Admin user.
• Open the file in single-user mode, with no one else signed in.

After that first approval, everyday use works in multi-user mode, and the connection signs in as the QuickBooks user you chose under Login as. That user needs permission for whatever the app does, for example creating invoices. See Create a dedicated QuickBooks user for the connection.

Network

The connection only makes outgoing HTTPS requests on port 443. Allow the computer to reach these two addresses:

Address	Used by	When
qbwc.desktopaccountingapi.com	The Web Connector	All the time, every few seconds
connect.desktopaccountingapi.com	Your web browser	During setup

You do not open any incoming ports, set up port forwarding or install a VPN. Nothing on your network listens for connections from us.

Some antivirus programs, firewalls and web proxies inspect HTTPS traffic by replacing the server’s certificate with their own. The Web Connector rejects that substitute certificate. If your network does this, ask your IT person to exclude qbwc.desktopaccountingapi.com from HTTPS inspection. See QBWC1048: Could not verify the server certificate.

The Windows clock must be correct, because certificate checks depend on the date.

Hosted QuickBooks

If QuickBooks runs on a hosting service, such as Rightworks, the Web Connector has to run inside your hosted desktop session, and that session has to stay signed in. Hosting providers set their own rules here. Check with your provider whether the QuickBooks Web Connector can run and stay running in your session. See Hosted QuickBooks (Rightworks and others).

For developers and IT

The full support matrix, including qbXML versions, is in Supported environments. Data handling and transport security are in Security.