QB update needs permission from system admin

Welcome to Community @Lakeside26,

We need to log in as an administrator in QuickBooks Desktop to permit the updates, and to make the admin aware of the updates on the account. Once you login to your QuickBooks Desktop account, you can check if you successfully login as administrator. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Company menu.
2. Select the Users tab.
3. Choose View Users.

Check if you logged on as Admin. If not, then you need to contact the admin on the account and help you update your QuickBooks Desktop account.

For more detailed information on how to update QuickBooks Desktop, visit this link: Update QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release.

If you have additional questions, feel free to leave a message in the comment section. I'll be happier to help you get back to business. Have a good one!

I am logged in as the system admin and I still receive this message. We recently upgraded to QB 2020 so I don't know if something has changed because of that. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to fix this issue.

Thank you!  That is also a good tip.  I appreciate it.

You're always welcome, @Lakeside26

In case you need to learn some tips and tricks in managing your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) software. You can always check our Help articles page for reference. There, you can read some of our great articles that can guide you in your future tasks.

Don't hesitate to get back to us whenever you need help with your QBDT software. Our door is always open to help you anytime. Have a good one and keep safe!

Our office has QB Desktop 2019. Users have been getting the "There is a new Quickbooks software update waiting for you" message, and  "Looks like you don't have the required permission ..." I followed the steps described above short of uninstalling and reinstalling QuickBooks: single user mode, log on as QB admin. Once logged in I got the various dialogues about installing the update, which it appeared to do, but it didn't actually update. I kept getting the message, "There is a new Quickbooks software update waiting for you".

I had to log into the computer as the  computer/domain administrator user, then it automatically installed the update when I launched QB 2019.

This is a problem. A user with QB admin privilege should be able to update. Alternatives are either for an actual Admin to log into the computer to do the update, or to give the user the admin credentials and log out and back in as the computer admin user. Neither alternative is desirable. In fact, QB doesn't even bring up the dialog asking for the admin credentials in the current users session, as most other software does.

Is there anything I can do about this?

I'd like to share a solution that you can try. JMF. 

The error message you're getting occurs if the file is read incorrectly on a Windows computer. You'll want to do the following to fix the issue:

1. Close all the programs then restart your computer.
2. Right-click the QuickBooks Desktop icon.
3. Select Run as the Administrator.

Once done, update QuickBooks to the latest release or set up QuickBooks to automatically download the updates.

You can also check this article if you're getting a specific error code: Fix QuickBooks Desktop Update Errors.

Please keep me posted on how it goes. I'll be around to help until a solution is found. Thanks.

I'm having the same issue.  When I right click on the Quickbooks Icon, it wants me to put in a User Name and Password for the Domain SEA.  I don't know what User Name and Password they are looking for.

Because I can't do this update, it won't let me go into Payroll Set-Up to update my UC rate for 2021.

Any help would be appreciated.

Gail

I can help you with that, Gail.

QuickBooks Desktop requires you to enter admin credentials when updating the payroll setup. To successfully change your UC rate, please make sure to login as an administrator in the program.

If you've forgotten your username and password, you can use the Automated Password Reset Tool to reset your admin credentials in any version of QuickBooks Desktop for Windows. Here's how to do it:

.

1. Download the Automated password tool for QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Enter the license number and business information you used upon registering QuickBooks, then click Next.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions, then accept the license agreement to download the tool.
4. If it asks you to run or save the file, choose Save and save it to your desktop.
5. Run the Automated Password Reset tool and then enter the token number you've received via email.
6. Select the appropriate QuickBooks version from the QuickBooks Desktop Products drop-down menu.
7. Click Browse for Company File, and then choose the company file you want to reset the password for.
8. Enter the user name, then type and confirm the new password.
9. Click Reset Password to complete the process.

Additionally, here's an article that you can read to be guided in updating in y our State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) rate in QuickBooks.

Our doors are always open to assist you with any concerns or questions you may have. Looking forward to helping you out again.

RenjolynC, thanks for that information. Yes, it does work (sort of) if I right-click the QB icon and run as administrator. This lets me enter the computer/domain administrator credentials and it will then do the update. So, this way I don't have to log the user out and log back in as the administrator.

However, that's not entirely the solution I'm looking for. This still requires either that the system administrator manually enter the computer/domain Administrator credentials, or those credentials be given to the user so he/she can do it themselves. Is there a way to permit an ordinary user to do QB updates or is this a Microsoft/Windows 10 thing? For example, Firefox will update itself automatically without needed admin credentials. Could not QB be configured to do the same thing?

Hello @JMF,

Let me help share insights on how updating QuickBooks works. You can set it up to automatically download the latest release of your QuickBooks year version. But the administrator still needs to log in to initiate the installation process.

This is the reason why you'll see a prompt based on the screenshot below when opening QuickBooks. Learn more about how you can update QuickBooks with this article: Learn how to keep your software up-to-date so you always have the latest features and fixes.

Additionally, you can also browse for the content of this helpful article in case you'll bump into errors while using QuickBooks: Learn what you can do if there's an error prompt in QuickBooks Desktop.

If there's anything else that I can help you with, please let me know in the comment below. I'll be here to assists you. Stay safe and well!

I have the box on my screen:

theres a new Quickboks software update waiting for you. Looks like you don't have the required permissions. Contact your system administrator.

How do I accesss my Quickbooks?

Hi there, @MFD23,

QuickBooks Desktop recently updated some security features in the program. Account specific tasks within the company file, like downloading update patches, will require admin rights to complete. You also need to be the administrator for Windows to allow updates in the PC.

To resolve this, sign in as the Administrator. You can see your login role when you go to Company > User > Set Up Users and Roles. To learn more about this change, see it here: Intuit account – Why now for QuickBooks Desktop?

For now, you can get in touch with the Admin user to perform the update for you. If the Admin is no longer with the company, follow KlentB's steps to reset the password. 

Otherwise, if you are using the Admin login but the update won't go through, please contact our Support Team. Refer to this article to learn more about our contact options and support availability: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support

Kindly update this thread on how it goes. I'll be right here if you need further help inviting employees to Workforce or other things in QuickBooks.

So Why cant QB get permission from administrator ?

Hello there, Mark234.  I hope you're good today.
 

QuickBooks cannot perform the update without your admin permission. That is why you'll need to check your role and verify if you have the right access for QuickBooks updates.

Still, I'd recommend following the recommendation by my colleagues above. If you do not have this access right, you can reach out to your administrator to perform the update since QuickBooks will not do the update without this access. 

You can check these articles for additional information:

• QuickBooks Desktop Company file. 
• Fix QuickBooks Desktop Update Errors. 

Please visit again if you have other questions with QuickBooks Desktop. Take care always.

It will not open, even if I right click and select run as administrator. Still says I don’t have permissions.

Let me help you move past the issue, 10131.

The error message occurs when the file is read incorrectly on a Windows computer.  

If you're still getting the "There's a new QuickBooks software update waiting for you. Looks like you don't have the required permissions. Contact your systems administrator." error, we can try restarting your PC first. Then, download and install the update through these steps: 

1. Go to the Downloads & Updates page.
2. From the Select Country dropdown, select your country.
3. In the Select Product dropdown, select the product you're using.
4. From the Select Version dropdown, select your version (year).
5. Then, click Search.
6. Select Get the latest updates link.
7. Once the download is complete you can run and install it.

After the update process, you can try opening QuickBooks. If the error persists do a right-click on the QuickBooks Desktop icon and click Run as Administrator again.

If these steps don’t work, download and install the QuickBooks Tool Hub. This utility can help fix many common issues and errors with the desktop program. The following guide outlines the complete steps on how to use the tool: QuickBooks Desktop doesn't start or won't open.

For additional resources, these links already provided by my colleagues will give you an overview of how to resolve the following.

• QuickBooks Desktop Update Errors
• Solutions for when QuickBooks has stopped working

Please be sure to check back in with me here and let me know how this goes. I'm always around to help you in any way I can. Take care!

I'm on the phone with tech support.  they have no clue!!!  I restarted and it still doesn't work.  I can't even get to open.  It just says I have no permission and to "Close quickbooks"

We have this same issue occur periodically when Quickbooks is forcing an update and does not even let us login to Desktop Premier 2020. I've read through these threads and find there is a communications gap in the conversations. Here are my comments:

• We do not get the "Install Now" and "Install Later" options-  just the "you don't have permissions" statement and a "Close Quickbooks" button. (pictures from QB Team on the support threads show the install buttons, but we don't get those). 
• QB team and thread contributors keep using the term "system administrator" or "Administrator", but they don't distinguish between the Windows desktop administrator and the QB software administrator. Those are 2 different things and 2 different sets of credentials.  That, I can see, is greatly confusing the issue. 
• With the error that you're receiving (and us as well), you will need a Windows desktop administrator ID and password (outside of quickbooks) to run quickbooks as a Windows administrator and do the update.  For us, this is a big beef we have with QB because our Windows desktop system administrator is not always available and not even part of our organization, so we can't access QB at all until we can track them down.  In order to upgrade, we have to right click on the Quickbooks app icon, select Run as Administrator, have the Windows systems administrator enter their Windows admin ID and password, then go through the appropriate upgrade steps. Once we verify the upgrade worked, we close quickbooks, then the Quickbooks administrator can login with their Quickbooks administrator credentials.
• Very frustrated that QB doesn't give the "install later" option and forces the upgrade now. Not everyone has quick access to a Windows system admin ID, especially if desktop support is outsourced.

I'm a single user and I get this error message and I can't even open or log on.  

Good day, megsquiltedmemories!

I'm here to help you in updating your QuickBooks Desktop so you can get back to business.

Before you update it, make sure you have admin access. You can reach out to the administrator to perform the update.

If the reason why you can't log in is due to an incorrect or forgotten password, you can still reset it. Please check these articles on how to update QuickBooks Desktop and reset the password:

• Reset your password for QuickBooks Desktop

• Update QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release

In addition, I added some links that can help you in fixing issues due to damaged files:

• Verify and Rebuild Data in QuickBooks Desktop

• Fix company file and network issues with QuickBooks File Doctor

Post a reply below if you have additional concerns. Take care!

AlexV, it might help the previous poster is you are clearer that they need the Windows Desktop administrative access to run quickbooks as an administrator, not just the quickbooks administrator credentials.

Please help with login password to pay payroll taxes and transfer information.