requirement to log into intuit account to use desktop file

Hello there, @btks.

Let me share some information on how QuickBooks manages the security of your data.

QuickBooks Desktop 2021 doesn't require that you stay logged in to your company file using your Intuit account. However, it requires you to sign in as the administrator user anytime you're opening an existing company file or creating a new one. 

However, you'd only be asked to do so once you enter sensitive information in your company file. Here are some of the personally identifiable information (PII) that may trigger the login feature:

• Employee and Company Social Security Number
• Company Bank Details (Routing Number, Account Number)
• Accounts with bank or credit card numbers
• Customers with CC numbers
• Vendors with Tax ID’s

Also, if your QuickBooks company file is linked to your Intuit Merchant Services and uses the payroll subscription, you'd be asked to login as administrator. You can read through this article for more detailed information: Password security for QuickBooks Desktop.

On the other hand, you'd be asked to log in using your Intuit account on the following occasions:

• Creating your QuickBooks company file
• Add a user
• Sign in to My Company
• Accessing Intuit User Account Management

You can check these articles for more details on managing and securing your accounts: 

• What is CAMPs and how do I use it?
• Create or open a company file using your Intuit account ID.

Always feel free to click the Reply button below if you have other questions about accessing your company file in QuickBooks. I'm always a few clicks away.

So, just to clarify, if I do not use merchant services, payroll, bank feeds, or any other Intuit service I would not have to log into an intuit account to gain access to my database.  I do understand that I have to log into the database.  I have always had it and my desktop computer password protected.

Thanks for getting back to us, @btks.

When opening your new QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) company file, you're required to log in using your Intuit account ID after signing in as Admin. The good news is, you can still use the same credentials even after upgrading your QBDT version.

After that, you're no longer required to log in using your Intuit account unless you perform the following:

• Create another QuickBooks company file
• Add a user
• Sign in to My Company
• Accessing Intuit User Account Management

For more information about upgrading QBDT and opening a company, consider checking out these articles:

• Upgrade to newer versions of QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, or Enterprise.
• Create or open a company file using your Intuit account ID.

Leave a comment in this thread if you have any additional questions. I'll be more than happy to help. Have a wonderful day!

Ok, so I would have to sign in the 1st time I open the file in QB 2021 and update it.  But only the 1 time, correct?  After that would I be able to use the file without internet access?  Our one option for internet at the office is not the most reliable.

What about a laptop that is not connected to the internet?  I always upgrade with a cd, not a download.  I install on my work desktop and also install on my home computer.  I do not have internet available at home. So, if I cannot log into the Intuit account on that computer, will I be able to open the file at all or will it be stuck on that step?

Thanks for getting back to us, @btks.

As per my colleague discussed above, sign in with your Intuit account is mandated only with the following scenarios:

• A new QuickBooks Company file is created.
• If you have the following connected services: Payments, Payroll direct deposit, TSheets time tracking, Payroll Workforce, Receipt Management (new for QuickBooks 2021), and more to come.
• When an existing QuickBooks Desktop Company file is opened using the Admin credentials, and no Intuit account is associated. QuickBooks users will be prompted to log in or create an Intuit account. Pro and Premier users may choose to delay this action for up to 28 days and QuickBooks Enterprise users up to 42.

For more info, proceed to the Intuit account section of this article: QuickBooks Desktop Intuit account. 

Also, you can always access your QuickBooks Desktop file from the computer it is installed on regardless of internet connection. You'll only need an internet connection for downloading the software if not on disk, activation and registration of your QuickBooks, and updating the product to the latest release. 

Additionally, if your RealmID (company identifier) is not saved in your company file, as a result, QuickBooks will require an Intuit login every time you attempt to open it. To prevent this, please head to Intuit login is required every time the company file is opened at this link for the detailed steps. 
 

Here's a helpful article that will guide you to manage your data safely and easily: Access and manage your personal data from the One Intuit Account Manager.

Keep in touch with me if you have further concerns about accessing your company file. I'll be around whenever you need further assistance. Take care always.

"I always upgrade with a cd, not a download. I install on my work desktop and also install on my home computer. I do not have internet available at home. So, if I cannot log into the Intuit account on that computer, will I be able to open the file at all or will it be stuck at that step?  "

This is the question I asked above but I am still not sure of the answer. 

In your reply I see the following:

- "sign in with your Intuit account is mandated when an existing QuickBooks Desktop Company file is opened using the Admin credentials, and no Intuit account is associated. QuickBooks users will be prompted to log in or create an Intuit account. Pro and Premier users may choose to delay this action for up to 28 days and QuickBooks Enterprise users up to 42."

- "you can always access your QuickBooks Desktop file from the computer it is installed on regardless of internet connection"

The first part I quoted sounds like I have to have internet connection to open the data file in QB2021 the 1st time I use it after installation, but the 2nd part says that I can ALWAYS access the file without internet.

Also the article you referenced states: "Save your Intuit account Primary Admin credentials. The QuickBooks Desktop file will require that you log back into the Intuit account, detailed in the steps above, every 180 days".

Please advise if the answer is yes or no.  Thank you

Yes, you're correct, @btks.

After you have signed in the first time opening the file in QBDT 2021 and updated it, you should be able to use QuickBooks without the internet connection. And when you upgrade QuickBooks Desktop using a cd without connecting to the internet at your home, you'll be able to open the file also.

I have other articles that you can rely on about QB2021. It includes installing, upgrading your company file, and support information if you need a hand with the process:

• What's new in QuickBooks Desktop 2021
• Install QuickBooks Desktop (See that while this article mentions downloading the program, you can install by using the disc that came with your purchase.)
• Upgrade your company files after switching to a new version of QuickBooks Desktop

Please let me know if you have other questions about installation and upgrading QuickBooks Desktop. I'd be happy to help. Have a safe day, btks!

I have seen several posts from Intuit staff which suggest Intuit is taking information from our company files and storing it on their servers. Usually this is dressed up behind a screen of "we take security seriously and all your information is encrypted" or similar deflections, rather than acknowledging that you are taking that information.

Our company file is OUR property and the privacy and security of this information is OUR requirement and OUR responsibility.

Intuit, do NOT take our private information under these paternalistic or any other pretenses!

I never did seem to get a definite answer here so I have not upgraded to pro 2021. 

I have been watching discussions about this issue both here and on other sites.  Others have said that they HAVE been locked out of their desktop files if they did not create an account. Also someone with their file on a non-internet connected computer said that they lost access to their file:

Has anyone figured out how to get this tracking by Intuit off their computer?  If you look at logged in users, you will see that QB is listed as a User on your computer.  What do they have access to?  I don't use their payroll service, or take CC's.  I do download bank feeds, but not from QB, I import them.  Why does Intuit need access?  I believe that all of our client data is at risk and breached by QB.  

@btks , @Bankfeed2020 

Although I do not work for Intuit I can assure you that the INITIAL logging into your Intuit account (or having to create one) in NO WAY stores anything other than the information that YOU AND YOU ALONE are the licensee of the particular version of Desktop you have installed.  (read the EULA, no matter how much you paid or to whom for your software you do NOT own it - (same scenario as "owned" Kindle e-books)Your company data is stored NOWHERE else but on your own computer(s) and your own removable drives you use for backups. (under normal circumstances)

Being intermittently connected assure you of at least two major pluses.

1. it is the only way to get download of automatic updates

2. it is an easy way to download and install the current build version of the software when installing on an additional computer.

If you upgrade to the cloud backup option offered by Intuit you would have to be internet-connected each time it wants to run a backup.

AUto-updates are not required - you can shut off that feature but you run the risk of missing security updates, bug fixes, etc.

If you purchased the Plus version of desktop, the use of it is limited to the subscription period even though your data file remains ONLY on your own computer. If you do not renew at end of subscription or purchase a new stand alone version you would be locked out, although your data file can still be opened by any licensed and current QB desktop progran of sane or newer versoin - IOW, if your one-year subscription to Desktop Pro Plus expired and you did not install a new non-Plus version, you could not open your file, although anyone you give a backup copy or full file copy to can open it. Again, unless you use the Intuit data protect backup option, your company file is nowhere except on your own hard drive.

And, again, other than for updates you can run QB totally off the grid. 

Thank you for responding!  I still don't like that QB has users on my computer.  If you delete them, your QB will not work...I tried.  I appreciate your feedback.  Thanks again!

@john-pero 

this is the question I asked above:

    "What about a laptop that is not connected to the internet?  I always upgrade with a cd, not a download.  I install on my work desktop and also install on my home computer.  I do not have internet available at home. So, if I cannot log into the Intuit account on that home computer, will I be able to open the file at all or will it be stuck on that Intuit login step?"

Also, the links above say that the file has to connect to the internet every 180 days.  Does this apply if no internet is available?  I have not yet received a simple yes or no answer to this question.

While you may UPGRADE with a CD, you are never current (as soon as first UPDATE or REVISION is released you are behind, missing out on any releases that address bugs in the software)

And at least a one-time connection to the internet would be required in order to activate your program. We used to get something like just 10-20 time of starting QB before it would no longer let us log in without going online to activate.  So maybe it is now 180 days, and if you never activate your license (entering it during install alone won't do it as that one-time connection for verification is mandatory)

Even when you turn OFF automatic updates (and since you never connect to the internet it is impossible to update) you may get said 180 reminder to check for updates. Close the popup window and move on.  

One thing you are missing and nobody mentioned yet, no matter how much you paid for your CD, you DO NOT OWN the software on that CD. QB is a "borrowed" product. You are buying not the software but the right to use it per the EULA.  The software remains the property of Intuit, forever.

This is no answer. Delaying the requirement is not acceptable. There should be no requirement to log into Intuit when you are working on a stand alone computer with the desktop version of Quickbooks Pro. It is a huge security breech to require it when there are no online Intuit services being used.

Upgrading makes no sense when you are not allowed to operate off line without creating an Intuit account.

When are you going to remove this feature for users of Desktop versions?

Our company will never use a cloud based service. 

Your security is our top priority, Heaven of Sound,
 

Thus, requiring you to log in to your Intuit account when opening your company file is a protocol to enhance the privacy and security of your data.

I recognize the need to have the functionality to log in to QuickBooks without entering your credentials. As of now, we don't have any timeframe on when this option will be available.

For more information, you can check this article about Intuit Account: QuickBooks Desktop Intuit account.
 

Additionally, I've included these that'll help you learn more about managing your data safely and easily:

•  Access and Manage your Personal Data from the One Intuit Account Manager
• Create or Open a Company File using your Intuit account ID

In case you have other questions or concerns about accessing your company file. I'll be around whenever you need further assistance. Take care always.

Stay out of our business. Shouldn't have to have you in anyway connected to us that is why we got the desktop version. We don't want you telling us what to do when to do it and selling us more crap. Get it.