I've actually been afraid to do any updates as to what else might go wrong! So if I went directly to the BSO site and have already filed, is there any other way to get the info to our employees on their app? I've had to scan copies and email them, I doubt I should go in and file through QB because there would then be a duplicate with the SSA since I have already filed. Also will this "fix" remain from here on or will another update remove it at some point in the future? Why wasn't this addressed until nearly the final file date when this thread started in April 2023 and has had numerous correction requests time and time again!!! AND we were never told the update removed this OR that this update would now corrected this fiasco! The QB customer/users need appropriate communication from you as we pay for this service and seem to have been completely disregarded.

01/19/2024

I did the QB desktop update, restarted the program then went into the 2 employees that had the invalid SSN and changed it to all zeros. When opening the W2 forms, those two were automatically changed to "applied for". I was now able to submit them all of my 400+ W2's to the SSA. 

Issue resolved. 

Thank you. 

Thank you for this post! It worked! 

Thanks for becoming part of the Community and getting involved with this thread, MissCheese.

I'm happy to hear performing our update enabled you to enter all zeros for employee Social Security Numbers (SSNs).

You'll also be able to find many detailed resources about using QuickBooks in our help article archives.

Please feel welcome to send a reply here if there's any questions. Have a lovely Wednesday!

I was forced to move to QBO and it's not letting me enter Zeros or nines here either! I hate QBO already and now even more so. What a crock. I need to pay my employees Friday and can't figure out how to do it.

They changed this in QB Desktop.  Our firm is not using QBO for this and many other reasons.  QB has decided they now payroll rules better than the IRS.

@kerryrynn  Of course; how can they harvest our data properly if we're allowed to run our books on our own terms?

Obviously, they only asked for birthdays before so they could send out cake in a timely manner.

Thanks for joining this thread, lionscampbadger.

Upon researching this issue with not being able to enter zeros or nines for Social Security numbers in QuickBooks Online, I found a similar thread. In the conversation many QuickBooks Online users reported the same problem and then noticed the employee profile they were working on was a duplicate of a previously entered employee who had been made inactive. Once the employee was reactivated the problem with the Social Security number was resolved.

You may want to check and see if there are any already existing employees that have been made inactive. Here's how:

1. Hover over the Payroll tab and select Employees.
2. From the Employee list page, click the Gear icon.

3. Select Show Inactive.

If this ends up not being the case for you and you still need assistance, I recommend reaching out to a member of the QuickBooks Online Support Team. An agent will be able to take a more in depth look and escalate this issue if need be. The following link provides info to contact QuickBooks Online Support.

Of course you're welcome to reach back out here if you have any other questions or concerns as well. I'll be here to help in any way that I can.

Hi BigRedConsulting,

Many thanks for your tool, I was able to file W-2s on time on QB Desktop!

However I am currently trying to e-file a 2nd quarter CA DE9C form where QB are not allowing me to e-file it due to one employee having an "invalid SSN" (he has a [removed] SSN). I reimported a new IIF file with your tool but the error still persists. I contacted QB support and they said due to the recent update, using a SSN with zeroes isn't a option and to update it to a random SSN (not putting here for security reasons but updating to that SSN did bypass that error). Is there an update you are thinking of providing with your tool? 

@BigRedConsulting please see above - thanks