PS036 - trouble verifying payroll subscription and can't install new payroll updated

Thank you for posting here in the Community, Tammy314.

These are possible reasons for that error (PS036) to occur.

• Inactive payroll subscription
• More than one active payroll agreement with an inactive Direct Deposit agreement
• Product not updated
• Incorrect Service Key
• Incorrect Employer Identification Number (EIN) in the company file
• PSID in the company file is incorrect
• The version of QuickBooks Desktop you are using does not support your version of Windows
• The status of the payroll subscription in the QuickBooks Desktop Service Keys screen appears as "Invalid number or EIN"
• Data damage

Also, to verify your payroll subscription, make sure that you have the latest QuickBooks Desktop release and downloaded the latest tax table release.

If you have active Direct Deposit for your payroll, I suggest that you contact our support team and don't proceed with any troubleshooting steps below.

On the other hand, if you're not using Direct Deposit for this company file, you can follow this instructions to validate your payroll subscription: 

1. Go to Employees and select My Payroll Service, then Account/Billing Information.
2. Login using your Intuit Account.
3. Check if the payroll service shows Active.
4. Then close the page.

Once done, don't forget to close then reopen QuickBooks to refresh all data. 

You can also use these article as your future reference:

• QuickBooks Desktop release
• Latest tax table update

Let me know if you still have questions or clarifications about payroll. I'll keep an eye on your response. Have a nice day!

I have verified my payroll subscription, but it still won't let me do a backup and gives me the error code.   What do I do?

Hi there, Vickiz. 

Thank you for reaching to us here in the Community. The error happens if your QuickBooks program doesn't show as Registered. We have an article to guide you to fix it. Please check this out: PSXXX Errors. 

However, after following the guidelines to fix the error yet the issue persists,  I suggest reaching out to our Customer Support Team. There, they’ll be able to securely look into your account with their proper tools and investigate the reason for the prompt error code message.

Here's how: 

1. Open your QuickBooks.
2. Select Help at the top, and then choose QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Click Contact Us.
4. Give a brief description of your issue and click Let's talk.
5. Choose a way to connect with us.  

You can also check this link for more details and ensure to check their Support Hours so you’ll know when agents are available: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support.

In the meantime, you can check below articles that you may find helpful: 

• Get help if you can’t activate QuickBooks Desktop
• Activate QuickBooks Desktop Payroll 

You can also visit our Community Help website for reference if you need tips and related articles about managing your business in QBDT: Self-help. 

Please let me know in the comment section if you need further assistance. I'm always here to help. Take care!

I currently have a subscription under another one of our companies, and can use the payroll service for our operating company, but I also paid the officers out of our management company. I only pay them the most would be 2-3 times a year. This year I only paid them in December and would like to process the 941 forms etc... to get there w2's to them as well. How do I update or verify that I do have a payroll subscription?

I can see and understand where you came from, @kforeyt.

Let me help you see if you have an active payroll subscription and send federal 941 tax to get the employee's W-2.

Let's ensure to update your QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release and get the latest payroll tax table. By doing this, you'll get your payroll data calculated exactly and process the forms correctly. You can also check the recent payroll enhancements with the following versions: Latest payroll news and updates.

Additionally, I'd suggest consulting an accountant for tax advice about filing a federal 941 form. This way, you'll know if you still need to file for the previous quarters 1-3.

Then follow these steps to verify if you have an active payroll subscription:

1. Go to Employees and select My Payroll Service, then Account/Billing Information.
2. Log in using your Intuit Account.
3. Check if the payroll service shows Active.
4. Then close the page.

I'll be adding these articles as your references if you need a guide with updating your payroll account details and submitting federal forms:

Update Payroll Admin information in QuickBooks

File your W-2 forms

How QuickBooks populates the 941

E-file and e-pay federal forms and taxes in QuickBooks Desktop

That will point you in the right direction today. Keep me posted if you have additional questions about verifying your payroll subscription and process 941 to get an employee's W-2. I'll be happy to help you out. Have a great day ahead.

I went to Employees.  Then My payroll Service.  Then account billing.   Got Error 557

I'd be pleased to help you get past the error 557 or PS036, Kellar8991.

There are several factors that lead to QuickBooks Desktop Error 557 or PS036, some of them are listed below:

• Inactive payroll subscription
• More than one active payroll agreement with an inactive Direct Deposit agreement
• Data damage
• Product not updated
• Incorrect Service Key
• The version of QuickBooks Desktop you are using does not support your version of Windows
• Invalid number or EIN

The said error typically happens when downloading payroll updates after upgrading to a new version of QuickBooks. You can usually fix the issue by updating the program to the latest release. You can click this article to see further details: Resolve Error 557.

If the issue persists, I suggest making sure that the billing details on the QuickBooks AM page are correct. Please refer to this article to view some details and to see how to perform the process: Manage your QuickBooks Desktop subscriptions and services. From there, you can manage your QuickBooks Desktop account and services in one area.

Should you need additional assistance, please let me know. I want to make sure I've got you covered. Have a nice day!

when I try to pull up account and billing info, I get a error 557

Thanks for joining us, @Victor25.

I'll make sure you'll get past error 557. There are several reasons why you encounter this error. Below are the following.

• Product not updated.
• Data damage.
• Inactive payroll subscription.
• Incorrect Service Key 

Let start our troubleshooting steps by updating QuickBooks to the latest release and downloading the latest payroll tax table update.

After running the updates, restart your computer and check if you're still getting the error. If issue persists, you'll want to delete the entitlement file in the QuickBooks folder. This will help revalidate the program. Please note that these steps will require to re-enter your license and product number again. Just press F1 on your keyboard to get your product information.

To delete:

1. Go to the Windows Start menu.
2. Type "Run" in the search field and then open Run.
3. Key in C:\ProgramDate\Intuit\EntitlementClient\V8 and the press Enter. If it doesn't open a folder, enter C:\ProgramDate\Intuit\EntitlementClient\V6 instead.
4. Find the EntitlementDataStore.ecm. Right-click the file and select Delete.
5. Tap Yes to confirm.
6. Open QuickBooks and follow the on-screen instruction to register it again.

Once done, check if you still see the error. 

Additionally, here's a link you can use to view the different QuickBooks tools. It has launchpad created by Intuit to help diagnose and solve any kind of errors and bugs in the program : Fix common problems and errors in QuickBooks Desktop Tool Hub.

Should you have follow-up questions or concerns with error 557, please let me know. I'm more than happy to assist you. Take care and have a great day ahead.

Hello there, @andy221.

Have you tried following the steps given above? If so, I'd recommend getting in touch with our Customer Support Team again. This way, they can pull up your account in a secure environment and check the main cause of the issue.

You can also check this link to fix common errors in QBDT: Fix common problems and errors with the QuickBooks Tool Hub.

Please know that you can always get back to us if you have other questions. We're always here to help.

Hi @andy221.

It's good to know that you're now able to use the payroll application. If you have other concerns, feel free to post to the Community or reply to a comment below. Have a wonderful day!

Hey JoshAllen,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. Since you are having issues with your subscription, let's go ahead and follow these troubleshooting steps for error PS036:

1. Download and  updating QuickBooks to the latest release and downloading the latest payroll tax table update.
2. Open QuickBooks and Sign in to your Payroll Service
3. Click Employee -> My Payroll Services -> Account/Billing Information.
4. Enter your login credentials and click Sign In.
5. Once you are logged in to your Payroll Account Management Portal, navigate to the Payroll Details section.
6. Make sure the EIN displayed with the company name is correct.
7. Click Edit next to the option that reads Payroll Admin and make any changes that are required.
8. Click Update and then click Close to save the changes.
9. Now, Restart your computer and download the updates again.
10. Open the QuickBooks application and check if your issue is fixed.

Let me know if that corrected this issue! I will be around. See you soon. 

If no solutions help resolve QuickBooks error PS036, clean installing QuickBooks Desktop may help significantly. Let’s learn how to remove QuickBooks from the system and then install it again to refresh the program files. Here are the comprehensive steps outlined below.