After 40 years in accounting, I believe i do understand the difference between a SSN & an ITIN.  Your condescension is not appreciated.  It is not the responsibility of Quickbooks to insure correct SSN.  That is the practitioners responsibility.  You have zero liability in the process.  Please, in the future, only reply if you have an answer that doesn't involve Quickbooks Online.  

Is there a template or software program that you are using in order to type in the information on the W-2s you have ordered from the IRS? I may need to do this if Quickbooks doesn't fix their issue. Any advice on how to manually fill in a W-2 would be greatly appreciated as we have only used Quickbooks in the past. Thanks! 

No software, we just use a typewriter.

You can set-up a Business Online account with the SSA to prepare your W-2s "manually" there and then submit them electronically directly to the SSA rather than through QB.

You can set-up a Business Online account directly with the SSA and enter/create W-2s manually there and file them electronically directly with the SSA.

Hopefully I will only have a few.  However, if I have more than 10 for a single employer, I will have to use the SSA due to the new IRS requirements.

If I go through the BSO route and enter the info on SSA's website and submit electronically there, can I also print copies of the W-2s from there to give out to my employees for them to file? Thanks!

I believe so - I haven't had to do this in a while.  But this should help https://www.ssa.gov/employer/firstFilers.htm#:~:text=You%20can%20complete%20up%20to,No%20additional%....

You sure can!  I was still completing my W-2s this way until 2 years ago as the person who filled my position prior to me never set-up e-filing through Quickbooks.  You can print them, download them, and e-file them all through BSO.

We have reached the end of December and Intuit still has not fixed the social security number issue.  After I get thru January I am going to begin researching other accounting software that actually follows IRS guidelines.

Any update on this issue?  

I attempted to file W2s and cannot efile them! Huge issue 

Thank you for posting here in the Community about your concern with your W2, Zalman.

In the recent update of QuickBooks, it no longer allows dummy numbers or leaving it as blank when filing your employee’s SSN information. I suggest on filing your W2 through mail or wait for the employee’s SSN to be available before filing them online.

Furthermore, I’m attaching this article about printing your W2 forms so you could file them manually in IRS: Print your W2 Forms.

If you have further concerns with filing your W2 forms in QuickBooks. Kindly leave a comment down below. I’ll always be here to assist you. 

We discovered that when reinstalling QB Enterprise Desktop Contractor edition, you can install a new copy of QB and just not update it. If you don’t update it past v31.0.4006, you can still enter all zeroes for those employees who have applied for but not yet received their SSN. We reinstalled all of our copies of QuickBooks and did not move past the problematic update. You must also use the non-updated edition to generate the W-2s, otherwise it won’t print applied for on the document. 

@Irene R 

RE: In the recent update of QuickBooks, it no longer allows dummy numbers or leaving it as blank when filing your employee’s SSN information.

What are you talking about? No one "files" their "employee SSN information" (whatever "SSN information" is) in QuickBooks. We enter Social Security numbers in QuickBooks.

And no one here has ever asked to enter "dummy numbers".  Astonishingly, Intuit Reps have suggested we actually do that, but no one here has asked to do that.

Also, there is no requirement in this universe that says employers need to enter SSN's into QuickBooks. You might not enter one, for example, because it doesn't exist, or because you don't have it right now, or because you just don't want to. It is idiotic for QuickBooks to require a thing that is not required.

RE: I suggest on filing your W2 through mail or wait for the employee’s SSN to be available before filing them online.

How does filing W-2's through the mail in any way resolve the issue? (It doesn't.)  In any case...

You are suggesting two different actions that are compliance violations.

1) Employers with more than 9 W-2's are mandated to e-file them. This is well known. You should know this before offering compliance advice. It is easy to look up the rules.

2) Employers are not allowed to wait until SSNs are available to file W-2's - using any method. Instead, if - for any reason - somehow the employer does not have the employee's SSN, they are to file by the deadlines without the SSN. When doing so, they are to file with nine-zeros when e-filing or when printing the W-2. They can also enter "Applied for" in the SSN box on a printed W-2 for the employee.

You are suggesting that instead of following the rules, employers should intentionally disregard the due date and not file the forms until SSNs are available. There is a $630 fine per W-2 in this case. Plus interest. Is Intuit going to pay those fines based on your suggestion? See https://www.irs.gov/payments/information-return-penalties

Additionally, when an adult employee has been given the right to work and so then has applied for an SSN, the Social Security Administration is known to take months, even more than a year, to issue the SSN. This is well known. You should know this before offering compliance advice.

Do you really think it good compliance advice to tell your customers to wait months or years to file their W-2's?

I was attempting to efile W-2's but  have an invalid social security number in my QB Desktop.  Per the Social Security site; all zeros are allowed.  But QB desktop will not allow all zeros.  Nor will it allow me to efile the rest of the W2's because of this error.   I  spent almost an hour & half on hold waiting for QB customer service to explain the situation.  Instead of them programming a correction; I was told to delete that bad employee payroll checks; run the W2s and then rekey that employee deleted payroll checks back into QB, hoping that it is all correct and QB not recalc figures and then try to figure out how to get that employee paper filed.  

They seem completely unwilling to make QB IRS compliant so that we can file W-2s.  I have several that I will have to file manually.

Is QB even trying to resolve this?  Seems every reply that have is any and everything but we are working on a solution.  Are they working on a solution/ a fix?   They had it working once before.  The new update stopped it so are they thinking- oh hey, people need this to work let's get on it and make it work again so that we can help our customers and also be compliant with the acceptable all 0's or are they just going to offer unproductive solutions?

I am going to just have to file directly with the SSA through their online W-2 creation service and print copies from there to give out to employees for their tax returns. 

I have found a successful work workaround based on other info on this thread.  Tried it today and was able to E-file W2s.

if you have the file on a server, download QB 2022 but don't run any updates.  Open your QB file and you will be able to change add the Zeros to the employee impacted by the new restriction within QB.  

Once complete, reopen the file under the current version and you will be able to file your W2s. 

I don't think they care.  We have been trying to get this resolved for months.

I have found a successful work workaround based on other info on this thread.  Tried it today and was able to E-file W2s.

if you have the file on a server, download QB 2022 but don't run any updates.  Open your QB file and you will be able to change add the Zeros to the employee impacted by the new restriction within QB.  

Once complete, reopen the file under the current version and you will be able to file your W2s. 

I have approximately 150 payroll clients and prepare close to 1100 W-2s so I will use QB for most of them.

And now here we are in the New Year with everything that needs to be filed and this issue is still not resolved. My client has a couple of employees that no longer work for him and therefore is not able to obtain a correct SSN. Now because the system won't accept the zeros QBDT is holding users hostage because they cannot change this and so cannot file W2's. We users pay a lot of money for these programs and expect them to work as they should. I see months of comments on here but have yet to see that there is a solution. Come on Intuit. Pull your head out and get your programs working properly.

I have been reading this thread for quite some time and as so many have stated we are now ready to file reports and cannot. I reached out to our accountants 2 days ago for any info they might have and they weren't aware of this and then provided me with a couple other payroll companies they have contacts with when I told him we will be looking for another company. Completely furious we PAY for a service that refuses to correct the problem they created and now thousands of customers are all in this boat with the only option being to manually input info on the BSO website which we all know will be so much fun!