Uninstalling and reinstalling QuickBooks and Office365 helped for one day but then the error returned again the next day.

Uninstalling and reinstalling both QB and Office365 helped for one day but the the error returned the next day. 

Jharkcom - What version of Excel are you using?

I figured out that is caused by the latest Office update. Roll back to the previous update and it works perfectly again.

Now on multiple computers we get a message from excel:

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications

Compile error in hidden module

Must be an update from MS365 or QB's

It is true if you re-install QB's and the MS Suite again it works but for a short time.

I figured out that it is caused by the latest Office update. Rolling back to the previous update fixed it.

Are you now on Version 2212 (Build 15928.20198)?

Here is what's happening-  we just had this happen and my son is a long-time IT guy and figured out what's going on (QB tech guys - feel free to share this with your programming team so MAYBE they can fix this):

The fact is that Microsoft Office 365 (and through some of their more wonderful glitched updates for the full desktop version), has disabled Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) - (EVEN THOUGH, half of Microsoft Office's advanced functions still rely ENTIRELY on VBA??) Neat, Huh? You can't just "download" VBA and hope for it to work (if you're lucky enough to find it thanks to Microsoft hiding it... because "reasons"???). The problem is this: QB doesn't just employ a simple "export to excel" for this employee payroll report like it does for EVERY OTHER EXPORT TO EXCEL FUNCTION???... no, for some inexplicable, overly-complicated reason, to force the formatting to text function (which is weird the way they do it), they use their own version of a "programmed VBA script" that can only communicate to Excel via a Macro-enabled script instead of just a macro OR a script (soundly needlessly complex? yes it is.), and to communicate with Excels' underlying, advanced programming functions, QB programmers MUST use VBA (and subsequently, the QB programmers didn't feel the need to investigate whether or not this would be a problem with the discontinued support of VBA for MS 365 without some insane work-around NOR inform the world, or even their own front-facing support team, that this was happening).

But, Microsoft says, "No!" VBA has vulnerabilities so we shut it down from all the online folks to "protect you from yourself... for your own good (hint hint wink wink)" and "Please ignore the fact that we shut down the function of Excel that Excel needs to function". And, even for those folks who aren't having this problem "yet" thanks to skipped updates or NOT updating - it's coming - and unless these two major tech powerhouses take a whopping 1 week outta their lives to communicate - it's not gonna get fixed. Fast Forward to your macro problems we are ALL having.

Everything you read online will tell you that it's an authentication / platform compatibility issue and is probably related to 32 / 64 bit architecture software types. That is "mostly" a bunch of hooey. (FYI, always install 64 bit when you can, it does tend to function better with your processor). What's happening is that you DON'T have VBA OR the authorization to use VBA has been blocked and there is no "fix this" button (because, again, "reasons"...). So, when Excel reads the VBA script being passed down from QB, it goes, oh, let me check the VBA engine to see how this is supposed to be translated and... OH MY DEAR HEAVEN! There is NO VBA code to translate this! It MUST be bad! Compile error!!! Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

And your productivity as an accountant just stopped-  completely. Although, you can hand code those spreadsheets, or just enter the information online manually... one employee at a time. Bet you all love that solution, huh? (*knowing wink)

It's not a compile error. It's not bad script from QB. You don't have to rebuild your company files or reinstall the software (well, some might have to - between Intuit and Microsoft... they both have... "issues"). It's like if you accountants went to enter payroll and the company handed you a blank sheet of paper. Where's the payroll? I can't enter "nothing". I NEED numbers! Error!

You can roll back your computer updates to the last time you knew it to work ... for now ... and it will work (hopefully). That is, until your computer updates (and if you don't update, modern windows has a neat feature to utilize ALL of your disk and memory processing power to slow you down to a snail's pace until you do). What to do? For now... you need to download a full version of Microsoft Office. Not 365, not the monthly subscription, Microsoft Office. Save yourself time and energy and find some instructions on line to download a "trial" copy and go buy one of those cheap, "activation codes" (I'm not gonna post the link, even tho it's actually perfectly legit and financially awesome - I don't know how QB mods will feel about it - Google it). 4 outta 5 times, the folks selling it are honest... (*sigh), and outta those 4, if the code doesn't work, it's cause they're abusing it and mass reselling it and at least 80% of them will just give you a new code, and when you go for the install, make "sure", that in the options, VBA is selected. Voila! Reboot the machine to get the registry back in order and the day is saved. You don't even have to uninstall MS 365 (although that will cause you some heartache if you don't).

Now - this may not work 100% for everyone. We are talking Microsoft... and Intuit ... and two companies that apparently don't know how to be tech companies... so, who knows? But, this is an immediate, long-term solution to get y'all back up and running asap. I hope it helps. My son is doing the full desktop version of Office install tonight for me and getting VBA turned back on. Good luck!

Whenever the mods get to actually putting my post that answers this problem up - you can see the full details.

It worked because the "reinstall" took them back to "pre-update" status.

Then, to stay functional, they "updated" and you're out.

There is no reinstall option or "rolling back" option that will "Stay" working. Those are temp fixes that will cause you problems.

This isn't it.

I suppose the reason my most recent reply isn't showing up is because you moderate it or something?

Please check it. The answer is there. There is NO FIX. The problem is that ALL MS 365 installations are shutting out VBA remote function calls as a "Security" feature fix. Some desktop "updates" are "conveniently" doing this, too. Neat. Ergo, you can't 3rd party export an excel spreadsheet with VBA encoded in it when there is either A) NO VBA engine to translate said code or B) the permissions / access to VBA have been cut off.

The long-term / most reasonable fix is to have Excel for Desktop, not MS 365. Otherwise, your programmers will either have to:

1) Just export to text/csv directly and circumvent Excel...

2) Just use the export to Excel function like they do for everything else and just format it correctly, pre export...

3) Find a magical way to NOT employ macros in a VBA code function to circumvent the fact there is no VBA engine / access to one...

4) Figure out how to use the .NET platform to cross with the VBA script option...

5) Call Microsoft and tell them they're dumb and to stop blocking the most fundamentally important operational function OF Excel FROM Excel...

6) Figure out how to modify the XML encoded include file compiled in the .xlsm so that it doesn't have this error...

7) Compile the Excel file as an .xlsx and see if they can cheat the compile error code that will allow Excel to use its internal VBA engine?

Update the QB exported Excel code to work without needing VBA installed as a separate application...

OR...

9) Hire a wizard from Harry Potter. (This is apparently an actual functional solution.... o,0 )

Part of what's happening is this: If you have VBA installed and try to install MS 365, you'll get an error. I don't know if that is limited solely to the 32/64 bit architecture issue, or entirely. But, you have to UNINSTALL it to install 365, or not have VBA installed at all. Then, 365 does not install VBA. Microsoft has made some intentional efforts to block this, claiming security issues on all points. The Desktop version installs VBA and does not have any pending updates which block or remove it and doesn't care if you're using 32 or 64 bit architecture so that when QB sends the VBA script to Excel, Excel can activate VBA and functionally translate QB's code and enable whatever Macros you're using.

There you go.

Hello @Donna 0320,

Thank you for sharing this information and providing insights to help address the issue. I have reviewed the workaround, and it's correct and accurate.

Please know our product engineers provide updates regularly to improve the features and options. I highly recommend sending feedback about the problem to our engineers. We also make changes and adjustments based on user feedback.

Here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner.
2. Select Feedback under Profile.
3. Share your feedback.
4. Hit Next to submit.

Also, I've attached a link you can visit to stay up-to-date to the latest news and features in QuickBooks: QuickBooks News & Updates.

We love to see members supporting one another! Have a great day. 

How did you roll back the office update?

There is a thread here that tells how to roll back the office update.  I am not good with the tech end of computers but followed this and it worked for me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuickBooks/comments/10dqyi5/excel_update_breaks_certified_payroll_report/

Here is the fix that Microsoft had me do and it will roll back Office 365 and the client ready, SUI & W2 uploads now work.  I did help another person do this, they can get the SUI & W2 uploads to work, but not the client ready reports.

1.  Go to office.com and log into your Microsoft account. Go to admin, then down to "show all"

2.  Go to Org Settings, select Microsoft 365 installation options, then select "Every six months (Semi-Annual          Enterprise Channel), save and exit

3.  Uninstall Office 365, when done restart your computer

4.  Go back to office.com, go to Home, in the upper right hand corner, click on install apps and pick premium       Microsoft 365 apps and download and install Office 365.

This will install a rollback to 2008 version and then it will work.

Hope this helps

The link below has a thread that shows how to roll back the office update.  I am not good with this type of stuff but followed these instructions and it worked for me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuickBooks/comments/10dqyi5/excel_update_breaks_certified_payroll_report/

Thanks for joining the thread, Jacropolis.

I appreciate you looking at ways to revert to an earlier version from your recent office update. Let me share some insights with you. You may want to disable automatic updates. You can either set a reminder to re-enable the option again and ensure you don't miss any future updates.

There are steps you can perform to roll back to your previous version. Please see this article for more information and detailed steps: How to revert to an earlier version of Office.

If this doesn't work, I recommend contacting your IT guy for assistance in reverting your office to the previous version.

To know the latest updates and features of QuickBooks Online, you can visit the QuickBooks blog site for future reference: The QuickBooks Blog.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need help. Have a nice day!

I had the same issue , when you run the client payroll report, no report is generated automatically any more,  I spent  over 4 hours with Intuit tech supprt and they did all the trouble shooting and come to last statement it is Microsoft issue and you have to contact Microsoft. 

I decided to find the solution my self and this s the solution: 

• click on report. scroll down to employee and choose Client Ready report 
• excel opens up and prompts you to enable connect, Do so. 
• the excel is not blank since the connection to data is lost.  
• choose Addins on tool bar
• on first tool bar now, choose get data from quick books 
• this shoud resolve the issue . 

I've experienced the same thing on Quickbooks 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Any update on how to resolve this issue?

Hello there, @goddessrachae69.

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

Here's how:

1. Go to the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Provide some information about this concern in the search box.
4. Click the Contact Us link at the bottom of the window. 
5. You'll now be provided with a few support options.  

Our Customer Support for QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) Pro and Premier is available Monday to Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM (PST). For QBDT Enterprise, you can reach out anytime on any day.

Also, I've attached a link you can visit to stay up-to-date to the latest news and features in QuickBooks: QuickBooks News & Updates.

Let me know if you have other questions about QuickBooks. I'm always here to help.

Aloha from Maui,

I am currently using the QBDT 2023 for Accountants, Product number 757-611, single user, updated to date of this post, with the Enhanced Accountant Payroll, also updated to date of this post.

I use Microsoft 365 as 1 of 5 shared personal accounts, installed and updated to date

According to Excel "about" it's version 2306 Build 16529.20182

I'm running Windows 11 64 bit OS Version 22H2 OS Build [removed]

And, all of the above is installed on a VMWare Workstation 17 Pro, Version 17.0.2 build 21581411 virtual machine.

I read this thread, and like everyone else here, I was/am thoroughly frustrated by not being able to simply print the Client Ready reports being displayed in QuickBooks Payroll to a simple PDF file.

I tried the Macro trust fix option and that didn't work.

Didn't know about the missing VBA functionality that Donna 0320 explained in her January 19, 2023 02:259 PM entry in this thread.

I'm no computer geek, so I rely on my method to print the payroll sheets in the Excel .xlsm file as a PDF file I can send to my clients.

However, I am geek enough to have several years of the monthly and quarterly Excel .xlsm files to speed up any reprints or fine tuning of the column widths in order to print properly to PDF file.

If you, too, have saved prior years' of Excel .xlsm files, then my suggestion will be relatively easy to apply to your files.

Otherwise, you'll need to create a working file template and save it. I prefer saving as regular file extension .xlsm, rather than as a template file.

I first run the QBDT client ready reports routine to generate a current Excel .xlsm payroll file.

As we all know, the columns come out whacky all of the current excel .xlsm files.

However, it is possible to edit the whacky .xlsm file format by using the copy and "paste special" editing features of Excel, any version.

I open my "template file" and the current unedited .xlsm files.

Sheet by sheet, I copy the template columns to the current file, using "paste special" option "column widths" only as the paste part of the step.

I repeat for each of the 7 sheets and save the edited file.

I've learned the margin settings of some of the sheets also need to be adjusted from the ones that result from creating the unedited Excel file. After several trial and errors, though, I've decided to set the margins on all of the sheets to my "Normal Margin" and set all sheets to fit all columns to one page.

My  "Normal Margin", setting is:

Top 0.75", Bottom 0.75", Left 0.25", Right 0.25", Header and Footer 0.03"

I save the file after each margin change I make to the sheets.

I realize each of us prints our reports to suit our needs, however, for now at least I have a work around to timely deliver usable PDF reports to my clients.

Below I'm including the Register and Detail sheet column information for you as an example of the edit process, in case you didn't save any prior years' .xlsm files.

On the "Register" sheet, I've set the column widths per list below:

Column A  18.5

Columns B 10.25

Columns C, D, E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, and N  10

Column G 8

Column O 12

Column Headings, A through N are, left to right:

Name, SSN, Pay Start, Pay End, Chk Date, Chk #, Hours, Gross, Fed W/H, Soc Sec, Med Care, Med Care Addl, State W/H, S/H Dist reclass, Net Pay

On the "Detail" sheet, I've set the column widths per list below:

Column A  29.5

Columns B 5.5

Columns C, D, G, I, J,  12

Column E 24.5

Column F, M, and N 10

Column H 14

Column K 1

Column L 29

Column Headings, A through N are, left to right:

Earnings Item, Hours, Current, YTD, Tax, Current, YTD, Item, Current, YTD, col K is blank, Item, Current, YTD

I suppose it's too much to  ask that Microsoft and Intuit settle their differences to move forward smoothly, and I won't hold my breath waiting for them to do so.

Just like I'm not holding my breath waiting for Intuit to add bookmarks to their print to PDF.

However, I digress...

I hope my workaround suggestion helps a few of you resolving your printing challenges.

With aloha,

David W Ristau, CPA

QB community ID @David W Ristau CPA

P.S. I edited my original post changing the sample column widths on the detail sheet and all sheets to my "normal margins" setting. Longer Item descriptions in columns A and H required a little widening, as did the  column N  to fit the printed numbers.

We appreciate your workaround so much, @David W Ristau CPA.

Your intentions to help other members are always welcome to the Community. I also find your interest in improving the system client ready payroll reports very helpful to let everyone benefit from its functionality.

Please know you're always welcome to help enhance our product by sending suggestions. Cheers, and more power to your firm!