When trying to update payroll for employee, I get this message - The specified Effective Date cannot be a quarter start date in the preceding year.

Hello, @jweaver2.

We've been receiving reports about this on-going prompt when managing your employee's information. Rest assured our product engineers are working on an investigation to determine its cause and formulate a permanent resolution.

Also, I'd recommend contacting our Payroll Support team so you'd be added to the affected users' list. Just make sure to provide your full name, updated email address, and this investigation number: INV-51166. Once updates are available, you'd be notified through an email.

Here's how:

1. Go to the? (Help) icon.
2. Click Contact Us.
3. On the How can we help field, enter a brief description of your concern.
4. Click Continue.
5. Choose a way you'll want to contact us either:
   • Start messaging
   • Get a callback
6. Continue with the prompt.

Just a heads-up, we have limited staffing, our phone and chat support are open every Monday-Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Time. Also, they're open between 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM Pacific Time on Saturdays. You can read through this article for more information about the different types of support we offer at Intuit and its availability: Support Hours And Types. 

Let us know here if there's anything else you need help with. Know that I'm always here to help you anytime. Take care and keep safe!

Just dropping by to check on you, @jweaver2.

Were you able to contact our Customer Care team so you'd be added to the affected users' lists? Rest assured, once updates are available you'd be notified through email.

We appreciate your patience while we are working on this on-going concern.  Visit us here again if you have other questions.

any updates to this thread question ?? It's 2/26/21 and I would have thought a fix/reply would be posted here ?? What am I missing ??

Hi, drlucastax.

For now, the most recent update that I have is that our Payroll Team is actively working to determine why users getting this issue. We are still investigating this unexpected behavior.

Our engineers are all hands on deck working together for an immediate fix to sort everything out. While they do, I would advise you to get in touch with our QuickBooks Support and have them attach your case to the ongoing investigation.

They can add your account information to the list of affected users and any progress will be communicated via email. Please be reminded that our Support Team is available from 6:00 AM until 6:00 PM from Mondays to Fridays. Here's how to contact us:

1. Click the Help (?) icon.

2. Choose Contact Us.

3. Enter a  brief description of your situation in the What can we help you with? area, then click Let's talk.

4. You'll be presented with a few options for connecting with Intuit. Select Get a call.

For your payroll reference, check out this article: Payroll 101. It contains more information about the different types of compensation as well as on what are the types of federal forms you need to file. Also, this will provide you a sample breakdown of a paycheck.

Kindly update me on how the calls go by adding another comment below. I want to make sure you're all set, and I'm here if you need further guidance. Have a great day! All the best.

Any updates on this thread reported problem ?? This was reported back in October 2020 or earlier. Problem is still showing up as of 4/15/21. Please RSVP. Thank you

Hello, drlucastax. 

I've checked with the INV provided above, the investigation is still in progress. Rest assured, our software engineers are working hard to resolve this issue permanently.     

Also, I'd suggest reaching our Payroll Support team so you'd be added to the affected users' list and to ensure you'll get an update about the resolution status. They have to collect personal data to add your company and product to the list of affected users. We'll be sending you updates via email once we get this sorted out and I'll also keep this thread on track. Provide this INV-56983 for easy tracking. 

Here's how to contact us: 

1. Click the (?) Help or QB Assistant icon. 
2. Press Talk to a human (select it again when prompted).
3. Enter a brief description of your concern. 
4. Select I still need a human.
5. Tap Contact us.
6. Choose either Get a call or Start messaging.  

For now, we have reduced our support hours from Mondays - Fridays (6 AM to 6 PM Pacific time) due to COVID-19. Also, some products will only have chat support during this situation. 

Thanks for your patience while we look into this. Please let me know in the comment section below if you encounter any other issues. I'll be here to assist.

Inv 56983 - having same problem and need resolved by this weekend to be able to pay employee - all I see on this thread is we are working on it -  since October!  Please advise 

Hello there, @MattMc1.

I can see the importance and urgency of being able to update your employee's payroll information. Let me get you pointed in the right direction so you can get recent updates about this hurdle.

To be notified about the latest status of this matter, I recommend contacting our Customer Care Team. Please provide the investigation number 51166 as the reference for your call. This way, you can receive an email once any updates on this issue are made available.

You can contact them by following the steps shared by my peers above.

Once fixed, you can always use this article to guide you in modifying your employee's payroll details: Learn how to change your employees' info in QuickBooks payroll products.

Your patience and understanding in this situation are much appreciated.

Get back to me here if there's anything else that I can assist you with. Have a nice day!

Has anyone solved this problem?  I have been working on it for days and Quickbooks Team has been no help at all!  Help!  I need to get my employee paid!!

Good evening, @governorandrew. 

I appreciate you chiming in on this thread. Let me share some insight. 

On one of our investigations about this issue, was a workaround that was used to help other users with this problem.

Let's try adding a new effective date by adding a new rate with the rates different and then changing them back. 

Please let me know how this goes and if it helps. I want to make sure that you're getting taken care of today. Have a great day! 

I'm having the same message here as well:  "The specified Effective Date cannot be a quarter start date in the preceding year".  Any workaround on this yet?

Hi there, @Brian G2.

Let's get rid of the error message so you can update your employee's information.

If you haven't yet, I suggest following the workaround shared by my colleague Candice C above. It's an update from our product engineers to fix the error.

If you get the same result, I recommend reaching out to our QuickBooks Support Team. This way, they can investigate this matter again and provide additional troubleshooting steps to get this resolved. They can also reopen the investigation if other users are still experiencing the same. To reach them, you can follow the steps below:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account.
2. Click the Help button.
3. In the QuickBooks Assistance chatbox, select Talk to a human and choose I still need a human.
4. Select Contact Us.

You might want to learn more about changing employees' information in QuickBooks Online. This article will guide you through the process: Edit or change employee info in payroll.

Please touch base with me here for all of your QuickBooks needs. I'm always happy to help, @Brian G2.