Changing Date format breaks QuickBooks desktop 2019

Let's get QuickBooks up and running, CatMan2000.

This can be caused by corrupted hard drive or damaged file. 

We have 5 solutions to fix it so QuickBooks will open. I've got the article with the detailed steps. 

You can keep us updated after trying the steps. We're here to help in any way we can. 

This has to be it. They were setting it to DD/MMM/YYYY to get an abbreviated month string. 

Thanks for the help.

Thanks Kristine.

The issue looked to be the format they were trying to set. 

Thanks for the response, @CatMan2000.

I appreciate your taking the time to post this and letting me know that the issue got resolved. The Community will always be here if you ever have any more questions or concerns about QuickBooks. 

Wishing you and your business continued success. Have a beautiful day!

I've had a major issue with QB on my Mac since Apple introduced El Capitan several years ago. I've used DD/MM/YY ever since I started with QB in 2004. After El Capitan, it no longer worked. It was so bad that I bought a new Mac and kept the old one on the old OS and fired it up periodically to use QB. This year I decided to use the MM/DD/YY format just so I could use one machine for everything. Now the situation is worse. I was entering bank information for 2 Nov. I entered 2/11/19 for two entries and they appeared correctly. My third entry (as 2/11/19) was posted as 11 February. I've just tried to update bank information -  trying to post an interest deposit to a savings account dated 30 Sep. It doesn't matter if I type in 30/9/19 or 9/30/19 because as soon as I hit the tab to move to the next section on the account, the date is changed to 04/12/19! Can't understand how QB worked for over 10 years; and now won't work at all. Is there any help???

Now running MacOS 10.15.2 (Catalina) with QB 2019 for Mac V18.0.6 R7

Let's make sure that we've selected the current date on the new transaction, JLS3.

This can be the reason why the date will change upon changing to the next tab. You can follow the steps on how to do it:

1. Click QuickBooks at the top menu.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click Transactions.
4. Make sure that the use current date as default on a new transaction option was checked.

Afterwards, try to check the transactions if the dates are the correct one.

Please let me know how things work on your end. Thank you.

Thanks for the quick reply; however, it didn't help. Current date was not checked. I checked it and relaunched QB and then tried to enter the interest from 30 Sep on one of my accounts. First pic is taking the current date on a new transaction and changing it via the calendar icon to 30 Sep. The second screen shot shows what occurred when I tabbed to the next column - changed the date to 23 Jan 20 (current date). If you note the two entires that are complete, the first showing 6/30/19 posted on 30 Jun 19. The second one, showing 9/12/19 posted as I wanted as 9 Dec 19. All system parameters on my Mac show DD/MM/YY on all forms (long, short, etc.). As I write, I don't see my screen shots in this post, although the choose file does show 2 screen shots. If they don't appear for you, please let me know and I'll try again.

Thanks again for your help.

Hello JLS3,

I can see one of your screenshots. However, it would be best if our Support team can take a look at your company file to find the root cause of the date inconsistencies. They can use a screen-sharing tool to check your entries and gather more data for investigation.

You can reach them using the steps below:

1. Open this link: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Choose QuickBooks Desktop Mac.
3. Select Using QuickBooks for Mac.
4. Scroll down and click on Get Phone Number.

If you have other questions in mind, feel free to add a comment below.

I'm having the same problem as JLS3:  I don't have "Use current date as default for new transactions" checked, yet QB edits every entry into the check register to the current date.  Yesterday, as an experiment, I entered an EFT withdrawal scheduled for next week; then QB insisted on using that date for every entry.  I've tried every way I can find to edit the dates, but it reverts back.  Also, I normally would use the DD/MM/YY date format, but it seems QB is automatically changing some dates to MM/DD/YY.  I can go that route, but it obviously needs to be the same or bookkeeping becomes very confusing.    

Did JLS3's problem get resolved?  If so, how, please?

Hello LouisvilleCAN,

I want to help you and resolve your concern. However, we’re unable to pull up your account since the Community is a public forum.

As mentioned by my colleague, @JessT, contacting our Phone Care Support team can further investigate the date inconsistencies in your QuickBooks.

If you’re using the same version as @JLS3, you can follow the step provided with my colleague to contact them.

Otherwise, you can simply press F1 to route you to Contact us section and choose to Get a callback.

You can refer to this article as your reference about our availability: Support hours and types.

To get more information about organizing your QuickBooks account, you can always visit this article as your reference: Help articles.

You can come back in this thread if you have further questions. I’ll be more than happy to help you out.

Didn't work well for me. QB now insists on changing any entry to MM/DD/YY. Looking back to historical entries, I find some listed that way; while others are listed as DD/MM/YY. Very confusing. I've given up trying to reconcile the old data. I am a very intermittent user of QB, so I can live with QB converting any input to DD/MM/YY. The strange thing is that Quicken wants me to enter MM/DD/YY but does post all entries as DD/MM/YY. Seems if they can solve the problem for Quicken, they could also solve it for QB.

Just a note that the issue is not only NOT solved, it is now even worse. 

When posting tax entries at the end of Jan, note on screenshot below that QB posted the entries as 01/23 and 01/30 Jan. I am now posting my 1st Qtr entries (starting with Jan) and cannot get QB to accept any entry date after 12 Jan 20. I posted Jan entries all as 12 Jan 20 and most all seemed to post as 12/01. Couldn't get an entry as 13/01. Note the second entry for 'Clarke'. It was entered as 12/01, but the posting reads 01/12 and appears after several Feb and March entries.  I had only two entries for March. You will notice that of the two, one was posted as 10/03 and the very next one was 03/10. You will also note that those two entries for March are now mixed in with Jan and Feb postings. I'm now using MacOS 10.15.4 - perhaps the new version further compounded the problem.

Hello, @JLS3.

I understand how it feels when something isn't working the way it uses to. As much as I want to review this further, I don't have the chance to do it here on the Community page. It's a public place that everyone can access and search for information and I don't want your data displayed here to the security of your account. At this time, I recommend reaching out to our Support Team so a representative can take a look into this more closely and check what's causing this behavior.

To contact support:

1. Open this link: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Select QuickBooks Mac Desktop for the product.
3. Click on Search for something else under the What can we help you with? section.
4. Type-in a short description of your concern under Tell us more about your question:, then tap Search.
5. Click on Start a Message.

Also, feel free to visit our QuickBooks Little Square page and download the user's guide in case you need tips while working with QuickBooks in the future.

Post again if you have any other questions. I'm a few clicks away to help. Have a good day!

We have just upgraded to QB for Mac 2020 (Desktop).  The date would not change in entering bills for Vendors or in Banking.  Called Tech Support yesterday.  On the phone 4-1/2 hours, other QB resources in tech support involved to try to solve the problem.  Awaiting a call back today in 45 minutes to see what the experts at QB have come up with to fix this.  It worked fine with the 2016 version.  I am usually skeptical when there is an upgrade on anything.  It seems like someone has to justify their job, so changes are made.  Can you tell I'm not impressed with the new version?

Hey there, @DJH47.

Using the latest version of QuickBooks can help your business run smoothly. You can check what's new in QuickBooks here: What's new in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2020.

We can verify and rebuild data in QuickBooks to fix the issue. Before you rebuild your company file, use the verify tool in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac to scan your file for errors or data damage. Here's how:

1. Go to the File menu, then select Utilities.
2. Select Verify Data, then click OK.

Once you've verified your data, you can now rebuild your company file to fix any errors or data damage that's found. Please follow the steps below:

     1. Go to the File menu, then select Utilities.

     2. Select Rebuild Data, then click OK.

     3. QuickBooks will ask to make a backup before rebuilding your company file, select OK. If you don’t want to do a backup, select Cancel to continue rebuilding your company file.

         • If you haven’t set up any backup preferences, QuickBooks will ask you to update them. Select Backup Preferences and edit as needed, then select OK.

         • When the backup's finished, select Show in Finder to locate the backup or select OK if you’re done.
     4. Once the rebuild's finished, select OK.

You can also check this article to be guided in fixing data damage: Fix data damage on your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

Please let me know how it goes. I'll be right here if you're still unable to edit the dates after rebuild.

Maybelle, this is the same advice I was given yesterday on the phone by Courtney.  Perhaps you were one of her resources that she used to try to solve my problem?  In any case, the verify and rebuild did not work.  Courtney was to phone me at 1:00 (it is now 2:30) and I haven't heard from her.  She may be trying to help others with this same problem.  Is there an actual fix?

This is the first time I have ever responded with a problem to ANY forum on ANY product.  Way to go, QB!

Any other ideas, Maybelle?

Hello there, @DJH47.

I'm here to help you troubleshoot further with your QuickBooks Mac Desktop.

Let's try a Clean Install of the program. Here's how you can do this with ease:

Uninstall QuickBooks Mac Desktop:

1. Have your QuickBooks Desktop download file and your license number ready, then close QuickBooks.
2. Go to the Finder menu, then choose Applications.
3. Drag the QuickBooks icon to the Trash.

Remove QuickBooks PLIST files:

1. Go to the Finder menu.
2. Hold down the Option key, then select Library.
3. Open the Preferences folder.
4. Find PLIST files that contain com.intuit.QuickBooks2020, then move them to the Trash. 
5. Empty the trash.
6. From a new Finder window, open the Macintosh HD.
7. Go to Library, then Preferences folder.
8. Find PLIST files that contain com.intuit.QuickBooks2020, then move them to the Trash.
9. Empty the trash.

Final Steps:

1. Restart your device.
2. Reinstall QuickBooks: Install and set up QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

That's all there's to it! This will give you a Clean Install of your program. Once completed, try using QuickBooks once again.

Let me know if you need further assistance. I'm just a Reply away.

Thanks, Ashley.  Before I uninstall QB, etc. I am wondering if this solved all of the others on this thread?  I haven't seen anyone say that there problem has been solved.  

I was looking over your instructions and I do not see "library" in my finder/explorer list.  Before I get into this, I want to make sure I can continue.  I am not technically savvy, but I can follow instructions if I understand them.

Also, since the upgrade on April 19 to the 2020 version, the date now shows as 20-04-29 and in the 2016 version they would have shown as 04-29-20.  There are even some February transactions that show 20-02-10.  Is this all related to the same QB problem with the date?

I had to quit QB when I could not change the date on a new vendor invoice from May 22 (even though I had not used that date previously).

Sorry for being skeptical (again), but I want to know if uninstalling/installing has solved any else's problem.

Allow me to join the thread, @DJH47.

Usually, QuickBooks uses the system date format from your Mac system preference. For now, let's try closing QuickBooks, then go into your System Preferences and change (toggle) the date format. Then close the system preferences and launch QuickBooks. 

If you feel uncomfortable uninstalling and reinstalling QuickBooks, I suggest reaching to our Support Team so they can check this further securely. To contact support, follow the steps provided above.

Get back to me if you have any other questions. I'm always here to help. Have a good day!