Connect to Quickbooks for Mac server WITHOUT bonjour?

Hi szumlins,

Let's make sure that you're on multi-user mode so you can connect over VPN and input an IP address at the same time. Let me provide you a few information about this.

You'll have to ensure that you're using the minimum system requirement to successfully run QuickBooks on your computer: System requirements for QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

Once done, set up QuickBooks in multi-user mode so that all users can access the file. Please refer to this article for the detailed steps: Install and Set Up QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

For future reference, please check this article in case you encounter some issues: Troubleshoot Multi-User Issues for QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

You can always touch base with us if you have any other concerns. I'll be right here to help.

@szumlins 

I am not sure Hamachi will work as well. We couldn't set the QB Mac server as the host. You may put a Mac desktop to connect the server by LAN and your mobile users are connecting the Mac desktop in turns by a remote desktop solution. Should you need to work on multi-user mode at the same time, you will need another solution. 

This isn't really helpful.  I have been using QB Mac for almost 10 years now and nowhere do I see where I can actually connect to a multi-user QB for Mac server from a client via IP address.  

The only options I have are via the "Shared Files" section in the "Open Company File" menu, but given that this only presents over Bonjour on a local network.  There is no option anywhere I see that allows me to "Connect to Server" and input the IP address of the computer running the QB Server.  There is only a "Browse" option in the corner, and this is simply a file browser.

So if QB for Mac Multi-User does support direct connect, please tell me where I would go to input the IP address of the QB Server while using the QB Client.  

I have a fully supported server running on appropriate hardware and everything works as expected when I'm in the building.  This is for connectivity via VPN where multicast services like Bonjour do not work easily.

Hamachi actually *does* work fine right now, but it is a 3rd party tool that hasn't been updated in quite some time and I'm fairly certain LogMeIn will no longer be supporting Mac in the future.  The client is not compliant with the latest OS's and luckily still works, but who knows for much longer.

I'm literally begging Quickbooks to simply add a "Connect to Server" option in the client at this point where I put in the IP address of the QB Server from the client and it connects.  Like EVERY OTHER PIECE OF NETWORK AWARE SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET.

Thanks for replying to this thread, @szumlins. 

I can see how this feature would be beneficial to you and your business. I will send this feedback on your behalf so our developers will be aware of how we can improve your QuickBooks Desktop experience. 

For now, I recommend making sure your QuickBooks is always up to date for any new feature that will be added by our product engineers. I'm adding this article I suggest for your reference as well: 

Update to the latest release of QuickBooks Desktop

Please know that I'm always here to help if you have any more questions. Have a good one!

Does Intuit even understand the question, there has been no answer as how to run QB for mac over VPN. and Get connected to the Host computer We to are in the same situation 2 users at home QB on Mac in office, when we are in office we can connect fine and all works, when we are at home we need the ability to connect over a VPN connection to the host in the office and work in QB an  yes we are in multiuser Mode,

We need this for our workforce at home please advise

Hello, @Fasttcs.

To help in setting up your QuickBooks Desktop for MAC through VPN, I suggest reaching out to our Technical Support team. They have the tools like screensharing that can get into your account in a secure environment and can help you in setting this up. 

You can arrange a callback to talk to them. Here's the contact the QuickBooks Desktop Customer Support Team article for more information about this. 

Let me know if there's anything that I can help with your account. I'm always glad to help in any way I can. Have a wonderful day!

Mary Joy, the issue here isn't that we don't know how to do it - it is that the feature is absent from Quickbooks Desktop.  The recommendations from support are to simply screen share with the remote server which is far from efficient and frankly not helpful.  

As we continue to work from home, this is getting more and more frustrating.  We have evaluated Quickbooks Online, but its pricing model for us would more than triple our costs over the span of 3 years even with cross-grade discounts, so it isn't a viable option either.  

From an engineering perspective, this would be a fundamentally simple addition to the product - it is being abstracted away by a much more convoluted method of connection.  We are simply asking to be able to direct connect without mDNS or multicast to our servers.  Like every other protocol for every other service on the planet for the past 30 years. 

My frustration with the lack of response to this is growing daily.

@szumlins 

I have yet to find any 3rd party hosting service for QB Desktop Mac edition in the market. So from technical perperstive, there is no solution. If you are using QB Mac 2020, consider purchasing QB Pro/Premier 2020 for 1 user (market price $200) and put it on the cloud hosting for the time being. Your team may access the data in turns and convert the data back to Mac version once you are back to the office.

I'm bumping my own thread here as it has been 3 months since a global pandemic and work from home directives have been implemented all over the world, and something as simple as connecting to a server via IP address has yet to get a valid response.  

I'd happily move to QB Online, but the functionality is weaker for 3x the cost of QB for Mac.  I've still yet to hear any valid options.  

Please, QB for Mac team, give us a simple "connect to server" option where I can simply put in an IP address. That's all we need to be happy.  Judging by the amount of replies this thread has, I'm far from alone in my desire to have this working.  

Logmein Hamachi is the only way I have found to work with Quickbooks server for Mac...

And here we are, one pandemic and 8 months later with no feedback from Quickbooks.  And now Hamachi is no longer supported on Big Sur, so no new computers can use QB2020 remotely on Mac.

This isn't a hard problem guys.   You support it on Windows, why is the Mac a second class citizen?

The amount of frustration I have with Intuit right now is fairly extreme.   Even if the application has a great toolset, it clearly isn't the right tool for Mac customers and I don't feel I'll have any level of comfort purchasing upgrades or recommending it to anyone else ever after 12 years of use (and paid upgrades).

Just give us a "connect to server IP" option.  That's all we need.   

Hello there, szumlins,

Thank you for informing us about that; it's important that we get it working for you.

To help in setting up your QuickBooks Desktop for MAC through VPN, I suggest reaching out to our Technical Support team. They have the tools like screen sharing that can get into your account in a secure environment and can help you in setting this up. 

You can arrange a callback to talk to them. Here's the contact the QuickBooks Desktop Customer Support Team article for more information about this. 

Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help you. I'll be around whenever you need further assistance.

It is great to see in a public forum that Quickbooks support after a year simply amounts to a copy/paste fundamentally cementing they either:

a) don't understand what is being asked for

b) don't care 

Either way, pretty frustrating to see the copy paste twice in the same thread.  Remote Desktop sharing is NOT A VIABLE OPTION.