I paid for my desktop. QB has locked me out of MY desktop until I sign up for an Intuit account.  It says my 28 days of ignoring this request is up and I need to do this.  I want QB to unlock my paid-for desktop and to stop interfering with my ability to conduct my business. 

I would like to know as well and yes I too am a lawyer. 

I do not use QB on a Mac but you will probably need to use a program like Radio Silence that allows per app firewall settings to block QB accessing the internet.

If on Windows use the Windows firewall to block QB accessing the internet, see earlier posts on how to do this. If on a Mac then try Radio Silence to do per app firewall settings.

Just want to verify, I do not do anything online and simply use the Quickbooks software for manual payroll; bank reconciliatons and simple income statement/balance sheet.  I do transfer the financial statements to turbo tax each year at tax time.  Will this prevent me from being able to do that transfer?  If so, I know the option exists to enter manually.  I would like to make my life simpler and don't understand why I should need to sign in to my intuit account in order to access a company file that is resident on my hard drive and not an internet access.  Appreciate your response.

That was a tone deaf response.

I am the only user of my desktop version of Quickbooks and I have many small companies.  Forcing me to log-in to every company regularly is a user-hostile requirement.  It provides no added safety or security for me whatsoever so should be something I can choose to turn off.

It appears I need to search for a new accounting software package. 

It's been at least 5 months now since the last time I got that annoying popup. Am hoping it's gone for good.

The problem, in my case, turned out to be that I am a former, but not current, user of Quickbooks Payroll Service. Even though I had stopped using that service a few years ago, QB still had me flagged as "Full Payroll", under Preferences, Payroll & Employees, Company Preferences, Quickbooks Desktop Payroll Features.

I tried in vain to click the "No Payroll" box, instead of "Full Payroll", but it wasn't allowed. I contacted QB Support in a chat session and described what change I wanted to make. After giving me some warnings that this step would make it very difficult for me to use their Payroll service again, they gave me a special, temporary code to enter which gave me some elevated privileges to check "No Payroll". And the problem was solved.

So it appears that on startup, QB had been seeing this phantom setting for Payroll in my company, and that was triggering the demand that I log in to their servers. Might apply to other addins as well. If you are actively using QB Payroll then this would not be an option.

Am using QB Desktop Pro 2019.

This is how the hubris of big companies chases their customers away.  It happened with Paychex, ADP, most merchant processors, and Intuit has been inching up to the line for years.  The forced login is the push over the cliff.  It may not be imaginable for them to consider that their dominance can be actually threatened, and that assumption would be a big miscalculation and glaring weakness.

Go ahead Intuit, just keep pushing us away.  How nice it will feel to finally drip away from you slowly as a smart competitor innovates and charms us away from your decaying corpse.  Fintech, the ball's in your court.

The situation is now worse. One can no longer click out of the screens as a "non administrator" and simply be told that we will be reminded again in 7 days.

It has now gotten to the point where we can not even access our OWN INFORMATION without having online access to log on--even with a completely disconnected desktop version. 

Like so many other users, I am looking for an alternative to QB. Presently they are a monopoly so they feel they can get users to allow constant marketing and data access to private information. This is unconscionable and completely inconsistent with how companies SHOULD be handling data in today's age of identify theft and constantly compromised privacy. 

Maybe we're at the point of needing a traditional sign waving protest at the Mountain View HQ, alert the media to it, with tv interviews, etc.

For those of us in the Bay Area, who's in?

I was able to click and hold on the top edge of the screen that forces the login to Intuit and drag the window down. This revealed the X in the top right corner to close the screen. Cleverly hidden by Intuit. Once I clicked to close that window, I had to click cancel to end the login attempt.

Then I followed the instructions on setting up the Windows Defender Firewall to block quickbook.exe from accessing the internet. Hopefully ending this mess...

I have always had "don't allow" checked.  I just received the pop up this a.m.   We are not idiots you are data mining.  Just so you can send out more marketing crap.   I don't want your capital loans, I don't want your credit card services, etc.  You can check all the boxes you want but your marketing garbage still gets through.  Turn it off.  I am going to start looking into other programs.

I fully agree. My cybersecurity training / experience is why I DO NOT want to have connect to the internet to use QuickBooks Desktop. My business is small and I do not use any of the on-line features. I just need to keep my books. I have been a QuickBooks user for over 20 years, and I am beginning to think it is time to find a different software. I was NOT happy when Intuit forced me to have a password on an already secure local computer. Now, if my internet connection happens to go do (like my wire gets broken as it did a couple weeks ago), I cannot get to my books.

Make this OPTIONAL!!!

Hello, waltjr9.

We appreciate your time and effort to utilize our tools in Quickbooks Desktop. I'm here to help you with Intuit Account log-ins.

Let me share some insights about signing in to Intuit account.

Intuit account is used to tighten our security to make sure that your account in QuickBooks Desktop is secured.

Its primary purpose is to create a company Realm that will be the common access for users who are using the Payroll and Payments services. 

If you have concerns in accessing your account, you can check this article: what to do if you can't sign in to your account.

Feel free to get back on this thread. I'm always here to help. 

So if we never use Payroll or Payment services, will you give us the option to avoid this intrusion into our business?

Sorry, but that response does not provide any "insights".  There is absolutely no substance to what you are saying.  Forcing a company using a desktop edition to log into your site does not tighten security; it negates security.  Why when I access a feature that should afford the utmost privacy should I be forced onto a "company realm" with "common access"?  That doesn't even make sense - I think you just made that up.  My payroll is my payroll - I have never needed communal access for it in the past, and don't need it now.  Security is enhanced with PRIVACY.  Please ask whoever gave you that ridiculous response to provide something that actually makes sense.  Or perhaps you cannot explain because the reality is that you are invading our privacy, making our data less secure, and furthering the course of Intuit's business at the expense of your customers?  Hard to post that truth, isn't it?  I smell a class-action suit in Intuit's future.

Let me clarify things for you, @gscott121.

Signing in with your Intuit account is mandated only with the following scenarios:

• A new QuickBooks Company file is created.
• If you have the following connected services: Payments, Payroll direct deposit, TSheets time tracking, Payroll Workforce, and Receipt Management (new for QuickBooks 2021).
• When an existing QuickBooks Desktop Company file is opened using the Admin credentials, and no Intuit account is associated. QuickBooks users will be prompted to log in or create an Intuit account. 

For further insights, proceed to the Intuit account section of this resource: QuickBooks Desktop Intuit account. 

Additionally, if your RealmID (company identifier) is not saved in your company file, QuickBooks will require an Intuit login each time you try to open it. To avoid this, please go to this link for detailed steps: Intuit login is required every time the company file is opened.

Moreover, here's how to manage your data safely and easily with QuickBooks Desktop. 

Let me know if you need clarifications. I'll be happy to help you out. Have a nice day.

 

Signing in with your Intuit account is mandated only with the following scenarios:

• A new QuickBooks Company file is created.
• If you have the following connected services: Payments, Payroll direct deposit, TSheets time tracking, Payroll Workforce, and Receipt Management (new for QuickBooks 2021).
• When an existing QuickBooks Desktop Company file is opened using the Admin credentials, and no Intuit account is associated. QuickBooks users will be prompted to log in or create an Intuit account. 

 

As I asked earlier in this topic,  what about those of us that do not have internet available at the location of the computer that our file is on?  Can we open the file without internet, or are you saying that we have to move the computer somewhere and connect to the internet to get the file opened the 1st time we use the file after upgrading to 2021? 

Yes, this:

• When an existing QuickBooks Desktop Company file is opened using the Admin credentials, and no Intuit account is associated. QuickBooks users will be prompted to log in or create an Intuit account. 

What we want you to do is NOT MANDATE the association of any intuit account to these company files.  Can you roll back this "feature"?

Thanks for the reply however, just like all the others who have responded you miss the point.

I DO NOT WISH TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT BECAUSE I USE THISA AS A STAND ALONE PROGRAM!

Understand ?

What I don't understand is your position that we have to open an online account. We don't use any of the services you offer.

I'm just happy that I don't have to deal with all this silly S**T because I no longer am the assist treasurer!

Hi @btks,

If you use QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) in offline mode, the system will never ask or require you to log in to your Intuit account. 

As for the other users in the thread asking if you can disable this feature, the answer is yes. I already shared an article in this thread, but in case you missed it, open this article: Intuit login is required every time a company file is opened. It has three different solutions you can apply to prevent the Intuit login prompt. 

I suggest you view this article as well: How to access QuickBooks Desktop files with One Intuit Account. You'll find a list of common questions about this feature, along with their answers. 

Post a question below if you have other concerns with the Intuit login prompt in QBDT. I'll be around to help you out. 

So what about us who are opening accountant's copies? I couldn't get into the file because I did not have the clients' intuit login, which I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO HAVE! I had to disable my computer's internet to get around that one.  I tried MY login and NOPE.  I have yet to login to a single company file.  I just click on CLOSE and in MOST cases, it lets me in.  I told my clients to NEVER LOGIN to that.  If it's going to be mandated to login to an online account for a desktop product, why doesn't QuickBooks just END desktop versions so we can go and find a solution elsewhere?  I LIKE QUICKBOOKS DESKTOP.  I find it helpful but this DEMAND that we login - NO.  NOT GONNA HAPPEN.  Clients DO NOT LIKE IT.  WE accountants DO NOT LIKE IT.   That is what needs to be told to the management or higher ups who implemented this.  

RyanM, this solution does not work for me.

I have an existing QuickBooks file created a long time ago. The "Realm ID" is null. My company name field was already populated with a valid name. I went back into the company name field again anyway and delete a comma. Then I saved. Closed the file. Re-opened the file. "Realm ID" is still null.

Thanks for joining this thread, @Sean74.

Since performing all the steps shared by my colleagues didn't work, I suggest getting in touch with our Customer Support Team. They have the tools to check your account securely and investigate further why your Realm ID is null.

Before doing so, please review our support hours to ensure your issue gets addressed right away. Also, we've made some changes to our Support options for QuickBooks Desktop. Our representatives are available through chat or messaging to accommodate all our customer's concerns effectively.

Here's how:

1. Open QuickBooks and then click the Help menu.
2. Choose QuickBooks Desktop Help or press F1 on your keyboard, and then tap the Contact Us button.
3. Click the Search for Something else button, and then enter your concern in the Ask us anything box.
4. Hit Search, and then scroll down to get your contact options.

Also, I'm adding these links that you can perform to fix company file issues in QuickBooks:

• Verify and Rebuild Data in QuickBooks Desktop
•  Fix company file and network issues with QuickBooks File Doctor.

Additionally, QuickBooks offers self-help articles that will guide you to finish your tasks in no time. To start browsing, go to our QuickBooks help page at this link.

Feel free to post here in the Community if you need more help accessing your account or any QuickBooks related. I am always here to help. Keep safe!