Payroll reports in Excel does not work.

Hello there, @yfegade. Thanks for adding a screenshot.

I see you've been putting a lot of time into trying to fix this error and access your payroll reports.

In this case, we can uninstall the Office that's 64-bit installed and reinstall. You might also try installing with the 32-bit. Once done, we can close your company file and re-open QuickBooks Desktop to refresh your data. This way, we'll be able to identify its work.

If the issue persists, we'll need to check your account in detail to further review and figure out why it's happening. Within your QuickBooks Company file, select QuickBooks Desktop Help from the Help menu. 

Alternatively, you can also press F1 on your keyboard to bring up the same Help panel. To route you to the correct support expert, we need to know what type of question you have. Give a brief description of your issue and click Continue.

Another way to contact our support team is by following the steps below.

1. Go to this link: Contact Us.
2. Choose your country and QuickBooks Desktop.
3. Enter a short description of your concern.
4. Click Search.
   

For more information about several Excel reports available in QuickBooks and how to generate them, you can check this article: Excel based payroll reports.

You can go back here if you have more questions. I'm right here together with the Community people to help you out. Stay safe!

I have tried repairing/uninstalling-reinstalling QuickBooks and Office/Excel multiple times. I really don't want to go back to 32-bit version of Excel (32-bit Excel can't handle some of the datafiles I deal with).

I talked to the support on the phone about a month ago. They gave me Case # ([removed]). They said they know about this issue and are working to resolve it.

I posed it in online support community because it's been over a month, and haven't received any further response from QuickBooks Technical Support.

Since you suggested installing 32-bit Excel - does it mean that this issue is really related to 64-bit version of Excel compatibility with QuickBooks?

This isn't the kind of service we want you to experience, @yfegade.

I do apologize for the inconvenience. We have reported this issue and are investigating what may be causing this. We do have a workaround that might work for you, so if you have the time I can walk you through those steps right now.

Run the report from previous quarters and then when asked to update select "Yes" and it is able to pull all the data correctly. If that does not work clean install of QB and Excel are possible fixes. Here's how: 

1. Close Quickbooks
2. Go to the C drive,
3. Select the Program Files (86x),
4. Choose Intuit, then Quickbooks20xx,
5. Click the Components,
6. Then, select Templates,
7. Find the QB_Payroll_Link.xlt and delete it.
8. Reopen Quickbooks and get a full payroll update

See the following article: Summarize Payroll Data In Excel Fix. 

To integrate it with QuickBooks:

1. Locate your QB Programs folder. Usually, the location is something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Intuit\QuickBooks 2020\
2. Within that folder, go to \Components\Templates
3. Copy the fixed XLT file included in this ZIP file into that folder, overwriting the file of the same name that is already there
4. Launch from within QB as normal.

If you haven't contacted our QBO Support yet, I'd recommend reaching out to them. This way, they can pull up your account in a secure environment and sign you up to receive email updates as soon as they become available. 

You can also check this article for the other steps: Fix export to Excel issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

For more helpful information about the operating system, hardware, software, and other requirements to run QuickBooks Desktop 2021, you can click here. Also, to ensure that you also have the updated bug fixes, I'd suggest downloading the latest release of QuickBooks Desktop from time to time. 

Be sure to update me here on the results of your testing, I want to ensure this matter gets resolved. 

Thanks. But my issue is not with the "Summarize Payroll Data in Excel" report. My issue is with "Tax Form Worksheets" report.

Tax Form Worksheets" report uses QB_Taxform_Link.xlt. This XLT file has the problem. Do you have fix for the QB_Taxform_Link.xlt?

We want to ensure this gets fixed, Yfegade. 

I know you've contacted us before. However, I still suggest reaching out to our customer care support again. This way, we can check your case, and an agent can investigate further. They can also verify the QB_Taxform_Link.xlt and check for any fixes. You can follow SarahannC's steps on how to get in touch with us.

In the meantime, you may want to run other payroll reports and customize them. It will help you focus on the details that matter to you.

We'll be around if you have other payroll concerns. Feel free to drop-by any time. Keep safe!

Since the last post on this thread, I contacted QuickBooks support multiple times. Every single time, this is what happens:

1. I explain the problem that qb_taxform_link.xlt supplied with QB2021 is incompatible with 64 bit version of Office 2016. I also explain that I have contacted them many times about this before.
2. Yet, every time they insist that I must update/repair/reinstall QB 2021, update/repair/reinstall Excel before they can investigate/help.
3. I update/repair/reinstall Excel/QB to prove that was not the cause.
4. Then, they go through the routine suggestions, like - I should switch to 32 bit version of Excel, OR I should downgrade Excel to earlier version like 2006 or 2009 or 2013.
5. When I explain them why I can't move to older version or to 32 bit version, they refer my case to level 2 or level 3 support person.
6. Then, I don't hear from them for 2 months.
7. When I call them back to enquire about the case, the cycle starts all over again from the beginning at #1..

I am at a loss, and not sure what to do.

We want to ensure this is taken care of, @yfegade.

I understand how frustrating this could get on your end, we'll ask the team to take a look at this and further investigate.

For now, I'd recommend getting in touch with us again. This way, they can check your case.

You may want to run other payroll reports and customize them. It will help you focus on the details that matter to you.

Please know that you can always get back to us if you have other questions. I'm always here to help.

I am researching this issue and am experiencing a very similar if not identical issue.

I have been on Quickbooks 2012 (2012 not 2021) Desktop for a decade.  I use manual payroll since I have only 1 employee, my spouse, and the data has not changed in 20 years for the monthly salary.  In QB2012 I would enter checks and could use QB2012 to export tax forms to Excel to generate the QB designed reports for the 941, 940, W2 and W3.  My CPA handles it from there and set things up so that is all he wants/needs.

Late last year I decided to try upgrading from QB2012 to QB2021 DESKTOP (without the subscription and without the added payroll service).   I made a copy of the QB2012 data file for testing in QB2021 (I have stuck with QB2012 until a migration is fully tested and operational).   QB2021 opened the QB2012 datafile and updated it to the QB2021 company file format (whatever that means).  When it happened, the Excel reports for Vendors (1099s for example) stopped working as did the Excel reports for employees.  On the 1099s I finally reset enough vendor settings or category settings to get the 1099 reports to work again - this seemed to relate to some things needing to generate as 1099-MISC and others to generate as 1099-NEC which previously were all on 1099-MISC.   However, the employee reports still are not working after at least a week of uninstalling, reinstalling, running QB Hub, editing employee records, adding "dummy" employee records, etc., - it just is not working.

in QB 2021, I can generate a payroll check just I have been doing in QB2012. I was also able to load and generate the entries to process payroll liabilities.  I can generate employee reports WITHIN QB2021 regarding various employee issues. However, what I am trying to do is to use the menu option to export employee reports into Excel. When I try to run the report to create payroll forms in Excel, Excel loads, a QB template of some form loads and it allows me to select which report I want to generate (941, 940, W2, W3, etc.). I can pick any one of the reports and it generates within Excel but all of the fields (name of employee, dollar amounts, address, etc.) are all empty or zero.

So, it appears it should be working just as it did in QB2012 but for some reason I have not located, its not sending the available data fields to Excel.

Another odd event I noticed. If I go to "Employee Center" in QB2021 there is a submenu that has add new employee, etc., and one option is EXCEL. Under the EXCEL option is "Summarize Payroll Data in Excel". I can run that report - HOWEVER - it generates an Excel report for 3 employees that have never worked for me, they are not listed in employee center, and all the record entries are in 2007. Then there is another report under the EXCEL Tab that says "summarize transactions". If I run it, it generates a report of the 2021 payroll check "net" amounts for my single employee that is ACCURATE.

So, again it seems that QB2021 is trying to generate the payroll tax forms but it is not sending data that QB2012 did.

Thanks for updating this thread ans sharing us your insights, John.

We wanted to make sure this reporting concern is addressed so you get the accurate representation of your data in QuickBooks. Every version of QuickBooks Desktop follows a specific system requirements to ensure the program processes are stable. See the system requirements for QuickBooks Desktop 2021.

If the issue persists even after complying to the system requirements, I'd recommend that you work with our Technical Support Team. Our representatives will check your company file and identify what's causing this behavior. 

To get our Support, follow the steps below:

1. Open QuickBooks and click the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. On the pop-up screen select Contact us.
   
4. Click the Search for Something else button then type your concern in the Ask us anything box.
5. Press Search then scroll down to get your contact options.

Let me know how it goes. I'll be right here if you need anything else with your transaction and payroll reports. I want to make sure this is taken care of. Have a good one!

@Jen_D 

I have checked the compatibility with Microsoft Office 2013 and it is listed as a compatible product.  I am on a fully updated Windows 10 Pro machine - also compatible.

I tried two times yesterday to use the Help and Contact features from within Quickbooks and received 2 separate calls.  The first one disconnected or dropped about 4 minutes into the call and never called back.  So, I initiated a second call - they called and again disconnected.  I do not get the impression they understand the issue or are trained to address it.

Our firm has also called multiple times and tried everything under the sun to fix this major problem. Quite simply, QuickBooks Desktop payroll reports that must be run via Excel NO LONGER WORK. For example, the "Client Ready Reports" which includes the payroll register and payroll journal!! It is so embarrassing to not even be able to provide a Payroll Register to a labor auditor, for example!! And the "More Payroll Reports in Excel" such as the "Tax Form Worksheets" and the "Payroll Liabilities Accruals & Payments" reports - we RELY ON THESE THINGS EVERY QUARTER, and now we are hobbled and unable to verify or reconcile our payroll filings.

Please, please, please provide an Update that fixes this major problem before year-end!! W-2 work is going to be a nightmare without these Excel-based reports!! 

Hello, Marca-MT. We hear you.

I completely understand where you're coming from. It's natural to feel disappointed when the feature you've been using for a long time is not working anymore.

There are possible reasons why you've been experiencing issues with Excel. It could be an issue with the QuickBooks software itself. If you recently updated QuickBooks or installed any new updates, it's possible that the update caused a conflict with the Excel integration feature. In such cases, checking for any available QuickBooks updates is recommended. 

Also, make sure both QuickBooks Desktop and Excel are up to date with the latest software updates. Updates often include bug fixes and compatibility improvements. 

Additionally, it's important to ensure that you are using a compatible version of Excel with QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks may not be compatible with older versions of Excel or specific Excel file formats. Make sure you are using a supported version of Excel and save the file in a compatible format.

Lastly, if the Excel report contains complex formulas, macros, or links to external data sources, QuickBooks may be unable to process them correctly. QuickBooks has limitations when it comes to importing complex Excel files. In such cases, simplifying the Excel report by removing any complex formulas or macros might resolve the issue.

If the issue persists, I suggest seeking technical support again. It may be necessary to contact QuickBooks technical support for further assistance. They can provide more specific guidance based on your specific setup and configuration.

For future reference, here's an article that contains solutions when you're unable to export reports to Excel: Fix export to Excel issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

Also, this guide provides a list of all Excel-based payroll reports in QuickBooks. It includes instructions on how to build each one: Payroll Reports.

Please let me know if I can further assist with using Excel for QuickBooks. I wish you a wonderful week ahead. Have a great day!

sorry to hear, I am using QB Enterprise 2023 and it's doing the same thing.  Quickbooks is a hoax.  They want our money and they don't fix the problems.  I always used the employee report to excel and never had a problem until last month.  Now I am forced to upgrade to a newer version because QB 2021 isn't supporting payroll.  QB is a rip off.  From 2010 to 2020 it's seems it works the same.  We need a different software company.