After trial and error, these are the instructions that have worked for my classes. One of the keys to finding the "Manual Payroll" option in Help is to make sure you AREN'T connected to the Internet!
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Set up manual (without subscription) payroll in QuickBooks Desktop
- Close QuickBooks, then open the Windows File Explorer.
- Go to C:\ProgramData/Intuit/QuickBooks20XX. - The Program data file is usually hidden. If you can't find it, click the View tab and select Hidden Items.
- Look for the QBW.ini file, then open it by double-clicking the file. (It may be QBW alone if your Windows settings don’t show file extensions).
- Scroll down to the bottom and add this entry:
[SELFHELPPLUGIN]
Enabled=0 <------ the last character here is a ZERO, not the letter O
Make sure to follow the exact format above, then close the file.
- Launch QuickBooks, and enable manual payroll.
Note: For QuickBooks Desktop 2018 R8 and later: Make sure your computer is not connected to the internet or is offline before proceeding with the following steps.
- Make sure that your preferences are set up for payroll.
- From the Edit menu, select Preferences.
- On the left pane, choose Payroll & Employees, then go to the Company Preferences tab.
- In the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Features section, select the Full Payroll radio button.
- Select Ok.
- From the Help menu, choose QuickBooks Help (or press F1on your keyboard).
- In the Help Search field, type manual payroll, then press Enter.
- Select the topic Process payroll manually (without a subscription to QuickBooks Payroll).
- Under the Set your company file to use the manual payroll calculations setting, select the manual payroll calculations link.
- Select the Set my company file to use manual calculations link. (Note: When your company file is set up for a manual payroll computation, QuickBooks inserts a zero amount for each payroll item associated with a tax.)
- Close and reopen QuickBooks Desktop.
