WHAT IF: QuickBooks can only be opened by the Administrator

A reader writes in to ask, “When I attempt to open my QuickBooks Company file, the log-in screen only asks for the Admin password, even though there are multiple users established, there isn't even a user field displayed for me to select my user own account.  How do I fix this problem?”

.

Problem:

.

When attempting to log-in to a QuickBooks Company file, the log-in window displays a message indicating “you need to log in as QuickBooks Administrator to proceed. Please enter the admin (owner) password for the company:”

Unknown Object

There isn’t even a field displayed for you to enter or select an alternative user even though you know other user accounts exist for this Company file. (Note: If the Admin user account name has been changed, the account name will be displayed above the Password field.)

.

Resolving the Error:

.

1) Close QuickBooks

2) End all QuickBooks related processes from the Windows Task Manager

  • Right click on the Windows toolbar at the bottom of the screen
  • Select Start Task Manager
  • When Task Manager opens click on the Processes tab.
  • Insure this list is ‘showing’ all processes from all users.
  • Click on the Image Name tab in order to arrange all processes alphabetically (they may already be sorted in this manner, or by some designated column, such as memory.)
  • Scroll down the list of processes until you find the QuickBooks related processes that will start with QB (as shown below), verify each process using the Description column data. [Your list may not be identical to that shown below, but should be similar.]

Unknown Object

  • Select each of the QB processes one by one, and click End Process for each selection.
  • Click OK when the warning message appears.
  • Repeat these steps for every QB process listed
  • After ending all of the QB processes, close Task Manager.

3)  Delete the QuickBooks_Standard_21 start-up process from your Start-up folder

  • Click the Windows Globe or Start Icon
  • Select All Programs from the displayed menu
  • Locate the Startup folder, and click once to open it

Unknown Object

  • Right click on QuickBooks_Standard_21 and select Delete
  • Click Yes when the warning message appears.

4)  Start QuickBooks normallythe user name field should now be displayed. Log-in to the Company file using the appropriate user name.

QuickBooks should operate normally after this.

About the Author

William Murphy

William (Bill) Murphy, better known as "Murph," is responsible for day-to-day technical content. He is also serves as Administrator for the Top Advisor Awards Program. Murph is an Advanced Certified ProAdvisor with over 30 years of QuickBooks consulting experience. He has more than 45 years of experience in Business, Finance and Public Accounting. For many years Murph was the “anchor” of the National Advisor Network’s online forum (now the Woodard forum) and three-time consecutive winner of the NAN Online MVP award. Murph has published numerous articles in industry publications and served as Technical Editor for Business Analysis with QuickBooks by Wiley Publishing.

Viewer tier: free
Post tier: free