Reasons

The causes of this payroll update error are listed below-

The payroll subscription is inactive/expired; if you renewed it recently, it is still not validated by Intuit servers.

QuickBooks has been affected by a defective software installation, and some of its program files are missing.

You might have entered the wrong service key while signing in to the payroll service.

Solutions

The methods to resolve this error are compiled below-

Solution 1- Ensure the payroll subscription is active and you have entered the correct service key

This error mostly occurs if the payroll subscription is not active in the software and the Intuit server fail to authorize the user while downloading the payroll updates. You must also confirm that the service key you have entered is correct. Follow the steps given below to check your payroll subscription or the service keyClose all the company files in your QuickBooks.

Click on the Employees menu and select My Payroll service from the drop-down options. Tap the Manage Service key option and check if the Service Name is correct.

The Status beside the service name should be highlighted as Active.

Click on Edit to verify that the service key you have entered is correct and make any required changes.

Click on Next and click on the Open payroll setup checkbox to unmark it before clicking Finish. This will start the payroll update automatically.

If the payroll update fails again due to the same error, jump to the next method.