What’s the Deal with QuickBooks Error H505 and How to Resolve it?

Being in the accounting industry for so many years, QuickBooks has now become the world’s leading bookkeeping and financing software used by millions of businesses. With the help of QuickBooks, users can effectively control cash flow, handle bills and accounts payable, invoice customers, manage payroll, financial reporting, and customize charts of accounts, etc.

However, just like with other computer software, using QuickBooks is also prone to a number of errors and bugs. Among the most common error that many users often face is QuickBooks error H505 that appears while accessing the company file stored on the server at a different location in multi-user mode. Resolving a multi-user error can be pretty complicated for many users, especially those who don’t have any prior technical expertise. However, there is no need for you to worry because, with this post, we will discuss the reasons that often prompt error H505 alongside their troubleshooting solutions.

As a QuickBooks user, you might get the following error message of error H505:

This company file is on another computer, and QuickBooks needs some help connecting.

Want to get rid of QuickBooks error H505 without breaking a sweat? If yes, please contact our QuickBooks error experts at (844-888-4666) and get over the error immediately.

What are the reasons that prompt QuickBooks error code H505?

Generally, QuickBooks error code H505 gets triggered when a user accidentally sets more than one system as the server to host the company file in multi-user mode. However, there can be several other reasons behind the multi-user error in QuickBooks, such as:

• The Windows Firewall might be blocking QuickBooks from accessing the internet.
• There might be any network connectivity issue between the server and the workstation.

How can you get rid of QuickBooks error H505?

Solution 1) Disable hosting multi-user access on workstations

• At first, open QuickBooks Desktop on any workstation where you get the error.
• Go to the File menu and move your cursor over the Utilities option.
• From the Utilities side menu, choose Stop Hosting Multi-User Access if it is an option. In case you see the Host Multi-User Access option, ignore it and move on to the next workstation.
• Check all workstations by following the aforementioned steps in the same manner.

Once you are done checking all workstations, move on to the server computer that hosts the company file.

• On the server computer, open the QuickBooks Desktop application.
• Go to the File menu and move your cursor over the Utilities option.
• From the Utilities side menu, choose Host Multi-User Access if it is an option. In case you see the Stop Hosting Multi-User Access option, ignore it.

Solution 2) Manually set the Windows Firewall settings for QuickBooks Desktop

• Press the Windows key to open the Start menu.
• Type “Windows Firewall” into the search bar and select Windows Firewall from the top of the list.
• From the left panel, choose the Advanced Settings option.
• Right-click Inbound Rules and then choose the New Rule option.
• Select the Port option and then hit the Next button.
• Choose the TCP option.
• In the Specific local ports column, type the port number as per the QuickBooks year version you are using.
• Hit the Next button.
• Choose the Allow the Connection option and then click on the Next button.
• Make a new rule and name it in the following manner: “QBPorts(year).”
• Once you are done creating inbound rules, click on the Finish button.

Now, create outbound rules by implementing the steps mentioned above in the same order, except you are required to select Outbound Rules instead of Inbound Rules.

Solution 3) Verify the network connectivity between the server and the workstation

Step 1) Enable Network Discovery on the server computer and the workstation

• Press the Windows key to open the Start menu.
• Enter “Network” into the search column and select Network and Sharing Centre.
• From the left panel, choose the Change advanced sharing settings option.
• Under the Network Discovery section, select the Turn on network discovery option.

Step 2) Get the name of the server

• On the server computer, open the Run command window by pressing Windows + R keys together.
• In the Run command dialog box, type “CMD” and then click on the OK button.
• On the Command Prompt window, you need to enter “ipconfig/all” and then press the Enter key.
• In the Windows IP Configuration section, look for the Host Name. The server’s name is on the right side.
• Make a note of the host name so that you can use it quickly.

Step 3) Check the network connectivity between the server and the workstation

• On the workstation, open the Windows Start menu.
• Type “CMD” into the search bar and open Command Prompt.
• On the Command Prompt window, type “ping_[name of the server],” and then press the Enter key.

In case you receive a reply for each packet with no loss, then there is no network connectivity issue between the server ad the workstation. However, if there’s packet loss or a very slow reply, we suggest you run the QuickBooks File Doctor tool from the QuickBooks Tool Hub.

Conclusion:

If the QuickBooks error H505 persists, even after following all the troubleshooting solutions mentioned above, then there is a great possibility that QuickBooks is failing to access the folder containing company files due to a lack of required permissions on the server computer. Our recommendation for you is to grant permissions to the folder that contains the company file and see whether this fixes the error or not. You can also reach our QuickBooks error experts at (844-888-4666) and get over the multi-user error immediately.