QuickBooks payroll is a widely used service by small organizations to manage employee records and withhold taxable amounts from their salaries. QuickBooks error PS038 appears while sending the employee wages through direct deposit or downloading the service updates. If you also face this payroll error on your QBDT, read this entire blog to explore the causes of the error and techniques to terminate it.

Reach out to our QB Support team at 1.855.738.2784 to resolve the error easily from your PC.

Why this payroll error emerges in your QuickBooks Desktop?

You’ll primarily come across this error when you try updating the payroll service or sending employee payroll using direct deposit. The leading causes that provoke this payroll error in QBDT are discussed below-

1. QuickBooks cannot send fresh paychecks because there are already stuck paychecks in the software which it failed to deliver earlier.
2. Network Connectivity issues due to unstable internet connection can also lead to a failure in sending the payroll.
3. QuickBooks files in the CPS folder are damaged, leading to a malfunction in the software.

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Quick remedies to eliminate the error

You’ll keep receiving error message PS038 while sending payroll or downloading the updates until you take the necessary actions to counter the error. The following methods are effective against the QBDT payroll error-

Solution- Toggle the stuck paychecks in your QBDT

Step 1- You must begin by finding out the paychecks stuck in the software. These paychecks get piled up in the ‘online to send’ section and forbid you from sending more paychecks from the software. The steps to reveal the undelivered paychecks are mentioned below

1. Go to the Edit menu in your QuickBooks and tap Find in the options list.
2. Navigate to the Advanced tab and click Choose Filter.
3. Single-click Detail Level and click the Summary Only option.
4. Tap the Online Status option and click Online to Send.
5. Finally, hit Find.

All the undelivered paychecks will be displayed on the screen.

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 Step 2- Adjust the paycheck details to prevent the issues

You must delete the stuck paychecks or configure some details to ensure they don’t cause PS038 QuickBooks error while sending payroll or downloading the service updates. Use these steps-

1. Move to the list's first (oldest) paycheck, single-click on it, and tap Paycheck Detail.
2. Go to the Review Paycheck window and add a new earning item in the Earnings tab. Make sure the earning item you add resembles the previous one.
3. Tap No if a Net Pay Locked message appears on the screen.
4. Ensure that the tax amounts and net pay aren’t changed and tap Ok.
5. If you see a Past Transaction message appear on the screen, click Yes.
6. Tap Save and Close to save your changes and click Yes in the Recording Transaction warning message.
7. Open the paycheck again and select the Paycheck Details option.
8. Remove the earning item you added in the Earnings tab.
9. Do not make any changes to the net pay and tax amounts and select Ok.
10. Repeat the same steps individually for all the stuck paychecks.
11. Once all the paychecks are configured, retry executing the task that lead you to this error.

Conclusion

This blog tells us why QuickBooks error PS038 interrupts you while sending paychecks or updating the payroll service. The techniques you need to terminate the error are also discussed in the blog, and we hope you use them to prevent the payroll error from occurring again.

Speak to a QB support team at 1.855.738.2784 if you run into problems while applying the solutions.

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