How to Activate Reckon Accounts Business

Legacy KB ID: 3784

Question

What steps must I follow to successfully activate Reckon Accounts Business so that I can start using it for the first time or to apply a service pack, patch or tax table update?

Answer

Before you can use your company file, apply a service pack, patch or tax table update your Reckon Accounts Business must be activated.  This process confirms to us that you are using a properly licensed version of Reckon Accounts Business.

To successfully activate ensure that:

• You are logged onto the computer with Administrator privileges
• You have a datafile opened
• There are no other security features on your computer or network that will block your ability to modify your computer’s registry.

You can check whether your Reckon Accounts Business is activated by:

1. From the Help menu, select My License Information
2. The page will display Reckon Accounts Business is Activated

Or

1. Press Ctrl 1 to open the Product Information page
2. At the end of the second line “License Number” will be the words ACTIVATED or NOT ACTIVATED 
3. You must have a datafile opened.
4. You can open your company file from its location or from the No Company Open screen.  Your recently opened files will be in the box. 

If for some reason the sample file does not open, then you can open the sample file directly by:

File > Open or Restore a Company File > Open a file (.QBW or .QBA) and browse to:

• Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista & Server 2008:  “C:\Users\Public\Documents\Intuit\ Reckon Accounts \Sample Company Files\Reckon Accounts 20xx-xx”
• Windows XP & Server 2003:  “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\ Intuit\Reckon Accounts Business\Sample Company Files\Reckon Accounts Business 20xx-xx”
• QuickBooks 2007/08 and earlier:  “C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks 20xx-xx” 

Computer Logon Account Status

If you are not sure of your account status and permission levels you will need to check with your IT technician.   

Activating Reckon Accounts Business

From the File menu, select Activate Reckon Accounts.  If this is the first time you are activating Reckon Accounts Business then you will be able to activate across the web.

You will need to press Ctrl 3 or Ctrl F12; to launch the Activation Screen and then:

1. Call Reckon Customer Service on the telephone number provided.
2. The Reckon Representative will ask you for the Product Key which is on the second line.
3. The Customer ID line is optional, but if you enter a number it must be your Reckon Customer ID number.  
4. The Reckon Representative will give you a License Key which you need to enter in the 4 empty boxes on the License Key line and then click on Finish. You will get a message: Reckon Accounts is Activated.  

To verify that Reckon Accounts Business is activated, shutdown Reckon Accounts Business (with your company file or sample file opened), then relaunch Reckon Accounts Business.  If you get a message that Reckon Accounts Business is not activated then:

• You did not have a datafile opened when you activated
• You are not logged on to this PC with Administrator privileges
• You have been blocked from modifying the registry of this PC – you may need to refer to your IT technician.

QBi series (2008/09 and later)

If you still get the ‘Reckon Accounts Business is not activated’ message but when you press Ctrl 1 it says you are activated, then continue with the next steps. 

1. Enter the last refresh date into the QBW.INI file
2. Close Reckon Accounts Business, then in Windows Explorer browse to C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit;
3. Find and right-click on QBW.INI and Open With Notepad;
   The first line should read [REGISTRATION] – see note below;
4. Move your cursor down to the start of the next line that has a square bracket:
5. it could be [FONTS] or [QBLICENCE];
6. Press on the Enter key to create a blank line and enter the following:
   LastRefreshDate=July 1, 2010

                                          i.    where the date is the date you last activated Reckon Accounts Business;

                                         ii.    must enter it exactly as it appears above with the US date format;

                                        iii.    you can Copy&Past the above entry and then modify for your date;

                                       iv.    Click on File and Exit and select Yes to close and save the file; 

Quickboooks 2007/08 and earlier

You will be modifying the Registry directly.  Modifying the Registry can affect your operating system. If you are unsure of the steps below, please contact your IT technician. 

Open the registry:

·         Windows 7 & Vista:

o    From the Windows Logo, type regedit in the Start Search field

o    Press Enter on your keyboard

·         Windows XP:

o    From the Start menu, select Run

o    Type regedit in the Open field

Create a backup of your Registry:

·         From the File menu, select Export

·         Type a name in the File name field and Save in to a location on your computer (e.g Desktop)

From the Registry Editor window, locate and click on the + symbol next to these hierarchal folders:

o    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE> Intuit > Reckon Accounts BusinessRegistration > xx.0

§  Where xx refers to the version number of your Reckon Accounts Business:

§  2007/08 = 16.0

Highlight the folder relating to your installed Reckon Accounts Business version, i.e.:

·         QuickBooks Accounting = atom

·         QuickBooks Plus = basic

·         QuickBooks Pro = pro

·         QuickBooks Premier = superpro

·         QuickBooks Enterprise = bel

Modify the Registry value:

·         From the Edit menu, click New > String Value

·         Type LastRefreshDate and press Enter

·         Double click on the LastRefreshDate string

·         Enter today's date in the Value Data field as MONTH DD, YYYY (e.g July 30, 2008)

·         Click OK

·         Close the Registry Editor Window

Check Operation of QuickBooks

Open QuickBooks and confirm that you no longer get the ‘QuickBooks is not activated’ message.

Restart the installation of the service pack, patch or Tax Table update.

How should the QBW.INI file look when I open it?

You should see the following:

[REGISTRATION]

Qbmode=000073a4142b

ActivatedProduct=accountant

WELCOMEVERSIONNUMBER=Version 19.0D

CustNum=880400

RegistrationNumber=55116493066327402240

[QBLICENSE]

CURRENTFLAVOR=

[FONTS]

MAGNIFYONLARGEFONTS=0

[AUTOPATCH]

VERSION=19.0

RELEASE=Pw2

(more lines follow)

Need more help?

Ask the Reckon Community at: https://community.reckon.com/categories/reckonaccounts

Or Log a Support Ticket: https://www.reckon.com/au/support/