Error PS038 appears during a payroll update and usually means QuickBooks has a paycheque or timesheet stuck in a locked state. It’s one of the more confusing QuickBooks errors because it blocks your payroll update without explaining why. Here’s how to clear it.
Why This Happens
PS038 is triggered when QuickBooks detects a paycheque with an online status of ‘Sending’ that never completed. This stuck transaction locks the payroll update process. It often happens after an interrupted internet connection during a payroll transmission.
Step-by-Step Fix
- Open QuickBooks and go to Employees > Edit/Void Paychecks.
- Set the date range wide enough to cover the last 30–60 days and look for any paycheque with an online status of Sending.
- Right-click that paycheque and choose Edit Paycheck.
- Remove the tick from Send Payroll Data (uncheck it) and save the change.
- Now retry the payroll update: go to Employees > Get Payroll Updates and click Update.
- If the update succeeds, re-open the paycheque and re-send the payroll data if needed.
Extra Tips to Prevent This in Future
- If you can’t find any paycheques with Sending status, check the QuickBooks Payroll Center for any pending transactions in the Send/Receive section.
- Make sure your payroll subscription is active — an expired subscription can also trigger PS038 as a secondary symptom.
- After fixing PS038, run a full payroll update to ensure all tax tables are current before processing the next payroll run.
Still Having Trouble?
If you’ve followed every step above and QuickBooks still isn’t cooperating, the issue may
run deeper than a configuration problem. A corrupted or invalid license key can trigger a
surprising range of errors — including the one you just experienced.
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