Fix the Invalid Password Error in the Web Connector

When the QuickBooks Desktop Web Connector can't authenticate a sync, it shows an Invalid password for username message in its Status column. This message comes from the Web Connector application itself, not from Maxio, but it always traces back to Maxio's side of the connection: the password stored for the connection user, the dedicated Maxio user the Web Connector signs in as, no longer matches what's entered in the Web Connector, or that account has been deactivated.

Why the connection user password check fails

Every QuickBooks Desktop Web Connector file (.qwc) that Maxio generates for your account is hardcoded to authenticate with a fixed username — this isn't something you set or can change. The Password field in the Web Connector is the only credential you actually control, and it maps to one specific Maxio user account, the connection user. Every computer running the Web Connector against your Maxio account authenticates as this same shared account, so they all use the same password.

When the Web Connector sends its stored username and password, Maxio only starts a sync session if the username is the connection user's, the password matches, and that user is active in Maxio. If the password was changed on the Maxio side without updating the Web Connector, or if the connection user has been deactivated in Maxio, neither condition is met, and Maxio returns the same rejection either way — which the Web Connector displays as the invalid-password message shown above.

Reset the connection user password

You clear this error by making sure the password entered in the Web Connector matches the current connection user password in Maxio, and that the connection user is active.

To reset the connection user password

1. In Maxio, go to Admin > Users.
2. Find the connection user (the user Maxio created for the Web Connector) and select Change Password.
3. Enter and save a new password.
4. Open the Web Connector on each computer that syncs with this Maxio account, enter that same new password in the Password field, and run the sync again.

If the connection user's row shows as inactive instead, resetting the password won't clear the error until an administrator reactivates that user in Maxio.

Prevent password-mismatch errors after a reset

Because every Web Connector install shares the same connection user credentials, changing the password in Maxio breaks the sync everywhere else until you update it too. Whenever you reset the connection user password, update the Password field in the Web Connector on every computer that syncs with this Maxio account before the next sync runs, and let anyone else who manages one of those installs know the password changed.

Related information

If you're setting up the Web Connector for the first time rather than fixing a broken sync, Setup QuickBooks Desktop walks through generating the connector file and setting the connection user password for the first time.

For the full list of other Web Connector Status-column messages and what causes each one, see QuickBooks Web Connector Errors.