Recently, payroll for my company was processed (manual payroll - we do not subscribe to the Intuit payroll service). The next day, my accountant installed the latest update to QuickBooks Pro 2006. When going to run the forms 940 and 941, she was cordially invited to subscribe to the payroll service. Without the service, the program will not allow printing of these forms, or the data needed for them. Prior to this update, the interview process would run, and the data was generated.

A manual payroll entry had always been available without subscription.

Called the QuickBooks support line (Mark Pagarigan), whose suggestion was to re-install the program, and not to perform any updates. The call was then escalated to a supervisor (Elvin). Elvin stated that Intuit was aware of this, and we were directed to the website. The only information found on the site (http://www.quickbooks.com/support/faqs/docs/w_15r9notes.html) is in the description of Release 9, which states:

The IRS changed Form 940 for tax year 2006. This update to QuickBooks was required to fully support the new Form 940, in addition to changes that will be a part of a Payroll update for Payroll Service subscribers. In order to accurately create your 2006 Form 940 you will need this latest release and the Payroll Update that contains the new Form 940 for 2006. (R9)

This quote indicates to me that the update is required prior to updating for Payroll Service Subscribers. It does not in any way (that I see) indicate that non-subscribers would lose functionality that had been available prior.