Resolve 0x80040400: Quickbooks Error When Parsing XML-Text Stream

QuickBooks is the most preferred software among the users. It has some amazing features within it that make the user’s experience easy. The software offers some incredible tools to record the data so that the user can access them easily whenever needed. However, we know despite the pretty amazing feature, the software also serves some glitches that irritate the users. And some errors need immediate attention to avoid any further complications. In this blog, we will talk about one such error “QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream.”

If you are also facing the “QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream” then this article is exactly for readers like you. We will discuss all possible information about the error and try to solve the issue from your computer. So let us get into the blog.

What is 0x80040400: QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream?

User will encounter this error when he/she tries to connect the QuickBooks with ESC by using ESC Accounting Server.

Error: QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream

Error Number: 0x80040400

This error code emerges when you try to create a post in the QuickBooks Desktop. It generally occurs when the server gets hung while connecting a program to the ESC server.

What Triggered QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream?

There are many possible reasons for the occurrence of the QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream. Some are discussed below:

• It might occur due to the presence of illegal characters in the data of XML.
• There might be some unsupportable character.
• It also may occur while pasting the data from other programs to ESC.
• Some special character also can trigger the error:

&, -, <, >, \, /, “, %, *, ~

How to Fix QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream?

There are two ways to solve the “-2147220480 QuickBooks found error when parsing the provided XML text stream” and we will discuss each of them one by one. If you are dealing with the error then go through the solution very carefully and consciously execute them. Let’s see how they work.

Solution 1

1. First of all, go to the Sales menu and then choose the Invoice List from the View list.
2. Try to record the invoice numbers of all the unposted invoices.
3. Then go back to the Post to QuickBooks.
4. Click on the File menu and post the invoice separately until the issue occurs.
5. In the Sales, Invoicing open the invoice option in ESC.
6. Then review each of the lines.
7. In case, any of the lines contains text then copy it from outside of ESC and paste it into the invoice.
8. You need to remove the text and then retype it. Doing this will delete the hidden information that might have been missed during the copying and pasting into ESC.
9. After correcting the invoice, now resave the invoice.
10. Go back to the Post to QuickBooks and open the File menu.
11. Post the invoice to QuickBooks. That invoice should have no errors or disruptions.
12. Now post other invoices manually. If you again received the same error then repeat the above steps again.

Also Read, QuickBooks Error 324- How To Fix? | [Solved]

Solution 2

Another way to resolve the error-causing characters from the XML stream to try the steps given below. If the above solution did not help you to solve the issue then try this one.

1. First of all, go to the Start menu and then type “%APPDATA%” in the search bar.
2. Hit ENTER.
3. Go to the Application Data and then click on the ESC folder.
4. Delete the QBXML.log file from the folder.
5. Try to post the QuickBooks and check if you are still getting the error. If you are still getting the error then hit the OK button.
6. While connecting to the QuickBooks by ESC Accounting Server then the process changes the ESC Client.
7. To regenerate the QBXML.log folder click on the Application Data.
8. Then go to the ESC directory upon attempting the post.
9. Open the QBXML.log file and check the last entry. This will help you to detect the transaction caused by the error.
10. Now open the record where you can find the error in ESC and then hunt for the illegal characters. Delete the error causing the character and save the data.
11. Try to post it on the QuickBooks desktop again.
12. In case, you have faced some other error then repeat all the above steps to step 9. And keep repeating the steps until the post starts working again.

Final Note!

The above two solutions are the best we can suggest you while facing the error of QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream. If the methods did not help you to resolve the issue then contact the support of QuickBooks. You can get the helpline number from the official website of Intuit. Hopefully, this article was helpful and informative to you. We keep updating such technical-related blogs on our website, check them too. Stay connected!