We have a Quickbooks Online account and basic service. We need to access our 2018 Quickbooks Premier Contractor Edition (desktop version) for 2016 employee pay records.

Can you login to your CAMPS and find your license code there?

I understand it can be challenging, dbert. 

Let me share some details on why you're currently experiencing this. 

This issue is due to the discontinuation of the QuickBooks Premier 2018 version. Thus, using this version will result in system performance issues. The 2018 version is for recording purposes only, you won't be able to receive updates or support on any services.  

However, we can have a workaround to access your employee's 2016 pay records. 

If you created a backup company file, we can utilize that instead. 

Here's how: 

1. Open the Windows Start menu.
2. Type File Explorer into the search and open File Explorer.
3. Select My Computer or This PC from the navigation bar. 
4. From the search field type, *.qbw, *.qbb to find all files. Make sure you include the asterisk (*) before the extension. You can also search for *.qb for QuickBooks. 

Please note that the taxes indicated in your employee's previous records are outdated. 

Also, you can contact Intuit Data Services. This way, they can look into this and assist you in accessing your employee's records. 

Here are the different resources you can read about organizing your employees in QBO: Manage workers and employees | QuickBooks Online Payroll US

If you require further assistance managing your employees, don't hesitate to post here in the Community space. Stay safe, and have a good one!