Manage Users in QuickBooks Desktop: Roles & Permissions
QuickBooks Desktop is an essential tool to set up a secured environment for financial data in businesses that involve multiple team members and accountants. Assigning roles and user permissions is an additional security measure so that your employees have access to only the information they need while ensuring the company’s sensitive data remains secure.
User management is very crucial within big businesses relying on QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise to keep a detailed audit of every action taken by the employees. This guide showcases how to manage users in QuickBooks Desktop to maintain security, organization, and accountability in your business. We’ll discuss different user roles available in QB Desktop, what can be customized, and well-defined procedures to create or set users and permissions in the bookkeeping software. Let’s start!
Understanding QuickBooks User Management
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise has predefined roles for effective user management. You can either select from the default user roles or customize a new one depending upon your business suitability. Selecting or customizing the user roles carefully helps to provide employees with all the access rights they need to work efficiently while limiting their access to other data and business operations that don’t concern them.
It also includes user activity monitoring, permission reports, and the ability to invite external users. It improves security and operational flexibility. QuickBooks account management even allows having multiple roles assigned to a single user, restricting a lot of accesses when needed, and resolving other permission issues. By reviewing user roles and updating them periodically, unauthorized access is prevented, and workflow efficiency improves.
QuickBooks Enterprise has 14 predefined roles that cover the universe of business functions. Here is a list of QuickBooks user roles that you can choose from:
| Role Name |
Description / Key Responsibilities
|
| Accountant |
Manages bookkeeping/accounting; access to all company file features (journal entries, passwords, closing dates, chart of accounts, full financial reporting).
|
| Accounts Payable |
Manages AP tasks (entering/paying vendor bills, entering expenses/credit card transactions, processing purchase orders); access to vendor/AP related reports.
|
| Accounts Receivable |
Manages AR tasks (invoicing, sales, statements, credit memos, etc.).
|
| Banking |
Access to bank/credit card accounts & banking reports; manages bank transactions, reconciliations, deposits; cannot create invoices or process payroll.
|
| External Accountant |
For external accountants; provides financial data access for audits; restricts access to sensitive info like credit card numbers and bank account credentials.
|
| Finance |
Oversees company financial reports, budgets, bank accounts, assets, liabilities, and cash flow.
|
| Inventory |
Full control over inventory module/operations (manage stock levels, build assemblies, adjust quantity, create item receipts, track via inventory reports).
|
| Payroll Manager |
Full access to all payroll operations in QBD Enterprise (manage setup, salaries, tax filings, other payroll tasks).
|
| Payroll Processor |
Enters payroll hours; manages employee checks and liabilities (including tax withholding and benefits).
|
| Purchasing |
Access to purchase orders and related reports for inventory restocking.
|
| Full Access |
Provides users with entire access to the company file and permission for any required modifications.
|
| Sales |
Access to sales orders, estimates, sales receipts, and entire customer list information (transactions, invoices, etc.).
|
| Time Tracking |
Manages timesheets and time tracking functions; suitable for employees/contractors tracking work hours and job names for job costing.
|
| View-Only |
Grants read-only access to company file data for monitoring; cannot create, modify, or delete transactions. (Typically available in QBD Enterprise).
|
Do not worry if you have any confusion related to the QuickBooks access levels discussed above; you’ll have individual details for each while selecting them in the bookkeeping software.
Methods to Add and Manage QuickBooks Desktop User Permissions
Managing QuickBooks Desktop user permissions guarantees that the appropriate individuals have specific access to financial records and other monetary tasks according to your convenience. Effective QuickBooks account management can be done by adding new QB users, using predefined roles, invite Intuit account users or design a custom role as needed. Here are the methods to manage QuickBooks Enterprise user permissions:
Note: You must be signed in as an administrator to assign user roles or customize a new one.
Step 1: Adding and Inviting a New QuickBooks User
If you still do not have enough users created in QuickBooks, here’s how you can create a new user in QB Desktop to assign them with different user roles:
- Open QuickBooks Desktop and head to the Company menu.
- Next, choose Users, then click on Set Up Users and Roles.
- Enter the admin password when prompted by QuickBooks and click OK.
- Navigate to the User List tab and click New.
- Enter any preferred username and a password (optional).
- In the Available Roles section, select the desired role(s) for the user and click Add.
- Fill in the user’s email address if prompted and click OK.
- Finally, click OK to save the new user.
Important: Roles like Accountant, External Accountant, Finance, Full Access, Payroll Manager, Payroll Processor, and View-Only will require the user’s Intuit account to be linked. You’ll see a ^ with every role name that requires a linked Intuit account.
Step 2: Assigning Predefined Roles and QuickBooks Permissions
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise offers predefined roles that you can select if your business doesn’t require making any additional modifications. The permissions and access of these predefined roles are carefully planned so that you do not have to check them again while selecting. Use the following steps to choose a predefined role in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise:
- Launch your QuickBooks Desktop, and select Users from the Company menu dropdown.
- Next, choose the option Setup Users and Roles.
- Type the admin account password and click OK.
- Navigate to the Role List tab and select any role from the list.
- Click Edit to review all the permissions of that particular role.
- Go to the Area and Activities section to select an area (None, Full, or Partial) of your accounts.
- Click OK after selecting the correct role and setting its permissions.
Step 3: Customizing User Roles and QuickBooks Access Levels
If the preset roles do not fit your business needs, administrator accounts in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise have the convenience to create customized QuickBooks user roles. Apply the following steps to determine the accessible areas in your accounts:
- Go to the Company menu in your QB Desktop and select the Users option in the list.
- Further, click on Set Up Users and Roles.
- Now, fill in the admin password and then hit OK.
- Move to the Role List tab and click New.
- Specify a name and a short description for the role.
- In the Area and Activities section, review all the areas the role should access.
- Specify the permissions for each area as None, Full, or Partial.
- Click OK after setting the permissions to create and save the role in QB Desktop.
Step 4: Inviting Intuit Account Users
In case you have users that do not normally work in QuickBooks and only require access to additional services like Payroll, Workforce, QuickBooks Time, etc., here’s how you can invite them to create an Intuit account:
- Go to the Company menu in your QB Desktop and select Users.
- Click the Intuit Account User Management option and tap Add User in the Users tab to create/add a new user to the file.
- Fill in the user’s first name, last name, and email ID.
- Select a role for the user from the Available Roles option and tap View Role Description to see all the available roles and their descriptions.
- Click Add after selecting the role and then Add User.
- Click the Send Notification to notify the user and tap OK in the QB message containing the invite status with assigned roles and company file name.
- The user on the receiving end must click Accept Invite and sign in with their email ID to accept the invitation.
Step 5: Review User Roles and Permissions
QuickBooks Desktop allows you to generate a Permission Access by Roles report. You can view all the user roles in this report along with the permissions set for each of them. Here’s how:
- Run the QB Desktop application and select Users from the Company menu.
- Click the Set up Users and Roles option and fill in your admin account credentials.
- Go to the Role List tab and click View Permissions.
- Select all the user roles you wish to review and tap Display to view the entire report.
Recommended article: Set Folder Permissions for QuickBooks: Fix Permission Issues
Conclusion
We hope you now have a clear understanding of how to manage users in QuickBooks Desktop. It becomes a crucial aspect to maintain security and efficiency in your business and avoid compromising on data integrity. You must select custom or predefined roles to have the ability to control what the employee accesses from the financial data. All the predefined roles in QuickBooks Desktop are well discussed in the guide, and the method to add a QB user, invite Intuit account users, and create a custom role in QuickBooks is also provided. Just follow the steps carefully to take the initial and most crucial step towards reliable QuickBooks user management.
FAQs
How many roles can be assigned to a QuickBooks user?
A QuickBooks Desktop user can be assigned multiple roles. The administrator in QB Enterprise assigns different user roles with different permissions and QuickBooks access levels within the software program. It will enable the user to perform within the specific limits allocated for that particular job. Users who have different jobs assigned to them can access QuickBooks under various areas without having full administrator rights. However, you need to be careful when assigning permission to avoid unauthorized users accessing confidential financial information.
How to give an accountant access to QuickBooks Desktop?
You must go to the QuickBooks Desktop’s Company menu> Users> Set Up Users and Roles. Enter the admin password and hit OK to proceed. In the User List tab, click New and create a username. Then, assign an external accountant to the role. Click OK to close. This role gives accountants access to financial reports and records but restricts access to sensitive configurations and payroll.
How do you assign multiple roles to a single user in QuickBooks Desktop?
To add an employee to multiple roles, go to Company > Users > Set Up Users and Roles, enter the admin password, and select OK. Select a user in the User List tab and click Edit. Under Available Roles, select multiple roles and add them. As a precaution, ensure these roles do not largely overtake them, which might provide unnecessary access. Click OK to save changes.
How to generate a user activity report in QuickBooks Desktop?
An audit trail report is used to track user activities throughout the QuickBooks system. You need to go to Reports > Accountant & Taxes > Audit Trail. The report consists of data created, modified, or deleted by users for each transaction. Filter options further refine reports by date, user scanned, and transaction type to make them more analyzable in terms of activity by the user on QuickBooks.
How to use predefined user roles in QuickBooks Desktop?
QuickBooks Desktop has predefined roles for 14 user management templates, each with its specific permissions. This is done to create role templates by going to Company > Users > Set Up Users and Roles. Enter the admin password for verification and click OK. Select Predefined in the Role List tab, then choose a role and click “View Role Description” to have it opened so its permissions can be reviewed. Roles can be assigned to users under the User List tab.
How to use the Permission Access by Roles report in QuickBooks Desktop?
To manage and set user access in a company, go to the Company menu, click Users, and then click Set Up Users and Roles. Enter the admin password and select OK. Next, go to the Role List tab and click on View Permissions. Select any role and click Display to generate a Permission Access by Roles report. This report can be used by administrators to review permissions and adjust access levels, thus ensuring more security and operational efficiency.
How to resolve “Access Denied” errors for users in QuickBooks Desktop?
If you encounter “access denied” errors for users in QuickBooks Desktop, the first step is to verify their roles and permissions. Go to Company > Users > Set Up Users and Roles, fill in the admin password, and look at how the access levels are configured for the user. Check whether the user is blocked from the area they are trying to get to. If you are still experiencing the same case above, then refresh permissions by reassigning roles or upgrading QuickBooks to eliminate possible software conflicts.
How to expire or temporarily restrict user access in QuickBooks Desktop?
QuickBooks is equipped with full functionality in its desktop version, but it does not have an inbuilt feature to automatically expire users’ accounts. To restrict a user, you will proceed to Company > Users > Set Up Users and Roles. Enter the admin password, choose the user, and edit roles by removing all roles before clicking OK. The permissions will just be reassigned the next time you provide the user with proper access. This suspends a user temporarily while enhancing overall security.
How to invite external users (e.g., contractors) via Intuit Account integration?
To invite outside users, such as contractors, you can go to the Users option in the Company menu and click on “Intuit User Account Management.” Now you can click the “Add User” button. Here, you need to fill in the first and last name of the user you want to add. Also, enter the email address of the user. Assign a role to that user. Click “Send Invitation” to send an email to the user and ask them to use their Intuit credentials and sign in to their Intuit account to redeem the invitation. They’ll get access to QuickBooks Time, payroll, or workforce to the QuickBooks access levels assigned for them.
