Will multiple employees be working with your QuickBooks company file? You’ll need to define their permission levels.
So, you want to know how to setup user access in QuickBooks? If your bookkeeping was ever done manually, then one thing is for sure… You probably did not allow every employee to see every sales form, account register, and payroll stub. Most likely, you have established a system that allowed staff to work only with information that related to their jobs. For instance, there may be times when someone pulls the wrong file folder and sends a report containing confidential information. So now that you understand why this is so important, les get on with how to setup user access in QuickBooks.
QuickBooks helps prevent this by setting virtual boundaries. You can specify which features of the software is accessible by employees who work with your accounting data. Each employee receives a unique user name and password that unlocks only the areas he or she should be visiting.
To help minimize errors, maintain data integrity, and preserve confidentiality, QuickBooks lets you restrict users to designated areas in the software.
Defining QuickBooks User Roles
Here’s how you as the Administrator can define these roles. Open the Company menu and select Set Up Users and Passwords | Set Up Users. The User List window opens. You should see yourself signed up as the Admin. Click Add User and enter a User Name and Password for the employee you’re adding. Confirm the Password and check the box in front of Add this user to my QuickBooks license. Click Next.
Note: You can have as many as five people working in your QuickBooks company file at the same time, depending on how many user licenses you’ve purchased. Not sure how many user licenses you have? Press the F2 key on your keyboard and look in the upper left corner. And, if you need more than five user licenses, talk to us about upgrading your user count!
In the next window that opens (see above screen), you will have three options. Probably you’ll most often select the second option, which lets you specify the screens this user can see and what he or she can do there. The third allows us to come in and do whatever tasks have been outlined in our work relationship (troubleshooting, monitoring, creating and analyzing reports, etc.).
Click the button in front of Selected areas of QuickBooks and then Next. You’ll see the first in a series of screens that deal with the software’s functional areas: Sales and Accounts Receivable, Purchases and Accounts Payable, Checking and Credit Cards, Inventory, Time Tracking, Payroll and Employees, Sensitive Accounting Activities (funds transfers, online banking, etc.), Sensitive Financial Reporting, and Changing or Deleting Transactions.
When you give employees Selective Access in a particular area, you can further define their roles there.
QuickBooks Sales and Accounts Receivable
The Sales and Accounts Receivable screen is a good example. You can see the options offered in the above image. By clicking on the buttons pictured, you’re giving this employee permission to both create and print transactions. Below these options, you’ll be able to keep him or her from seeing customers’ credit card numbers in their entirety by clicking in the small box. When you are finished, click Next.
Keep clicking Next and proceed through the rest of the screens. Your choices will be similar on each. But be sure to read all of the descriptive text very carefully. Keep in mind the importance of confidentiality issues and security as you go along.
The ninth screen, Changing or Deleting Transactions, deserves special attention. First, should this employee be able to change or delete transactions in his or her assigned area(s)? Even though you trust these employees to work with finances, consider this question carefully. After all, depending on the volume of transactions processed every day, you may want to reserve this ability for yourself.
We may or may not have established and password-protected a Closing Date for your company file. This will be the date when the books, for a specific time frame, will be “closed.” This means that transactions cannot be entered, added, or deleted prior to it. We can talk with you about the pros and cons of such an action.
A Summary of QuickBooks User Access Rights
Here and on every other screen in this multi-step wizard, you can always click the Back button if you want to return to a previous window. When you are finished, you will see a screen, like the one in the above image, that summarizes the choices you have just made.
Final Thoughts
If you’re feeling any uncertainty or confusion about the whole issue of access rights, we’ll be happy to go over your options with you. These are important decisions. You’ll want to stress to your employees that restricting their permissions does not signal a lack of your trust in them. Above all, QuickBooks provides these tools to protect everyone who uses the software. In addition, QuickBooks seeks to protect any external individuals and companies that might be affected.
Out of the Box Technology is an Elite QuickBooks Solution Provider (QSP). We provide our clients QuickBooks products and end-to-end Business services and Data services through our talented team of ProAdvisor Advanced Consultants, possessing over 360 years of combined QuickBooks experience. Out of the Box Technology’s motto is “Anything + Everything QuickBooks, It’s really that simple.” Contact us and let us show you how simple it really is! And dot forget to check out our Company Blog for Free Resources, valuable How-Ts, and TONS of frequently added QuickBooks content!
