David H. Ringstrom, CPA, is president of Accounting Advisors, Inc., a spreadsheet and database consulting firm. He is a sought-after speaker on the subject of Microsoft Excel, QuickBooks, and QuickBooks Online. He is also the co-author of the previous edition of QuickBooks Online For Dummies and two previous accounting reference books. In the steps below, when referring to the taxpayer, they’re referring to you as the recipient of the Intuit Link invite. A 10-digit phone number is required to create an Intuit account. Your User ID will be the email address that the Link invitation was sent to.

Excellent with an 8.9 usability rating from TrustRadius, a review site for business technology. Dummies has always stood for taking on complex concepts and making them easy to understand. Dummies helps everyone be more knowledgeable and confident in applying what they know.

My client has attempted to invite me and a second accountant user to no avail. I’ve had my client refresh QBO screens as well as invite me using incognito mode in Chrome. Accountant users have additional privileges that allow them to undo entire reconciliations, reclassify transactions and write off invoices.

Your professional bookkeeping service will be asked to create a user ID before signing in the first time, unless they already have an account with Intuit Business Services. Businesses that need more than five users and self-employed people who don’t need to send out more than 20 invoices per year. This button displays the currently selected search type. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection.

Anyone invited into Intuit Link will be required to have a User ID and password. A Community of users for Quickbooks Online, Pro, Premiere and Enterprise Solutions. Since we get asked this question a lot at REA, I figured it’d be easiest to write an article to quickly explain how to add your Accountant to Quickbooks online.

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QBO and QBOA were initially written and optimized to be used in the major web browsers—Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer. Later, Intuit added QBO apps that you can use to work in QBO on iOS and Android mobile devices. If the taxpayer does not have an Intuit online account, they will need to create an account. The email address that the accountant sent the invite to will be the taxpayer’s User ID. The taxpayer will be asked to enter their phone number and create a password. Your accountant will get a link to access your QuickBooks Online company if they already have QuickBooks Online Accountant.

One of the key features of Quickbooks is the ability to invite different users through the “Manage Users” page. This allows you to securely invite colleagues and Accountants to help manage your account while still being the “Master Admin” on the Quickbooks account. Email your accountant a link to log into your QuickBooks account. QuickBooks Online has 5.3 million users worldwide, meaning your accountant is likely familiar with it. The word “app” has become a buzzword and is often used when it probably shouldn’t be. In this article, we’re using the word “app” only when we refer to the mobile versions of QBO and QBOA that are available for download from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

QuickBooks Online is the cloud-based product for end users who need to perform typical accounting tasks. But, QBO is not simply a “rewrite” of the QuickBooks Desktop product for the web. It was designed and developed as a new product, optimized for web-based usage. Xero and QuickBooks Online are both powerful accounting software solutions for small businesses.

• If you no longer want your accountant to access your books, you can remove them.
• In this article, we’re using the word “app” only when we refer to the mobile versions of QBO and QBOA that are available for download from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
• Your accountant won’t have access to your QuickBooks Self-Employed data anymore.
• This doesn’t mean QuickBooks Online is the right choice for all businesses, though.

Accountant users have additional privileges that let them undo entire reconciliations, reclassify transactions, and write off invoices. They can also use accountant-specific tools to help you prepare for taxes. You can customize templates from mobile devices but not using mobile apps; instead, use the browser-based QBO on your mobile device.

QuickBooks Online

If you don’t want your accountant to have access anymore, you can remove them. He is a longtime tech entrepreneur, operator, and real estate investor. Your accountant will be sent an email with a link to sign into your QBO company. Ask questions, get answers, and join our large community of QuickBooks users. If you no longer want your accountant to access your books, you can remove them.

However, when you compare features, Quickbooks is the stronger candidate, especially for business owners who prioritize scalability and the ability to loop in accountants. And if you want to gain deeper insight into the logistics behind your business as it grows, QuickBooks Online’s reporting capabilities scale up with each plan level. Intuit also offers a desktop version of QBO, referred to in this book as, cleverly, QBO Desktop.

How Do You Invite Your Accountant to Quickbooks Online?

Signing up is free and lets them access all of the features available in your version of QuickBooks Online at no cost to you. Your accountant will receive an email about the invitation. You’ll know they accepted your request when the status on the Manage users page changes from Invited to Active. This doesn’t mean QuickBooks Online is the right choice for all businesses, though.

There is QBO Desktop, which allows Windows users to use QBO while being mobile — on, for example, laptops and tablets. But QBO Desktop is not available from any of the “mobile device” stores and, therefore, we’re not calling it an app. When an accountant opens a client’s company from within QBOA , the interface resembles what a client sees, with some minor differences. First, you know you’re using QBOA because the top of the Navigation pane shows QB Accountant. Second, the Accountant Tools menu displays tools not found in QBO that help accountants manage client companies.

This version is not a mobile app (it won’t work on phones and isn’t available in the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store) but it will work on any Mac or Windows computer. This includes “portable” computers, like laptops and tablets running Windows or Mac OS, making it somewhat mobile. It also is not the QuickBooks Desktop product, which is not a cloud-based product. If you want to get the most out of your accounting software product, you’ll have to invest time into learning accounting basics. Both Xero and QuickBooks Online have clean dashboards that are easy to navigate, but the information on them can be overwhelming if you don’t brush up on the terminology and why it’s important. In addition to using the QBO mobile apps for iOS and Android, you also can access the QBO sign-in page and your QBO account from your mobile device’s browser at Intuit.

QBO Desktop

\r\nAt no additional cost to you, mobile apps are also available for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. The iOS and Android apps are optimized for touch interaction and on-the-go workflows like customer management, invoicing, estimates, and signatures. You also can use the mobile apps to track the status of invoices, take payments, reconcile bank accounts, capture expenses, and check reports. And, you’ll find Pinch and Zoom functionality in the mobile apps and in browsers on mobile devices.\r\n\r\nYou can get the mobile apps here.

This lets them review your books, make corrections, and fix any tricky transactions. It also makes it easier to collaborate, especially during tax season. If you invite your accountant and they don’t have a QBOA subscription, they’ll have a chance to sign up when you send them this invitation. Signing up is free and allows them access to your QBO company at no cost to you.

Re-invite is only available for clients with a Progress status of Invite Pending. Once you are logged in, you will see the questions and document requests that your accountant has sent to you. In the Link email received from the accountant, click theAcceptbutton. Your accountant won’t have access to your QuickBooks Self-Employed data anymore. Xero’s Growing plan gives small businesses room to expand with the option of upgrading to the Established plan down the road.

The following figure shows what an accountant sees immediately upon logging into QBOA. The Navigation bar changes to support an accountant’s needs. \r\nThe word “app” has become a buzzword and is often used when it probably shouldn’t be. To begin sharing tax data with the accountant, clickLet’s Get Started.

QBO for the Client and QBOA for the Accountant

If you need to manage regular users, here’s how to add and manage them in QuickBooks Online. Excellent with an 8.4 usability rating from TrustRadius, a review site for business technology. Advanced, customized reporting capabilities in higher-tier plans could be a big asset to experienced business owners interested in running more complicated reports down the road.

If you’ve been a QuickBooks Desktop user and you’ve used the Left Icon Bar in that product, you might find the Navigation bar a familiar tool. The Left Icon Bar and the Navigation bar work the same way; you click a link in either of them to navigate to a portion of the program. If you invite your accountant and they already have a QuickBooks Online for Accountants subscription, they’ll get a link to access your QBO company. The next section gives an overview of what the QBO Desktop edition looks like, as well as detailing some of the things you can do in the iOS and Android mobile app versions of QBO.

QBOA users have the same additional options in QBO Desktop that they have in a browser. The menus at the top of the screen are the biggest visual difference between QBO and QBOA in QBO Desktop and QBO and QBOA in a browser. If you’ve been a QuickBooks Desktop product user, you know that you can use the menus to navigate. Under the hood, QBO Desktop offers some options that you won’t find readily available in a browser, such as the ability to work in multiple windows.

Xero’s unlimited-users feature makes it a winner among larger businesses and well-established small businesses that require more than five users. It is $12 per month Early plan is also a fantastic deal for self-employed people who don’t need to send out more than 20 invoices per year. Clicking the three-striped button beside the QuickBooks logo above the Navigation bar enables you to collapse the Navigation bar to view just the icons . When you collapse the Navigation bar, you have more screen real estate to view the right side of the QBO interface. In a browser, an open company in QBO looks similar to the one shown below. The Navigation bar runs down the left side of the screen.