User roles and access rights

Assign roles to people on your QuickBooks Online plan roles to define what they can see and do with to your company data. Each email address on your plan is assigned a role.

Note: The QuickBooks Online mobile app supports admin and standard all access. If you have another role, you’ll need to use the web app instead.

For a better experience, open this article in QuickBooks Online. Launch side-by-side view .

Tip: Create your own roles and customize permissions by upgrading to QuickBooks Online Advanced. Choose what users can see and do in different areas like banking, sales, payroll, and more.

Common billable roles

Your plan decides how many people can be assigned to these “billable” roles.

Primary admin/Company admin

You can access everything in the account, including admin tasks like changing people's permissions and roles.

• When you first set up the account, you are assigned the primary admin role. The primary admin can also give people the company admin role.
• If you are a company admin, you can't change or reassign the primary admin role.
• Only admins can add, edit, or remove admins.

Standard all access

You can do everything related to customers, sales, suppliers, and purchases. You can also:

• Add, edit, and delete employees
• Change preferences
• View activity log
• Create, edit, and delete budgets
• Add, edit, and delete accounts
• View and categorize online bank feeds
• Make deposits and transfer funds
• Reconcile accounts and make journal entries
• View all reports
• Manage sales tax data and settings
• Access and manage aspects of currency and multicurrency
• With QuickBooks Online Payroll, manage payroll

In house accountant

Note: This role was originally the “Standard all access without payroll” role. It was renamed May 2024.

You can access all bookkeeping and account tools, and financial reports. You can’t access payroll, manage other roles, or do admin tasks. 

You can see and do everything with customers and sales, and suppliers and purchases. You can also:

• View activity log
• Create, edit, and delete budgets
• Add, edit, and delete accounts
• View and categorize online bank feeds
• Make deposits and transfer funds
• Reconcile accounts and make journal entries
• View all reports except payroll reports
• Manage sales tax data and settings
• Access and manage aspects of currency and multicurrency

Accounts receivable manager

Note: This role was renamed from “Standard limited customers only” in May 2024.

You can do everything related to customers, sales, and accounts receivable (A/R) reports. You can also:

• Enter estimates, invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, and refunds
• Enter charges and credits
• Create and delete statements
• Receive payments from customers
• Fill out timesheets for anyone
• Add, edit, and delete customers, products, and services
• Enter bank deposits (since May 2024)
• View customer and A/R reports
• View sales tax rates and agency settings
• Use and adjust sales tax in sales transactions and general journal entries (such as manually overriding calculated sales tax amounts)
• Add, edit, and delete currencies
• Edit exchange rates
• Add, edit, and delete projects
• Add invoices, time, project estimates, and receive payments to projects

You can't:

• Print cheques (including refunds)
• Make bills and purchases billable to customers
• Add, edit, and delete accounts and inventory
• View account histories
• See total income and expenses on home, supplier, and customer pages
• Prepare and file a sales tax return and record sales payments
• Set up multicurrency
• Perform home currency adjustments
• Add expenses, bills, and purchase orders to projects

Accounts payable manager

Note: This role was renamed from “Standard limited suppliers only” in May 2024.

You can see and do everything with expenses, suppliers, and accounts payable (A/P) reports. You can:

• Enter bills from suppliers
• Enter cash and credit card purchases
• Pay bills, write cheques, and view cheque detail reports
• Print cheques (except refunds)
• Add, edit, and delete suppliers, products, and services
• View supplier and A/P reports
• View sales tax rates and agencies
• Use/adjust sales tax on purchase, card, and banking transactions, including overriding calculated sales tax amounts)
• Run sales tax reports or view sales tax history
• Prepare and file sales tax returns and record sales tax payments
• Add, edit, and delete currencies
• Edit exchange rates

Standard no access

You can submit timesheets, but nothing else.

Standard limited customers and suppliers

Note: You can’t assign this role to new people after May 2024.

You can see and do everything with customers and sales, and suppliers and purchases. You can: 

• Enter estimates, invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, refunds, charges, and credits
• Create and delete statements
• Receive payments from customers
• Fill out timesheets for anyone
• Add, edit, and delete customers, suppliers, products, and services
• View customer registers
• View customer and A/R reports
• View supplier and accounts payable (A/P) reports
• Enter bills from suppliers
• Pay bills, write and print cheques, and view cheque reports
• Make bills and purchases billable to customers
• Enter cash and credit card purchases
• Add, edit, and delete projects
• Add invoices, expenses, bills, time, purchase orders, project estimates, and receive payments to projects

You can't:

• Add, edit, and delete accounts and inventory
• View account histories
• See total income and expense amounts on home, supplier, and customer pages

Sales manager

You can do sales transactions and see, edit or add customers.

Expense manager

You can do expense transactions and see, edit or add suppliers.

Inventory manager

You can only do inventory and see, edit or add suppliers.

Payroll manager

You can do payroll, expenses, and payroll reports.

Custom user

Custom roles let you create your own roles and define access to specific areas in QuickBooks Online. This gives you even more control on what your team can see or do.

QuickBooks Online Payroll billable roles

The following roles are available only when you subscribe to QuickBooks Online Payroll.

HR manager

Note: You need QuickBooks Online Payroll Elite as part of your QuickBooks plan to use this role.

You can do everything related to QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Time. You can:

• Add, edit, delete employees
• Run payroll and view payroll reports
• Approve timesheets
• Manage benefits

You can't:

• Manage users
• View expenses, sales, banking, and company financials

Common non-billable roles

View company reports

You can see all reports, except reports that show payroll or contact info. You can create custom reports, and add report groups, but can’t view the actual transactions. 

You can’t access the audit log.

Track time only

Note: This role isn’t available to QuickBooks Online accounts that are connected to QuickBooks Time. If you integrate QuickBooks Time, this role is removed.

You can do timesheets and time reports, and enter timesheets for yourself.

Related links

• Add and manage users
• Add and manage custom roles in QuickBooks Online Advanced
• Add accountant users
• Add a supplier
• Change the primary admin user
• Learn about usage limits in QuickBooks Online