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Manage communications in your Inbox

by Intuit• Updated about 11 hours ago

Summary: Your Inbox is a unified workspace inside QuickBooks Online and Intuit Accountant Suite (IAS) for messaging your team, clients, accountant, or bookkeeping expert.

Use your Inbox to message your team, your clients, and your accountant without leaving QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online business admins can connect their external email accounts to bring incoming email into the same threads as other messages.

Note: Inbox isn't available for QuickBooks Online EasyStart.

Turn on your Inbox

Before anyone at your firm or business can use the Inbox, an admin has to give one-time consent. Consent happens separately for firms and for individual client businesses.

Intuit Accountant Suite (Firm-level consent): Given by the firm's Primary Admin or a Company Admin from inside Intuit Accountant Suite (IAS). This can't be done from a client's QuickBooks Online account.
QuickBooks Online (Client-level consent): Given by the client's Primary Admin or Company Admin from inside their own QuickBooks Online account.

For Intuit Accountant Suite (IAS) users

Sign in to Intuit Accountant Suite (IAS).
Select the Inbox icon in the global header.
If you haven't given consent yet, accept the consent prompt that appears.
If no prompt appears, you may have already given consent. Confirm by checking that your Inbox loads fully with the Needs action, Waiting, and All tabs visible.

You can also open just your transaction requests:

Go to All apps, select Accounting.
Select Bank transactions, then Requests.

For QuickBooks Online users

This is separate from the firm-level consent above and can't be completed by the accountant.

Sign in to your QuickBooks Online company directly. Don't use a link from an email.
Select the Inbox icon in the global header.
Accept the one-time consent prompt that appears.
Ask your accountant to send a new request and test the email link to confirm everything's connected.

Note: If your firm has given consent but your business admin hasn't, your QuickBooks users can't open the Inbox inside QuickBooks. They can still reply through the Client Portal until your business admin completes consent.

Send a new message

Select the Inbox icon in the global header.
Select + New.
Select the type of message you want to send, such as Email, Team message, Accountant message. If you're an accountant, enter a contact name or email address when prompted.
Select the attachment icon to upload documents (like receipts or tax forms) for your accountant.
Type your message.
Select Send.

Tip: You can also start a message about a specific transaction. Select the chat bubble or message icon next to any uncategorized transaction in your Bank feed or Books close to send a message about that transaction.

Review your messages anytime by switching between the Needs action, Waiting, and All tabs in your Inbox.

Connect external email and manage your alert settings

Available to Primary Admins of QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced companies. Available on web now, with mobile support coming in mid-August 2026. Not available in Intuit Accountant Suite (IAS), Intuit Enterprise Suite, or other QuickBooks Online plans, including EasyStart and Essentials.

Select the Inbox icon in the global header.
Select icon.
Select Manage Settings, then follow the option that matches how you use QuickBooks.
If you use QuickBooks Online as a business: In the Channels section, select Connect email account to connect your Gmail or Outlook account or add an email signature. Select Edit in the Messages section to enable or disable Company alerts or AI follow up.
Select Save.

Note: Intuit Intelligence acts as a proactive assistant for Plus/Advanced users who do not have an accountant connected. It analyzes your data and sends notifications when it detects significant changes in your historical patterns.

Troubleshoot your Inbox

Issue	Solution
I can't access the Inbox inside QuickBooks.	Your firm may have given consent, but your business admin hasn't. Until your Primary Admin or Company Admin gives consent, you can only reply through the Client Portal. Ask your admin to complete the one-time consent.
I get a permission error when I try to give consent.	You don't have the permissions needed. Ask your Primary Admin or Company Admin to give the one-time consent instead. Firm admins can review team access: Go to Firm hub, select Manage users, then Users. Business admins: Go to Settings ⚙, then select Manage users.
I can't find my old requests or conversations.	Conversations from the earlier Requests feature don't carry over automatically. If your request was created before May 2026, you can view it as read-only until the end of August 2026 from the legacy Requests page.
My external collaborators are missing.	Team setups from the earlier Requests feature don't carry over. QuickBooks users are added automatically, but you need to add outside collaborators again from Inbox Settings. Collaborators don't count toward your QuickBooks user limit.