Learn about the different types of payroll contacts and how to update them in QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.
Payroll is a big part of running a business, and it's important to keep your payroll contacts up-to-date.
In this article, you'll learn about:
- Payroll contacts in QuickBooks Online Payroll
- How to change or update the Principal officer
- How to change or update the Primary admin
- How to change or update the Company admin, Standard user, or Reports only user
- Payroll contacts in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll
- How to change or update the Primary principal user
| Note: Not sure which payroll service you have? Here's how to find your payroll service. |
QuickBooks Online Payroll
Payroll contacts in QuickBooks Online Payroll
Here are the different types of payroll contacts and their role in QuickBooks Online Payroll.
| User roles for Payroll products | Role in your business | Provides authorization | Discuss/make changes to account | Access to payroll reports |
| Principal officer | Owner/authorized signer on payroll bank account and auth forms | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Primary admin** | Can do everything | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Company admin | Can run payroll, add users, and manage payroll info) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Standard user | Limited* | No | Limited* | Yes |
| Reports only | All reports, except the ones with payroll or contact info | No | No | No |
Footnotes:
*Depending on the user settings, this user can or can’t manage users, company info, and subscriptions.
**Primary admin is a role in QuickBooks Online for the main payroll contact. Should there be any changes with the payroll contact, this role must be updated or transferred to someone else.
Select the role you would like to change or update:
Change or update the Principal officer
- Go to Settings ⚙, then Payroll settings.
- From Bank accounts, select Manage payroll principal officer information.
- Select Edit ✎ to change your principal officer info.
- From the dropdown ▼, choose the reason for the change.
- Update your principal officer info, then select Save.
We’ll send you a verification code to double-check the principal changes. Once verified, your changes are applied immediately to your account. We may contact you if we need additional info.
Note: We'll only apply the change to your payroll account. If you need a new principal for your QuickBooks Payments account, you may need a new Quickbooks Payments account.
Change or update the Primary admin
Update the admin’s personal info and sign in credentials
- Select the icon of your name’s initial at the top right.
- Select Manage your Intuit Account.
- You’ll be directed to accounts.intuit.com page.
- From there, you can update your personal info.
If you want to update the admin’s personal info only
- Go to Settings ⚙, then select Manage user.
- In the ACTION column, select Edit. Or, select the ▼ dropdown to remove a user.
- You can update the name, email, and user type, and other user settings.
- Select Save.
If you want to transfer the Primary admin role to another payroll contact
If you’re looking to transfer the Primary admin rights to another payroll contact, check out Change the Primary admin user in QuickBooks Online.
Change or update the Company admin, Standard user, or Reports only user
- Go to Settings ⚙, then select Manage user.
- In the ACTION column, select Edit.
- You can update the name, email, and user type, and other user settings.
- Select Save.
QuickBooks Desktop Payroll
Payroll contacts in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll
Here are the different types of payroll contacts and their role in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.
| User roles for Payroll products | Role in your business | Provides authorization | Discuss/make changes to account | Access to payroll report |
| Primary principal or Principal officer | Owner/authorized signer on payroll bank account, auth forms | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Secondary Principal | Owner/authorized signer on payroll bank account, auth forms | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll administrator or Primary payroll contact | Primary contact for payroll | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Other payroll contact | Ask general questions about QuickBooks | No | No | No |
Change or update the Primary principal user
- Complete the Primary Principal change form.
- Have the current and the new principals sign the request letter. If the current principal isn't available to sign, indicate the name on the letter. Explain the reason for the change.
- Get a photocopy of the new principal's government-issued ID.
- Contact QuickBooks Desktop payroll support to submit the form, request letter, and ID via Intuit File Exchange.
If you’d like to add a secondary principal:
- Complete the Primary Principal change form.
- Have the primary and secondary principals sign the request letter. On the letter, state that they’ll add another principal.
- Get a photocopy of both primary and secondary principals' government-issued ID.
- Contact QuickBooks Desktop payroll support to submit the form, request letter, and ID via Intuit File Exchange.
The principal change takes 3–5 banking days from the date we receive the documents. You’ll get a status email from us.