1 PC with 1 company file, but multiple users/ logins with different information access rights

You can create multi user profiles to access one company file on one computer in turns. Keep in mind, you can only have one Admin per company file. It is possible that one user may have more than one user profile to access one company file. Once you need more than one user working on the same file at the same time, you have to enable the multi user mode. 

Hi there ldjmcbain,

Thank you for your detailed question. Many businesses have more than one employee that needs to have access to the company's books for one reason or another, and it's important that you can assign that user access as necessary using QuickBooks Desktop. Let me give you a hand.

To address the first part of your question - yes! You can have QuickBooks Desktop installed on one PC with a single company file, and add multiple users with differing user accesses. Here's how:

1. Navigate to the Company menu and choose to Set Up Users and Password, then Set up Users.
2. Choose to Add User...
3. Enter the User Name and Password for the new user and hit Next.
4. You'll be brought to an Access for user: window where you can decide what this user has access to. Hit Next.
5. When you choose to give access to Selected areas of QuickBooks you'll have the ability to customize what they can access in the company file by choosing No Access, Full Access, or Selective Access for different areas.
6. Be sure to hit Finish when you're done.

If you want more information how to set up these additional users with differing accesses, and what those accesses mean, please refer to the articles below:

• QuickBooks Desktop Users and Restrictions

• Areas, Activities and Access Levels

In regard to your second question, setting up a multi-user network will enable you to have multiple users accessing the same company file from different computers. One computer will act as the host or server computer, the others are called work stations. You'll be able to maintain the same user logins that you already set up, so long as the users that are accessing the work stations have admin access to those computers. You indicated that you couldn't find many resources on this topic, but I've got a few great articles to share below:

• Hosting your company data in multi-user mode in QuickBooks Desktop

• Set up and install a multi-user network for QuickBooks Desktop

• Features available and tasks you can perform in single or multi-user mode

If after reading through these articles you're still unclear on how the multi-user capability works, don't hesitate to reply to this thread with further questions. You're also welcome to Contact Us outside of the Community in order to speak to an agent in real-time who can walk you through the process.

There are a few steps involved in these processes, but I'm confident that you'll get everything set up as required. Have a great day!

We have QB Desktop Premier installed - when adding Users to be used "in turn" (1 at a time) and still using QB entirely on a single PC, with no networking, do I require a license for each User Profile, just because I want to be able to have a couple of people be able to assist with data entry, but not have full access to some of the more sensitive financial information? 

You should be able creating multi user profiles with a single license seat.

Hello @ldjmcbain ,

I believe that if you are have multiple users on only one PC, the license is attached to the PC, not the user so you would only require one license in your current situation.

If you want more users, pricing and options can be found here:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ca/desktop/premier/

If you visit the QuickBooks Desktop Premier page on our website you can select the Pricing tab to check out the pricing breakdown. You'll notice that as you increase the number of users you'd like to add, the price increases. Depending on whether you've purchased your license outright at a retailer, or if you're paying a monthly subscription fee, this may work a little differently. The best way to find out how much you may need to pay to add additional users is to Contact Us outside of the Community. An agent can gather some sensitive details that aren't safe to share in this public forum and assess your account. Best of luck!

You are missing the point - I understand how to figure out the cost of added user licenses - my question is about when you need an additional user license.

If all users access a single PC to do the work required and simply signin at different times to that 1 PC (using QB Desktop Premier)  NOT multiple PCs, do I need multiple User Licenses?? The answer I got earlier here on the forum, just not from an Intuit employee, was that I do NOT need added licenses if my users all just log onto a single PC,  just at different times.

Is this correct - the answer to the above question is what the QuickBooks web site does a lousy job of addressing and is a question that should have been answered in multiple question threads I have read and never seems to get answered.

Can you please answer it?

Hello again @ldjmcbain,

It wasn't my intention to avoid your question, but I can see how I didn't get to the root of your inquiry. Let me explore this with you further.

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Premier on a single PC, you don't need multiple user licenses. Your employees can log in using their separate user accesses and work on your company file whenever another employee isn't. You can create as many user logins as you want on your company file without having to pay or get additional licenses.

The multi-user licensing comes into play when you want multiple users to have access to the file at once - in other words, if you decide to pursue using multi-user mode and set up multiple workstations. Depending on the license you have right now you may need to upgrade to a license with more users if that's something you'd like to consider for the future. 

I hope I've done a better job of clarifying things this time around. I appreciate your patience and hope that you have a better understanding of how this works now. Please let me know if there's more I can expand on. I want to make sure you're comfortable to proceed with adding new users to your company file.

Take care! 

Thank you VERY much Rebecca, your answer is greatly appreciated. I apologize if my reply got snarky, but the answer you just provided was MUCH more difficult to come by, both here in the community and in the product specs, than it should have been. I read through multiple threads where it probably should have been addressed and never was.

Thanks very much!!! 

I totally hear where you're coming from @ldjmcbain and I appreciate that feedback. Without the steady back and forth and opportunity to ask questions that comes along with real-time communication, sometimes the goal gets lost in translation. I'm glad I was able to get to the bottom of what you're looking for and give you the answer you needed! Have a great day and best of luck with adding new users to your QBDT company file!

@ldjmcbain 

As an additional option, you may deploy a private cloud to let any user access the file by internet in turns.

Fiat Lux - you mean putting the company file on a cloud server, mapping that Cloud Server as a drive on all users systems and accessing it from multiple PCs in different locations, but always just one user at a time?? It would have to be the same drive path on all systems, correct??

I am pretty sure that in order to use the same company file on multiple PCs the drive path to the file has to be identical. At least it used to be that way. 

Users don't need to map any new drive. The connection will route directly to the QuickBooks dashboard. You may keep your file(s) at your premise and deploy a private cloud, or put your license and company file(s) on an authorized QB cloud hosting.

https://partners.myquickcloud.com/?pc=fiatlux

http://www.apps4rent.com/#a_aid=quickbooks

Hi ldjmcbain,

What Fiat Lux mentions about a cloud hosting service is definitely another option you can consider. This option is particularly useful if not everyone is going to be working in the same office and could be a great asset if your business is considering a work-from-home model given the pandemic.

I've got an article that outlines authorized hosting providers and links to their websites, where you can learn more about how each of their hosting services works, the related fees, and how to connect with their support teams if you have specific questions about it. Here's our article: What hosting providers are authorized by Intuit?

I hope this helps with your decision!