Change the primary admin role

The primary admin is the main person who has access to every part of a QuickBooks account. They can manage everyone and perform other admin tasks. By default, the person who sets up the account is the primary admin. If you need to change the primary admin role, transfer the role to someone else.

Note: If you're using QuickBooks Online Simple Start, contact us to transfer the primary admin.

Prerequisites

Before you transfer the primary admin role, make sure you meet these requirements:

• You must be able to sign in as the current primary admin.
• The person you want to make the new primary admin must already be added to the account. If not, add them.
• The new person must have the role of Admin before you can transfer the role to them.

Transfer the primary admin role

For QuickBooks Online

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online as the current primary admin. If you can’t sign in, you can recover your user ID or password.
2. Go to Settings and select Manage users.
3. Find the user you want to make the primary admin.
4. In the Role column, make sure they are listed as Company admin. If they’re not, select Edit from the Action column to change their role to admin.
5. Select the ▼ dropdown from the Action column. Then, select Make primary admin.
6. Select Change primary admin to confirm the change.
7. Sign out of QuickBooks.

Note: The option to transfer the primary admin is only available if the incoming user is already a company admin. The new primary admin doesn’t need to do anything as the experience is seamless.

Request the primary admin role if the current admin is unavailable

If the current primary admin is no longer with the company and you can't sign in to their account, you can't follow the standard transfer steps. Instead, you must submit a request to our account protection team to become the primary admin.

To do this, you'll need to fill out a request form and provide documents to prove you own the business or have permission to take over the account.

For detailed steps and a list of required documents, see Request to be the primary admin or contact.

For accountants

If you are an accountant and the primary admin of your firm, you can change the primary admin role in a client's account. See Transfer primary admin access back to your QuickBooks Online client for instructions.