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Add and manage custom roles in QuickBooks Online Advanced

by Intuit•8• Updated 1 week ago

Learn how to create and manage custom roles for your QuickBooks Online Advanced users.

Note: This article is for customers using QuickBooks Online Advanced. If you're interested in using this feature, consider upgrading today.

Note:

Only administrators and custom users with Manage users permissions can manage users. Learn about becoming the primary admin.
Some fields are read-only and are automatically included in a role for your information.

With custom roles, you can manage user access in QuickBooks and give users only the access needed for their role. Choose what users can see and do within different areas of QuickBooks like Sales, Expenses, Stock, Lists, Bookkeeping, Accounting, Payroll, Reports, Time tracking, Account management, and Budgets.

When you set up a new role, you have the option to:

Create a new role and choose what the role can access.
Select a predefined custom role, like Sales manager or Expense manager.
Select from the list of QuickBooks roles, like Company admin or Track time only.

Add a new role

If you’d like to create a new custom role, you just need to add the role and choose the different areas the role can access.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select the Roles tab, then select Add role.
Enter a Role name and Role description.
Select what the user role can access in QuickBooks, then select Save Role.

Note: An option to customise granular-level permissions (View, Create, Edit, or Delete Only) is not available at this time for all the roles.

Create a sales role by location

If you have business across different locations, you can create a role with different sales access for each. This way, your users can manage sales transactions based on their location.

Note: If you haven’t yet, make sure to set up and add a location for your company.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select the Roles tab, then select Add role.
Enter a Role name and Role description.
Select Sales.
From the All locations ▼ dropdown menu, select one or more locations.
Select what your user can access.
Select Save Role.

Assign a role to a new user

If you have a new user, you’ll need to add them in QuickBooks and assign a role.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select Users tab, then select Add user.
Enter the user’s First name, Last name, and Email.
From the ▼ dropdown under the Assign roles section, select the role you want to assign to the user.
Review the permissions this role has and select Send invite.

The user will get an email invite and will need to select Let’s go! to sign in.

Note: If your user forgot their password, they can reset their own password.

Assign a custom role to a new user

If you have a new user, you’ll need to add them in QuickBooks and assign a custom role.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select Users tab, then select Add user.
Enter the user’s First name, Last name, and Email.
In the Assign roles section, select View all permissions, then assign the custom permissions you want to assign to the user.
Review the permissions, then select Send invite.
You’ll be asked to Create a custom role, since you have used custom permissions.
Enter the Custom role name and Role description.
Select Save role.

The user will get an email invite and will need to select Let’s go! to sign in.

Note: If your user forgot their password, they can reset their own password.

Edit access for a role

Once the user accepts your email invite, you can edit the access of the roles you created at any time. Here’s how.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select the Roles tab. In the Action column, select Edit.
Make the necessary changes, then select Save Role.

Note: When selecting users’ permissions, you will be able to select a box, a line or an empty checkbox. A line means you will only be able to edit the information you have created.

To get back to empty checkbox, you will need to double click the box.

Edit a user’s role

Sometimes your user’s roles will change or you may need to allow a user more access. Here’s how to edit a user’s role.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select the Users tab, then find the user you want to edit.
Select Edit from the Action column.
Select from the existing custom or QuickBooks roles.
Select Save changes. If you edit permissions after selecting the role, you’ll be asked to save a new custom role. Enter a Role name and Role description, then select Save role.

Reactivate or deactivate a user’s role

You can activate or deactivate a user role if needed.
Note: Before you can make a role inactive, you have to assign any associated users to a different role.

Go to Settings and select Manage users.
Select the Roles tab, then find the role you want to edit.
In the Action column, select ⋮ next to Edit, then select Deactivate.
Select Deactivate.

If the user role is already deactivated, select ⋮ from the Action column, then select Reactivate. Select Reactivate to confirm.

If you need to reduce your users, you can delete them so you won’t reach your usage limit. Learn more about usage limits.

Custom roles and access

Custom roles let you assign detailed permissions to different areas of QuickBooks that define:

What features a user can access in QuickBooks
What actions can they perform within those features, like view only, create, edit, delete, approve, and all access
Note: Not all action-level permissions are enabled at this time
What data restrictions apply to their access, like restricting sales data by location

Here’s more info about access control for different areas and permissions:

Sales

For user with location restrictions

This user is limited to the Sales role only.
This user can’t receive payments or create weekly timesheets.
This user can’t import a CSV file.

For user without location restrictions

Users only view and operate on sales transactions that belong to the location assigned.

All sales transactions and customers
If this user is also responsible for receiving customer payments, we suggest giving them permission to record bank deposits too.

This user can:

Enter estimates, invoices, sales receipts, credit notes, 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.
View VAT rates and agency settings.
Use and adjust VAT in sales transactions and general journal entries, including manually overriding calculated VAT amounts.
Add, edit, and delete currencies.
Edit exchange rates.

This user can't:

Print cheques (including refunds).
Make bills and purchases billable to customers.
Add, edit, and delete accounts and quantity on hand.
View account history.
See total income and expense amounts on Home, Supplier, and Customer pages.
Run VAT reports or view VAT history.
Prepare or file a VAT return or record sales payments.
Set up new or change existing tax agencies or settings.
Set up multicurrency.
Perform home currency adjustments.
View all reports.

Invoices

This user can only create, edit, and send invoices.
This user has access to all products and services and customers.
This user can’t apply billable time, expenses, or delayed credits and charges with invoice-only access.

Estimates

This user can only create, edit, and send estimates.
This user can access all products and services and customers.

Expenses

All expense transactions and suppliers

This user can:

Enter bills from suppliers.
Enter cash and credit card purchases.
Pay bills, write cheques, and view cheque detail reports.
Print cheque (except refunds).
Add, edit, and delete suppliers or products and services.
View tax rates and agency settings.
Edit VAT in purchase, credit card, and banking transactions.
Prepare or complete a VAT or CIS return.
Add, edit, and delete currencies.
Edit exchange rates.

This user can't:

Add, edit, and delete accounts and quantity on hand.
View account history.
Set up new tax agencies or change VAT settings.
Set up multicurrency.
Perform home currency adjustments.
See total income and expense amounts on home, supplier, and customer pages.
View all reports.

Cheques

This user can:

Write, print, or order cheques.
Create transactions through cheques.
View, copy, edit, and void cheques.
View cheque and bill payment (cheque) transactions in expenses.
View suppliers page.

This user can’t:

View or update details of Bill Payment (cheque) records.
View the sidebar on the create cheque page to link it to an existing bill.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update supplier details.
Make a supplier inactive.

Bills

This user can:

Create bills.
Order cheques.
Create transactions through bills.
View, copy, edit, and void bills.
View records with type as a bill under expenses.
View suppliers page.

This user can’t:

Pay bills.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update supplier details.
Make a supplier inactive.

Expenses

This user can:

View, create, copy, edit, and delete expenses based on action-level permissions.
Order cheques.
View the suppliers page.

This user can’t:

Pay bills or print cheques.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update supplier details.
Make the supplier inactive.

Bill Payments

This user can:

Mark bills as paid with ‘create’ permissions
View, copy, edit, and delete bill payment transactions based on action-level permissions
View bills
Order cheques
View the suppliers page.

This user can’t:

Print cheques.
View other transaction types under expenses apart from bills and bill payments.
Make the supplier inactive.

Expense claims

This user can:

Upload or submit expense claims for review.

This user can’t:

Add or update expenses or bills.
View other expense transaction types

Supplier Credits

This user can:

View, create, copy, edit, and delete supplier credits based on action-level permissions
Order cheques.
View the suppliers page.

This user can’t:

Pay bills or print checks.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update supplier details.
Make the supplier inactive.

Credit card credits

This user can:

View, create, copy, edit, and delete credit card credits based on action-level permissions
Order cheques.
View the suppliers page.

This user can’t:

Pay bills or print cheques.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update supplier details.
Make the supplier inactive.

Purchase orders

This user can:

View, create, copy, edit, and delete purchase orders based on action-level permissions
Order cheques.
View the suppliers page.

This user can’t:

Pay bills or print cheques.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update supplier details.
Make the supplier inactive.

You can also assign action-level permissions on expense transactions.

Action permissions	Description
View	View transactions without the ability to modify or delete it.
Create	View and create new transactions. And modify those transactions, but not those created by others.
Edit	View, create, and edit transactions without the ability to delete them.
Delete	View and delete transactions.
Approve	Approve transactions for which they have been assigned as approver. Approval workflows need to be set up. Currently this permission is available for bills.
Submit	Allows the user to submit transactions for review. Currently this permission is available for expense claims.

Stock

Stock Management

This user can:

View and edit the existing Product and Services list.
Manage categories.
Adjust stock.
View existing stock asset account, income account, and expense account.
View and update supplier details.

This user can’t :

Add new stock asset account, stock adjustment account, income account, or expense account.
Run report.
Do batch actions for Email and Pay bills.
Create new transactions for a supplier.

Lists

You can control access to certain lists in QuickBooks as part of custom roles. When you assign access to transactions, users may automatically get access to lists like customers and suppliers. Be sure to check when you create or edit roles.

Customers

You can select the following access rights:

View: User can view the customer list and customer information only

Create: User can view the customer list, customer information, and create new customers. Note: Users with this permission can only edit customers they have created themselves. They won't be able to edit customers created by other users.

Edit: User can view the customer list, customer information, create new customers, and edit customer information.

You cannot:

View other transaction types under sales or expenses
Create statements
View or modify suppliers

Suppliers

You can select the following access rights:

View: User can view the suppliers list and supplier information only.

Create: User can view the supplier list, supplier information, and create new suppliers. Note: Users with this permission can only edit suppliers they have created themselves. They won't be able to edit suppliers created by other users.

Edit: User can view the supplier list, supplier information, create new suppliers, and edit supplier information.

You cannot:

View other transaction types under sales or expenses
Create statements
View or modify suppliers

Bookkeeping

All bookkeeping access

This user can:

Access all banking transactions. This role also gets access to sales, expenses, and lists.
Connect a bank or credit card to bring in transactions (only if the admin created an account in Chart of Accounts).
Create a new rule and edit existing rules.
Upload and export receipts.
Set up receipt forwarding.
View account history (current, savings, and credit cards only).
Add, match, and record transactions.
Create, edit, or delete bank deposits.

This user can't:

View Chart of Accounts.
Edit account history.
Create a journal entry.
View Reconcile, Budgeting, and Audit Log.
Adjust stock.
View all reports.

Bank deposit

This user can:

View, create, copy, edit, or delete bank deposits.
Order cheques.

This user can't:

Connect a bank account or credit card.
View banking transactions.
View and edit account history.
View rules and receipts.
Access other sales or expense transactions.

Transfers

This user can:

View, create, copy, edit, or delete transfers.
Order cheques.

This user can't:

Connect a bank account or credit card.
View banking transactions.
View and edit account history.
View rules and receipts.
Access other sales or expense transactions.

Bank transactions

This user can:

Access to all banking transactions. This role will also get access to sales, expenses, and lists.
Create a new rule and edit existing rules.
View account history (current, savings, and credit cards only).
Add, match, and record transactions.
Create, edit, and delete bank deposits.

This user can't:

View Chart of Accounts.
Connect a bank or credit card to bring in transactions.
Edit account history.
Create a journal entry.
View Reconcile, Budgeting, and Audit Log.
Adjust stock.
View all reports.

Accounting

Chart of accounts

You can:

Access the chart of accounts list page.
View, create, or edit accounts depending on action-level permissions.

You cannot:

Connect a bank account or credit card.
Reconcile accounts.
View account history.
Access other sales or expense transactions.

Reconciliation

You can:

Reconcile accounts.
View account history and chart of accounts.
Access sales and expense transactions.
Access bank deposits, transfers, or view journal entries.

You cannot:

Connect a bank account or credit card.

Account history

You can:

View account history and chart of accounts.
Access sales and expense transactions.
Access bank deposits, transfers, or view journal entries.

You cannot:

Connect a bank account or credit card.
Reconcile accounts.

Journal entries

You can:

View, create, copy, edit, or delete journal entries.
Access other sales or expense transactions.
Access bank deposits and transfers.

You cannot:

Connect a bank account or credit card.
View banking transactions.
View and edit bank account history.
View rules and receipts.

You can also assign action-level permissions to chart of accounts features.

Action permissions	Description
View	View accounts or transactions without the ability to modify or delete them.
Create	View and create new accounts or transactions. And modify them, but not those created by others.
Edit	View, create, and edit accounts or transactions without the ability to delete them.
Delete	View and delete accounts or transactions.
All access	Allows a user to perform all actions on the accounts and transactions they have access to.

Payroll

If you have a payroll subscription, you have to complete prerequisite steps to let your employee run payroll.

All payroll access

This user can:

Add employees and run payroll.
Change payroll schedule.
Access to all expense transactions and supplier lists.
View payroll reports.
View the payroll payment list.
Fill out timesheets for anyone.
View and edit payroll settings.

This user can't:

View bank account history and bank info.
Create journal entries.
Enter estimates, bank deposits, invoices, sales receipts, credit notes, and refunds.
View all reports (except payroll).
Set up multicurrency.
Perform home currency adjustments.

Reports

Custom roles let you assign detailed permissions to different standard reports in QuickBooks Online like:

Which groups of reports a user can access in QuickBooks.
Which specific reports a user can access in QuickBooks.
What actions users can perform with reports like view only or customise.

Understand the action level permissions in more detail:

View

You can:

View the report.
Filter dates, export, and schedule reports.

You cannot:

Modify the look and feel of the report using grouping and filtering options.
Change the contents of the report using the custom report builder tool.
Create new custom reports from scratch.

Customise

You can:

View the report.
Edit the report by reordering report columns.
Format numbers in reports.
Filter data in reports.
Sort data in reports.
Arrange data in summary reports.
Save a custom report created by customising the standard report.

You cannot:

Add new entities to the report.
Add new attributes to the report.
Create new custom reports from scratch with report builder.

Full

Combines access of both view and customise.

Note:

Custom roles let users manage access only to standard reports and not custom reports created by other users.
Some report groups and reports may not yet be available for custom access so you may not see the checkboxes to manage with custom roles.
If QuickBooks adds any new reporting options, your custom role users won't have access unless you give it to them. We'll notify you when new reports are available.

Time tracking

Custom roles lets you turn on and set up time tracking to track and bill customers for the number of hours spent on a project or activity.

This lets you also track reports for your workers, customers, and unbilled time.

Account Management

Custom roles can’t be saved with account management access only. You need admin or user management permissions in order to create new custom roles.

Edit company info

This user can make changes to your company name, type, contact info, and address.

Budgets

You can:

View, create, edit, and delete budgets depending on action-level permissions.

You cannot:

Run any report.
View the Chart of Accounts.

You can also assign action-level permissions on budgets.

Note: Currently only Full access and View-only permissions are available as assignment options. You can't add partial access permissions at this time.

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