How safe is it to give a free-lance bookkeeper access to my QBO account?

Glad to see you here in the Community, @GBTH.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can specify user access rights to any of your employees. You can use the Standard user or Company admin type to limit the access of your bookkeeper. You can check this link for more information: What different types of users can we have in our company?

To add a user:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Under Your Company, select Manage users.
3. Click Add user.
4. Select the user type, and then click Next.
5. Click the access rights you want to give your bookkeeper, and then Next.
6. Select user settings, and then Next.
7. Enter the First name, Last name, and Email.
8. Click on Next, once done.

Once done, your bookkeeper will receive an email. Let your bookkeeper, read it, and then click the link that says Click Here.

I've also added this link about user management in QBO: Add and manage users.

Also, I encourage checking our Help articles page to learn some tips and tricks in managing your QBO account. From there, you can read great articles that can guide you through the steps by steps process.

Stay in touch with us if you have other questions. I'm more than happy to help. Take care!

@GBTH 

I would recommend 2 additional apps to integrate with your QBO.

1. If you don't run the bank feeds, you may utilize a converter app.

https://www.moneythumb.com/?ref=110

2. If your bookkeeper may register the Bill transactions, utilize the authorization feature to pay them on Melio.

https://melio.grsm.io/quickbooks

Same question!  Doesn't seem like it got answered.  What did you end up doing? 

Welcome to Community, dannyclimber. 

We understand how crucial your personal information is to you and how important its security is. We use several levels of security to protect your data. No one can utilize your information in our product.

On the other hand, I'm glad to inform you that QuickBooks offers Live Bookkeeping services in which it gives you live, one-on-one support from QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper experts who understand your business. This way, you'll have confidence in running your business.

You can visit this site to get you in the loop about QuickBooks LiveBookkeeping updates and learn more about QuickBooks Online overview.

If you have other QuickBooks concerns, such as managing banking and bank feeds, setting up payments, running reports, and so on, you can check out this article.

Feel free to post again here in the Community if you have any question about QuickBooks Online. . I'm always around to help. Take care.