Third party has access to my QB audit logs without my permission, and Vendors are automatically added as 'users'?! QB support is MIA.

Hi there, Castellum.

Thank you for coming back to the QuickBooks Community. I'll be providing some information on how user roles and access permissions work in QuickBooks. This way, you're able to confirm why accessing your audit log happens without your consent.

QuickBooks Online lets you add users who help with your company's bookkeeping. Then, when you add a user, you can manage their roles and limit their access to specific tasks. You can also choose what users can see and do within different areas of QuickBooks like customers and sales or vendors and purchases. That said, only added users can log in to your account and access the audit log. 

It might be the person who provides the audit log has access to your username and password or the accountant is the one shared with it. That is the reason that the vendor has access to the audit log. To see further details about the access rights of our users, you may click this article: User roles and access rights in QuickBooks Online.

Lastly, you may refer to this article so you can view details on how the audit log records all account activity in the audit log such as user sign-ins, changes to QuickBooks settings, and edits to customers, vendors, and employees: Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online.

Don’t hesitate to visit the Community again if you have other concerns about accessing your company file or any QuickBooks matters. I'm always here to help. Have a good one.

That’s just it, I haven’t created any of those users. The only user who can login is me. But every time I create a vendor the audit log also records creation of a user. They aren’t listed in my users when I check the account settings.

But somehow they are a user and can access audit logs even though I never added them as a user. Apparently all vendors are automatically added as users. You guys really should warn people about that.

That’s just it, there are no other users.  I haven’t created any of those users. Apparently, QB automatically creates a user for each vendor immediately upon creation of a vendor. Those vendors can then login and see audit logs. That’s a terrible design and one QB doesn’t warn you about. Looking back at my audit logs as soon as I create a vendor they are automatically, and instantly, added as a user. They don’t show up in my list of users and as far as I can tell I don’t have a way to remove them as users.

I appreciate you coming back and providing detailed information about what happens, Castellum.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), only added users can have direct access to your account. In your case, since those vendors are not on the list of your added users on the Manage users page, this time, I recommend contacting our Customer Care Team. They have the tools to pull up your account to deep investigate the root of the problem and why the issue keeps appearing.

To reach them, click the ? Help button at the top-right corner and select Contact us to talk with a live agent. Ensure to review their support hours to know when agents are available.

In the meantime, let me share some resources that you can browse and use as a reference in managing and navigating around your QuickBooks account.

•  Video Tutorials for QuickBooks Online - You can watch videos that can help you perform the most vital features of the program. 
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