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Transfer the primary admin role in QuickBooks Desktop

by Intuit•48• Updated 2 months ago

Learn how to transfer the primary admin role to a different user in a QuickBooks Desktop company or in the payroll or payments services.

In QuickBooks Desktop, there's a Company primary admin and an Intuit Account primary admin.

Here are some important guidelines to remember when managing company or Intuit Account users:

  • You can only have one primary admin per company or Intuit Account.
  • The Intuit Account primary admin can be different than the company primary admin.
  • You must sign in as the Primary Admin to transfer the admin role.
  • If the Primary Admin isn't around or can’t make the change on their own, you can send a request to our account protection team.

There are two user groups in QuickBooks Desktop:

Company users are users that can administer the company in the Customer Account Management Portal (CAMPs) and update billing info.

These are the roles you can assign to company users:

  • Primary admin: A primary admin can add/delete users, edit user roles, assign users, and update billing profiles. They can also transfer the primary admin role to an authorized user.
  • Authorized user: An authorized user can only update their user ID and contact info. They can also contact our experts for help with the account or any technical issues within QuickBooks.

Intuit acount users can administer the Intuit acount with the Intuit Account User Management and access to any add-on services like payroll, payments, and QBTime used by the account. The primary Intuit account admin might not be the same as the primary company admin.

These are the roles you can assign to Intuit Account Users (You may not see all of these if you don't use the service.):

RoleDescription
Primary adminA primary admin will have the following rights:
• Add/edit/delete users
• Assign secondary admin roles to users
• Transfer primary admin role to other users
Secondary adminA secondary admin will have the following rights:
• Add/edit/delete users
• Assign secondary admin roles to users
• Access to all user roles.
Payroll managerPayroll manager role has full access to all payroll functions including:
• Employee paychecks
• Paycheck information
• Payroll adjustments
• Payroll liabilities.
Payroll processorA payroll processor can process payroll checks, payroll liabilities of all your employees, and create reports.
Payments: Full adminPayments full admin has access to all pages / features available in the payments account, and has following rights:
• Manage users
• Edit account information and settings
• Create additional accounts
• Turn services on or off, and access tax documents.
To modify payment related roles visit https://merchantcenter.intuit.com/msc/portal/userMgmt
Payments: Limited adminA Payments: limited admin account can manage permissions of all users except the Payments: full admin role. A limited admin doesn't have rights to add accounts or services.
To modify payment related roles visit https://merchantcenter.intuit.com/msc/portal/userMgmt
Payments: Full userA Payments: full user account, can only access:
• Payment processing features
• Reporting screens, and statements.
To modify payment related roles visit https://merchantcenter.intuit.com/msc/portal/userMgmt
Basic userBasic user is a default role which can't be removed. If your company file is linked to Payroll, Workforce, QBTime, Capital and more; any user with Intuit account roles will be assigned Basic user. This role will also have access to Payments but not the merchant service center.

You can transfer the Company primary admin or the Intuit Account primary admin to a new user. Here's how:

Note: You only need transfer the Intuit Account primary admin if you need to change the admin for you Payroll, Payments, QuickBooks Time, or other add-on services.

  1. Go to  Company, then select My Company.
  2. Select Manage Your Account.
  3. Sign in with your Intuit Account info. This should be different from what you use to sign in to your company file.
  4. Scroll down to the Primary Contact section and select Change.
  5. Select the new primary contact from the list of contacts on the account.
    Note: If the user isn't listed, the admin should invite or add the user. The user should accept the invite to change the primary contact on the account.
  6. Select Save and Close.
  1. Open a browser and sign in to your Intuit Account (CAMPs).
  2. Scroll down to the Primary Contact section and select Change.
  3. Select the new primary contact from the list on the account.
    Note: If the user isn't listed, the admin should invite or add the user. The user should accept the invite to change the primary contact on the account.
  4. Select Save and Close.
  1. Go to Company, select Users then Intuit Account User Management.
  2. Scroll the secondary admin you want to make the primary admin, select Edit, then Select Change Primary admin. If the user isn't listed, you'll need to add them to the account.
  3. Enter the verification code sent to the admin's phone number.
  4. The admin transfer email is sent to the current primary admin and the secondary admin.
  5. When the secondary admin accepts the transfer, they become the primary admin. The original primary admin becomes a secondary admin.

Note: Only secondary admins can be assigned the primary admin role. And only one Primary admin can exist at any point of time

  1. Sign in to your Intuit account. 
  2. Select the company file you want access to, then select Continue.
  3. Scroll the secondary admin you want to make the primary admin, select Edit, then Select Change Primary admin.
  4. Enter the verification code sent to the admin's phone number.
  5. The admin transfer email will be sent to the current primary admin and the secondary admin. 
  6. When the secondary admin accepts the transfer, they become the primary admin. The original primary admin becomes a secondary admin.

Note: Only secondary admins can be assigned the primary admin role. And only one Primary admin can exist at any point of time

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