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Add and manage custom roles in QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite
Learn how to create and manage custom roles for your QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite users.
Create your own roles and customize permissions by upgrading to QuickBooks Online Advanced. Choose what users can see and do in different areas like banking, sales, payroll, and more.
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 and give users only the access needed for their role. Choose what users can see and do within different areas of QuickBooks like banking, sales, payroll, expenses, reports, budgets, and inventory.
When you set up a new role, you have the option to:
Create a new role and choose what the role can access.
Choose a predefined custom role, like Sales Manager or Expense Manager.
Choose from the list of QuickBooks roles, like Company admin or Time tracking only.
Create custom roles for your team and streamline your business with QuickBooks Online Advanced.
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.
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 Roles menu, select the role you want to assign to the user.
Review the permissions this role has and select Send invitation.
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 Roles section, select View all permissions, then assign the custom permissions you want to assign to the user.
Review the permissions, then select Send invitation.
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.
Select access for a role.
Enter a Role name and description, then select Save Role.
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.
Choose from the existing custom or QuickBooks roles.
Select Save. If you edited permissions after selecting the role, you’ll be asked to save a new custom role. Enter a Role name and 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 Reactivate. Then select Reactivate Role.
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 they can perform within those features, like view only, create, edit, delete, approve, and all access.
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:
Area: Sales
All sales
You can:
Enter estimates, invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, 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 tax rates and agency settings
Use and adjust tax in sales transactions and general journal entries, including manually overriding calculated tax amounts
Add, edit, and delete currencies
Edit exchange rates
You cannot:
Print checks (including refunds)
Make bills and purchases billable to customers
Add, edit, and delete accounts and quantity on hand
View bank registers
See total income and expense amounts on home, vendor, or customer pages
Run tax reports or view tax history
Prepare or file a sales tax 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
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, delete, and approve invoices based on action-level permissions.
Access all products, services, and customers.
You cannot:
Apply billable time, expenses, or delayed credits and charges with invoice-only access.
Access other transactions or reports unless given separate permission.
Estimates
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete estimates based on action-level permissions.
Access all products, services, and customers.
You cannot:
Access other transactions or reports unless given separate permission.
Sales Receipts
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete sales receipts based on action-level permissions.
Access all products and services.
Send payment links if QuickBooks Payments is enabled.
You cannot:
Access other transactions or reports unless given separate permission.
Sign up for QuickBooks Payments.
Receive Payments
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete invoice payments based on action-level permissions.
View invoices.
Access all products and services.
Send payment links if QuickBooks Payments is enabled.
You cannot:
Access other transactions or reports unless given separate permission.
Sign up for QuickBooks Payments.
Credit Memo
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete credit memo transactions based on action-level permissions.
View invoices and invoice payments.
Access all products and services.
Send payment links if QuickBooks Payments is enabled.
You cannot:
Access other transactions or reports unless given separate permission.
Sign up for QuickBooks Payments.
You can also assign action-level permissions on sales transactions:
| Action permissions | Description |
| View | View transactions without the ability to modify or delete them |
| Create | View and create new transactions. Modify the transactions you create 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 if you are the assigned approver. Workflows need to be set up. Note: Currently only available for invoices. |
| All access | Perform all actions on the transactions the user has been assigned access to |
Restriction: 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.
You’ll need to turn on locations and once set up, add your locations.
You can then restrict a user’s sales access to specific locations in the Manage users display.
Once you restrict access to sales by location, they can only view and operate on sales transactions that belong to the location assigned. If they can create transactions, they’re required to assign the location they have access to.
Area: Expenses
All Expenses
You can:
Enter bills from vendors.
Enter cash and credit card purchases
Pay bills, write checks, and view check detail reports
Print checks (except refunds)
Add, edit, and delete vendors, products, and services
View tax rates and agency settings
Use and adjust sales tax in purchase, credit card, and banking transactions, including manually overriding calculated sales tax amounts.
Prepare or file a sales tax return or record sales tax payments
Add, edit, and delete currencies
Edit exchange rates
You cannot:
Add, edit, or delete accounts and quantity on hand
View bank registers
Set up new tax agencies or change tax settings
Set up multicurrency
Perform home currency adjustments
See total income and expense amounts on home, vendor, or customer pages
View all reports
Bills
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and void bills based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
View expenses with bill type.
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Pay bills.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update Vendor details.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
Checks
You can:
View, write, copy, edit, and void checks based on action-level permissions.
Print checks only if you have full access to checks.
View expenses with check type and view Bill Payment (check).
View vendors page.
You cannot:
Update details of Bill Payment (check).
View the sidebar on the create check page to link to a bill.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update Vendor details.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
Expenses
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete expenses based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Pay bills or print checks.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update Vendor details.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
Bill Payments
You can:
Mark bills as paid with ‘create’ permissions
Pay bills online using QB Bill Pay if you have the ‘pay’ permission
View, copy, edit, and delete bill payment transactions based on action-level permissions
View bills
Order checks
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Print checks.
View other transaction types under expenses apart from bills and bill payments.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
Expense claims
You can:
Upload or submit expense claims for review.
You cannot:
Add or update expenses or bills.
View other expense transaction types.
Access vendors list or prepare 1099 forms for vendors
Vendor Credits
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete vendor credits based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Pay bills or print checks.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update Vendor details.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
Credit card credits
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete credit card credits based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Pay bills or print checks.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update Vendor details.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
Purchase orders
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete purchase orders based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Pay bills or print checks.
View other transaction types under expenses.
Update Vendor details.
Make the vendor inactive.
Prepare a 1099 form for a vendor.
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. |
| Pay | Allows user to pay bills online using QuickBooks Bill Pay. |
| All access | Allows a user to perform all actions on the transactions they have been assigned. |
Area: Inventory
All inventory access
You can:
View and edit the Product and Services list.
Manage categories.
Adjust inventory.
View the inventory asset account, income account, and expense account.
View and update vendor details.
You cannot:
Add a new inventory asset account, inventory adjustment account, income account, or expense account.
Run reports.
Do batch actions for Email and Pay bills.
Prepare 1099.
Create new transactions for a vendor.
Area: 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 vendors. Be sure to check when you create or edit roles.
Customers
You can:
View, create, edit, and make inactive based on action-level permissions.
View the customers page.
You cannot:
Create invoices or other sales transactions (need separate permissions).
View other transaction types under sales or expenses.
Create statements.
View or modify vendors.
Vendors
You can:
View, create, edit, and make inactive based on action-level permissions.
View the vendors page.
You cannot:
Create bills or other expense transactions (need separate permissions).
View other transaction types under sales or expenses.
View and manage contractors.
View or modify customers.
You can also assign action-level permissions to lists
| Action permissions | Description |
| View | View lists like customers or vendors without the ability to create, modify, or delete. |
| Create | View and create new customers or vendors and modify those customers or vendors, but not those created by others. |
| Edit | View, create, and edit lists they have access to like customers or vendors without the ability to delete them. |
| Delete | View and delete (make inactive) customers or vendors. |
| All access | Lets a user perform all actions on lists they have access to like customers or vendors. |
Area: Bookkeeping
All bookkeeping access
You 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 bank registers (checking, savings, and credit cards only).
Add, match, and record transactions.
Create, edit, and delete bank deposits.
You cannot:
View the Chart of Accounts.
Edit bank registers.
Create a journal entry.
View Reconcile, Budgeting, or Audit Log.
Adjust inventory.
View all reports.
Bank deposit
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete transfers based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
You cannot:
Connect a bank account or credit card
View banking transactions
View and edit bank registers
View rules and receipts
Access other sales or expense transactions
Transfers
You can:
View, create, copy, edit, and delete transfers based on action-level permissions.
Order checks.
You cannot:
Connect a bank account or credit card.
View banking transactions.
View and edit bank registers.
View rules and receipts.
Access other sales or expense transactions.
Bank transactions
You 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 bank registers (checking, savings, and credit cards only)
Add, match, and record transactions
Create, edit, and delete bank deposits
You cannot:
View the Chart of Accounts
Connect a bank or credit card to bring in transactions
Edit bank registers
Create a journal entry
View Reconcile, Budgeting, or Audit Log
Adjust inventory
View all reports
Area: 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 registers
Access other sales or expense transactions
Reconciliation
You can:
Reconcile accounts.
View registers 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.
Registers
You can:
View registers 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, and delete journal entries based on action-level permissions
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 registers.
View rules and receipts.
You can also assign action-level permissions to accounting 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. |
Area: Payroll
If you have a payroll subscription, you'll have to complete some prerequisite steps to let your employee run payroll.
All payroll access
You can:
Add employees and run payroll
Change payroll schedule
Access to all expense transactions and vendor lists
View payroll reports
View the paycheck list
Fill out timesheets for anyone
View and edit payroll settings
Pay contractors
You cannot:
View bank registers or bank info
Create journal entries
Enter estimates, bank deposits, invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, or refunds
View all reports (except payroll)
Set up multicurrency
Perform home currency adjustments
Area: 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 customize.
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.
Customize
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 customizing 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 customize.
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.
Area: Account Management
Custom roles can’t be saved with account management access only. You need to select at least one more type of access for this role.
Edit company info
Make changes to your company name, type, contact info, and address.
Area: Financial planning
Budgets
You can:
View, create, edit, delete or archive budgets based on action-level permissions.
You cannot:
Run any report.
View the Chart of Accounts.
Forecast (Intuit Enterprise Suite only)
You can:
View, create, edit or delete forecasts based on action-level permissions.
Run Profit and Loss report.
You cannot:
View the Chart of Accounts.
You can also assign action-level permissions on budgets and forecasts.
| Action permissions | Description |
| View | View budgets or forecasts without the ability to modify or delete them. |
| Create | View and create new budgets or forecasts and modify those forecasts, but not those created by others. |
| Edit | View, create, and edit budgets or forecasts without the ability to delete them. |
| Delete | View and delete budgets or forecasts. |
| Full access | Allows a user to perform all actions on budgets or forecasts. |
Area: Projects (Intuit Enterprise Suite only)
You can control access to projects using custom roles in Intuit Enterprise Suite. Alternatively, you can also assign a project manager predefined role from the roles dropdown while adding or editing a user. With all access to projects:
You can:
View, create, edit, and delete projects.
View the project overview page and key metrics like project profitability.
View, create, edit, and delete project cost estimates and change orders.
View transactions like invoices, sales receipts, payments, bills, expenses, checks, purchase orders, bank deposits, time charges, etc.
Manage project tasks.
View time activity.
Access all project related reports.
Add and edit customers.
View vendors.
You cannot:
Access company Profit and Loss, Balance sheet, or other financial reports (requires separate permissions).
Access employee paychecks (requires separate payroll permissions).
Create or edit invoices, bills, purchase orders, expenses, checks (requires separate permissions).
Modify vendors (requires separate permissions).
Pay bills online (requires separate permissions).
Access bank feeds, registers and chart of accounts (requires separate permissions).
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