Reports only user: everything says that a reports only user should not have access to payroll information. Payroll information IS listed on our Reports Only user login

Hey there, tracy,

Welcome to Community!

When Reports Only Users log into QuickBooks Online they only see Report List page. They can access any report except for Payroll Reports. 

They can customize the reports, but they cannot change any information they see in the reports. They have the ability to create their own memorized and group of reports. Reports Only User do not have the access to the Audit Log.

Please let me know if you have additional questions. Thanks.

Our payroll numbers are showing up for the "Reports Only" user too.  Does this only work if you use QB for payroll?  Is there a way to flag our expense accounts as payroll so they don't show up?

Hello there, HopeChurch,

A reports-only user can see all reports, except reports that show payroll or contact info. These users can’t access the audit log.

Let's let the user do basic troubleshooting to determine if this error is browser-related. Let's begin by letting them access QBO in a new incognito or private window of your browser.

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

Once completed, they can log back into their account and check if they no longer see the payroll reports. If it's already gone, they can clear your browser's cache to optimize it. 

Here's an article to learn more about user-access: User roles and access rights in QuickBooks Online.

Don’t hesitate to get back on this thread if you need further assistance. 

Hi MaryLurleenM,

I opened QBO in an incognito window and signed in as a Reports Only user.  The payroll accounts still show up.

How do I tell QBO which accounts are our payroll accounts?  I'm not sure you really understood my question above.  We do not use QB for payroll.

Hello, HopeChurch.

Thanks for taking the time to do the steps. I'll provide some clarifications regarding the payroll accounts. 

Are you referring to the Company Selection screen when logging in as a Reports Only user? If that's the case, all QuickBooks Online accounts or companies associated with that login are listed there. We're unable to modify the list there. So one way of telling which account is a payroll account is to access each one. 

However, are you referring to the payroll accounts listed on a specific report? QuickBooks Online will always list all accounts for reporting purposes. Although, you can filter some reports to prevent the payroll accounts from showing up then save it. 

Do this on an admin account if the Reports Only user isn't allowed to view and edit those preset reports.

Here's how:

1. Open a report.
2. Click the Customize button. 
3. Expand the Filter section.
4. Check the Distribution account option.
5. From the drop-down list, check the accounts you want to show except the payroll accounts.
6. Once done, click Run report. 

You can save this setting by clicking the Save report button. This is saved under the Custom reports tab. Make sure you share it to All so the user can view them. 

Note: This is only applicable to some reports. There are others who don't have the Distribution account filter option. For example, the Profit and Loss report has it but the Balance Sheet does not. 

You can find more details about customizing your reports in this article: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Looking for our help content to guide you in managing your transactions and other reports? Check out the list of our articles in our general support page. Just choose a topic and look for an article there. 

I'm ready to help out again, so post a comment here if you have more questions. Though, you can also make a new thread in the Community space. I'll see you around. 

Thank you.  I know how to customize reports, but that wouldn't keep Reports Only users from seeing the payroll data on the standard reports.  I guess you're saying there isn't a way to do that.

QBO really needs to add a feature to filter the reports users can see.  I'd love to give access to our team, but they don't need to see all of the payroll numbers.

Thanks for updating the Community, HopeChurch.
 

A reports-only user can see all reports, except ones that show payroll and/or contact information. I've reviewed our ongoing/solved investigations and can confirm that currently there's no records of these types of users being able to see reports that contain payroll details.
 

Since your user's able to see reports they shouldn't be capable of seeing, I'd recommend getting in touch with our Customer Care Team. They'll be able to pull up your account in a secure environment, conduct further research into this issue, and create an investigation ticket if necessary.
 

They can be reached while you're signed in.
 

Here's how:

1. Click the Help (?) icon.
   
2. Choose Contact Us.
3. Enter a description of your situation in the What can we help you with? field, then hit Let's talk.
   
4. Select Start messaging or Get a call.
   

Be sure to review their support hours so you'll know when agents are available.
 

For more information about reports-only users, you can review the Roles that don’t count toward user limits section of our User roles and access rights resource. You'll be able to find a direct link to that article in MaryLurleenM's post.
 

I'll be here to help if there's any questions. Have a wonderful day!

Thank you, I will contact Customer Care.  I'm guessing this only works if you use QB for payroll.  I don't see any way to tell QB which accounts have payroll info in them, so I don't know how they would be filtered out.

Did you get the answer to this question?  I cant see bank rec's in report only mode

Thanks for taking the time to scour our Community space for potential solutions, ReportsOnlyQuestion.

A reports-only user can see all reports, except reports that show payroll or contact info, and can’t access the audit log. Also, the reports-only users can create custom reports and add report groups, however, can't view the actual transactions. We can run the Reconciliation Reports to see the bank reconciliation transactions. Here's how: 

1. Go to Business overview and select Reports.
2. Type Reconciliation Report in the Find report by name search bar.
3. Select Reconciliation Reports.
4. Select the Account for the reconciliation report you want to view.
5. From the Report period dropdown arrow, choose the reconcile period.
6. Press View Report.

If the same thing happens, we can do basic troubleshooting to determine if this error is browser-related. let's sign in to QuickBooks Online (QBO) using a private or incognito window to help us confirm browser-related issues. Here's how:

• For Google Chrome browser: Ctrl + Shift + N
• For Mozilla Firefox browser: Ctrl + Shift + P
• For Safari browser: Command + Option + P

Then, try running the Reconciliation report again. If it works, go back to your regular browser and clear the cache to delete those temporarily stored files and browsing history. Removing this should fix the issue since the overtime collection of data can create corruption. We can also use supported, up-to-date browsers to roll out the possibility of a browser-related issue. 

Feel free to visit our Reports page for more insights about creating and managing reports.

I'd like to know how you get on after trying the steps as I want to ensure this is resolved for you. Just reply to this post and I'll get back to you. Have a great day ahead.