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E
edsmilk
August 22, 2025
Question

External Accountant Roles

  • August 22, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 19 views

I am trying to give an accountant access to my account. I set them up as a user and gave them external accountant access. When I enter their email address and send the link it changes the roles to payroll manager and user only limiting their ability to access data. How do I change their ability to access? When I review the list of role access the external accountant role shows full access. Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise 24

1 reply

S
ShangYQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
August 22, 2025

The External Accountant role must be connected to the user's Intuit account, @edsmilk.

 

Before proceeding, let's make sure the role is correctly assigned as “External Accountant” and remove any additional roles that may have been added by default.

 

Here’s how:
 

  1. Open the Company menu and select Users.
  2. Click Setup Users and Roles to access the user list.
  3. Find your accountant in the list and click Edit User next to their name.
  4. Confirm that “External Accountant” is assigned as their primary role. If other roles, such as "Payroll Manager," were automatically added, uncheck those boxes so that only "External Accountant" remains active.
  5. Save the changes and resend the email invitation to your accountant.

After the invite is sent, ask the user to check their inbox (or spam/junk folders if needed). Once they receive the email, they’ll need to click Accept Invite and sign in using their Intuit ID to complete the setup.


For more information, refer to this guide: Set up an External Accountant user in QuickBooks Desktop.
 

Please let us know if you have further concerns or questions about assigning an External Accountant role to a user.

C
CCARV_SR
August 29, 2025

My accountant had their employees log into my payroll center and create user log ins. Now I can't find how to remove them; I have chosen to go with a different accounting firm. How do I get control of my payroll center again? My name/email is not on the list.

Bryan_M
Bryan_MQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
August 29, 2025

Thanks for joining this thread and letting me know your situation regarding your inability to control your payroll center and to remove employees added by your accountant, @CCARV_SR.
 
Before anything else, I'd like to know if you have your own payroll subscription or if your Employer Identification Number (EIN) has been added to your accountant's payroll license. This will further help us point you in the right direction.
 
Please be informed that if your EIN was only added to your accountant's payroll license and you decided to move to a different accounting firm based on your statement, there's a possibility that your account was removed on their end and added a new one, since there are also limits on how many they can add.

 

You can still access your data, but this could be the reason why you are unable to see your name or email on the list.
 
On top of that, you cannot remove the added employee; only the primary admin or accountant has the power to do so, as they are the ones who added them.
 
Moreover, you can ask your new accounting firm if they can provide you access using your EIN to have control over your payroll center activities.
 
Payroll task is an essential part of managing your company's manpower expenses and tracking employment status. Let us know if you need additional assistance with payroll access matters. I will be glad to help you with it.

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