Why You Should Invite Your Accountant to QuickBooks Online
If your business uses QuickBooks Online, inviting your accountant should be one of your first steps. It can make working with them much easier.
Your accountant can access your books directly instead of asking you to send reports, download files, or provide screenshots. This gives them a clearer view of your financial information and helps them answer questions faster.
Beyond convenience, giving your accountant access can save time, reduce back-and-forth, and provide tools designed for accounting professionals.
Why Your Accountant Needs QuickBooks Online Access
One of QuickBooks Online’s biggest benefits is that your accountant can work directly with your books. Without access, you may need to send individual reports when you have a question. They may ask for a profit and loss statement, balance sheet, or general ledger.
Then you have to find the right report, download it, and send it to them. That takes time. With accountant access, they can log in and review the information themselves.
For example, if you have a question about a transaction, your accountant can review the related customer, invoice, payment, or refund details. This gives them more to work with when helping you.
It can also make troubleshooting much easier. Instead of explaining what you are seeing over the phone, your accountant can view the same information you are seeing.
QuickBooks Online also makes remote accounting easier than traditional desktop accounting software. With QuickBooks Desktop, getting your accountant a copy of your books can require additional steps. Depending on the situation, you may need to create and send a copy of your company file.
Large files can make this process even more difficult. QuickBooks Online eliminates much of that hassle. Your books are stored online, so your accountant can access them from their own computer.
This means they don’t have to wait for you to send a copy of your books before investigating an issue. That can lead to faster answers and a smoother experience.
The Benefits of Accountant Access
Giving your accountant access can reduce the time they spend requesting information. This is especially important if your accountant bills by the hour. Instead of emailing back and forth or waiting for reports, they can access the information directly.
Having direct access gives them a better starting point. It allows them to spend more time working on your books instead of gathering information.
Accountant access also works differently from your regular QuickBooks Online user access. Your subscription has limits on the number of regular users you can add, depending on your plan. You may need those user slots for employees or others within your business.
Invite your accountant using the accountant access option, not as a standard user. This lets them access your books without using one of your business’s regular user seats.
Your accountant may also have multiple people working on your account. With accountant access, they can manage access for the appropriate members of their accounting firm. This means you don’t have to create and maintain separate QuickBooks users for everyone at the firm.
Accountants also have access to tools that regular QuickBooks users may not have. QuickBooks provides accounting professionals with additional features designed to help them review and manage client books more efficiently. These tools can help accountants identify reconciliation issues and make certain adjustments.
If your accountant uses other Intuit products, integrations may also make their work easier. For example, QuickBooks Online can integrate with ProConnect Tax.
Your accountant may also have access to features that help them review trends, identify potential issues, and better understand your business. You may never see these tools yourself, but they can make it easier for your accountant to work with your books.
Imagine calling your accountant with a question about a transaction. Without access to your QuickBooks Online account, they may need to ask several questions or have you send additional reports.
With accountant access, they can often go directly into your books and start looking. They can see the information surrounding the transaction and better understand what is happening. This can reduce the amount of information you have to gather and the back-and-forth required to answer a simple question.
If you are a contractor or home service business, having an accountant who understands your industry is especially important. Your accounting needs go beyond tax preparation.
Your software integrations, job costing, labor, materials, overhead, and financial reporting all play a role in understanding how your business is performing. To learn more about what makes this approach different, check out our article on Contractor-Specific Accounting.
How to Invite Your Accountant to QuickBooks Online
Inviting your accountant is typically straightforward.
In QuickBooks Online, sign in as a primary or company admin. From there, go to Settings → Manage users → Accounting firms and select Invite firm.
Enter your accountant’s email address or their firm’s user ID, then send the invitation. Your accountant will receive an email invitation. Once they accept it, their status will change from ‘Invited’ to ‘Active’ in your Manage Users section.
QuickBooks Online’s menus and settings can change as Intuit updates the software. If you need additional instructions, Intuit provides a step-by-step guide for inviting accountant users.
You can find the official instructions here: QuickBooks Online: Invite accountant users.
Make the Most of Your Accounting Relationship
If your accountant uses QuickBooks Online, inviting them to your account can offer several benefits.
They can access your books without waiting for reports. They can investigate transactions directly. They can use accountant-specific tools. They can also work more efficiently with other members of their accounting team.
Most importantly, it can make it easier for your accountant to help you understand what is happening in your business. QuickBooks Online was designed to make collaboration easier, and accountant access helps you use that capability. Invite your accountant and make that collaboration easier.
Giving your accountant the right access is one of the simplest ways to use that capability. Your financial information is more useful when the people helping you manage it can see it. Inviting your accountant is a simple step that can make a meaningful difference.
If you have questions about QuickBooks Online, accounting, financial reporting, or your business’s accounting processes, the team at Waterford Business Solutions is here to help. Contact us to discuss how we can support your business.
We work with businesses across a variety of industries, with a particular focus on trades such as plumbing, HVAC, and electrical contractors. Our goal is to help business owners better understand their finances and become more confident in managing their money.