How to Set up Administrator in QuickBooks Online or Desktop

Last Updated on September 26, 2025

Accessing QuickBooks as an administrator enables you to access new features and multiple benefits. The primary admin has complete access to the QB account and could manage all users and administrative tasks. Additionally, there is a secondary admin, referred to as the company admin, who has access to most aspects of the QuickBooks account, except for editing or removing the primary admin. Setting up an administrator in QuickBooks Online or Desktop is necessary, as it enables you to create and manage roles and users.

The primary administrator can assign different levels of access or create custom roles with specific permissions for multiple users. The following blog provides a comprehensive guide on how you can set up an administrator in QuickBooks.

Stuck in technical difficulties and need support to set up an administrator in QuickBooks? Our QB experts will assist you. Call this +1(855)-738-0359 to get professional guidance from us.

What is the Need to Set up Administrator in QuickBooks Desktop?

Using QuickBooks as an administrator allows you to access multiple new features and various responsibilities of the primary administrator in the company file. Therefore, setting up an administrator in QuickBooks Desktop is necessary for the given reasons:

• To assign predefined roles to a user
• Create a custom role with specific access
• Create a new role for a user
• To manage the roles and users
• To check the user roles and their permissions

Having learned the requirements for setting up an administrator in QuickBooks, let’s proceed to the following steps to learn how to set up a company administrator in QuickBooks.

Step-by-Step Process to Set up Administrator in QuickBooks Online for Various Roles

If you want to set up an administrator in QuickBooks for various roles without facing any difficulty, follow the procedures outlined below.

Assigning a Company Admin

When assigning a company admin in your QuickBooks, you can request the primary admin to give you the necessary permissions, or as a primary admin, you can then log in to QuickBooks and assign the role by following the given steps:   

• Head to the Gear icon 
• Tap on the Manage users option
• Here, create and enter the user name to make the Company admin
• Then, click on Edit 
• Change their role to Company Admin under the Assign Roles section
• Tap on Save to confirm

Lastly, sign out of QuickBooks once the company admin is set up. To add a new user in QuickBooks, follow the next method.

Adding a New User in QuickBooks Desktop

The subscription level of QuickBooks defines the number of users that you can add. Admin users can add new users or assign roles in QuickBooks Desktop by following the steps:

• Click on Users under the Company menu.
• Select the Set Up Users and Roles option
• Input the admin password, then tap on OK
• Tap on the User List tab and add a New tab
• Provide a username and a password (not mandatory)
• Under the Available Roles section, select a role to add
• Click on Add, then OK

This process was for QuickBooks Desktop. Read the following steps to know how to add a new user in QBO.

Adding a New User in QuickBooks Online

To add a new user and provide a role in QuickBooks Online, the admin users must follow the steps below.

• Open Settings 
• Choose the Manage users option
• Tap on Add user, and input the name and email for the user
• Next, choose a role from the Roles dropdown to assign to the user 
• Review the access level of the selected role; each section can be expanded
• If applicable, then open the Account management settings for the role you want to manage
• Click on Send to invite the user

To set a custom role for a user, follow the steps to add a custom role below.

Customizing Predefined Roles

There are 14 predefined roles available in QuickBooks, and these roles fulfill the basic needs for businesses. Specific roles will have an asterisk (*) next to them, which means

They have unrestricted access to view all transactions in your account. When you want to customize predefined roles, you can follow these steps:

• Open the Company menu
• Tap on the Users section
• Select the Set Up Users and Roles option
• Input the admin password and then tap on OK
• Access the Role List tab
• Click on a role and choose Edit to review its access
• Now, in the right column, you can notice the Area Access Level of the role you selected
• You can opt for the None, Full, or Partial options and set the access for a particular role
• After setting up the access, click on Ok to save

These steps will help you modify the roles in your QuickBooks. If you want to create a separate role from predefined roles, follow the next step.

If you want to create a separate role from predefined roles, then follow the next step.

Creating a New Custom Role

When you are required to create a new role with specific access and permissions, follow the given steps:

• Go to the Company menu
• Here, choose the Users option
• Tap on Set Up Users and Roles
• Provide the admin password, then click OK
• Open the Role List tab and choose New
• Enter a name for the role and description as per your reference
• Go to the Area and Activities section
• Choose an area of your account
• Verify and allocate permission levels to every section as per the roles, as None, Full, or Partial
• Click OK to save the new role after setting the permissions

There are multiple custom roles with different permissions and names that can be created. Follow the next step if you need to review roles and permissions.

Reviewing Roles and Permissions

As per the roles report, allow permissions to the users and also review all the roles by following the steps below:

• Move to the Company menu and then opt for the Users option
• Then, click on Set Up Users and Roles
• Here, input the admin password, and click on OK
• Navigate to the Role List tab
• Click on the View Permissions section
• Lastly, select the Roles to review and tap on Display

After you are done following these steps, the roles and permissions you set up will be displayed. If you need to edit a user’s role, follow the method given below.

Editing a User’s Role

If you want to edit, modify, or grant additional access to a user, follow the given process.

• Access the Settings menu
• Then, click on the Manage users section
• Head over to the Users tab
• Here, choose the user you want to edit
• Select Edit under the Action column
• Next, choose an existing QuickBooks role or create a custom role
• Tap on the Save button to save the changes

If you assign an existing role but then edit its permissions, it must be saved as a new custom role. Provide a name and description, and save it as a new role.

Reactivating or Deactivating a User’s Role

To activate or deactivate a user’s permissions as needed, you must first assign a different role to the user before deactivating their current role.

• Go to the Settings menu and choose Manage users
• Under the Roles tab, choose the role to edit
• Tap on the three dots next to Edit under the Action column 
• Lastly, click on Deactivate or Reactivate 

These steps will guide you to deactivate or reactivate the user permissions. Now, if you want to decrease the number of users, you can delete them by following this method.

Deleting a User

Deleting a user can help you save on the usage limit. Although deleting a user is an irreversible process, you will be able to access their audit logs. When you want to delete a user, here are the steps to follow:

• Access the Settings menu
• Tap on Manage users
• Click on more of the user to delete
• Choose Delete

To confirm, click on Delete user again in the pop-up window

It is also possible to activate or deactivate a user role as per your requirements, but you must assign a different role to the user before deactivating their current role.

• Open Settings and choose Manage users
• Select the role to edit under the Roles tab and
• In the Action column, click on the three dots next to Edit
• Finally, click on Deactivate or Reactivate (if the role is already deactivated)
• To decrease the number of users, you can delete them by following this method.

With the above process, you can delete a user in QuickBooks. Now, in case you need to transfer the primary QuickBooks administrator rights, follow the next step.

What is the Process to Change the Administrator in QuickBooks Desktop?

When you want to transfer the primary company administrator of your account from QuickBooks Desktop, then you may follow these steps to do it effectively: 

• Head to the Company window and open My Company
• Tap on the Manage Your Account option
• Sign in to the official Intuit Account with a valid ID and Password
• Now, navigate to the Primary Contact section and click on Change
• Select the new primary contact from the contacts list on the account
• Select Save and Close.

Note: If the user is not listed, the admin will be required to invite or add the user. The user must accept the invite to transfer the primary contact on the account.

Transferring the Primary Intuit Account Admin in QuickBooks Desktop

Follow the given procedure to transfer the primary Intuit account administrator of your account from Quickbooks Desktop:

• The first step is to access the Company
• Go to the Users menu
• Click on the Intuit Account User Management option
• Locate the secondary administrator when you want to transfer the role of the primary admin
• Tap on the Edit option and choose Change Primary admin
• If the user is not on the list, you’ll need to invite them to the account
• Input the verification code sent to the phone number of the admin
• An admin transfer email will be sent to both the current primary admin and the secondary admin
• Once the secondary admin has accepted the transfership, they’re promoted to primary admin
• The original primary admin is demoted to a secondary admin.

Note: The role of primary admin can only be transferred to secondary admins. Also, remember that only one primary admin can exist in the account.

What is the Process to Change an Administrator in QuickBooks Online?

It is possible to change the primary admin in QuickBooks Online, and you can assign the role to an existing QuickBooks user or add a new user via the company admin settings. Follow these steps to do so:

• Log in to the QB online as a primary admin
• Go to the Settings menu and choose Manage users
• Then, choose the user to promote to primary admin
• Ensure that the user is listed as an admin in the Role column
• If not, then tap on Edit and change their role to admin
• Tap on the three dots in Action
• Select the Change primary admin option
• Click on Change primary admin again to confirm changes
• Then, log out of QuickBooks

An email invitation will be sent to the company administrator, who must accept it to obtain the primary QuickBooks administrator rights. Once the company admin agrees to the invitation and the primary admin role is transferred to them, the original primary admin will automatically be able to access the Company Admin role.

Conclusion

To create or assign predefined roles to a user, you need to set up administrator in QuickBooks Online and Desktop. This guide will provide you with some methods to easily and effectively set up a user as an administrator. For instance, adding a new user in QuickBooks can be a time-consuming and hectic procedure. If you feel less confident or find yourself stuck in technical difficulties, you can seek professional help. Call on this +1(855)-738-0359 to get expert guidance regarding setting up administrator in QuickBooks Online and Desktop.

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Kate Churchill

Kate is a certified public accountant (CPA) with expertise in various accounting software. She is technically inclined and finds passion in helping businesses and self-employed people carry out bookkeeping, payroll, and taxation without worrying about errors. Every once in a while, Kate loves to travel to far-off places and relax in the lap of nature.