Overview

To access your books in QuickBooks Online, we'll need you to invite us as an accountant user on your account. This gives us access to your financial data, including payroll reports and any historical records — everything we need to manage your bookkeeping accurately. It doesn't affect your own login or permissions, and the process takes about 2 minutes.

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What You'll Need

A QuickBooks Online account on the Essentials, Plus, or Advanced plan. Simple Start plans do not support adding accountant users. (If you see an "Upgrade" button instead of an "Add" option during setup, your account is on Simple Start and will need to be upgraded before proceeding.)

Admin-level access to your QuickBooks account

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Setup Instructions

Click the Settings gear icon and under Your Company, select Manage Users.
On the Users page, select Accountants.
Click Add Accountant in the top right.
Enter the following information:
- First Name: Bench
- Last Name: Accounting
- Email: thirdpartylogins+business.name@bench.co
Click Send Invitation in the bottom right.
Let your bookkeeper know you have sent the invitation.

Please message your bookkeeper to let them know this has been completed, as the email invite link is not a monitored email.

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What To Expect After Setup

Once you send the invitation, our team will receive it and accept access on our side. This is typically completed within one business day. You'll be able to see Bench Accounting listed under your Accountants tab once we've accepted.

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Troubleshooting

I see an "Upgrade" button instead of "Add Accountant."
Your account is on QuickBooks Simple Start, which doesn't support accountant users. You'll need to upgrade to Essentials or higher. Contact QuickBooks support or your bookkeeper if you need help deciding on a plan.

I don't see the "Manage Users" option in Settings.
You may not have admin permissions on the account. Check with whoever originally set up your QuickBooks account.

The invitation hasn't been accepted yet.
Allow up to one business day. If it's been longer, let your bookkeeper know so we can check on it.

I accidentally sent the invitation to the wrong email.
Go back to Settings → Manage Users → Accountants, remove the incorrect invitation, and resend to thirdpartylogins+business.name@bench.co

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Related Resources

Add and Manage Users in QuickBooks Online

User Roles and Access Rights

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Intuit Quickbooks