Imagine waking up one day and discovering that you can’t access any of your QuickBooks clients’ data. That’s exactly what happened to one bookkeeper who found themselves locked out of their QuickBooks Online account, with no quick fix in sight. Suddenly, they were left in a lurch and unable to help their clients—a true nightmare scenario!
In a recent episode of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast, hosts Alicia Katz Pollock and Dan DeLong dove into the important but often overlooked topic of Intuit account management. This article breaks down the key takeaways from their discussion, equipping you with tips on how to:
- secure your QuickBooks account,
- set up reliable backup access methods, and
- manage client relationships effectively using Intuit’s management portals.
Exploring accounts.intuit.com: Your Personal Command Center
Many accounting professionals use QuickBooks every day, but not everyone takes the time to explore the powerful management tools that are often overlooked. One of these gems is accounts.intuit.com, which acts like your personal command center within the Intuit ecosystem.
When you navigate to accounts.intuit.com (using the same credentials you use for QuickBooks Online), you’ll find a comprehensive dashboard that organizes your entire Intuit footprint. It’s a centralized hub where you can manage everything from security settings to document access.
The Sign-in and Security section represents your first line of defense against unauthorized access. Here, you can:
- Update your user ID
- Change your email address
- Modify your password
- Enable two-step verification (critical for security)
- Set up authenticator apps
- Use biometric security (fingerprints, facial recognition)
- Monitor account activity across all devices
As Dan emphasized in the podcast, “Turn on your 2-Factor Authentication. Do it. Especially for accountants and ProAdvisors in the accounting community, your login is potentially connected to a lot of sensitive information—social security numbers, credit card information, EINs, a lot of personally identifiable information is there.”
The Activity Log displays every login attempt and includes details about the device, location, browser, and timestamp used, making it easy to spot any unauthorized access.
The Business Profile section shows a complete history of every QuickBooks client you’ve ever worked with.
For those concerned about privacy, the Data and Privacy section allows you to download your personal data, delete information if desired, and correct any errors in your profile.
The Products and Billing section displays all QuickBooks packages and services you subscribe to—including Online, Payments, Payroll, and more. What makes this view powerful is that it consolidates information from across multiple QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) logins.
The Documents section provides access to attachments across all your client files. Rather than logging into individual client accounts to retrieve documents, you can access, download, and add new files directly through this centralized hub.
Leveraging camps.intuit.com for Product-Based Management
While accounts.intuit.com organizes your Intuit ecosystem from a user perspective, camps.intuit.com (Customer Account Management Portal System) provides a different view—one organized by product rather than by user profile. This portal serves as the external-facing view of Intuit’s customer relationship management system.
When you log into camps.intuit.com, you’ll see tabs organizing your Intuit ecosystem by product type: QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online for Accountants, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Payments, and Intuit Online Payroll. This organization makes CAMPS valuable when you need information about specific services rather than specific clients.
For QuickBooks Desktop users, CAMPS reveals all versions you’ve used over time, including those purchased for clients. “I see all of the different QuickBooks desktop accounts that I’ve had,” Alicia notes during her exploration of the portal.
Creating a Backup Access Method: Your Emergency Entry Point
Understanding these portals is important, but equally crucial is ensuring you always have access to your clients’ data. During the podcast, Alicia shared a concerning story about a bookkeeper who completely lost access to QuickBooks Online.
“I was on a call with Roundtable Labs, and Alexis Sadler was telling us a story about how one of her bookkeepers lost complete access to their QBO. They would go to log in to QBO, and it was just flat out not working. And they were completely locked out. My blood ran cold because it was like, well, shoot, if I get locked out, I literally can’t do my job.”
The solution? Create a backup access method that functions as your emergency entrance when the front door is locked. Alicia recommends: “Go add yourself as a different email address to your teams inside QBO. So when you’re in your QuickBooks Online for Accountants and you look on the left-hand side, it says team. Add yourself as a team member, give yourself full access to your books.”
This simple step ensures that even if your primary login becomes locked, you still have a way to access your clients’ data and continue providing services without interruption.
Understanding the Primary Admin Role: Who Should Control the Account?
Equally important is understanding the Primary Admin role—the person with ultimate control over a QuickBooks account. When creating a new QuickBooks file for a client, should you designate yourself or your client as the Primary Admin?
Alicia takes a clear position: “Your primary admin is the person who is responsible for the account… some bookkeeping firms will say, well, I’m the one who’s doing all the work, I’m the one paying for the subscription. Therefore I am the primary admin. But really, Intuit’s platform is that the primary admin should be the business owner, even if they’re not the main user.”
Alicia continues, “You’re the person who’s creating the data, but you don’t own the file. They own the file.”
Dan explains the technical reality: “The Intuit definition of who the primary admin is, is, in reality, the first person to touch that service.” This means whoever initially set up the QuickBooks account automatically becomes the Primary Admin unless changed.
There are limited exceptions to this best practice. Alicia notes: “I do have one exception to my rule about the business owner being the primary admin. And that’s if they’re working with QuickBooks Commerce, because QuickBooks Commerce integrations can only be set up by the primary admin.”
When client relationships end, the question of Primary Admin status becomes especially sensitive. Some accounting professionals resist transferring Primary Admin status, believing they “own” the file they’ve built. Alicia says, “Don’t be that person. That’s petty. You’re burning bridges. It’s the client’s data. They paid for it. They didn’t just pay for the service. They paid for the results. And the results are the data.”
Dan reinforces this point: “Intuit will side on the business owners side… provided they provide the legal documents that are necessary. So it is a losing battle when it comes to that.”
Only the Primary Admin can transfer this status to another user. If the original Primary Admin is unavailable, Intuit has a legal process requiring proof of business ownership—but this takes time (typically 7-10 business days) and requires documentation.
Master Your Intuit Ecosystem Today
Navigating Intuit’s account management options goes beyond the QuickBooks interface, offering essential tools for security and data management that many accounting professionals overlook. By visiting accounts.intuit.com and camps.intuit.com, you can manage your entire Intuit footprint and implement important security measures to safeguard your clients’ data.
Take some time to log into accounts.intuit.com and camps.intuit.com. Set up two-factor authentication, create backup access, and make sure each client’s Primary Admin status aligns with your relationship. These simple steps can help you avoid stress and business disruptions down the line.
For a deeper dive into these topics and more QuickBooks insights, listen to the full episode of The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast.
Alicia Katz Pollock’s Royalwise OWLS (On-Demand Web-based Learning Solutions) is the industry’s premier portal for top-notch QuickBooks Online training with CPE for accounting firms, bookkeepers, and small business owners. Visit Royalwise OWLS, where learning QBO is a HOOT!