Multi-user access is a great option if you need two or more users accessing your QuickBooks company file at the same time.  You must begin by assessing how many simultaneous users your QuickBooks software license will allow.  To find this information, press the F2 key within your QuickBooks Desktop file.  Your information will be displayed as in the screen shot below:

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Notice towards that in the upper right corner, the number of User Licenses states “2.”  This indicates that this company’s QuickBooks software will legally allow two simultaneous users to access their company file.

To begin making simultaneous user access a reality, you must configure your office network environment accordingly.  You will want to designate a computer or server in your place of business to be the “host” of your main QuickBooks company file/database.  The other computers in your office will then be designated as “client” computers.  Each host and client computer must have the QuickBooks application software installed.

The host computer will also have a Database Server Manager installed, which controls access to the main company file across your office network.  This utility should always be running on the server while client users are accessing the hosted QuickBooks company file.

The main QuickBooks file on the host computer (server) must also be configured to host multi-user access so that the remote clients can login to this QuickBooks file.  Switching to multi-user mode is very simple:

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As you can see in the screen shot above, the switch is made via the File dropdown menu.

For multi-user access when using QuickBooks Online software, you will need to refer to the various subscription levels to determine the number of users allowed.  Here are the typical QuickBooks Online subscription offerings:

  • QuickBooks Online Essentials: 3 users + 2 accountant users
  • QuickBooks Online Plus: 5 users + 2 accountant users

To add a new user in QuickBooks Online, click the Gear Icon (upper right corner), then Your Company>Manage Users>New:

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