QuickBooks 2013 For Dummies

Sharing a QuickBooks File on a Network

Two important features power the QuickBooks multi-user network capability: user permissions and record locking. The user permissions feature lets multiple users of a QuickBooks file have unique permissions settings to access different areas of QuickBooks. Record locking, the second feature, enables more than one person to simultaneously log on to and work with a QuickBooks file.

User permissions

QuickBooks enables you to set user permissions so that you can give different QuickBooks users different privileges. For example, Jane Owner may be able to do anything she wants because, metaphorically speaking, she’s Da Man. Joe Clerk, though, may be able to enter only bills. Joe, a lowly clerk of perhaps dubious judgment and discretion, may not have the capability to view the company’s profit and loss statement, print checks, or record customer payments. This idea makes sense at a practical level, right? In a situation where a bunch of people access the QuickBooks file, you want to make sure that confidential information remains confidential.

You also want to make sure that people can’t intentionally or unintentionally corrupt your financial records. For example, you don’t want someone to enter incorrect data (perhaps because he stumbles into some area of the QuickBooks program where he has no business). And you don’t want someone fraudulently recording transactions — such as fake checks — that she can go cash.

I think that if you reflect on this ...