How to reduce AP risk with separation of duties with QuickBooks Bill Pay

While in multi-person AP workflows, it’s important to clearly define roles between access and responsibility. For example, a bookkeeper may have visibility into a vendor's full payment history when their job is to only enter bills, and a business owner may approve an invoice before it's been reviewed. The setup that works fine with two people gets messy when a third or fourth gets added. The result? The accountant ends up rebuilding the structure after the fact.

While unintentional, the disparity between access and the role happens when the roles aren’t  established in the system from the start. QuickBooks Bill Pay includes predefined user roles that give each person in a client's AP workflow a defined scope of access. Here's how to match the role to the job.

What are the user roles in QuickBooks Bill Pay?

QuickBooks Bill Pay includes five predefined roles, each explaining what a user can and can't do. Roles are available with a Bill Pay Elite subscription or a QuickBooks Online Advanced account with any Bill Pay subscription. Here are the five roles and what each one covers:

1. Bill clerk can add bills, upload vendor invoices, and mark bills as paid. They can't approve bills or release payments. This is the right role for bookkeepers and AP staff responsible for getting bills into the system.
2. Bill approver can review and approve bills. They can't schedule or release payments. This is typically where you operate as the accountant, confirming that the bill is accurate, coded correctly, and ready to move forward.
3. Bill payer can view bills, schedule payments, and edit vendor information. They can't approve bills. This role handles the scheduling step: determining the payment method, amount, and timing. The Bill payer can be the firm or a designated person in the client’s office.
4. Accounts payable manager has full AP access, everything a Bill payer can do, plus the ability to add, edit, or delete accounts and view bank registers. This role is typically reserved for senior client-side staff who need broad AP authority. 
5. Standard all-access (no payment) gives full visibility into a client's books without the ability to make payments. Designed for firm members, it lets junior staff support a client account without payment authority.

How to match roles to your client's team

What does each person actually do in the AP workflow? Assign the role that matches the job, and build from there.

The easiest way to match roles to responsibilities is to start with what each person does rather than their job title.

For a small business, you might assign Bill clerk to the admin who enters bills, Bill approver to the owner or a designated manager who can confirm work was received, and Bill payer to the firm to schedule payments. The owner holds payment release authority.

For a larger client, it is more layered. Multiple people on the admin team hold the Bill clerk role, and a controller is assigned Bill approver for routine amounts. The firm or a senior staff member has the Bill payer role to schedule payments, while the CFO has payment release authority above a certain threshold.

One thing worth noting for every client setup: the Bill approver role belongs at the client level, not at the firm level. The approver's job is to confirm that the work was actually done, and that the service was delivered and the materials received. That's not something the accountant can confirm on the client's behalf. Assign that role to a client-side manager or department head. The firm typically holds Bill clerk and Bill payer, entering bills accurately and scheduling payments, while the client controls approval and payment release. That separation is what reduces risk for both sides.

Setting up roles per client in QuickBooks Online

Roles are configured within each client's account in QuickBooks Bill Pay. Changes take effect right away and are logged.

Roles are set up in each client's QuickBooks Online account. Each client's configuration is independent; the roles you assign for one client don't carry over to another.

When a team member's role changes, updating their access is quick. Find the user in the client's account settings, assign the new role, and save. It takes effect immediately, and the change is logged.

Your clients' access structure, right inside QuickBooks Online

Because QuickBooks Bill Pay lives inside QuickBooks Online, the role structure you set up is part of the same system where you manage the books. Every action every user takes is logged there. There is no separate tool to maintain or an outside platform to check.

When a client asks why a bill was approved or who scheduled a payment, you can pull that straight from the bill page. It's all there. And when you're closing the books at month-end, everything that fed those records followed the structure you set up.

What accountants always ask

How do I assign roles to users in QuickBooks Bill Pay?

Roles are managed within each client's account in QuickBooks Bill Pay. Navigate to user settings, select the person you're updating, and assign their role: Bill clerk, Bill approver, Bill payer, Accounts payable manager, or Standard all-access (no payment). Changes take effect right away and are logged. Role assignments require a Bill Pay Elite subscription or a QuickBooks Online Advanced account with any Bill Pay subscription.

Can different clients have different user role structures in QuickBooks Bill Pay?

Yes. Each client has their own QuickBooks Online account with its own Bill Pay configuration. The roles you set up for one client are completely independent of all others. You can have one client where the owner holds payment release authority and another where it goes to a controller, and neither setup affects the other.

How many users can I assign roles to in QuickBooks Bill Pay?

The number of users depends on the seats available in your client's QuickBooks Online subscription. Each role assignment requires a seat. QuickBooks Essentials includes 3 user seats, QuickBooks Plus includes 5, and QuickBooks Advanced includes 25.