What if: I need to transfer the Master Admin Role in QBO

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A reader wrote in to ask how to transfer the Master Administrator Role from her account to another person. They were using a QuickBooks Online Plus Account. 

First of all there can be 'only one' Master Administrator for a QuickBooks Online Plus Company account, and only that current Master Administrator can make this type of change. You should carefully consider the practicality of making any such change before you do so, because once the change is made, only the new Master Administrator can make future changes of this nature.

If you're not the current Master Administrator, then you will need to get the Master Administrator to make the change. You can only change a user with a Company Administrator designation to the Master Administrator.

If the user you'd like to transfer Master Administrator rights to is already a Company Administrator you can simply make the change (outlined in the 2nd section below), but if they are not already a Company Administrator you must first set them up as a Company Administrator using the procedure set forth immediately below.

Set-up a new Company Administrator user

  1. You must be signed in as a Master Administrator or a Company Administrator.
  2. Select the Gear icon at the top, then Manager Users.
  3. Select Add user.
  4. Select Company Administrator, then select Next.
  5. Enter the new user's email address and their name. Select Save.
  6. Sign out of QuickBooks Online.
  7. An email will be sent to the person you invited to become a Company Administrator. They'll need to read the email and then click the link which is in the word HERE. If they already have a QuickBooks Online user ID and password, they can use their existing credentials. If not, they can create a new user ID and password.
  8. Once the new Company Administrator user has been invited and they set up their user ID and password, you must sign in again as the Master Administrator in order to transfer the role to another user.

Transfer Master Administrator rights to an existing Company Administrator

  1. Select the Gear icon at the top, then Manager Users.
  2. Find the Admin you want to transfer Master admin rights to and go to the Action column and click on the drop-down arrow.
  3. Select Make master admin.
  4. To confirm your selection, click on Make master admin again.
  5. If you do not see this option, you are either not signed in as the Master Administrator or there is no Company Admin user set up in the system to transfer to.
  6. If an Admin does not appear in the user list, follow these steps above to set them up as a Company Administrator first.
  7. Sign out of QuickBooks Online.
  8. An email will be sent to the person you invited to become the new Master Administrator. They'll need to accept the invitation from the email.
  9. Important: The Master Administrator role does not transfer until the invitation is accepted by the new person.

Just realize that once you designate someone else as the Master Admin (Administrator) for this QBO Company, only they will have the ability to reassign the Master Admin role to a different Company Administrator in the future.