Why do accountants keep messing up my bookkeeping software?
External accountants make unauthorized journal entries and adjustments directly in software like QuickBooks and Quicken without understanding day-to-day operations. This bypasses standard protocols, alters account totals, and leaves customer or vendor balances open, which stops internal bookkeepers from tracking granular details and answering client questions accurately.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Giving tax preparer read-only accessDid this help you?
- 2Password protecting the previous yearDid this help you?
- 3Requesting a list of journal entries to enter manually rather than letting accountants edit books directlyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I will say that I detest when someone else changes my entries in QBO. As the bookkeeper I need to know transactions on a very detailed and granular level and when account totals change or entries are edited my ability to answer my clients' questions about their finances is compomised.”source ↗
“I don't need them making entries that make my life harder and screw things up - I’m looking at you folks who think it’s ok to do a JE to A/P or A/R - that’s a big nope for me.”source ↗
“I’ve had accountants enter AJEs into QB directly, instead of using QB’s protocols. They just write off the AP/AR directly, but it leaves the balance open on the customer’s/vendor’s account because the invoice/bill is still open.”source ↗
“Right now I’m having a hard time with a CPA that isn’t comprehending how a credit card account works in Quicken. She wants all the details of the card entered into the payment made.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 30How to clean up months of messy client expense records
- 3Why do restricted custom fields clutter income statement reports?
- 17How to handle expense reports without being good at math
- 6Tracking business and personal finances without full accounting software
- 6Where do beginners learn personal finance?
- 4How to find hidden errors and fake balancing figures in old spreadsheets