QuickBooks Online company settings hide behind the gear icon

QuickBooks Online keeps nearly every company-level preference in one window, and the door to it is a small gear icon in the upper right. Users report hunting through the left navigation for a settings screen that never appears there. The fix is fast once you know where the entrance sits.

Where do company settings live in QuickBooks Online?

There is no Settings item in the left menu. The gear icon in the header, beside your company name, opens a panel. Near the top of that panel sits an option named Account and settings, and it leads to the full settings window. That single route explains why the same question keeps surfacing.

Administrator access is required to save changes. Other users can open some tabs and read them, but the edit controls stay closed. If the settings look locked, that is usually the reason.

Desktop switchers have extra trouble, and understandably so. The desktop editions keep their preferences under an Edit menu, so muscle memory points people toward menus that QuickBooks Online does not have.

The edit sequence from start to finish

The sequence is the same no matter which setting you need to change.

Select the gear icon, then Account and settings.
Select the tab that matches the area you want to change.
Select the pencil icon, labeled Edit, inside the relevant section. The fields then open for input.
Make your changes. The small question marks beside the fields describe what each one controls.
Select Save inside that section.
Select Done to close the window.

What can you change on each tab?

Each tab owns a distinct set of choices, so the first decision is which tab you need.

Company. Your business name, address, phone, email, logo, and federal Employer Identification Number live here. You can also adjust marketing preferences for messages from the software maker. If you mistyped anything during signup, this tab is where you correct it.
Billing and subscription, plus Usage. These tabs display plan and usage details rather than editable company data.
Sales. Controls for sales forms, including how they are delivered, the default messages on them, and options around products and services. Reminders for unpaid invoices are managed here as well.
Expenses. Purchase side settings, including purchase orders, bills, and how you handle billable costs.
Payments. Card and bank transfer processing options, if you use the built-in payment service.
Advanced. Accounting fundamentals such as the accounting method, the fiscal year start, tracking by class or location, and several automation switches.

What else lives under the gear icon?

The gear panel is a mixed drawer. Alongside Account and settings it holds links to your user profile, your lists, and tools for importing and exporting data. None of those open the company settings window. Starting at the wrong link can make the panel feel like a dead end, so aim for the Account and settings line specifically. Menu contents can also vary with your user role, one more reason people struggle to find the same link twice.

Save inside the section, not just at the end

The most common slip is skipping the section Save. Done closes the window; it does not commit unsaved field changes. Save each section before you move to another tab, then select Done when you finish.

On the Company tab you will also find the logo upload. Select the logo box there and pick an image file from your computer.

Expectations matter here too. New forms pick up your updated name and address, while transactions already saved keep the details they were created with. If a customer mentions an old address on an invoice, that is usually the explanation.

When the pencil icon refuses to appear, sign in with an administrator account and reload the page. That single check clears most reports where the settings seem frozen.

Company settings are a one-time chore for most businesses, with occasional touch-ups when an address or tax ID changes. Knowing the route through the gear icon turns that chore into a minute of work.