QuickBooks Practice Manager setup: the five steps that get you running

UK accountants opening QuickBooks Practice Manager for the first time face a setup that spans five stages, and the opening screens give few clues about the order. The accepted guidance from Intuit settles it with five numbered steps, from client import to contacts. We take each step in turn, with the clicks involved.

Two questions dominate the early experience: where the client list went, and why there is no button to add a colleague. Both trace to the same design. The tool leans on QuickBooks Online Accountant as its source of data and asks you only to fill the gaps.

The entry point is QuickBooks Online Accountant. Select Accountant tools, then Practice manager, and the tool opens in a new window. Your first sign-in triggers two imports: every client and every team member copies across from the accountant side, and each team member gets a personal account. An email confirms when the client list has finished loading. Until that message arrives, a thin list points to an import still in progress rather than a fault.

Step 1: Add your clients

Existing clients arrive through that import, so there is nothing to type for them. For anyone the import does not cover, select the plus icon, then Add client, and complete the record. UK practices have a second route: pull company details straight from Companies House rather than keying them in by hand.

Step 2: Set up your profile

This step sets the business identity your clients see. In Settings, open the My account tab and select Update profile and signature. Upload a logo, add an email signature, change your sign-in email or password if needed, then select Save.

Next, select Change email preferences and choose which notices you receive: task updates, file uploads, client updates, and the daily overview and weekly updates. Two-factor authentication is optional and needs an authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator, on a mobile device. One shortcut saves time later: the finished signature can be copied into every team member’s profile, so the look is set once.

Step 3: Link your email account

The connection sits in the same Settings area you used for your profile. Select the email option, sign in with your mail account, and approve the access prompt when it appears. The flow supports Google and Microsoft mail accounts. Linking pulls client correspondence into one place, so the whole team can see each exchange beside the work it relates to. The vendor frames the link as the way to manage and monitor every exchange between your team and your clients. Practices that connect early avoid splitting messages between the tool and personal inboxes.

Step 4: Add team members

Practice Manager will not create team members itself, and that constraint catches people out. Add the person in QuickBooks Online Accountant first. The tool then imports them into its Teams list automatically, personal account included. There is no add button to hunt for inside the tool; the accountant side is the source of truth.

Step 5: Add clients and contacts

A new client record starts with basic information. Contacts then attach to the client they belong to, which keeps tasks, files, and messages tied to the right company. Entries created here join the same list as the imported clients, so both routes end in one place.

Does the order of the five steps matter?

It matters in two places. The client import in step 1 has to finish before the list tells you anything, which is why the confirmation email counts. The profile work in step 2 feeds step 4, because the signature you build is the one you copy across the team. The sequence also cuts duplicate effort: clients arrive once, signatures are written once, and team members are created once on the accountant side. Follow it in order and a practice ends its first day with clients loaded, mail connected, and the team in place.

Sign-in starts two automatic imports