New QuickBooks password security requirements – plus the unintended consequences
This new password security top features of QuickBooks 2016 are receiving silent but far reaching impact. This really is due to the latest release update, R7. Intuit has rolled out the latest QuickBooks desktop security update together with changes have created an increasing uproar when you look at the user and accounting communities. Be assured, your comments are now being heard.
Full story is the fact that Intuit has updated the currently supported QuickBooks desktop versions (2014, 2015, and 2016) to ensure that most users are now actually needed to have a complex password – depending on what info is kept in their file. It is an alteration from before, where you were expected to have this sort of password security only if you enabled Customer Credit Card Protection. Now this applies not only for those who have enabled the Credit Card Protection feature, but in addition if for example the file contains Personally Identifiable Information. If you want to know about Password Security For QuickBooks Desktop then call our experts.
“Personally Identifiable Information” includes:
– An employee record with a Social Security Number, even when not using Intuit payroll
– Any vendor record with a Vendor Tax ID, no matter if not processing 1099s
– Any bank account when you look at the Chart of Accounts with a Bank Account Number or Routing Number, even in the event not using online banking
– An Employer Identification Number or Social Security Number in the QB Company Information screen
From the list above, it really is understandable how it is extremely rare to locate a QB file that doesn't have “Personally Identifiable Information”. This is certainly how you get this new requirement of a password now.
It has brought about several unintended consequences:
A hardship when you look at the accountant community where firms have many clients’ books in their office. It creates a new burden to manage lots of user passwords and then every 90 days, change them again.
QuickBooks add-ons (such as for example QQube, with which we work large amount) to lose their integrated application connection. This requires support services through the consultant when it comes to add-on to be reconnected to QuickBooks and work again.
Certainly one of our CPA colleagues said:
“This is a hardship in the CPA community where we have several clients’ books in our office on a closed network. So, for instance within my office, we have three bookkeepers and thirty clients on our internal QuickBooks, that’s 90 different passwords and then every ninety days they need to be changed… ridiculous. And since these clients are on different time periods (monthly, quarterly, annual), the administrative tracking and time spent alone is stupid.”
He goes on, “I have a few CPA friends that are likely to research other products when they don’t change it. We despise being treated like children… when we want to use the risk then we should be able to switch it off. We’ve only upgraded a few clients to 2016 up to now so for the present time, we have been stopping all upgrading projects until this is certainly resolved.”
They are very significant comments. What has got the impact been to you? almost anything to enhance the list? How will you feel about the changes? For those who have not already done this, I strongly suggest to voice your thoughts via inside the QuickBooks Help menu > Send Feedback Online. Comments sent by users and accountants do get read and heard.