A business owner has just appointed accountants to do his books using Xero. He asked them to give full access to a colleague / team member who was going to be carrying out some accounting procedures. The accountants have restricted the business owners access so that he cannot invite users and have also restricted his access to any accounting reports. The accountants have also refused to give anything other than 'read only' access to the Team Member despite being requested to give full access by the business owner. The accountants hold the Xero subscription and are intending on recharging as part of a monthly package.
Are the accountants behaving professionally by refusing the business owners requests?
Replies (5)
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This is such an oddly worded query. Are you the business owner in question? Anyone who is unhappy about the way a contract is going needs to have a full and frank discussion with the other party. Has this been done yet? Perhaps you are the one who is being denied access.
It seems clear that the accountants don't want someone else doing transactions on Xero apart from themselves. That may be because of the way the contract was set up. If they are going to be liable for all data entry I can see their point of view.
If the business owner wants some other arrangement he/she may have to renegotiate the contract and might find that the new accountants would rather walk away than allow someone they don't know to do data entry.
You give an impression of a noose being round the business person's neck. Maybe they aren't very good at talking things through with people, which is exactly what needs to happen now.
My advice is never to sign up for anything before you understand fully what is involved. If something comes up subsequently that you aren't happy with, behave in a friendly and professional manner with the other party and see if you can't both compromise, or at least better understand each others' position.
Dale Carnegie once advised "start in a friendly way".
If only my parents had read his book!
Depends.
I wouldn't want anybody playing around with entries I'd made. On the other hand, it would be nice if the owner would put some routine entries onto the records.
Impossible to say from the information given.
It doesn't bother me as you can see which login made which entry but I restrict access if I think a client will make a pigs ear of something. Mind you, even then, if they asked for access I would allow it and mention (somewhat tactfully) that they shouldn't make entries without being sure they are correct as it often costs more to put right than do in the first place.
So far they haven’t responded.
And is that because the accountants want to charge him for the work ?
Xero is probably not his cheapest, most cost-effective route.
Having said that, if I were a client, my accountant would only berate me once. I find that most subcontractors have the most effective vocabulary to make their concerns crystal clear.