How to give an investor or board read-only access to QuickBooks or Xero

Investors and board members want to see how the business is doing. Most owners end up doing one of two things: exporting a report pack every month, or giving them a login to the accounting system. The first goes out of date the moment it is sent. The second shows far more than you meant to share.

This guide covers what QuickBooks Online and Xero let you do natively, where that falls short, and how to give an investor a live, read-only view of only the numbers they should see.

What QuickBooks Online offers

QuickBooks Online has a Reports only user type (shown as "View company reports"). On the Plus and Advanced plans these users are unlimited and do not count towards your user limit. Simple Start and Essentials do not offer it.

The catch is scope. A Reports only user can open the company's financial reports, not a chosen subset. If you want an investor to see revenue and margin but not payroll or individual supplier spend, Reports only is too broad. Custom roles that limit which reports someone can see are available only on QuickBooks Online Advanced, the most expensive plan.

What Xero offers

Xero includes unlimited users on every plan, and has a Read only role. A Read only user can view almost every area of the organisation, including contacts, invoices, bills and reports. They cannot change anything, but they can see everything those areas contain. There is no way to limit a Read only user to particular accounts, tracking categories or reports.

Where the native options fall short

• All or nothing. Both platforms share the whole picture, not the slice an investor needs.
• A login to your books. The investor holds credentials to the system your bookkeeper works in.
• Not built for non-accountants. Accounting reports are dense. Most investors want a few clear numbers and a trend.
• Exports go stale. Sending a PDF instead avoids the access problem but creates a new one: it is out of date by the time it is read, and every question means another export.

A better way: a scoped, read-only view

Vizii connects to QuickBooks Online or Xero and turns the data into clear dashboards. You invite the investor by email to a read-only view scoped to what they should see:

1. Connect your books once. Vizii connects through QuickBooks' or Xero's official sign-in. You never share a password.
2. Invite the investor as a Viewer. They sign in with a secure email link. They do not need a QuickBooks or Xero login, and they never get one.
3. Choose what they see. Limit them to particular views (for example Sales and Purchases, or Assets and Liabilities), and optionally to specific accounts, classes, locations, tracking categories or contacts.
4. They see it live. The view updates from your books whenever data syncs, so there is no monthly export.

You still see the whole business. The investor sees their view and nothing else.

When to use which

• An adviser or accountant who needs everything: use the platform's own user roles.
• An investor, board member, lender or partner who needs a defined slice: use a scoped read-only view.

FAQ

Does the investor need a QuickBooks or Xero account? No. They sign in to Vizii with a secure link sent to their email. They never receive access to your accounting system.

Can the investor change anything? No. Viewers are read-only.

Can I give two investors different views? Yes. Each viewer has their own scope, so one can see Sales only and another the balance sheet.

Does this work with QuickBooks Desktop? Vizii works with QuickBooks Online and Xero.