Setting up security in MYOB Accountants Office

This support note applies to:

AO Classic Tax (AU)
AO Classic Practice Management (AU)
AO Classic General Ledger (AU)
AO Classic (NZ)

Article ID: 32016

MYOB Accountants Office (AO) includes the option to apply a password to client records, thus restricting access to individual returns. This feature is only enabled when security is activated.
If you are not currently using security, but are considering activating it to take advantage of this option, it is very important you read the following.

Setting up security in MYOB AO involves planning, configuring and activating.

Let's take you through the process.

1. Planning

Remember that Administrators, ie any user that belongs to the Administrator group, have full system access, including being able to change a client password.

Security settings for a new group default to ‘everything switched off’. This means you will need to ‘switch on’ rights so that members have access to everything they need to perform their job. To save time in switching on appropriate rights, use the option to copy an existing security group, see Adding or copying a security group below.
Keeping a ‘rights register’ or record of your security settings can help to manage, review and organise users, groups and rights assigned. See Printing your current security settings below.
When first activating security, make sure you are logged in as a user that is part of the Administrators group

2. Configuring

MYOB Accountants Office includes security features to protect misuse of your data or restrict access to important business functions. We recommend that it be configured prior to being activated.

a. Add or copy a security group

Close all modules that are currently open in MYOB Accountants Office.

If you have 8 or fewer employees, you may prefer to modify individual users rather than groups. See To modify group security settings below and replace Groups with Users. For larger firms, MYOB recommend the use of security Groups, which provide for easier setup and management of security settings.
Follow the menu path: Tools > Security > Access Groups. The Access Control Groups window is displayed.
Click in the Group window and press F4. The message "Do you want to copy settings from the xxx group?" appears.

The group named in the message defaults from the group highlighted in the Group list.
If you want to copy the settings, click Yes. Otherwise, click No.
The Add New Group window appears.
Enter a descriptive name for this group less than 20 characters in length and click OK.
The new group appears in the group list.
Enter descriptive comments about this group in the Notes window.

To delete a group, except for the Administrators and Everyone groups, click the required group and press F8.
Click OK to save the changes. These changes will take affect after you activate security and restart Accountants Office.

b. Assign users to a security group, including adding administrators

Follow the menu path:
Tools > Security > Access Groups.
The Access Control Groups window is displayed.
Select the group you want to add users to and then click in the Group Members window.
The Group Members window is active.
Press F4.
The Add Members to Group window opens.
Select the required users and click OK.
The users are added to the group.

Note: To delete employees from a group, except the Everyone group, click on the relevant employee in the Group Members window and press F8.

Important: Keep at least one member of the Administrators group. This is to ensure there is always one user who has full system access.
Click OK to save the changes.
These changes take affect after you activate security and after restarting Accountants Office.

c. Modify group security settings

Follow the menu path: Tools > Security > Rights. The Assign Rights to User or Group window is displayed.

Following are the default security settings:
• Administrators - access to ALL functions and procedures
• Everyone - access to NO functions and procedures until modified
• New groups (unless copied) - access to NO functions and procedures until modified
Select either the Users or Groups option and then select the relevant item from the Assign to drop-down list. The relevant item is selected.

Do not modify Administrators or Everyone security groups. Only change security settings for new groups you have created or individual users.

To create a starting point for managing security settings, use the Allow All, ie switch on full system access or Allow None, ie switch off all access buttons.
Navigate to the required function and select the required option from the Rights at the bottom of the screen. Access is applied to the selected functions.

The rights options function as follows:
• Access - Start module / function
• Read - View data
• Write - Add, edit or delete data
• Create - Add the selected item
• Delete - Delete the selected item
• Print - Allow printing of the selected item
Repeat step 3 for each function you require to allow access, then click OK. The rights are saved and the Assign Rights to User or Group window closes. These changes take affect after you activate security and after restarting Accountants Office.

d. Print the security settings

Follow the menu path: Tools > Security > Rights. The Assign Rights to User or Group window is displayed.
Select either the Users or Groups option and then select the relevant item from the Assign to drop-down list. The User/Group is selected.
Click Print to display a preview. The report is displayed on the screen.
Click either the Printer, Word or PDF icon. The report is output to the requested output.

3. Activating

After completing the planning and configuration phases of Accountants Office security it is time to activate the security option.

Contact us and request a licence file change.
Activate your licence file update per the instructions in the email from the MYOB Licensing team.