How do I give my outside bookkeeper or accountant access to AppFolio?

Give them their own AppFolio user. Someone whose role can create users types New User in search, enters their work email and name, picks a limited role, and sends the invite. They have 72 hours to activate. Do not share your password or grant payment release.

This is for a small property-management office of about 50 to 300 doors on AppFolio, often Core, still called Basic, that already exports the general ledger, owner ledgers and the trust-account bank statement, and is handing month-end to an outside bookkeeper or CPA.

What you are actually granting

A login is not a packet of reports. It is a person who can post, rec, and see owner and tenant ledgers inside your database. Shared passwords hide who did the work. Payment release is a different grant from posting.

Grant	What they can do	Use it?
Own AppFolio user, limited role	Post, rec, run reports under their name	Yes. This is the job
Shared office login	Same clicks, no audit trail	No
President role	Add users, change banks, pay anyone	No
Pay vendors or pay owners	Move trust cash	Keep in the office
Bank login that can transfer	Move cash outside AppFolio	No. View-only if they need a statement
Export packet only	Rec from files you already download	Yes, if they never need to post

AppFolio’s data-protection write-up (January 15, 2026) says role-based access and audit trails let you trace changes back to a specific user. That only works if the bookkeeper has their own login. Should I hire an offshore bookkeeper who knows AppFolio? is the hire question.

Firms that print a method ask for the same split. LedgerBPO (read 2026-11-02) wants accounting access without disbursement rights and says the broker releases every payment. REA (read 2026-11-02) works with accountant access inside your instance. Their FAQ says you create and administer the user. There is no vendor backdoor.

Add them as their own user

You need a login that can create users. If Manage Users is missing from search, your role cannot do it. Ask whoever can open that page.

AppFolio’s in-product help for adding a user sits behind a login. A public April 28, 2025 walkthrough shows the clicks:

1. Type New User in the search bar at the top. Or click your name, General Settings, then Manage Users.
2. Enter their work email and name.
3. Pick a role. Start with the most limited role that still lets them post and rec. Do not pick President.
4. If they should only see some doors, restrict them to those property groups and portfolios. An October 10, 2025 property-groups walkthrough puts that control on the user: View these property groups in portfolios only.
5. Save. AppFolio sends an invitation to that email.
6. They have 72 hours to activate, set a password, and add a phone for two-factor authentication.

AppFolio’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed February 5, 2026, says any customer can enable two-factor authentication for login, and some sensitive actions already require it. Turn it on for this user. AppFolio’s staffing page, read 2026-11-02, is the product claim for custom roles that limit what a person can see and do.

Use their work email, not a shared inbox. One person, one user. If the firm sends a second reviewer, add a second user.

Pick the role and strip payment release

AppFolio bills by the unit, not by the seat. The pricing page, read 2026-11-02, lists Core, Plus and Max as per unit per month. It does not list a per-user fee.

The role is the real control. An April 2025 add-user walkthrough shows assistant property manager and leasing agent in the picker. A September 14, 2025 Plus setup walkthrough treats President as the high-privilege baseline, and says creating a brand-new role title is a Plus feature. You can edit an existing role on the plan you already have. AppFolio’s 1,500-unit FAQ (October 15, 2026) says you can configure permissions for accountants.

Permission	Bookkeeper	Keep in the office
Post receipts and bills	Yes	No
Run the bank rec and owner ledgers	Yes	They rec. You review
Export reports	Yes	No
Pay vendors	No	Yes
Pay owners	No	Yes
Change bank accounts	No	Yes
Add or delete users	No	Yes
President role	No	Yes

Open the role after you assign it. Turn off paying vendors, paying owners, bank setup, and user management. APM Help (September 17, 2026) notes each GL account can be Full Permission or No Permission by role, which is how you keep a leasing agent off owner-funds. Use that same screen so the bookkeeper can post to the accounts the rec needs and nothing else.

What never to hand over

The usual shortcut is to text the office password. That is the wrong grant. Two people on one login make AppFolio’s audit trail a single name. APM Help’s general-ledger write-up (June 6, 2025) groups the GL by Created By. That report is only useful if the bookkeeper posts as themselves.

Do not give them:

• Your password, or anyone else’s
• President, or a role that can add users
• Payment release for vendors or owners
• A bank login that can transfer or send wires
• Owner Social Security numbers, routing numbers, or a scan of a check, unless your CPA or counsel says that file is required and you have a written reason to send it

On r/PropertyManagement in July 2024, a manager wrote that all it takes is a routing and account number, a name, and a piece of mail with the owner’s address for a hacker to drain the accounts. That thread was about overseas access. The same files are dangerous in any inbox.

Trust accounting is regulated, and the rules differ by state. California’s 10 CCR 2834 limits who may withdraw from a broker’s trust account: the broker, a salesperson licensed to that broker, another broker under written agreement, or an unlicensed employee with a fidelity bond at least equal to the trust funds they can reach. The California DRE (November 14, 2025) repeats that adding a signer does not take the broker off the hook. An outside bookkeeper is often none of those people. Colorado’s audit process still wants monthly three-way recs from the broker, with journals, ledgers, and reconciled bank statements. This is not legal advice. Check your own state’s commission and your CPA.

If they only need the files

Some CPAs never post in AppFolio. They want last month’s packet. Core includes property accounting and reports. Does AppFolio Basic have an API? is the plan question. Core has no API. You still export.

How to export AppFolio data to QuickBooks is that packet: general ledger, owner ledgers, tenant or security-deposit ledgers, and the deposit or receipts report, all as of the bank-statement date, plus the statement itself. Email the files. Do not also grant a login “just in case” if they will not post.

If they will post, they need the login. Exports are a snapshot. They go stale the next time rent hits the bank.

When they leave

Do this the day the engagement ends, not the week after.

1. Open Manage Users.
2. Disable or delete their user.
3. Confirm they cannot sign in.
4. If you ever shared a password, change that password and turn two-factor back on. Then stop sharing it.
5. If they had a view-only bank login, revoke it at the bank.

Leave their historical posts in AppFolio. The Created By column is the record of what they did.

How to tell this week that access is right

The bookkeeper signs in as themselves. Two-factor is on. Their role cannot pay vendors, pay owners, change banks, or add users. If they only work some doors, those property groups are the only ones on the user. Run a general ledger for the last week grouped by Created By. Their name should appear on their posts.

You still review the rec. How to do a three-way trust account reconciliation is that packet. Open the rec, the owner-ledger export, and two owner statements. Confirm the ending balances match. They post. The license stays on you.

Open Manage Users and last month’s rec packet. Confirm the bookkeeper has their own login, two-factor is on, and they cannot pay vendors or owners. That list is already in AppFolio.