In Keystone Tax Solutions Pro, a security role is a predefined set of permissions to access different menus and features. Every user is assigned a security role. (The terms User and Preparer are generally synonymous; a large office might have a user whose primary role is to review and approve returns.) The software comes with three predefined roles:
- Unlimited – Can access any menu.
- Super User – Can access any menu except for Firm/ERO/Preparer Setup.
- Return Preparer – Cannot access Firm/ERO/Preparer Setup, E-File, Configuration, Utilities, Reports, or Updates, and can only work on their own tax returns.
The settings for these three predefined roles cannot be changed, however any particular setting can be changed on a preparer-by-preparer basis.
You can create additional security roles, customizing each to deny or allow access to the various menus as desired. To create a security role, from the Main Menu of Keystone Tax Solutions Pro select:
- Configuration
- Firm / ERO / Preparer Setup
- Role(s) Menu
- New – enter the name you’d like to call the role
- By default, access to all menus is set to YES and Tax Returns Access is set to Unlimited. (This is the equivalent of the Unlimited role.) To deny access to a particular menu or feature, select the line and select “Preparer does not have Access”. To deny access to all returns, select Tax Returns Access and select “Access Limited to Preparer Only”.
- When finished modifying the access restrictions, select 0. Exit Menu.
The ADMIN user and a user with an Unlimited role can change another user’s security role. To change the security role for a user, from the Main Menu of Keystone Tax Solutions Pro select:
- Configuration
- Firm / ERO / Preparer Setup
- Preparer(s) Menu – select the preparer you wish to edit
- Preparer Security
- Role – select the desired security role