QuickFile 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

QuickFile is UK online accounting software for invoicing, bookkeeping, VAT and year-end accounts. Its two-factor authentication (2FA) works differently from most services: it isn't a personal setting. Only the account administrator can turn it on, and once it's on it applies to every team member on the account, who each then have to pair a phone before they can sign in (QuickFile). Read the whole guide before you switch it on if other people use your QuickFile account.

2FA is optional, and an authenticator app is the only method QuickFile documents. Its help only ever names Google Authenticator (QuickFile). The setup screen shows a standard QR code and a typed key, so this guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone instead. Any authenticator app works the same way. QuickFile's help doesn't mention text-message codes or backup codes.

How we checked this guide: the QuickFile steps come from QuickFile's own knowledge base, including the screenshots in its 2FA article, which we read on October 24, 2026. That article was last edited in November 2021, and we haven't tested it on a QuickFile account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Before you start

• Only the administrator can open the 2FA setup screen, turn it on or turn it off. Each QuickFile account has exactly one administrator (QuickFile).
• It covers the whole team. Team members may be locked out until they finish pairing, so tell them first. QuickFile adds that end-user clients can't use 2FA (QuickFile).
• Everyone needs a phone with an authenticator app.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

QuickFile's article describes these steps for the administrator (QuickFile, QuickFile):

1. Sign in to QuickFile and choose Account Settings in the main menu at the top.
2. Scroll down and choose 2-Factor Authentication.
3. QuickFile shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. Under the QR code, QuickFile also shows a Private key. That's the text version of the setup key. If you can't scan, tap + in Novaz, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. Scanning is still the better choice: QuickFile's help doesn't say how often its codes change, and the QR code carries that setting. See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz in the box below and choose Authenticate.

Add your team members

Once the administrator is paired, the setup screen offers three links: Show my QR Code, Setup additional team members and Disable Google Authentication. To bring each person in (QuickFile):

1. Choose Setup additional team members.
2. Pick the person from the Team Members list and choose Send Authentication Email.
3. The email links to a page where that person pairs their own phone.

The link expires after 24 hours. If they miss it, send a new one.

When QuickFile asks for a code

After 2FA is on, the sign-in page has an extra Authenticator Code box under your email and password. Tick Remember this device if you don't want to type a code every time on that computer. QuickFile asks again whenever you sign in from somewhere new (QuickFile).

If QuickFile rejects your code

QuickFile's help has no advice on rejected codes. Check the iPhone's clock first: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Also make sure you're reading the QuickFile entry, not another account. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator

There are no backup codes to fall back on, so the route depends on your role (QuickFile):

• Administrator: contact QuickFile. Its staff ask you some security questions, then switch 2FA off for a while so you can get back in and set it up again. The contact form has a Problems logging in subject. QuickFile doesn't say how long this takes or which questions it asks.
• Team member: ask your administrator to send you a fresh invitation.

See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones

QuickFile doesn't describe moving 2FA to a new phone. A team member can ask the administrator for a new invitation and pair the new phone from it. The administrator's setup screen has a Show my QR Code link, but the article doesn't explain what it does, so keep your old phone working until the new one is producing codes QuickFile accepts. If you keep a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), you can restore QuickFile on the new iPhone along with your other accounts. Without one, you'll add QuickFile again on the new phone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Turning 2FA off

The administrator opens the 2FA setup screen and chooses Disable Google Authentication. That turns it off for everyone on the account, not just for you (QuickFile). Afterwards you can delete the entry in Novaz: open it and tap Remove account.

Official QuickFile help

• 2-Factor authentication
• Adding new users to your account
• Data Security
• Contact