How to Blur QuickBooks and Xero During Screen Sharing (2026)

Short answer

Hide client financial data, transaction details, and account balances in QuickBooks and Xero before sharing your screen with clients, colleagues, or during training.

Direct answer

hide client financial data, transaction details, and account balances in quickbooks and xero before sharing your screen with clients, colleagues, or during training and follow the step-by-step approach in this guide.

Accounting Software Is the Highest-Risk Screen Share

Accountants and bookkeepers screen share more than most professionals realize. Client onboarding calls. Software training sessions. Troubleshooting meetings. Tax preparation reviews. Year-end walkthroughs. Every one of these involves sharing a screen showing financial data that is confidential, regulated, and potentially damaging if exposed.

QuickBooks Online and Xero are browser-based, which means they are shared through Chrome during video calls. And both applications display dense financial data on every page: account balances, transaction histories, vendor names, customer invoices, bank connections, and payroll figures.

Neither QuickBooks nor Xero has a screen sharing mode. There is no button to hide other client data during a presentation. If you manage multiple clients in QuickBooks Online Accountant or Xero HQ, switching between clients during a call risks exposing another client's data.

What to Blur in QuickBooks Online

Dashboard

• Bank account balances: Checking, savings, and credit card balances
• Profit and Loss summary: Revenue, expenses, net income
• Invoices owed: Customer names and outstanding amounts
• Bills to pay: Vendor names and amounts due
• Sales chart: Revenue trend data

Chart of Accounts

• Individual account balances across all accounts
• Account names that reveal business structure

Transactions

• Payee/vendor names and transaction amounts
• Check numbers and reference details
• Memo fields containing notes about other clients

Reports

• Profit and Loss statement details
• Balance Sheet figures
• Accounts Receivable/Payable aging with customer and vendor names
• Payroll reports with employee names and compensation

Banking

• Connected bank account numbers and balances
• Transaction feeds showing recent activity
• Bank rule configurations

What to Blur in Xero

Dashboard

• Bank account balances and cash position
• Invoices owed and bills to pay
• Account watchlist balances
• Expense claims and amounts

Contacts

• Customer and supplier names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses
• Outstanding balances per contact

Reports

• Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow statements
• Aged Receivables and Payables with contact names
• Budget vs Actuals figures
• Payroll summaries

Bank Accounts

• Connected account details and balances
• Bank feed transactions
• Reconciliation items

How to Blur Accounting Data

Both QuickBooks Online and Xero run in Chrome. ContextBlur works on every page of both applications.

1. Open QuickBooks or Xero in Chrome
2. Navigate to the page you plan to share
3. Activate ContextBlur (Ctrl+Shift+B)
4. Click account balances, client names, transaction amounts, and any other sensitive data
5. Start your screen share

Blurs persist across page refreshes and navigation within the application.

Scenario Strategies

Client Onboarding

When onboarding a new client and walking them through QuickBooks or Xero setup:

• Log into the new client's file (not a file with other client data)
• If using QuickBooks Online Accountant, blur the client list sidebar showing other firm clients
• Blur any sample data or template entries that contain real client information

Training Sessions

When training staff on accounting software using a live instance:

• Blur all client names, account balances, and transaction amounts
• Focus on demonstrating workflows and navigation, not actual data
• Blur payroll data entirely — compensation information is the most sensitive category

Tax Preparation Reviews

When reviewing tax documents with a client via screen share:

• Blur data from other tax years or other clients if visible
• Blur Social Security numbers, EINs, and bank account numbers
• Blur income figures from other sources not being discussed

Firm-Wide Meetings

When presenting financial summaries to the accounting firm team:

• Blur individual client names (show aggregate firm metrics)
• Blur specific account balances
• Blur any data subject to client confidentiality agreements

Multi-Client Risk

The highest-risk scenario for accountants is managing multiple clients in QuickBooks Online Accountant or Xero HQ. Both platforms display a client list or company switcher that shows every client you manage. If you navigate to the wrong client during a screen share, you expose that client's entire financial picture.

Before any screen share:

1. Navigate to the correct client file before starting the share
2. Blur the client list or company switcher
3. Share only the Chrome window (not your full desktop)
4. If you need to switch clients, stop sharing first

For the complete accountant screen sharing routine, see the screen sharing checklist. For compliance considerations, see our HIPAA and GDPR compliance guides — financial data is subject to similar regulatory protections.