Change the account owner in a client’s account
This article explains how to change the owner of a client’s FreeAgent account. This process will grant ownership of the account to someone else.
There are a few scenarios when you might want to change the owner of a client’s FreeAgent account. For example, they may have sold their business to someone else, or there was a mistake made in the setup process.
Please note:
- The new account owner needs to have been added as a user and verified their email address.
- Only senior account managers will have access to this functionality.
1. Switch to the client's account
Begin by navigating to ‘My clients’ from your Practice Dashboard. If you’re wanting to change the owner of another account manager’s clients (as a senior account manager), you’ll need to navigate to ‘All clients’ instead.
Find the relevant client from the list and then select the ‘Switch to’ button. This will take you into the client’s FreeAgent account.
2. Select the relevant user
Select 'Settings' from the drop-down menu in the top-right corner.
Next, select 'Users'.
Select the ‘Change Account Owner’ button.
Then, select the ‘Change account owner’ button next to the user that you wish to transfer ownership of your client’s account to.
What if the user has an unverified email address?
If the user that you want to transfer the account ownership to does not have a verified email address, you’ll see a notice telling you to send the verification email and asking the recipient to verify it.
To do this, select the ‘Send verification email’ button next to the relevant user.
A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm if you want to send the verification email to this user. To do so, select ‘Yes, send a verification email’.
Once the verification email has been sent, you’ll see a pop-up message saying that the verification email has been sent to the relevant user.
It might be a good idea to speak directly with your client and ask them to verify the email for a timely response.
3. Transfer ownership
Check that you’re transferring the account ownership to the correct user. If not, you can select ‘Change user’.
You’ll have to select the checkboxes to confirm your understanding of the following:
- The new account owner will receive full (level 8) access, including the ability to delete all data.
- If required, billing details will need to be updated separately.
Select ‘Transfer account ownership’ to complete the process.
A pop-up window will appear saying that the account owner has successfully been changed.
Both the old and new owners and the accountant making the change will receive emails to notify them of the change of ownership.