Multi-Account
Please note: Multi-Account is currently only available to merchants on a Standard, Pro, or Advanced plan. This feature is rolling out gradually and will appear in your dashboard once it's available for your account.
If you’re on a custom plan and would like to enable this feature, please contact our Support Team.
- What is Multi-Account?
- What are the benefits of Multi-Account?
- How do I set-up Multi-Account?
- How do I link accounts?
- How do I switch between accounts?
- What information can team members see?
- FAQs
What is Multi-Account?
The GoCardless Multi-Account feature enables you to manage multiple GoCardless accounts by linking accounts in a hierarchical Primary account and Subaccount structure.
This will allow you to accurately represent your business structure on our platform, streamline operations, and eliminate the manual headaches associated with managing tasks across multiple accounts and logins.
What are the benefits of Multi-Account?
1. Better visibility: You can link your accounts in a hierarchical Primary account and Subaccount format to better represent your organisational structure within GoCardless. This allows you to search, view, and export data across accounts from a central place.
The choice of your Primary account organisation depends on your desired setup. It can reflect your legal/contract structure or another organisational arrangement. Importantly, Primary account admin users will have default admin rights across all Subaccounts.
2. Simplified access: Multi-Account provides simplified access by allowing team members to be assigned to multiple accounts and switch between them easily via a single login. This removes the administrative burden and security risks of managing separate email addresses and passwords.
You can view all your accounts in a dropdown and quickly switch between them within the GoCardless dashboard.
3. Centralised user management: Admin users at the Primary account level can centrally manage users across the account group. You can invite new team members to either a Primary account or Subaccount via email, and pre-configure which accounts they can access and set permission levels for each account. Existing team member permissions can also be set on a per organisation level, and team members can be moved between organisations.
After setting up new team members, it's recommended to disable any unnecessary accounts for security.
How do I set-up Multi-Account?
If you’re on a current Standard, Pro, or Advanced plan, please log in to your dashboard to enable the feature. For accounts on custom pricing, your Customer Success Manager can enable the Multi-Account feature and guide you through the setup process. You should be logged in to the account you wish to use as a Primary account when setting up Multi-Account.
- Click on your business name in the top left corner of your dashboard
- Select Add account in the dropdown menu
- Click on Get started in the setup screen
- Add your first Subaccount by either linking an existing GoCardless account or setting up a new account to be linked
If you don't already have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled, you'll need to set it up before you can add your first account. This is to ensure your account has the necessary level of security. For more details on this, take a look at our support article on enabling two-factor authentication.
How do I link accounts?
Once you’ve set-up Multi-Account, admins in the Primary account will be able to add Subaccounts to your account group. If you have a Customer Success Manager, they’ll also be able to help you with this process.
Method 1
- Click on your business name in the top left corner of your dashboard
- Select Add account to link an existing account, or create a new one to add to your account group
Method 2
- Click on Settings in the top right corner of the dashboard
- Select Team under the Company Settings section
- Click Add in the top right corner of the page
- Click Add account to link an existing account, or create a new one to add to your account group
When linking an existing account, you’ll need to provide an admin user’s email address for the account you wish to link. If there are multiple admins on the account you wish to link, you only need to provide one email address. This admin user will need to approve the request in order to complete the linking of the Subaccount - they’ll see the option to approve the linkage in the dashboard when they log in.
Alternatively, if you wish to create a new account to link, you’ll be guided through the steps to do so when you click on Add Account. New accounts will have to complete the verification process.
How do I switch between accounts?
Once you’ve set-up Multi-Account and have added your Subaccount(s), you’ll be able to switch between accounts by clicking the dropdown on your company name in the upper left corner of the dashboard:
- Click on the account dropdown
- Select the name of the account you want to switch to
If your account group has five or more accounts, you can also switch between accounts by:
- Clicking on the account dropdown
- Selecting View all accounts
- Selecting the name of the account to switch to
NOTE: All users must have 2-Factor Authentication enabled in order to switch between accounts.
What information can team members see?
The information visible to each team member is dependent on which account(s) they have access to and what access level they’ve been assigned on each account. Access levels are: admin, read-write, read-only, or no access.
For example, if a team member only has access to the Primary account, they’ll only be able to see the Primary account dashboard. If a team member has been granted access to both a Primary account and a Subaccount, they’ll be able to see information in both dashboards.
The actions a team member can perform are also determined by their access level on each organisation and whether they’re an admin on the Primary account. Admins on the Primary account:
- Will automatically inherit admin access to any Subaccount added to an account group (this can be reconfigured later)
- Can view and edit access for any user within the account group
- Choose to add new accounts to the account group
A single user can hold different roles on different accounts - for example, admin on the Primary account but read-only on a Subaccount. Admin actions are only permitted on accounts where the user holds admin rights.
For more details on individual access permissions, see our support article on adding team members.
FAQs
Set up
Which organisation should I make my Primary account?
That depends on your desired setup. Your account hierarchy can represent your legal/contract structure, but you can organise it differently if you like. The Primary account can be assigned to processing or non-processing legal entities.
The important thing to consider is that Primary admin user(s) will, by default, have admin rights across all Subaccounts. Some general advice:
- In an affiliate structure, it usually makes the most sense to assign the Primary account to the core legal entity where your main GoCardless contract sits.
- If you’re working with corporate groups, it’s often the holding or operating company that works best.
- In franchise systems, it’s typically the franchisor.
How many accounts can be linked?
As many as you want. There’s no limit.
How does the account linkage authorisation flow work?
You’ll need to provide the email address of an existing admin for each account you want to link.
As a security measure, this admin will be asked to authorise the connection in their GoCardless dashboard to ensure data remains secure.
This admin user will see a message when they log in to the dashboard to either authorise or decline the linkage request. Once authorised, all admin users on the Primary account will automatically inherit admin access to the new Subaccounts. Users on the Subaccount will not have access to the Primary account or other linked Subaccounts unless their access level is manually configured by a Primary account admin via the Teams page.
How do I unlink accounts?
If you wish to unlink accounts, please reach out to the Customer Support Team. To speed up the process, first assign a dedicated admin to the Subaccount you want to remove. The Subaccount will need at least one admin that doesn’t have access to any other accounts in your group. Once the account is unlinked, this user will become its Primary, independent admin.
Can the Primary/Subaccount structure extend beyond those two tiers?
No. Multi-Account only supports a two-tier hierarchy made up of Primary and Subaccounts. Currently, there are no plans in place to implement additional tiers.
What happens if I have an account which uses SEPA?
There are different ID checks for admin/read-write users for the EU. If you grant a specific user access to an account registered with us for SEPA, we’ll request proof of identity via the dashboard. These documents will go through our standard verification checks before account access is granted.
How does Multi-Account work with Single Sign-On (SSO)?
Multi-Account and SSO work together, but SSO is managed centrally at Primary account level.
For the sake of security, SSO settings apply globally to your entire account structure. This means SSO is either enabled or disabled across your entire account group of Primary and Subaccounts, so you can’t have SSO in place for one Subaccount while keeping standard login credentials for others.
Why can’t I see the option to duplicate or copy onboarding information to my new Subaccount?
To make setting up multiple accounts faster, we allow certain businesses to instantly copy their existing onboarding information from their Primary account over to a new Subaccount.
Currently, this streamlined flow is available to UK limited companies and French limited companies only.
If your business structure falls into one of the following categories, you’ll need to complete the standard onboarding flow for your new Subaccount manually:
- Sole traders/individuals
- Partnerships
- Charities/non-profits
- Trusts
Partner integrations
Can I use Multi-Account via a partner integration?
Yes. Multi-Account works perfectly well for customers using GoCardless via one of our partner integrations, like Xero or Sage.
Multi-Account is a feature that lives entirely within your GoCardless dashboard, meaning it doesn’t require any changes to your current integration or API setup. You can start managing your accounts and user permissions from your GoCardless dashboard immediately, with all the benefits enabled by default.
How does Multi-Account work with partner integrations?
Linking your accounts in GoCardless simplifies your billing dashboard, but it operates independently of your external software. Here’s what you need to know:
- Your accounting setup stays separate: Connecting your accounts inside GoCardless won’t automatically combine or link those accounts inside your partner software. Your external software will continue to view each GoCardless account individually, exactly as it does today.
- A smoother login experience: When you log in to GoCardless through your partner software, you’ll see a quick update. We’ll ask you to select exactly which of your linked accounts you want to view or pull data from for that session.
- Compatibility: Many partner platforms already have their own multi-account or multi-entity features. GoCardless Multi-Account is designed to work alongside those setups without disrupting your day-to-day workflow.
User management
How should I go about creating new users and deleting old ones?
Once you’ve enabled the Multi-Account feature and linked your desired organisations/accounts, Primary account admin users can invite new users, change permissions, and adjust access rights for each user per organisation - all via the central Teams page.
You can set up new users as you see fit (each user must have their own email) and disable any accounts not needed (which we’d advise for security purposes). You should enable 2FA for all users, once setup is finalised.
Why can I only see users for one account on my Teams page?
The Teams page filters your view by default to show only the users assigned to the specific account you’re viewing. All you need to do to see all users across all accounts is remove the account filter.
User permissions
Can I make admin changes in Subaccounts if I'm not an admin on them?
No - users must always have admin access to a specific account to be able to perform admin actions on it. Access levels can be customised as needed by admin users.
Some example scenarios:
- A user may be an admin on the Primary account but only have read-write, read-only or no access to a Subaccount. In this case, they wouldn’t be able to perform admin actions on this Subaccount.
- A user may have read-write access on the Primary account and admin access on a Subaccount. In this case, they would be able to make admin changes only to the Subaccount.
However, it’s important to note that when a Subaccount first joins an account group, all Primary account admin users will automatically inherit admin user rights for the newly added Subaccount. We recommend all Primary account users to review the permissions for all users after a Subaccount is added to an account group.
Can only an admin on the Primary account view all accounts?
No - visibility of accounts can be configured on an individual user level. Users will be able to access any accounts in the account group to which they have read-only, read-write or admin rights. Actions are restricted to the permission level the user has for each specific organisation.
Can I search and filter for data across multiple accounts at once?
Yes, Multi-Account allows you to search, view, and export data across all accounts a user has access to by filtering per organisation.