An organisation has three access levels. There is one “Owner”: the person who created the organisation. A “Co-owner” has the same full access, and you can have as many co-owners as you like: a business partner, an operations director, anyone you trust with the whole organisation. Everyone else is the team: what each person sees and can do is set by the role on their card, see Roles and access.
Only the owner appoints and removes co-owners. Only the owner can transfer ownership too.
Where to find it
“Settings” → the “General” tab → the “Owner and co-owners” block: who the owner is, who the co-owners are, and the “Transfer ownership” button. The owner and co-owners see the block, only the owner sees the button.
To appoint or remove a co-owner: the person’s card → “Edit” → the “Co-owner” block under “Access rights”. Only the owner sees this block.
In the “Employees” list the names carry the “Owner” and “Co-owner” badges.
Who is who
“Owner”: created the organisation at sign-up and can do everything. Nobody but the owner changes the owner’s card and account.
“Co-owner”: full access, like the owner, except pay: a co-owner does not see or change the pay of the owner and other co-owners, and does not change their own; their pay is handled by the owner. The role on the card does not affect access while the person is a co-owner, and applies again once they are removed.
The team: everyone else. The role grants permissions, and a manager from the team manages only people who have fewer rights than the manager’s own role.
What a co-owner can and cannot do
A co-owner can do everything the owner can: organisation settings, “Modules”, “Integrations” with API keys and webhooks, the POS, “Billing”, all people and all roles, payroll with the “Premiums” and “History” tabs (except the pay of the owner and other co-owners), event holidays and reminders, request rules.
What a co-owner cannot do:
- change the owner’s card or account;
- manage other co-owners: change their cards, email and password, dismiss them;
- appoint and remove co-owners;
- transfer ownership.
Step by step: appoint a co-owner
- Make sure the person has already connected the app: the “Co-owner” block appears only on the card of an active person with an account. If there is no account yet, give them an invite code, see The invite code: how it works and what to do when it fails.
- Open the person’s card → “Edit”. Under “Access rights” there is the “Co-owner” block with the caption “Full access, like the owner: settings, POS, billing, all people and roles. They just can't change the owner or transfer ownership.”
- Click “Make co-owner” and confirm in the “Make … a co-owner?” window.
- You will see “Now a co-owner”. The block is now called “Co-owner of the organization”, and in “Employees” the name carries “Co-owner”.
Step by step: remove a co-owner
- The co-owner’s card → “Edit” → the “Co-owner of the organization” block → “Remove co-owner”.
- Confirm in the “Remove … from co-owners?” window: “From then on the role on the card sets their access.” If the person created API keys or webhooks, the same window asks you to choose “Keep” (integrations keep working, the default) or “Revoke” (keys stop at once, webhooks get disabled); the dismissal window asks the same.
- Check the role in the “Access rights” block: from now on it decides what the person sees and can do.
A co-owner can be dismissed or deleted only after removal. Until then, on a co-owner’s card the “Dismissal” block says “Remove co-owner access first, then dismiss or delete the card”.
Step by step: transfer ownership
Ownership goes to one of the co-owners, so appoint the person as a co-owner first.
- “Settings” → “General” → the “Owner and co-owners” block → “Transfer ownership”.
- In the “Transfer ownership of the organization” window choose the person under “To”.
- Enter “Your password” and click “Transfer”.
- After “Ownership transferred” the new owner appoints co-owners and can transfer ownership further, and you become a co-owner with full access. Both of you get an email.
Ownership comes back only through another transfer, made by the new owner.
The owner cannot delete their own account while there are other people in the organisation: the app answers “Transfer ownership of the organization to a co-owner first”.
If the owner is unreachable
Sometimes the owner has left the business or does not answer, and the organisation has to keep running. Write to support@inshift.app: once it is confirmed that you have the right to this, support transfers ownership to a co-owner. That is why it is better to have at least one co-owner in advance.
Managers: only people with fewer rights
A manager from the team manages only people who have fewer rights than the manager’s own role: no permission higher, and at least one lower. “Own” counts as “None” here: it is only about the person themselves. For such people a manager changes the card and role, dismisses and deletes, changes the email and password, issues an invite code and opens them in “Employee’s view”.
A manager sees a person with the same or more rights but does not change them. The card opens for viewing only with “This person has as many rights as you or more, so a co-owner or the owner changes this card. You can view it.”, and such a person is not in “Employee’s view”.
You can give only a role with fewer rights than yours, and nobody below co-owner changes their own role: “A co-owner or the owner changes your role”. When two people’s rights point in different directions (one has payroll, the other the team), neither manages the other: a co-owner or the owner manages both.
Another person’s email and password are changed by whoever manages that person, on the card, in the “App access” block. No confirmation is needed, and a new password signs the person out on every device. Everyone changes their own email and password in “Settings” → “General” → the “Account” block with a code sent to their email, see Account: login email and password.
Example: an accountant
An accountant counts the money of the whole network, does not work shifts and does not manage the team.
- “Employees” → the “Access rights” tab → “Add role”. Name it “Accountant”. Set “View payroll”, “Pay out wages” and “Change pay” to “Entire network”, “View team” and “Manage employees” to “None”, and under “System access” turn on “Admin panel access”. Click “Create”.
- Add the person to “Employees”. In the “Schedule” block turn on “Not scheduled” so they are not in the planner, and in “Access rights” choose “Accountant”. “Save”.
- Click “Invite” and pass on the code. The person creates an account in the app and signs in to admin.inshift.app with the same email.
The accountant sees “Payroll” for the whole network with the “Premiums” and “History” tabs, can record payouts and close periods. They do not see the team, other people’s schedules or the organisation settings.
The accountant’s card is managed by the owner and co-owners, and from the team only by someone with no permission lower than the accountant’s, like the ready-made “Director” role. A location manager with the “Manager” role does not change this card, and the accountant does not change the manager’s card either: the accountant has more rights in payroll, the manager in the team.
Why an action is unavailable
There is no “Co-owner” block on the card: you are not the owner, or the person has not connected the app yet, or the person is dismissed.
There is no “Transfer ownership” button: only the owner sees it. The button is grey: there are no co-owners yet.
There is no “Owner and co-owners” block on the “General” tab: you are neither the owner nor a co-owner.
The caption “Only the owner can change a co-owner's card.” or “This is the owner's card: only the owner can change it.”: only the owner manages these cards.
“Remove co-owner access first, then dismiss or delete the card”: a co-owner is removed first and dismissed afterwards.
“Ownership can only be transferred to an active co-owner”: the person is dismissed or no longer a co-owner.
“Transfer ownership of the organization to a co-owner first”: the owner is deleting their account while there are still people in the organisation.
A person’s card opens for viewing only: the person has as many rights as you or more.
Questions and answers
How many co-owners can there be?
As many as you like. Each one has full access, so give it only to people you trust with the whole organisation. A location or network manager usually needs just a role, see Panel access for a second manager.
How is a co-owner different from the “Director” role?
“Director” is a role: schedule, people, payroll and roles across the entire network. Organisation settings, modules, “Integrations”, the POS and “Billing” stay with the owner and co-owners. And a “Director” manages only people with fewer rights, while a co-owner manages everyone except the owner and other co-owners.
Does a co-owner see “Billing”?
Yes, just like the owner, see Billing and plans: what we charge for.
Can a co-owner appoint another co-owner?
No, only the owner does that.
Do co-owners see each other?
Yes: the “Owner and co-owners” block on the “General” tab shows the owner and all co-owners.