Company Hierarchy: Centralized Admin
A company hierarchy lets you run many companies from one place: an MSP and its customers, regions, plan tiers or business units. Roles at a parent reach every company below it, while each company's data and cloud accounts stay separate.
Every company has one parent at most, and a child can have children of its own, up to 10
levels deep. Loops aren't allowed: a company can't move under itself or one of its
descendants. Customer companies hold cloud accounts, notifications, integrations and
settings. Container companies group others, such as Region - East or Trial customers. See Companies for what each type gets.
Roles at a parent
These roles are available once a company has at least one child.
| Role | What it allows below the parent |
|---|---|
| Company Administrator | Everything it allows at the parent, inherited by every descendant. |
| Child Company Administrator | Manage settings, add and remove users, connect cloud accounts to customer companies, create child companies. |
| Child Company Reader | Read-only: company details and settings, dashboards, reports, cloud accounts and resources. Good for account managers and auditors. |
Create a child company
In the Portal
- Go to Company Settings and select Create Company.
- Enter the name and choose the Parent Company.
- Choose Customer or Container. You can't change this later.
- Select Create.
You keep access through your role at the parent. Spotto doesn't add you to the new company separately.
Through the API
Companies created with an API key always become children of the key's company. Any
parentId in the request is ignored.
{
"name": "Child Company Name"
}
Move or detach a company
Edit the company's Parent Company in its settings, or use the move flow on the Company Hierarchy page. Clear the field to make it a root company.
- You need administrator access to both the current and the new parent.
- The move can't create a loop or go deeper than 10 levels.
- Before detaching a company, add its users directly. People who only reached it through a parent role lose access when the link is removed. A root company needs at least one direct Company Administrator.
A company with children can't be deleted. Move or delete its children first.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A child company is missing | You're in a different parent, or your role there doesn't include child access | Switch to the right parent, then ask its administrator for Child Company Reader or Child Company Administrator |
| People lost access after the parent changed | They only had access through the old parent | Add them to the company directly, then change the parent |
| A company can't be picked for a single-company page | It's a container | Pick a customer company under it, or use a view that rolls up the companies below |
FAQ
What do I need to create a child company? Company Administrator or Child Company Administrator at the intended parent.
Are cloud accounts shared between parent and child? No. Each company has its own. People with child roles can view or manage them according to their role.
What happens to existing users when a company becomes a child? They keep their access. People with child roles at the new parent gain access too.
Can custom fields flow down the hierarchy? Yes. See Custom Properties.
For help with a hierarchy setup, contact us.