Relay firms have two permission levels in the Partner Portal: Administrator (full firm control) and Staff (assigned-client access only). The lead accountant assigns them.
Who this is for
This article is for firm owners and lead accountants or bookkeepers who use Relay's Partner Portal to manage their team. It's relevant if:
Your firm has more than one team member using Relay
You need to control who can add clients, invite staff, or edit firm settings
You want to give staff access to specific client accounts without giving them Partner Portal control
You're setting up a new firm on Relay and choosing who takes the lead role
How firm member permissions work in the Partner Portal
Firm permissions are set from the Team tab of your Partner Portal by the lead accountant or bookkeeper. There are two roles:
Administrator: manages the whole Partner Portal, including staff, clients, and firm information.
Staff: sees firm information and works inside client accounts they've been assigned to. Nothing more.
Every team member on the firm has exactly one of these two roles. You can change a team member's role at any time from the Team tab.
What can an Administrator do?
An Administrator has full control of the Partner Portal. Specifically, an Administrator can:
Add and remove clients from the firm
Invite new firm staff and remove existing staff
Edit firm information
Assign staff to individual client accounts and pick the advisor role they get inside each client
Choose from default or custom advisor roles when assigning that access
Change their own notification settings
Administrators are typically firm owners, lead accountants, or lead bookkeepers.
What can a Staff member do?
A Staff member can see firm information and work inside client accounts they've been assigned to. Specifically, a Staff member can:
View firm information
Access the client accounts they've been assigned to
Do whatever their assigned advisor role allows inside each client account
Change their own notification settings
A Staff member cannot:
Add or remove clients
Invite or remove other staff
Edit firm information
Change firm-level permissions for anyone else
If a Staff member needs to run one of those actions, an Administrator has to do it or promote them to Administrator first.
How do firm permissions differ from client account permissions?
Firm permissions and client-account permissions are set in different places by different people, and they control different things.
Firm permissions (Administrator or Staff) are set inside your Partner Portal by the lead accountant. They control what the person can do at the firm level.
Client-account permissions are set by the owner of that client's business, or by the lead accountant when assigning staff to the client. They control what the advisor can do inside that specific client's Relay Account.
That means a Staff-level firm member can still hold high-permission advisor access inside a specific client's Relay Account, if that's what the client's owner or lead accountant has set. The two layers are independent.
How do I change a team member's permission level?
Open the Team tab in your Partner Portal, find the team member, and edit their firm role. Only Administrators can do this. If you need to change what a team member can do inside a specific client account rather than at the firm level, edit their advisor permissions in that client's account instead. See Editing permission levels.
What if I need to remove a team member?
An Administrator can remove any firm staff from the Team tab of the Partner Portal. Removing a staff member revokes their firm access and their access to any client accounts they were assigned to. For the full removal walkthrough, see How to remove team members and advisors from your Relay account.
Frequently asked questions
How many permission levels does a Relay firm have?
Two: Administrator and Staff. Administrators run the Partner Portal itself. Staff only see and act on client accounts they've been assigned to.
Who assigns firm permission levels on Relay?
The lead accountant or bookkeeper on the firm's Partner Portal assigns Administrator or Staff to each team member from the Team tab.
Do firm permissions control what a team member can do inside a client's Relay account?
No. Firm-level permissions control the Partner Portal. Client-account access is set separately by the client's business owner or by the lead accountant when the staff member is assigned to that client.
Can a Staff member add new clients to the firm's Partner Portal?
No. Only Administrators can add or remove clients, invite or remove staff, and edit firm information.
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