--- title: "Manage User Roles in the Nexcess Client Portal" source: "https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/portal/account/user-settings/manage-user-roles/" description: "Learn how to securely manage user roles in the Client Portal. Understand Owner, Purchaser, and Technician permissions to safely delegate team access." vertical: "Hosting" date: "2024-03-04" last_modified: "2026-08-12" --- # Manage User Roles in the Nexcess Client Portal ## Overview Giving your employees, partners, or developers access to your account is often necessary to help manage your business. However, sharing your personal account credentials poses a significant security risk and is never recommended. Instead, you can securely grant access by creating **[Authorized Users](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/portal/account/account-security/creating-an-authorized-user-in-your-account/)** with specific permissions. --- ## Available Roles Every authorized user requires a specific role assigned at the time of creation. We have simplified the permissions available in the Nexcess Client Portal (`portal.nexcess.com`) into four distinct profiles, allowing you to easily control what your team can view and change. Updating Roles You can change the roles assigned to your users at any time directly from your Client Portal. For step-by-step instructions, please refer to our guide on **[Editing User Authorization in Your Account](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/portal/account/account-security/editing-user-authorization-in-your-account/).** ### Owner As the primary account Owner, you have complete and unrestricted control over everything in the Client Portal. This includes the ability to create new hosting plans, cancel the account, and fully manage all other user accounts. When you create additional users, you will assign them one of the three secondary profiles below. ### Secondary Owner The Secondary Owner role mirrors the Owner’s access, granting the user permission to change almost any aspect of the account. - **What they cannot do:** A Secondary Owner cannot cancel the primary account. - **What they can do:** Add or remove servers and services, add or delete other secondary users, access billing, and interact with support teams. ### Purchaser The Purchaser role is designed for team members who handle procurement or financial management. - **What they cannot do:** Change core account profile information or manage other users’ access. - **What they can do:** Make changes to the account that impact billing, such as adding or removing servers, upgrading plans, and accessing support cases and chats. ### Technician The Technician role is ideal for external developers or IT staff who need to troubleshoot technical issues without having financial access. - **What they can do:** Fully interact with our support teams. They can open and respond to support tickets, launch live chats, and request technical assistance. - **What they cannot do:** Make any account changes that would impact your monthly billing, modify account information, or manage users. --- ## Examples of When to Use Each Role Not sure which role to assign? Here are a few common scenarios to help you decide the right level of access for your team members: - **Assigning a Technician:** You hire a freelance web developer to troubleshoot a database error on your site. By giving them the **Technician** role, they can contact Nexcess support to help resolve the issue, but they cannot accidentally purchase a new server or view your stored billing information. - **Assigning a Purchaser:** Your company’s finance manager needs to review invoices, update payment methods, and occasionally upgrade a hosting plan. The **Purchaser** role gives them the billing access they need without giving them the authority to add or remove other user accounts. - **Assigning a Secondary Owner:** Your co-founder or technical director needs to manage your IT infrastructure while you are on vacation. The **Secondary Owner** role allows them to manage the entire team, spin up new hosting environments, and handle all support requests in your absence, withholding only the ability to close the account completely.