Understanding User Roles (Account Owner vs. Billing Manager vs. User)

Every person in your Broker Buddha AI organization is assigned one role that controls what they can manage. There are three roles — Account Owner, Billing Manager, and User — and choosing the right one for each teammate is one of the most important decisions you'll make in User Management.

This article explains exactly what each role can (and can't) do, helps you decide which role fits which person, and shows you where to change a role when needs change.

💡 A user's role determines what they can manage. A user's assigned products determine what they can access. The two work together — see How to Add, Edit, and Disable Users for how to assign product licenses.

🔎 Role Comparison at a Glance

🖼️ [Image placeholder: screenshot of the User Management Users tab showing the Role column with all three role types visible]

👤 User

The standard role for most teammates. Users have everything they need to do their day-to-day work, without access to billing, subscriptions, or organization-wide administration.

A User can:

• Sign in and access every product they've been assigned a license for
• Manage their own profile and personal sessions (via My Sessions)

A User cannot:

• Invite or disable other users
• Change anyone's role
• Assign or remove product licenses
• View or change billing
• Approve access requests
• See organization-wide session activity

💡 Heads up on labels: In the Users table, this role appears as "User" in the Role column. When promoting someone down to this role from a higher tier, the role-change menu labels the option "Change to Basic User" — both refer to the same role.

🖼️ [Image placeholder: screenshot of the role-change menu showing "Change to Basic User"]

💳 Billing Manager

The administrative role for team members who handle subscriptions, licenses, and user management — but who don't need full organization-wide control.

A Billing Manager can do everything a User can, plus:

• Invite new users and assign their initial role and products
• Change other users between User and Billing Manager
• Assign or remove product licenses
• Disable user accounts
• Approve or deny access requests
• View Active Sessions and Session History for the entire organization
• Manage billing, subscriptions, and the credit card on file

A Billing Manager cannot:

• Promote anyone to Account Owner (only an Account Owner can do that)
• Take any action restricted to Account Owners

💡 Best for: Office managers, finance leads, or operations folks who handle billing and onboarding without needing the highest level of access.

👑 Account Owner

The most powerful role. Account Owners have full administrative control over your organization.

An Account Owner can do everything a Billing Manager can, plus:

• Promote other users to Account Owner
• Demote other Account Owners
• Take any organization-wide action

Cautions:

• Account Owner is the only role that can grant Account Owner status to others — so if you remove all Account Owners, no one will be able to promote a new one without contacting Broker Buddha support.
• Always keep at least two Account Owners so you have a backup if one person leaves the team or is unavailable.

🖼️ [Image placeholder: screenshot of the Users table showing an Account Owner row with the "Account Owner" label in the Role column]

🤔 Which Role Should I Pick?

Use this quick decision guide when adding or updating a user:

• They just need to do their day-to-day work → 👤 User
• They need to manage billing, invite people, or handle licenses, but they're not a company leader → 💳 Billing Manager
• They're a leader, owner, or senior admin who needs the highest level of control → 👑 Account Owner

💡 When in doubt, pick the lower role. You can always promote someone later — and limiting administrative access reduces the risk of accidental changes.

🔄 Changing a User's Role

Roles can be changed at any time by an Account Owner or Billing Manager.

Step 1: Go to Settings ⚙️ → Users. Step 2: Find the user you want to update. Step 3: Click the three-dot (⋯) menu in their row. Step 4: Select the new role:

• Change to Account Owner (visible to Account Owners only)
• Change to Billing Manager
• Change to Basic User

The change takes effect immediately.

🖼️ [Image placeholder: screenshot of the three-dot menu open on a user row showing the role-change options]

For full step-by-step instructions on adding, updating, and disabling users, see How to Add, Edit, and Disable Users.

💡 Best Practices

• Limit Account Owner access to a small number of trusted leaders.
• Always keep at least two Account Owners so you have a backup if one is unavailable.
• Use Billing Manager for finance and operations team members instead of giving them Account Owner.
• Default new hires to User and only elevate them when their responsibilities require it.
• Review roles periodically — especially after promotions, role changes, or someone leaving the team.
• Audit role changes in the History tab so you always know who changed what and when.