In ActiveCollab, the Owner holds the highest level of control within the system. This role is automatically assigned to the person who creates the account. Owners are responsible for managing the subscription, billing, account settings, and user permissions.
How to Invite a User with the Owner role in ActiveCollab?
To invite a new user to your ActiveCollab account:
- Step 1: Log in to your ActiveCollab account.
- Step 2: Click on the People page in the left-side menu.
- Step 3: Click on the ‘’+’’ icon in the top-right corner of the page.
- Step 4: From the dropdown menu, click on Invite People.
- Step 5: Choose the Owner role.
- Step 6: Fill out Basic Details:
- Email Address*
- First and Last Name (Optional)
- Company - from the dropdown menu, select the company you wish to add your client to (Optional)
- Title - add a title for the user with the Owner role (Optional)
- Invite to Projects - choose the projects you wish to add the Owner to (Optional)
- Step 7: Click Proceed
- Step 8: In the Additional Details section:
- Select the Invitation Language from the drop-down menu
- Write a Welcome message (optional)
- Step 9: Click Invite
Tip: Fields marked with a * are mandatory. The invited user will receive an email with instructions to join the account.
How to Know the Price When Adding Users with the Owner role?
ActiveCollab charges based on the number of seats (i.e., users who can log in, excluding clients). Here's how to check the price when adding users:
- Visit the Billing section from the top-right menu under your avatar (as the Owner).
- There you’ll find your current plan, and the number of active seats.
- As the Owner role counts as a billable seat, you can find detailed information about pricing based on your current plan by visiting our pricing page: https://activecollab.com/pricing
Which sections are visible to a user with the Owner role in ActiveCollab?
Sections visible to an Owner:
- Projects
- My Work
- Activity
- Calendar
- People
- Invoices
- Estimates
- Workload
- Timesheet
- Reports
- Add-Ons
- Trash
How to downgrade the Owner role in ActiveCollab?
To downgrade someone from the Owner role in ActiveCollab, you'll need a different user who currently has the Owner role. Owners cannot self-downgrade; another Owner must change their role. Here are the steps to downgrade an Owner:
- Step 1: One of the existing Owners logs into ActiveCollab.
- Step 2: Navigate to the People section in the main menu.
- Step 3: Identify the user currently assigned the Owner role.
- Step 4: Click the three‑dot menu (⋯) next to their name, then choose Change role
- Step 5: In the role selection dropdown, pick a different system role—e.g., Member, Member +, Client+, or Client—then confirm.
Note: You cannot remove the last Owner from your account. At least one Owner must remain.
Once downgraded, you can also archive the user if needed. ActiveCollab does not allow archiving of Owners until their role is changed.
How to delete a user with the Owner role in ActiveCollab?
- Step 1: Go to the People section from the main menu.
- Step 2: Find the user with the Owner role you want to delete.
- Step 3: Click the three-dot menu (⋯) next to their name.
- Step 4: Select “Delete”
- Step 5: Confirm the action when prompted.
What can the user with the Owner role do in ActiveCollab?
Users with the Owner role in an ActiveCollab account have full visibility and control over the system. However, if another user creates a Private Calendar (via Calendar > Private Calendar) and does not invite the Owner, the Owner will not be able to view it.
Key permissions for the Owner role include:
- Billing and Subscription Management: Owners can access the Billing page to update payment information, manage subscriptions and previous Invoices, and cancel the account.
- Full Visibility: Owners can view all companies within the account, as well as all users listed in the People section.
- Trash Management: Items in the Trash can be permanently deleted by the Owner before the standard 30-day retention period ends.
- User Management: Invite users, assign roles, deactivate accounts, and manage teams. Owners can only be removed by other Owners. They cannot be archived.
- Account Settings: Change company name, logo, default settings, workdays, and other system-wide preferences.
- Security Settings: Configure two-factor authentication, session timeouts, and permissions.
Note: There can be multiple Owner roles per ActiveCollab account.
Which projects does a user with the Owner role have access to in ActiveCollab?
Users with the Owner role have automatic access to all projects in the system, even if they are not explicitly invited. This means they can view and manage every project across the workspace, including private and internal projects.
However, they can only be mentioned in projects to which they have been explicitly invited. If they are not a project member, their name won’t appear in the mention dropdown, even though they can still access the project content.
This ensures that while Owners retain full visibility and control, participation in project discussions and notifications remains limited to those officially added to the project team.