---
title: "How the partner portal works"
description: "Understand how partners and client accounts relate in the Partner Portal, including billing, account states, and how a client owner gets direct access."
---
The MangoMap Partner Portal helps **partners** - resellers and agencies - set up and run MangoMap accounts for their customers. You create a **client account** for each customer, keep billing and portfolio control, and can give the client owner direct access. This page explains how the portal works. For the exact controls on each screen, see the [partner portal reference](/partner/partner-portal-reference).
## Partners and client accounts
The portal uses two account types:
- **Your partner account.** You use this account to sign in to the portal. It holds your company details, payment method, and billing relationship with MangoMap. You have one partner account.
- **Client accounts.** You create one full MangoMap account for each customer. They appear in your portfolio on the `Client accounts` page. You can create as many as you need.
Each client account has a **client owner** - the customer who will run the account. You record the owner's name and email when you create the account, but they cannot sign in until you invite them (see [Activation](#activation-inviting-the-client-owner) below).
## How a partner-managed account differs from a self-signup account
A customer creates a self-signup account and owns its billing. A partner-managed account is different in two ways:
- **You hold billing and retain partner control.** The client's subscription is billed to your partner account, not to the client. Giving a client owner direct access does not remove the account from your partner portfolio.
- **The client cannot change billing.** The client owner cannot change the subscription or payment method, see invoices, change the organisation name or URL slug, or delete the account. You handle those actions in the portal. The client can still do everything else inside the account (build maps, import data, invite their own team).
## The client lifecycle
A client account follows a set lifecycle. You make most changes in the portal.
1. **Create.** You create the account from the `Client accounts` page. It starts on a **30-day Enterprise trial** with no add-ons. Creating the account does **not** email the client - it only sets up the account and the owner record.
2. **Invite (optional).** When you want the client owner to access the account directly, you send them an invitation. They set a password and sign in. You retain partner-level administrative control.
3. **Trial.** The account runs on its trial until you activate it or the trial expires. You can end the trial early with `Terminate trial`, which closes the account, or stage plan changes while the trial continues.
4. **Activate to paid.** Before or after the trial ends, you pick a plan, billing cycle, and add-ons and activate the subscription. Billing begins against your partner account.
5. **Paid.** The subscription renews automatically. You can change the plan, cycle, and add-ons at any time.
6. **Past due.** If a renewal payment fails, the account is flagged past due. You update your partner payment method and pay the past-due invoice from your `Invoices` page.
7. **Closed.** Cancelling the subscription closes the account at once, with no refund. It stays in your portfolio in a closed state - the data is retained - until you delete it.
8. **Delete.** Once an account is closed you can permanently delete it. To delete an expired trial, terminate the trial first. This removes the account and all its data and cannot be undone.
### Subscription states
A client account's subscription is always in one of three states. The labels are easy to scan; the important distinction is what each one means for billing and access.
**Trial**
The account is on the 30-day trial and has not been billed yet.
**Active**
The account is on a paid subscription that renews automatically.
**Closed**
The subscription or trial has ended, and the account stays in your portfolio until you delete it. `Start a trial` gives it a new trial.
**Past due** is not a separate state. It is a flag on an active subscription that appears when a renewal payment fails. The `Client accounts` list shows it as its own status and offers a `Past due` filter, but underneath the subscription is still the active one until you resolve or cancel it.
An expired trial is not a separate state either. The account still shows as `Trial`, and the client is locked out until you activate the subscription or terminate the trial. Every action that leaves a trial works the same whether or not the trial has expired:
{/* diagram:client-account-lifecycle */}
{/* /diagram:client-account-lifecycle */}
## Activation: inviting the client owner
Billing and client sign-in use separate states. Client sign-in has three stages.
**Not invited**
The default after account creation. The owner record exists but has no login details. You can run the account yourself and never invite anyone.
**Sent**
You sent the invitation. The client owner has an email with a link to set a password. You can click `Cancel invitation` while it is pending.
**Active**
The client owner set a password and signed in. The invitation card leaves the account details page.
In the `Client accounts` list, a key icon next to the owner email means you have invited the owner; a lock icon means you have not (other people on the client's team may still have access).
## Ownership handoff
If the client owner's email must change, click `Change email` on the account details page, enter the new email, and click `Send verification email`. If the owner has already set a password, this starts an **ownership handoff** (also called a reverse handoff). The new person receives an email and sets their own password to take over as the client account owner. The old owner stays on the client's team as a `Viewer`. If the owner has not set a password yet, MangoMap changes the email at once and sends any pending invitation to the new address.
The partner retains billing and portfolio-level administrative control. While a handoff is pending, the account shows a `Handoff pending` chip, and you must click `Cancel handoff` before starting another. Both flows pass through MangoMap, and you can cancel each one until the owner sets a password:
{/* diagram:client-owner-handoff */}
{/* /diagram:client-owner-handoff */}
## Who pays, and how billing works
You pay for every client subscription. MangoMap creates client subscriptions under **your** Recurly account (Recurly is MangoMap's payment provider). Your client accounts hold maps and data, while your Recurly account holds everything you pay with and for:
{/* diagram:partner-billing-model */}
{/* /diagram:partner-billing-model */}
This means:
- You need a payment method on file before you can create client accounts, activate them to paid, or save plan changes during a trial. You set it on a Recurly hosted page via `Set payment method`.
- Any partner **coupon** configured on your Recurly account is added to each client subscription automatically - you don't enter it per client.
- All invoices for all your clients appear on your `Invoices` page. You can open any invoice's hosted page, and pay a past-due or pending invoice with `Pay now`.
Plans, billing cycles, seats, and add-ons work the same way as for self-signup accounts; see [how subscription and billing work in MangoMap](/docs/subscription-and-billing/concepts-subscription-and-billing) for the underlying model. The partner difference is only *who* pays and *where* the change is made.
## When your partner account is suspended
If MangoMap suspends your partner account, the portal stays readable but commercial actions are disabled: you cannot create accounts, change subscriptions, or run lifecycle actions. You can still invite client owners, change owner emails, and edit account details. Disabled controls show a `Your partner account is suspended` tooltip. Contact MangoMap to resolve the suspension.
## Related
- [About the MangoMap Partner Program](/partner/partner-program-overview)
- [Partner portal reference](/partner/partner-portal-reference)
- [How to create a client account](/partner/create-a-client-account)
- [How to invite a client owner](/partner/invite-a-client-owner)
- [How subscription and billing work in MangoMap](/docs/subscription-and-billing/concepts-subscription-and-billing)
- [Account roles](/docs/account-roles)