How to Transfer Account Ownership
When the person who originally set up your Ninety account leaves your company, you may find yourself locked out of critical functions like managing billing, adding or removing users, or canceling your subscription. This article explains how to transfer ownership to a new person while maintaining full control of your account.
Understanding the Owner Role
The Owner is the person with the highest level of permissions in your Ninety account. Only Owners can:
Update billing information and payment methods.
Cancel or change subscription plans.
Assign other users as Owners or Admins.
Delete the company account.
Access all company settings and data.
When the Owner leaves your company without transferring these permissions, you'll need help from our support team to regain full account control.
Learn more about the differences between Owner, Admin, Manager, and other roles in our User Roles and Permissions article.
When You Need an Ownership Transfer
You'll need to request an ownership transfer if:
The original Owner no longer works at your company.
The Owner is unavailable and cannot access Ninety.
Your account was set up by an external consultant or implementation partner who is no longer involved.
You need to manage billing or cancel your subscription but don't have Owner permissions.
All Admin users are locked out from making ownership changes.
Common scenario: You're trying to remove the former Owner from your account or update billing information, but you discover that only they have permission to make these changes.
Before You Contact Support
Check if your account already has another Owner who can help. Here's how to verify:
Log in to Ninety.
Go to Directory from the left navigation.
Look at the Role column for each user.
If anyone else has the Owner role, ask them to promote you to Owner instead of contacting support.
If you don't see any active Owners, or if the only Owner listed is the person who left, you'll need to request an ownership transfer from our support team.
How to Request an Ownership Transfer
Our support team can transfer ownership when the original Owner is no longer available. Here's what to do:
Step 1: Gather Required Information
Before contacting support, collect the following details to speed up the verification process:
Your company name in Ninety (exactly as it appears in your account).
Your full name and email address (the email associated with your Ninety account).
The name and email of the current Owner who left the company.
The name and email of the person who should become the new Owner (this may be you or another Admin).
Your current role in Ninety (Admin, Manager, or Managee).
Verification of your authority to request this change (for example, you're the business owner, CEO, or authorized department head).
Step 2: Contact Ninety Support
Reach out to our support team through one of these methods:
In-app chat: Click the chat icon in the bottom right corner while logged in to Ninety.
Email: Send your request to help@ninety.io with the subject line “Ownership Transfer Request.”
Step 3: Verification Process
Our support team will verify your request to ensure account security. They may ask:
Confirmation of your identity and role within the company.
Details about your relationship to the company (employee, business owner, authorized representative).
Alternative verification if needed (such as confirming via company email domain or providing documentation).
This verification process protects your account from unauthorized access and typically takes 1-2 business days.
Step 4: Ownership Transfer Completion
Once verified, our support team will:
Assign Owner permissions to the person you designated.
Confirm the transfer is complete via email.
Provide next steps for managing the former Owner's account (deactivation, deletion, or role change).
You'll then have full Owner permissions and can manage your account, billing, and users as needed.
If you also need to update the billing contact email
Ownership transfers and billing contact changes are two separate things in Ninety. When support transfers the Owner role to a new person, the billing contact email (the address that receives invoices and payment receipts) does not automatically update. If your former Owner was also your billing contact, you'll need to update that separately once the ownership transfer is complete.
To update the billing contact email after your ownership transfer:
Click your name at the bottom of the left navigation.
Click Billing from the popup menu.
Click Billing Portal.
Click Update Information under the Billing Information section.
Edit the billing contact email field and save your changes.
You must have the Owner or Admin role to update billing contact information. If your ownership transfer was just completed, you should now have the access needed to make this change.
What Happens to the Former Owner's Account
Once the ownership transfer is complete, decide what to do with the former Owner's user account. You can deactivate them or delete them. Only Owners can deactivate or delete another Owner, so the new Owner needs to do this step.
Option 1: Deactivate Them (Recommended)
Deactivating the former Owner removes their access to Ninety, but they stay in your account along with all of their work. You can restore their access at any time.
Click Directory from the left navigation.
Find the former Owner (search for them if needed), then click the ⋯ (more) icon at the end of their row.
Click Deactivate.
Click Deactivate user to confirm.
You can also click the former Owner's name to open their profile panel, then click the ⋯ (more) icon at the top of the panel.
Important: Deactivating doesn't lower your license count on its own. To stop paying for the former Owner's license, check Remove license linked to this user when you confirm, or lower your license count afterward from Billing > Manage Licenses.
Option 2: Delete Their Account
Deleting the former Owner permanently removes their access and removes them from the Directory. Content assigned to them stays in your account, but they no longer appear in the Directory or in their Accountability Chart seats, and their Rocks no longer appear on the V/TO.
Click Directory from the left navigation.
Find the former Owner, then click the ⋯ (more) icon at the end of their row.
Click Delete user.
Click Delete user to confirm.
Important: You can't undo a deletion yourself. Only Ninety's support team can restore a deleted user. Deactivate the former Owner instead if you might need them on The Accountability Chart or want to keep their history easy to find. Learn more in Introduction to the Directory Tool.
Preventing Future Ownership Issues
To avoid this situation in the future, follow these best practices:
Assign Multiple Owners
Your account should always have at least two people with Owner permissions. This ensures continuity if one Owner leaves the company.
To assign a second Owner:
Go to Directory.
Click on the user you want to promote.
Change their role from Admin to Owner.
Changes are saved automatically.
Document Your Account Structure
Keep a record of:
Who has Owner permissions in your account.
Primary contact information for billing questions.
Your subscription plan and renewal date.
Any external consultants or coaches who helped set up your account.
Establish an Offboarding Process
When someone with Owner permissions leaves your company:
Transfer ownership to another person before their last day.
Have them update billing contacts if needed.
Deactivate them rather than deleting them.
Review who else needs Admin or Owner permissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to the former Owner's historical data when they're deactivated?
Nothing is deleted. Deactivating the former Owner takes away their login and removes them from every team, but their work stays in your account:
Rocks (your 90-day priorities) they owned move to the Shared Rocks section at the bottom of each team's Rocks page, where the team can still see them for the rest of the quarter.
Issues they owned stay with the team, with their profile icon greyed out.
Incomplete To-Dos and Headlines stay on the team so someone else can pick them up. Repeating To-Dos they owned stop creating new copies.
Scorecard Measurables they owned keep them as owner, marked Inactive, until you assign a new owner.
Their 1-on-1s and archived content stay in Ninety under their name.
They stay in the Directory and on The Accountability Chart, and you can reactivate them later.
To hand their open work to someone new, see Account Transition: Assigning a Previous Team Member's Work to a New Employee.
Can an Admin promote themselves to Owner?
No, only an existing Owner can assign someone else as an Owner. If your account has no active Owners, you must contact support for an ownership transfer.
How long does an ownership transfer take?
Once you've submitted your request with all required information, the verification and transfer process typically takes 1-2 business days. Urgent requests may be expedited on a case-by-case basis.
What if I'm locked out and can't access Ninety at all?
If you don't have an account yet or your account was deactivated, provide this information when contacting support. They'll help you regain access as part of the ownership transfer process.
Can I transfer ownership if I'm only a Manager or Managee?
The new Owner doesn't need to currently be an Owner or Admin, but the person requesting the transfer should have the authority within your company to make this change. Support will verify your authorization during the process.
What if the original Owner set up multiple companies in Ninety?
Specify which company account needs the ownership transfer. If the former Owner managed multiple Ninety accounts for different organizations, each account requires a separate transfer request.
Will transferring ownership affect our data or subscription?
No, transferring ownership only changes who has administrative control. Your data, subscription plan, billing cycle, and all content remain unchanged.