Organizations that are connected by a parent or child (also called a subsidiary) relationship in Proof are collectively called a company, and how the organizations within a company relate to each other is called the company structure.
Parent-child organizations allow you to create hierarchical structures where parent organizations can manage settings and access data from their child organizations.
Who this is for
This content is for any users associated with an organization account in Proof to better understand company structure.
Command Center is required to enable the creation of multiple organizations for your company. Learn more about Command Center.
How it works
Here are some important terms to know when looking at the company structure:
- Root organization: The foundational organization for the entire company; all other organizations in the company are child orgs of this organization
- Parent organization: Any organization with subsidiary (child) organizations. Users in a parent organization will have access to the child organization(s)
- Child organization: A subsidiary of a parent org
A user’s access to organization tools and transactional data depends on the organization they belong to within the company structure.
- Home organization: The primary organization to which a user belongs. If a user's home org is a parent to child organizations, that user will be able to navigate into any of the child organizations below their home organization. Their role is always the same, regardless of which organization they are accessing (learn more about roles here).
If a company has only one organization, that organization is both the root org in the company structure and the home organization for all users. An owner is required only in the root organization (the parent of all the organizations), but no other level needs an owner.
The maximum depth of an organizational hierarchy is 4 organizations. This means you can have a controlling parent organization with a child company, who has a child, who has a child, but no deeper than that. A parent organization can have unlimited child organizations.
The image below is an example of a company structure as it would appear in your account.
Settings across the company
The table below summarizes how settings are inherited from the parent to child organization.
| Child organization setting | Inherited from the parent org? |
| Address | No |
| Eligibility requirements (real estate orgs only) | No |
| White text tag | No |
| Transaction access levels | No |
| Logo | Yes1 |
| Resware and Encompass configurations (real estate orgs only) | Yes |
| Template matching (business orgs only) | Yes |
| Pricing plan | Upon creation only2 |
1 The child organization inherits the parent's logo unless the child company either specifies its own logo or has branding set by Command Center. If the parent changes its logo, that change also carries to the child if the child inherits the logo when the change is made.
2 The child organization inherits the parent organization’s plan details when the account or relationship is created. The child organization's plan is separate but mimics the parent organization's plan. For example, if the parent pays a monthly fee, the child will separately pay a monthly fee. If the parent changes its plan after the companies are connected, that change is not inherited by the child.
Users and permissions for the company
A user's access to each organization depends on both of the following:
- Their user role
- Their home organization
Owners and admin of parent organizations can access and manage child organizations, but users of child organizations, regardless of role, cannot access their parent organization.
- Owners and admin can switch to a child organization to act on behalf of the child organization.
- Notaries at the parent level can answer calls for transactions created at the child level.
- Team members can access transactions created for their home organization and any child orgs.
- No user in a child organization has any access to the parent organization, including admins and notaries.
Read more about User roles and permissions overview for your organization here.
ℹ️ For real estate organizations: If a real estate organization wants to use Closing Operations, they must request it and pay for the services. Child organizations can have it turned on as well, if they also request it and pay for the services.
Example of company structure and permissions
The example below shows an organizational structure in a company, with Headquarters as the root org.
Here's how permissions would work in the example above:
- Headquarters can access transactions, settings, etc. for all organizations.
- Any team member from Regional Office 1 can access transactions from North Office, County Office, and City Office.
- An owner or admin from Regional Office 2 can change its own settings and settings for East Office or West Office.