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Manage Organizations and the Organization Hierarchy

Updated

Organizations in SmartSimple capture information about companies and institutions, while the organization hierarchy structures how those organizations and their associated users relate to one another. For field definitions, menu options, and vetting service details, refer to Organizations Reference.

Who: Organizations is for any user with access to view or edit organization records. Global Administrator access is required for configuration changes.

NOTE  Global Administrator access is required for configuration changes.

When to Use Organizations

Use Organizations to:

  • Capture information about specific organizations or companies.
  • Serve as a container for contacts or users.

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Access the Organization Hierarchy

To view the organization hierarchy for your SmartSimple instance:

  1. Click the Menu icon in the upper navigation bar, and then select Organization Hierarchy from the drop-down menu.

The organization hierarchy displays internal contacts listed under the first tab and external contacts listed under the second tab. The root organization appears first in both listings. Terminology may vary depending on your SmartSimple instance.

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Set Organization Terminology

Customize the labels used for internal and external organizations and users per SmartSimple instance. To adjust organization terminology:

  1. Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, and then select Global Settings from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click the Branding tab and locate the General Terminology section.

Here, define the singular and plural terms for Internal Units, External Units, Internal Users, and External Users. Translation options for organization terminology are also available.

  • Units – Companies and organizations that use the system.
  • Users – Individuals that use the system.

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Locate the Root Organization

To find the root organization for your SmartSimple instance:

  1. Click the Menu icon in the upper navigation bar, and then select Organization Hierarchy from the drop-down menu.
  2. Locate the root organization, which is the first entity listed in both the internal and external hierarchy tabs.

The first tab displays internal contacts and the second displays external contacts. Terminology for organizations may vary by instance, but the root organization consistently appears first in both listings.

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Create a New Internal Branch

In every SmartSimple instance, the root organization is listed within both the internal and external hierarchies. To expand the hierarchy by adding a new internal organization:

  1. Click the Menu icon in the upper navigation bar, and then select Organization Hierarchy from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click the organization to designate as the parent organization for the new organization. If no other organizations exist, the root organization serves as the parent.
  3. Click New, then select Organization from the drop-down menu.
NOTE  Terminology may differ in your instance. For example, Organization may be labeled Institution.
  1. In the Duplicate Check window, enter the Organization Name and click Submit.
    • If the name matches an existing record, you are prompted to use the existing record, create a new record, merge, or eliminate the duplicate.
    • If no duplicates are found, select the category or categories for the new organization and click Next.
NOTE  The System Object category is recommended for entities to exclude from searches and reporting, for example, grouping System Administrators into a single organization.
  1. Complete the required Standard Fields for the new organization. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
  2. Click Save.

Return to the organization hierarchy to confirm the new organization is correctly positioned under its parent.

NOTE  External organizations can be created as structural placeholders. For example, an external organization named Individual Applicants allows individual users to register if they are not affiliated with an existing organization.

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Assign an Organization Owner

To designate specific internal staff to manage an organization, assign the appropriate owner on the organization record. Each sub-account within the same organization can have a different owner. Set the owner through the organization's standard fields while in Edit mode.

NOTE  The owner standard field may be labeled Primary Contact in your instance.

To link multiple internal staff members to a single organization, use the associations feature, which allows multiple internal contacts to be associated with one account.

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Associate Users with an Organization

The Associations feature must be enabled before associating multiple internal contacts with a single organization account. If Associations is currently not enabled, refer to Configure Associations.

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Move Users to Another Organization

To relocate a user to a different level in the organization hierarchy, enable the Parent Organization standard field and update it on the user's profile.

  1. Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, select Global Settings, and click the Users tab.
  2. Locate the General Settings section and click Standard Fields.
  3. Confirm that the Parent Organization standard field is enabled.
  4. Navigate to the user's profile and click Edit.
  5. Update the Parent Organization field to transfer the user to a different organization.

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Move Organizations on the Hierarchy

To transfer an organization to a different parent organization:

  1. Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, select Global Settings, and click the Organizations tab.
  2. Locate the General Settings section and click Standard Fields.
  3. Confirm that the Parent Organization standard field is enabled.
  4. Navigate to the organization profile and click Edit.
  5. Update the Parent Organization field.

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